Rome, May 2004 - Pirelli presents Planet Zero:the new and ever more complete range of Ultra-High Performance (UHP)tyres,designed and developed to exalt the qualities of increasingly demanding and high performing cars.But the meaning of Planet Zero goes beyond the technological values of the product.It has,in fact,become a concept:destined to write a new page for Pirelli and the whole UHP tyre world in the history of motoring.
Maximum attention paid by Pirelli to a range of tyres of this type -as well as being part of the company s DNA for decades-is also motivated by the growing performance of the car in all segments on a global scale.The P Zero System was only unveiled a decade ago,in 1994:the first pairing of a tyre with a directional tread pattern and another of asymmetric design,respectively for the front and rear wheels of the same car.
At that time,there were not many cars on the market capable of the kind of performance that could take advantage of such a tyre choice.But since then,the car world has changed radically.Today,just about every car manufacturer offers models able to exceed a maximum power output of over 200 hp,which at the end of the Eighties were almost an organic limit:beyond them,there existed only the super and luxury cars or roadsters of a special sporting appeal.In 1994,the high performance car segment was well under 10% of the total worldwide:today,that percentage is close to 25%.And it is significant that,10 years ago,the percentage of Pirelli tyres with a high-speed rating -240 km/h and over-was already close to 20%of the company s production,and today it is more than half its output across the world.
So Pirelli is pleased and proud to accompany in some cases to even propose - this transformation of the world car market.For today,the car is considered less like a means of transport and more a true source of pleasure,for which performance,comfort and safety must progress on equal terms.
To respond in the best possible way to this complex and increasingly personal unification of requirements -Planet Zero.

PZero Corsa System:now the range is complete
The first PZero tyre appeared in 1987:created to equip the legendary Ferrari F40.In 1994, out came the P Zero System:a directional tread pattern for the front and an asymmetric for the rear,paired in that way to optimise the respective directionality and traction of the two axles.From that moment on,the decidedly more elevated car performance panorama began to broaden at gathering speed.And the PZero range was not caught unprepared.
At the road use level,the enrichment was quick and with a growing ability to meet increasingly different and extreme technical and driving demands.From 2000,it was PZero Rosso:a tyre homologated as original equipment on many maximum prestige cars of both a sporting and luxury pedigree.Even today, PZero Rosso is the most versatile of products, able to ensure the utmost equilibrium between performance,driving comfort and safety in any conditions of use,and for increasingly sporty cars.To meet the ever greater extreme needs of cars of yet higher performance,as in the case of the tuners,along came the PZero Nero in 2002:mainly aimed at the replacement sector,a product tailored to specific needs.PZero Nero is a tyre built using that MIRS technology,which enables Pirelli to write a new page in the history of tyre production,now carried out entirely by robotised systems and the source,therefore,of total precision and optimisation of the product,as well as the reduction and greater versatility of production plants.
In 2003, PZero Corsa became the final development -up until now,that is-in the PZero car range.It is a road tyre oriented towards the needs of a car of extreme performance, with a particular inclination towards being driven on the track.This tyre s logical evolution is the PZero Corsa System:a new combination,further optimised between the directional tread pattern for the front and asymmetric for the rear. PZero Corsa System is also made with a number of production phases derived from the MIRS production process, additional confirmation of the maximum technological level available in these products for the highest segment of the range.
The arrival of the PZero Corsa System further enriches Planet Zero. It is no exaggeration to say that,today,from top to extreme performance,the Pirelli car tyre range has no rivals, and constitutes a starting point,a galaxy apart,as much in Pirelli production as it does in the global panorama of tyres.

