Behind the Scenes of Pirelli's New P Zero Performance Tire
Tires might go unnoticed by most drivers, but those who know know about the Pirelli P Zero. It's an icon of the automotive industry, so when Pirelli introduced the newest generation of its performance tire and offered me a chance to get a behind-the-scenes look into its development, I jumped at the chance.
Where it started and where it's going
Fittingly, 2025 marks the 40th anniversary of the P Zero's introduction. Originally developed for the growing number of fast (for the era) turbocharged and supercharged cars, the P Zero turned out to be the first modern ultra-high-performance (UHP) tire. Fun fact: The P Zero was still under development when the Lanica rally team used it as the road tire to get their legendary 037 between stages. During a particularly wet day, driver Miki Biasion liked the tire so much that he demanded he run it during the next stage. He did, and he won the stage. On a street-legal tire.
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Car and Driver
2 hours ago
- Car and Driver
2026 McLaren Artura Review, Pricing, and Specs
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Magic chassis tuning makes the Artura twins both livable and, with the flick of a switch, extremely capable on a track. Expert Tip: If you'd rather have an unassisted McLaren V-8 and its accompanying wail, check out the similarly priced GTS model. What's New for 2026? We aren't expecting any major changes to the Artura lineup for this model year. Pricing and Which One to Buy While the open-top Spider is undeniably enticing, the coupe is still the purest representation of the Artura's core mission statement. It's also quite a bit less expensive; of course, for wealthy sun worshippers, the approximately $25,000 upcharge for the Spider might seem like a bargain. There are countless options available for both models, and the trim you choose comes down more to aesthetic taste than anything else. 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In our drive of the Spider, we found it to be appropriately loud but still not as sonorous as the brand's V-8. The Artura is also the first McLaren to ride on the company's new Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA), which is said to be lighter than its predecessor's structure. Handling is razor sharp, and this car is a blast to pitch around a racetrack, but it also has a softer side that provides a comfortable ride for commuting or highway cruising. 0–60-MPH Times C/D 60-mph Test: 2.6 seconds (coupe) In Comparison: The all-wheel-drive hybrid Chevy Corvette E-Ray reaches 60 mph in 2.5 seconds, while the Corvette Z06 matches the Artura coupe's time. View Photos McLaren Range, Charging, and Battery Life EPA EV Range: 11 miles Interestingly, McLaren states an owner "can expect" up to 21 miles of EV-only range, but the EPA states 11 miles of all-electric operation. 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3 hours ago
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My Kingdom - For A Hunk Of Old Soviet Cement?
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6 hours ago
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Lamborghini's new $380K hybrid supercar redefines luxury tech
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We've seen a number of companies, including yours, kind of push back the full EV timeline. What's the latest on that? Well, we decided two things after looking into the acceptance curve of battery electric vehicles, which is flattening in comparison to the previous, you know, thoughts of the global automotive industry. And therefore, also for us, it's lowering the expectation in terms of growth rate. So we decided that the follow-up of the Urus PHEV will be again a plug-in hybrid car. And then we postponed our first model a bit to understand when is the right time to come with it. So it still makes some sense for BEV in the luxury world, potentially? Potentially, but we have to see as we said here, we have to come not when the technology is ready, but when the time is ready and when it's going to be successful and when the customers are accepting it. And this is paramount for a company like ours, because we are delivering dreams and not mobility. Yeah, so delivering dreams versus mobility. They're not a mobility company. They're, you know, they're an emotional performance company. So actually, that combined with, you know, the EV story, combined with tariffs, that's been a thing that's been coming up for really expensive cars, you know, how do you handle that? What they've been doing is they've been absorbing a lot of that cost and passing on some of that to their customers. They think it's unfair to pass the whole cost down. So that's part of the sort of business decision there with the company. Then we have the new trade deal, so that's going to help them out. Uh, you know, secondly, I kind of asked about sort of the future of the company and where they kind of see this luxury EV maker, I'm sorry, luxury automaker, where they see themselves. And here's what he had to say. What do you see the next 20 years bring to Lamborghini? Lamborghini is not about volumes, no. It's about how much you earn that you can reinvest in a newest technology for the future. Because the world is more complex, life cycles are shortening, investments are getting higher, technology is evolving faster. So you have to keep up with it and so we have to grow in terms of awareness, image, and to have a solid customer base, which is appreciating our cars also in 20 years from now. And this depends a lot on us if we keep up with the newest technology, but if we continue also to be trendsetters. You know, despite some of these issues with electrification, tariffs, some sort of global uncertainty here with higher rates, things like that, Lamborghini still had first half sales a little bit higher compared to last year, which is more than you can say about a lot of luxury automakers who have been suffering recently. What about the new car? You test drove it. How did it feel? Uh, the new car is simply, I guess, pretty astounding. The predecessor was called the Huracán. This new Tamburario is 1,000, I mean 900 horsepower, almost 1,000 horsepower, right? A V8 that goes to 10,000 RPM, right? But what's really interesting about this car is that it has, it's electrified. So it has two motors in the front, right? That drive each front wheel. So basically when you kind of go around turns, it'll spin the outside wheel faster, kind of move the car around. So you almost feel like you can do anything in this car, right? Like you can go 200 miles an hour, hit the brakes, turn right really hard, and the car will do it. It's kind of like almost like magic, trickery, alien technology, whatever you want to call it. Uh, this car sort of has it all and it's super fast. I will say that because of the turbo technology and the electric motors, it's not as loud as the predecessor was, the V10, howling V10. This engine can get pretty loud, but if you're driving 10,000 RPM at that speed, you shouldn't be on any local roads. Who is, who do they take it on? Who's the rival for this new car? So Lamborghini and Ferrari have been locked in battle for a while now. Ferrari would say we're one of one Lamborghini, they're just, they're not our competition, but in reality, they really are. Uh, you have Aston Martin, right? You have McLaren. You have cars up this level, up this price, performance-wise. I've not driven the Ferrari 296, but I've heard that that car is sort of the pinnacle, and the Tamburario is probably there, if not, maybe surpasses it, I'm not sure. I've got to drive it. Yeah. Next assignment, that's what it is. Thank you, Pras. Related Videos Ford posts Q2 beat, but warns of tariff impact Boeing Q2 earnings preview: Tariffs & Air India crash in focus Labor data: Jobs report preview & immigration policy's impact Trump Gives Mexico 90-Day Reprieve from Tariffs Sign in to access your portfolio
