Pirelli P Zero AS 3 Plus Tire Review: Grippy All-Seasons Feel Right at Home at the Track

The atmospheric river weather phenomenon this past winter was a doozy, pummeling California and much of the West Coast with historic precipitation. We imagine the roads were especially sketchy for those driving high-powered rear-wheel-drive sports cars on summer tires. Perhaps it's time to prepare for the next rainy season and consider a replacement set of ultra-high-performance all-season tires like the new Pirelli P Zero AS Plus 3.

As the name suggests, this new all season is the latest variant to join Pirelli's performance-focused P Zero lineup. And although it may not garner the fame of the grippy, track-ready P Zero Trofeo RS summer tires fitted on the new 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse, the P Zero AS Plus 3 is undoubtedly important for Pirelli's bottom line—as of this writing all-seasons make up 94 percent of Pirelli's sales, versus just 2 and 4 percent for winter and summer tires, respectively.

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The P Zero AS Plus 3 is the successor to the P Zero All Season Plus (and yes, Pirelli skipped over the P Zero AS Plus 2 name). After more than two years of development, Pirelli says the new tire is better in every performance metric, and the secret sauce is in the revised tread compound and pattern. The result is shorter braking distances across the board compared to the P Zero All Season Plus tires—a claimed 4 percent improvement on dry surfaces, a 10 percent improvement in wet conditions, and a whopping 20 percent reduction in the snow.

To sample the new tire's performance handling capabilities, we headed to the infield road course at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway where Pirelli tossed us the keys to a Toyota GR Supra 3.0. Turn 1 at the track is preceded by a long straight where the GR Supra easily accelerated into triple-digit speeds. Here, we noted great bite from the Pirellis under hard braking, confidently scrubbing speed before navigating through the sharp left-turn corner.

The next turn is a fast and long right-hand sweeper, where we entered with a tad too much speed on the first attempt. Thankfully the P Zero AS Plus 3 broke its grip gradually and predictably, which is exactly what you want with a notoriously tail-happy car like the GR Supra 3.0. Steering response was sharp through the chicanes at Turns 4 and 5, and lateral grip was impressive through Turn 7 where our driving chaperone encouraged us to carry more speed on subsequent laps. Overall, the P Zero AS Plus 3s were more than capable on the track, and we're confident the tires should be plenty fun for customers who go on the occasional weekend jaunt through the canyons or their local autocross.

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Pirelli also claims its new all-seasons reduce cabin noise by 1.2 decibels overall compared to the previous-gen tire, and 1.4 decibels in the 600-1,000-Hz frequency range, which the company says is especially discernible to humans. Unfortunately, our short time with the P Zero AS Plus 3 didn't include any public roads or highways, so we couldn't evaluate road noise or comfort, nor the claimed improvements in wet and snow performance. Pirelli also says rolling resistance and wear rate have improved by 10 and 25 percent, respectively, along with a 20 percent improvement in residual tread at the tire's end of life.

Unfortunately Pirelli didn't have any competitor tires on hand. In an ideal tire evaluating world, we'd also have access to GR Supras shod in Michelin Pilot Sport All Seasons, Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 Pluses, and Yokohama Advan Sport A/S+ tires, just a few of the ultra-high-performance all-seasons that are highly rated on TireRack.com. Based on the website's pricing, a set of Pirellis for the GR Supra 3.0 will set you back $1,094. That's a little over $300 cheaper than the Michelin Pilot Super Sport summer tires fitted on the Supra from the factory, and you get a better warranty (55,000 versus 30,000 miles) and tread wear rating (560 versus 300).

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The Michelin all-seasons are a tad more expensive at  $1,130 with a 45,000-mile warranty and 540 tread wear rating, while the Contis and Yokohamas are both cheaper with similar warranties (though the latter's tread wear is rated at 440).

Based on our short time on the track, Pirelli's new all-season tire certainly upholds the performance capabilities we've come to expect from the P Zero lineup. And the bump in warranty and tread wear and cost savings over a comparable summer tire (at least in the Supra's case) is an added bonus. We hope to get another crack at the P Zero AS Plus 3 to get a clearer picture of how it does on the road in various weather conditions.