Tire Replacement: Pirelli Scorpion AS Plus 3

[Trip CX90]

Wanted to share some feedback about the recent tire replacement. Agree with others that the Bridgestone Ecopia‘s are thoroughly mediocre. With barely 20,000 miles on our 2021 CX-9, they’ve gotten noisy and have been very prone to hydroplaning in the rain.

My go to tire has always been the Continental DWS Extreme Contact. I‘ve had five sets of them over the last 10 years, but all on my Mazda 6. They do come in a tire size for SUVs but the thing that was holding me back was the treadwear rating. I was lucky to get 30,000 miles out of one set. They were awesome performers, quiet, good in the wet and dry… Love them but on the heavier SUV, I was afraid they would wear even more quickly.

After doing some research, it looks like the top performer in a performance all season tire was the Pirelli Scorpion AS plus 3. I have had them for about a month now and just over 600 miles. The ratings and reviews were spot on. This tire reminds me very much of the Continental DWS. It does everything well. Steering and handling in wet and dry conditions is fantastic. It’s quiet - No tire rowr on the highway and bumps are muted. So far mileage has not really taken a hit. The ride feels a little firm and I‘m thinking this tire has stiffer sidewalls to help with the steering feedback. Being a new tire with extra tread over the old Ecopias, the ride is very smooth. Tread wear rating is 800 which I’m hoping will be closer to 40K - 50K. Again, this being my first SUV, I’m just assuming heavier vehicles will have shorter tread lives so 40K to 50K would seem to be pretty good to me. We visit family in Pennsylvania occasionally and some winter abilities are important. I won’t get to try that out until next year so can I comment on snow traction.

TL;DL …. Awesome all-around tire, does everything well, with just a hint of leaning towards being a sportier tire.

 

[dougal]

Agree with you 100% regarding Pirelli's. I put on a set of Pirelli scorpion verde all season tires on my 2018 CX-9 and it transformed the vehicle. Just fantastic tires. Smooth, quiet and much better handling. When I replace the tires on my 2021 CX-9, I will be looking to get new Pirelli's.

 

[GTEyes]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I have these currently sitting on my 19s in my garage and waiting to go on in the spring. Hoping they were a good choice.

 

[Henderson]

I thought the same when I got them for my '16 in 2019 when I needed new tires, and they looked pretty sharp.

They did not hold up, however. I noticed the tires were squealing when I would make a simple turn. I take the car to the dealer for maintenance though and they never mentioned the tires wearing down, so I just thought it was the type of tire. Well I ended up getting a screw or nail in one this past winter, so I took it to Tire Discounters since the dealer couldn't get me in.

I was blown away at the wear on the tread. There was pretty much no tread left on the inside on the rear tires. I've had these tires rotated during oil changes, drive normal on them, and maybe got 15,000 out of them. They were also really noisy when driving, not counting the tires squealing around a curve or turn. I thought they'd be good, but I was really disappointed in the performance. Hopefully you guys have better luck.

 

[youri]

If the thread was worn unevenly (more wear on the inside as you mentioned), you likely had an alignment problem. Not defending the tire, just saying you should get it done otherwise the same will happen to the next set of tire. A bad alignment can ruin a tire really fast.

 

[dougal]

If your tire was squealing from a simple turn, that is a sign of not enough pressure. Hate to say it, but it sounds like the tires were either defective and you did not realize it or they were set up improperly.

I ordered my tires from Tire rack and had them installed at the local Firestone. On my 2018 CX-9, they were tremendous. Quieter than the stock tires, with much better handling. The old torque steer and front tire squeal when peeling out from a turn was gone with the Pirelli's. I only had them on the car for ~10K miles before the car was wrecked in an accident so I can't comment on how long they would have lasted but they looked brand new at 10K miles.

 

[GTEyes]

Had my first highway run this morning with these new tires. They seem to be a tad noisier than I had hoped but overall a good tire.
I will be doing a back to back comparo with the OEM Toyos today, so this will be a great chance to see how the noise levels compare.

