The bespoke tyre combines rolling resistance and off-road capability
Pirelli has reinforced its partnership with Land Rover by creating new Scorpion Zero All Season tyres that will feature as original equipment on the latest Defender, the manufacturer revealed in a recent press communiqué.
Pirelli’s engineers worked in tandem with their counterparts from Land Rover to design bespoke Scorpion Zero All Season tyres for the new Defender: Land Rover’s off-roading icon, as part of an intense development programme that took place all over the world in the most extreme conditions possible.
The Pirelli Scorpion Zero All Season was intended as an Ultra High Performance (UHP) tyre, intended for SUVs and designed to deliver maximum performance throughout every season: both in the dry and in the wet, guaranteeing excellent levels of comfort and safety, as well as reducing noise.
In order to hit Land Rover’s target of having tyres in class A of rolling resistance, Pirelli’s engineers worked from the ‘standard’ Scorpion Zero All Season, in 19 to 20-inch sizes, to increase its off-road ability and reduce rolling resistance to a minimum.
To meet Land Rover’s performance and efficiency targets for the Defender, the Scorpion Zero All Season tyres underwent a modification to the structure, with a new design on the shoulder and a double tread block, which improves grip on mud, grass, and snow. This is essential to the Defender’s performance and stability: even at high speeds and on typically off-road surfaces, the press note continued.
