Pirelli Cinturato all-season SF2 tyre revealed
Pirelli has launched its latest all-season offering, claiming improved performance in all conditions
The all-season tyre is often overlooked when time comes to swap to a new set, but due to the increasingly wet and icy winters the UK has been going though in recent years, it might be something worth considering. One new option is Pirelli’s new range of Cinturato all-season SF2 tyres, some of which are already available for purchase in the UK in select sizes, with the wider selection to be released throughout 2021.
While switching between purpose-built summer and winter tyres will always provide the best performance as the seasons change, all-season tyres are an ideal middle-ground solution should you want to eliminate the need for time-consuming and costly tyre swaps. Popular in cold-climate states in North America and Europe, the all-season tyre is gaining popularity here in the UK.
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New to Pirelli’s SF2 range is a clever ‘adaptive tread’, combining a high-tech compound with a 3D tread pattern to provide better performance in a variety of conditions. Pirelli claims that in snowy conditions the tread pattern remains open to allow for better traction, closing up under braking and in the dry by increasing rigidity of the tread blocks. The tread design also boasts a significant improvement in water expulsion performance over its predecessor, reducing the risk of aquaplaning.
These improvements, thanks to the use of temperature-variable compounds, remain soft in cold, wet conditions, while firming at higher temperatures in dry conditions. A byproduct of this is also low rolling resistance, making for better range in both combustion and electrified vehicles – tyre life is also said to be increased by up to 50%.
The SF2 range has also been designed to reduce road noise, which is especially handy in electric vehicles, and although only available in select sizes, new Pirelli’s puncture-proof self-healing tech is also available. This utilises a mousse inside the tyre which is designed to form a seal around any puncture up to 4mm in size, allowing the driver to continue to their destination safely.