 

[morenar]

Wanted to share some feedback about the recent tire replacement. Agree with others that the Bridgestone Ecopia‘s are thoroughly mediocre. With barely 20,000 miles on our 2021 CX-9, they’ve gotten noisy and have been very prone to hydroplaning in the rain.

My go to tire has always been the Continental DWS Extreme Contact. I‘ve had five sets of them over the last 10 years, but all on my Mazda 6. They do come in a tire size for SUVs but the thing that was holding me back was the treadwear rating. I was lucky to get 30,000 miles out of one set. They were awesome performers, quiet, good in the wet and dry… Love them but on the heavier SUV, I was afraid they would wear even more quickly.

After doing some research, it looks like the top performer in a performance all season tire was the Pirelli Scorpion AS plus 3. I have had them for about a month now and just over 600 miles. The ratings and reviews were spot on. This tire reminds me very much of the Continental DWS. It does everything well. Steering and handling in wet and dry conditions is fantastic. It’s quiet - No tire rowr on the highway and bumps are muted. So far mileage has not really taken a hit. The ride feels a little firm and I‘m thinking this tire has stiffer sidewalls to help with the steering feedback. Being a new tire with extra tread over the old Ecopias, the ride is very smooth. Tread wear rating is 800 which I’m hoping will be closer to 40K - 50K. Again, this being my first SUV, I’m just assuming heavier vehicles will have shorter tread lives so 40K to 50K would seem to be pretty good to me. We visit family in Pennsylvania occasionally and some winter abilities are important. I won’t get to try that out until next year so can I comment on snow traction.

TL;DL …. Awesome all-around tire, does everything well, with just a hint of leaning towards being a sportier tire.

I am thinking of getting the Pirelli's as well after going through two sets of Conti DWS06 that have only lasted 30,000 for me as well. How are the AS Plus 3's holding up?

 

[GTEyes]

Mine are doing well and are still pretty quiet. I put about 29,000 kms on them this summer.

 

[Oleman]

On sale for $124.95 at Walley World. Pirelli-Scorpion-All-Season-Plus-3-All-Season-225-65R17 https://www.walmart.com

 

[hollandog]

running a set of AS Plus 3 too. about 4000 miles now I like it much better the oem set.

 

[PTguy]

There was pretty much no tread left on the inside on the rear tires. I've had these tires rotated

If they had actually been rotated then the wear on all 4 would have been equally bad. It sounds like the dealership guy never touched the tires, never looked at them, maybe never checked the air pressure. Some things you gott'a do yourself like inspect your tires and check the air pressure. You get what you inspect, not what you expect.

There is a rear alignment adjustment on these cars. Yours is evidently off spec. Due to the uneven wear, get a 4-wheel alignment.

 

[GTEyes]

If they had actually been rotated then the wear on all 4 would have been equally bad. It sounds like the dealership guy never touched the tires, never looked at them, maybe never checked the air pressure. Some things you gott'a do yourself like inspect your tires and check the air pressure. You get what you inspect, not what you expect.

There is a rear alignment adjustment on these cars. Yours is evidently off spec. Due to the uneven wear, get a 4-wheel alignment.

It may not be that cut and dry, although I think an routine alignment is always a good idea.
Some folks may not realize/read in the manual the correct way to rotate the tires. Improper rotation could also lead to uneven wear.

 

[Oleman]

Mark one of your tires when you go to the dealership if it hasn't moved they didn't rotate your tires. Means you likely need to find a new dealership to do your maintenance.

 

[morenar]

Just picked up the tires from tirerack and had them installed this weekend. Put 600 miles on them already and love how quiet they are and the handling.

 

[roundle1979]

Everyone loves their new tires when they are new. The true test is how people feel about them at 20K, 30K and beyond.

I'm really happy with my replacement Michelin Defender LTX on my CX9. Huge improvement in terms of ride quality on rough roads (everywhere in NY, as it's like 3rd world here) and massive improvement in wet / snow weather as well. After 15K miles, hardly any wear. At nearly 300 a pop, certainly not the cheapest option but a good option if you're keeping the car a while.