Scorpion Zero Asimmetrico:the 4x4 into the future
The first Scorpion Zero appeared in 1997:a tyre made expressly for high performance Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs).With a segment of SUVs of increasingly ambitious off-road intentions at a world level,the Scorpion Zero Asimmetrico was launched in 2003, the first tyre of its kind built using MIRS technology.
The 4x4 accelerated into the future with that tyre.If SUVs capable of elevated performance were then few and far between,today the panorama has expanded greatly,involving,in reality,almost all the car manufacturers on both sides of the Atlantic.In Europe,there are an ever-increasing number of vehicles with an off-road vocation,but without completely renouncing maximum equipment and,in some cases, luxury.But,above all,taking the high performance road with a speed potential of well over 250 km/h.
Scorpion Zero Asimmetrico was designed and developed specifically to bolster the performance ambitions of SUVs on the road while,of course,completely maintaining their off-road efficiency.The new cover is assured of maximum uniformity,thanks to the MIRS technology it adopts.Size availability is extensive and goes up to 24-inches in diameter.
On the road,the tyre also guarantees a net increase in performance,compared to its predecessor,the Scorpion Zero,in the areas of comfort,braking and handling in both the wet and dry.
All of this with a clear liking for pure speed.As confirmed by the world record for pick-ups, which was established last winter by a Dodge STR10 fitted with 22 inch Scorpion Zero Asimmetrico tyres.Top technology and maximum safety for really special vehicles, which are sold today to an increasingly demanding clientele as far as tyres are concerned.

Planet Zero:the escalation of inches
The constant evolution in the performance of cars that are more refined and of increasing dimensions has produced a real escalation in tyre sizes over the last 10 years. Not so much in the width of the tread,more in rim diameters.
In the mid-Nineties,original equipment for cars of the medium-high and high segments -for example up to a BMW 5 Series-included tyres of between 14 and 17 inches. In the case of replacement and the tuning evolution,those tyres could be of dimensional increments of up to two inches. Today, the situation has changed completely.Even cars of small dimensions are homologated as original equipment on tyres of close to 20 inches in diameter. A BMW 7 Series needs 22 inch at the time of changeover, in a market that often suggests the use of rims of from three to four inches bigger in diameter than the OE on every single model:that has led to the adoption of almost unimaginable sizes,compared to just a few years ago.
The tyre dimensions subject becomes even more important and characteristic in the SUV sector,in which the upsurge in performance has also been impressive over the last 10-15 years, as has the constant increase in technical and technological levels. This has brought demands that are more exacting in road handling for vehicles with four-wheel drive and performance of almost motor sport standard.
Planet Zero also offers this characteristic on the versatility and wealth-of-offer fronts: a truly extensive range of sizes (in inches), capable of satisfying all the possible demands and needs of both the car manufacturer and the end user, right up to the 25-inch Scorpion Zero for the Hummer H2. The P Zero and Scorpion Zero series contributes so much to enriching the overall panorama of Planet Zero that, with more than 240 different products available today, it undoubtedly constitutes a more substantial offer than those of its competitors.

and of sales.For the world s finest cars
Planet Zero is born on the phenomenal sales volume success of Pirelli s PZero tyres.
Ten years ago,PZero homologations were granted mainly by five different car manufacturers:BMW for its M3,M5 and 850i;Ferrari for the 348,F355 and the 456GT; Lamborghini for the Diablo;Jaguar for the XJ and Ford exclusively for the Escort Cosworth. Today,the PZero world is exploding:the car makers involved now also include Audi, Mercedes, Bentley and Maserati; Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo, Porsche and Lotus; Saab, Subaru and Volvo.
Apart from the variety that this wealth of homologations brings,ranging from straight sports cars to luxury sports models,from SUVs to station wagons,from tuned vehicles to top-level saloons,the PZero phenomenon has assumed numbers of great importance over the years as far as sales are concerned. Created as a niche phenomenon limited to cars of a certain typology,today the P Zero proposal is aimed at a whole range of cars,spanning widely diverse levels and forms of utilisation.
In sales terms,this Pirelli phenomenon runs an imposing course.Limited in 1994 to a few hundred thousand tyres sold around the world,now the PZero offer is aiming for a sale of five million units.All of which confirms a leadership today that can boast a presence on a global scale in the UHP segment.
Interest in tyres of dimensions beyond 17 inches is enormous:from the end of 2004,Planet Zero will offer the market 46 sizes equal to,or greater,than 20 inches in diameter in both P Zero and Scorpion.
It is on the basis of this undeniable reality of technology,product and market that Planet Zero presents itself to the international audience today,with great objectives and ambitions. A complete and diversified offer,scheduled to be further extended within a short period, the maximum level of technology guaranteed by its MIRS robotised production process links,an exceptional portfolio of homologations for all kinds of cars and SUVs,which constitute the identity card of a real separate planet in the world of tyres. The road is our friend,and it has only just started -with the world s finest cars.

