The Cinturato Family: Performance Goes Green High on Safety, Low on Emissions

Ecology, energy savings and safety. These are the features of Pirelli's historic Cinturato family of tyres, which returned to the market in 2008, with new characteristics focused entirely on eco-friendly performance. In January 2008 the family debuted with its Cinturato P4 and P6, aimed at cars with small- to mid-sized engines, which were warmly received by the market and specialists alike. In 2009 the Cinturato P7 was launched, the first ecological tyre for cars with mid- to large-sized engines. It received the maximum score under the most severe European tests, including, amongst others, the ADAC tests. 2010 will be the year of the Scorpion Verde, developed for SUVs, and completing Pirelli’s green line. Pirelli Cinturato tyres are designed and developed in the company’s laboratories to meet new market demands and to contribute to sustainable mobility. Thanks to innovative compounds, structures and tread design, the Cinturato guarantees reductions in fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, while guaranteeing better mileage and enhanced safety on dry and wet surfaces. The Cinturato P7 uses state-of-the-art materials and engineering techniques, and is innovative in every way: compounds, materials, structure and tread design were all developed in equilibrium to guarantee steady performance through the tyre’s useful life in terms of cutting noxious emissions, reducing noise, running economy, shorter braking distances and handling. The P7’s eco profile reveals a tyre made with materials free from aromatic oils, an overall reduction in consumption of up to 4%, and a 30% reduction in noise. As far as safety is concerned, the P7 offers enhanced performance in wet and dry braking, respectively of two metres and one metre. The Cinturato P4 and P6 are for cars with small- to mid-sized engines and have the distinctive ECOIMPACT logo on the side. This is because they offer a 20% reduction in rolling resistance, a reduction of up to 4% in energy consumption and therefore also in noxious emissions, and an average increase from 50,000 to 65,000km in tyre life. This is equal to a 30% increase (trials performed on over 1,000,000km of market testing), equivalent to changing tyres every four years instead of every three for the average motorist (15,000km/year). Safety, which together with other high performance tyres, has always been a reference point for Pirelli research, and which the Cinturato had already maximised in the fifties, is the other cardinal point underpinning the new Cinturato design. The P4 and P6 guarantee greater safety in all weather conditions. In particular, they deliver improved handling on curves and on wet roads, and, above all, decrease braking distance. A car travelling at 80km/h on a wet road needs 11% less braking distance (29.9m instead of 34m), while at 100km/h on a dry road, braking distance is just over 38m instead of the 40.5m required by comparable tyres. Cinturato is a part of tyre history: the original Cinturato radial ply tyre was a revolutionary product, which back in the fifties made Pirelli world renowned among tyre manufacturers. The Pirelli Cinturato tyre patent - recognised worldwide - was developed as a response to the new generation of cars of that era: cars that offered everyone the driving features which were only found in fast sports cars until then. Those Cinturato tyres were not only the basis for the evolution of the entire industry, but also for Pirelli research which, with the new Cinturato tyre, combines the principles of environmental protection with those of performance and safety.