- Start
- Jan 1, 198580% CONFIDENCEfrom pirelli.com
Pirelli Launches the P Zero, Its First Ultra-High-Performance Tire
- Pirelli's own article dates the brand's first appearance to 1985, "with the début on the Lancia Delta S4 Stradale", an evolution of its Lancia Delta S4 Group B experience, and says the first generation "was born to equip the Ferrari F40 (1987)"[2]
- Pirelli says the P Zero began the Ultra High Performance (UHP) tyre category and has taken "over 3.000 homologations" from car makers across four generations[2]
- The Sanremo connection is a rally anecdote rather than a development programme: Miki Biasion's Delta S4 ran P Zero road tyres for the transfer stages, kept them on a slippery rain-hit stage and won ahead of competitors on racing tyres[2]
- Cars listed as running it include the Ferrari F40, 512 Testarossa and LaFerrari, Lamborghini Countach, Diablo, Murcielago and Aventador, McLaren MP4-12C and P1, Pagani Zonda, Huayra and Utopia, Aston Martin and Porsche 911, Cayenne and Macan[2]
- [1] is a 2025 Free Documentary - Engineering episode on Pirelli's Settimo Torinese plant rather than on the 1980s launch; it calls the P Zero "Pirelli's flagship product", built from 100 constituent materials, fifteen manufacturing steps and over 50 performance tests, chasing "the best possible compromise between three irreconcilable and contradictory properties: low rolling resistance, strong grip and low wear", with a new tyre specially developed for each car brand[1]
Notable features
- Design idea, from engineer Mario Mezzanotte building on the 1976 P7, the first low-profile tyre: three "souls" in one tread - the inner shoulder grooved like a wet racing tyre, the outer shoulder like a slick and the central section like an intermediate[2]
- The name is "P" for Pirelli plus "Zero" for a new beginning[2]
- The range splits into variants by vehicle, use and season, and marked the start of Pirelli's "Perfect Fit" strategy, as the pin says[2]
- Later developments: the Elect package for EVs and plug-in hybrids debuted on a P Zero in 2019, and 2023 brought the P Zero E, the first UHP tyre with at least 55% biological or recycled materials and a "triple A" European label rating[2]
References 265% CONFIDENCE
The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.
- [1]50%youtube.com/watch?v=5v0XN7_-Mtsyoutube.com· Posted Sep 15, 2026· Starts Jan 1, 1985· 50% of score
Pirelli's[2] own 40th-anniversary article says "The first appearance of the P Zero brand dates back to 1985, with the debut on the Lancia Delta S4 Stradale" - a year rather than a day.
- [2]80%Between records and innovations: P Zero turns 40 | Pirellipirelli.com· Added Sep 15, 2026· Starts Jan 1, 1985 ✓· 50% of score
Pirelli's official history dates the brand's first appearance to 1985, with the debut on the Lancia Delta S4 Stradale, and says the first generation was born to equip the Ferrari F40 (1987). The Sanremo rally run on P Zero road tyres is told as an episode showing off that first tyre, not as the launch.
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