Look Naomi Campbell photos at Planet Zero Event: Photo 1 - Photo 2

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P Zero Corsa r Pirellis svar p expertfrarnas unika behov: sportbilsinnehavare som kr sina msterverk p bana fr att uppleva ren krgldje och f mjlighet att testa de snabba bilarnas fulla kapacitet. Detsamma gller fr Ferrari Challenge Stradale, en modell sprungen ur ver ett decenniums samlade erfarenheter hos Pirelli och Ferrari, frn turneringarna Ferrari Challenge-Pirelli Trophy och FIA-GT Championship med Ferrari 360.

Det tekniska innehllet i dessa supersportbilar ger dem s pass avancerad prestanda att man idag faktiskt kan krva ett 'bruksml' av dessa fordon, vilket innebr att bilen och fraren sporras till maximal insats i den svra terrng som dessa banor utgr. Hr mste fordonets maximala skerhet och totala tillfrlitlighet stllas mot frargldjen: tvlingsmiljn och frarupplevelsen gr rent knslomssigt inte att kopiera, vilket innebr att en sdan hr hndelse krver rtt typ av frberedelser och medvetenhet. Att vlja rtt dck r en del av det tvlingsmedvetande som krvs fr att fraren ska kunna gldjas t prestandan och samtidigt kunna frlita sig p maximal skerhet.

Pirelli har tagit fram P Zero Corsa fr att uppfylla dessa frares speciella behov, ett dck som ven finns som tillval med rotationsbestmt slitbanemnster p framdcken och asymmetriskt mnster dr bak: en serie dck som ven lmpar sig fr tvlingsbanor och ytterligare ett steg i utvecklingen av konceptet 'dck med extrem prestanda'.
P Zero Corsa r ett boret tvlingsdck och rtt val om man vill vara sker p att bilen alltid r 'klistrad mot asfalten', ett dck som ger fraren en knsla av att kunna f stopp p bilen nr och var som helst. Torra vglag r dckets naturliga milj; hundratals hstkrafter verfrs till underlaget och sofistikerade chassis dynamiska egenskaper kan tillvaratas. Ett dck som p banan blir synonymt med absolut vggrepp, millimeterprecision nda in i hrnen, snabb och precis respons p rattens rrelser.

Bakom P Zero Corsas kvaliteter finns i dckstillverkningsprocessen, vilket frst och frmst har inneburit att dess komponenter har en bra spnningsfrdelning. Detta har banat vg fr en mnsterprofildesign som optimerar den strukturella samverkan mellan bltet och nylongrdeln. Frdelar: en stabil prestanda, en mer exakt krning, ett jmnare slitage.

Formen och mtten p dckets anlggningsyta mot vgbanan garanterar absolut tillfrlitlighet i alla situationer. Och P Zero Corsas anlggningsyta r extremt bred, en direkt effekt av ett stlblte med hg flexibilitet och nya material som klarar att hantera vikten och samtidigt ka spnningsmotstndet.

En annan viktig ingrediens vid utvecklingen av P Zero Corsa var slitbanans gummiblandning. Under extrem pfrestning nr dcket en hg temperatur: i sdana situationer blir slitbanans gummiblandning helt uppenbart en avgrande faktor. Pirellis P Zero Corsa bestr av en innovativ gummiblandning med hgt hysteresvrde som klarar att anpassa dckets vggrepp efter de termiska frhllanden som rder och - framfr allt - utnyttja den strukturella styvheten p bsta mjliga stt. Vt eller torr asfalt, snva kurvtagningar, hga hastigheter p rakan, rytmiska inbromsningar r inte lngre ngot problem: fstet och skerheten garanteras.

P Zero Corsas slitbanemnster r en genialisk kombination av tvrgende 'vgor' som ven har en rotationsbestmd funktion - nr de har spelat ut sin anti-vattenplaningsroll, men ven till std fr accelerationen p rakstrckor - kombinerat med ett asymmetriskt mnster som lper fram ver vgorna mot slitbanans inre del. Det asymmetriska konceptet ger en ytterskuldra som nstan liknar ett tvlingsdcks och som garanterar maximalt fste, speciellt i snva kurvtagningar, medan de rotationsbestmda spren i mitten och p innerdelen av slitbanan motverkar vattenplaning och frbttrar vghllningen p vta underlag: en blandning av egenskaper som ger maximal prestanda under alla miljmssiga frhllanden.

Funktionaliteten hos materialen i P Zero Corsas blte, den lttviktiga konstruktionen, den breda, jmna anlggningsytan, en gummiblandning med hg hysteres, rotationsbestmda och asymmetriska slitbanemnster: alltsammans egenskaper som bidrar till att ka dckets fste vid sportig krning, speciellt p hjul med strre diameter. Med den hr sammansttningen klarar hjulgruppen att st emot den centrifugalpverkan som orsakas av hga hastigheter och kar dessutom kapaciteten i sjlva anlggningsytan, tack vare att en strre yta r i kontakt med vgen eller banan.

P Zero Corsa System: elegans p tvlingsbanan

Det brjade med P Zero Corsa-projektet, varp Pirelli gick vidare och skapade P Zero Corsa som tillval, en ren konceptmodell som redan frn brjan har legat i linje med sjlva grundhistorien om P Zero-mrket, det vill sga en serie dck med ultrahg prestanda som har blivit en mttstock fr biltillverkare ver hela vrlden. Systemet har tv olika slitbanemnster, framtagna i samarbete med det absoluta tekniska toppskiktet inom billtillverkningens hgpresterande sektor, i syfte att utrusta de bsta supersportbilarna med central- eller bakhjulsdrift och hjul med extrastora sektioner, samt optimal elegans. P Zero-systemet fddes ur en avsevrd teknisk insats, vars ml var att frmja bilens globala tillfrlitlighet i samklang med extremt kraftfulla motorer och komponenter, hmtade frn tvlingsvrldens samlade erfarenheter. Efter P Zero Corsa System, som tar Pirellis P Zero-projekt till dess yttersta grns, finns endast tvlingsdcken.

P Zero Corsa System Asymmetric, med dess extrema prestanda, r baserat p en teknologisk utveckling som har inneburit lgre vikt och samtidigt hgre stressbestndighet. En geners anlggningsyta mot vgbanan vilket ger ett regelbundet och enhetligt tryck tack vare dckets struktur, som med innovativa material klarar att balansera styvheten och flexibiliteten under alla typer av frhllanden. P torra vglag ger det asymmetriska slitbanemnstret en progressiv, accelererande effekt t de olika funktionerna vid kurvtagningar, medan det p vtt underlag snabbt driver bort vatten, helt i linje med Pirellis asymmetriska traditioner.

P Zero Corsa System Directional designades fr att ge maximal frarskerhet t sportbilar, bde p vtt och torrt underlag. P Zero Corsa Directional r aggressivt i sin kamp mot vattenplaning och dess slitbanemnster utgr en kontinuerlig och effektiv mekanism som trycker bort vattnet frn anlggningsytan s att dcken alltid r i kontakt med vgens eller banans yta, till frdel fr kontroll och allmnna kregenskaper.

Under extrema frhllanden p bana eller vg blir kvaliteten p Corsa System - absolut vggrepp vid kurvtagning, acceleration och inbromsning - mer n tydlig. Men n mer hpnadsvckande r denna hgpresterares effektivitet p vt asfalt, dr den begrnsning som vatten normalt utgr fr breda framdck praktiskt taget utplnas: Directionaldcket frbereder underlaget med sin effektiva, sidostllda bortsttning av vatten, s att Asymmetricdcket kan briljera med sina vghllningskvaliteter. Frarens skerhet garanteras.

Scorpion STR r resultatet av att Pirellis hgprestandateknik applicerades p 4x4-dck, och klarar alla de utmatningar som vrt jordklot kan erbjuda: en teknik som garanterar slutanvndaren nya integritetsstandarder, lnga krstrckor och lga ljudniver ven vid lnga krningar i konstant hastighet, samt bra vghllning i stadsmilj och p krokiga landsvgar. Det var Pirellis erfarenhet av ultralgprofildck som fick fretaget att ta fram ett allrounddck med en exakt och fast vghllning p torra vgar och plitlighet och skerhet p vtt underlag, speciellt vid inbromsningar. Men eftersom dcket vnder sig till SUV-segmentet, kan Scorpion STR ven uppvisa optimala egenskaper off-road: robust vid hg pfrestning p normala vgar, med extremt hgt belastningsindex fr kategorin. Scorpion STR blandar de bsta traditionerna frn Pirellis landsvgsdck med ultrahg prestanda, med erfarenheter frn off-road applikationer dr det r viktigt att frst hur dcket hanterar extremt svr terrng p mest effektiva stt.

Hemligheten med Pirelli Scorpion STR ligger i radiala stom konstruktion med ett blte av stl och nylon, frstrkningen av dckfoten, den nya profilen, slitbanans innovativa gummiblandning som frblir aktiv trots skiftande temperaturer.
Stommens dubbla polyesterlager har hg belastningskapacitet och dimensionell stabilitet: flexibelt, stttligt samt garanterar en jmn support av blterspacketet vilket ger en kad frarkomfort.

Den starka, kompakta dckfotsomrdet innehller ett hjrta av hgresistivt stl och blandat fyllnadsmaterial som garanterar en solid frankring av dcket i flgen och drmed en bttre distribution av styrka och stressbestndighet, vilket i sin tur ger bttre kontroll och frarprecision.

Kontroll av den stende vgen

S kommer vi till bltet; utan tvekan den del av dcket dr Pirelli har satt in alla sina samlade, innovativa teniska resurser vid utvecklingen av STR. Bltet har en nylon- och stlkord som har utvecklats i enlighet med geometriska vrden som maximerar fstet i gummit, frbttrar anlggningsytan och, framfr allt, lttar p brdan fr dckets yta tack vare det tjockare gummit.
Gummi-/stlblandningens optimala formula har stadkommits genom att den mest innovativa tekniken har anvnts bde i materialen och i sjlva produktionsprocessen, inklusive de kritiska vulkaniseringsmomenten: temperaturerna har synkroniserats p bsta mjliga stt i syfte att garantera stabiliteten hos kritiska komponenter.

Detta fr att stadkomma absolut kontroll ver den stende vgen; effekten blir en konstant deformering av anlggningsytan nr dcket roterar fr fullt, det vill sga anlggningsytan r fortfarande delvis deformerad nr den nsta gng mter marken: ett fenomen som, om det inte kontrolleras strikt, fr mycket allvarliga konsekvenser efter hand som hastigheten kar. Med Scorpion STR har Pirelli utvecklat ett dck som klarar att kontrollera den stende vgen en bra bit ver maximala hastighetsgrnser och som, framfr allt, uppnr det resultatet utan att beg vld p styvheten, som hller sig lngt under niverna fr andra produkter i samma kategori, till komfortens fromma.

Nr det gller gummiblandningarna r andelen naturgummi i Scorpion STR speciellt vl balanserad, i syfte att kombinera en komponents vinterkvaliteter med en annan komponents thermomekaniska egenskaper. Kimrk r andra sidan en speciellt effektiv ingrediens nr det gller krstrckor, medan kiselsyra r ndvndigt fr en bra vghllning p vta underlag.

Slitbanemnstret p Scorpion STR inkluderar breda block och spr som ger ett utmrkt vggrepp p vta vgar, en lngsgende ribba som ger precision vid hga hastigheter och rejlt djupa kanaler som skyddar mot vattenplaning. Skulderpartierna har markerade vinklar fr ett bra vggrepp off-road.

Nya Pirelli Scorpion STR finns i 32 storlekar samt 75 profil till 55 profil fr flgar p 15 till 18 tum. Hastighetsindex frn T (190 km/h) till V (240 km/h).