Bridgestone Potenza Sport vs Pirelli P Zero (PZ4-Luxury) tires

When it comes to the Bridgestone Potenza Sport vs Pirelli P Zero (PZ4-Luxury), there’s a lot of common ground between these two tires. Both tires are premium summer tires that are intended for high-performance vehicles. Both tires are OEM on many vehicles, as they’re designed around the weight, horsepower, torque, handling, and overall driving dynamics of today’s sports sedans, coupes, and sporty crossovers. Both tires are very popular with drivers, both are strong sellers in their market segments, and both tires come from companies with extensive experience in the motorsports world, leveraging that technology into their UHP street tires.

Both tires subjectively perform very well in tests and reviews, ranking well in our SimpleScore numbers. If you aren’t familiar with the SimpleScore system, our team at SimpleTire analyzes reviews and other data points, then assigns a numerical value for the categories of traction, longevity, and handling, as well as an overall average SimpleScore for each tire. For the Potenza Sport and P Zero (PZ4 - Luxury), the SimpleScore ratings break down as follows:

Pirelli P Zero (PZ4 - Luxury):

• Traction: 9.7
• Handling: 9.5
• Longevity: 7.1
• Overall average: 8.8

Bridgestone Potenza Sport:

• Traction: 9.9
• Handling: 9.9
• Longevity: 7.4
• Overall average: 9.0

In this head-to-head product comparison, we’ll explicate those numbers and provide details on each tire as we compare and contrast their performance, design, and overall value.

Bridgestone Potenza Sport tires

The Potenza Sport from Bridgestone is great for drivers who want to push the envelope and maximize their vehicles’ performance potential. It features a specialized tread formulation with an enhanced silica content for sticky and stubborn traction on wet or dry pavement. The Potenza Sport’s footprint is wide and fat enough to put the most rubber in contact with the road for long, even wear, short braking distances, and confident cornering ability. Wide circumferential grooves give standing water a pathway to be routed away from the tire’s contact patch, cutting the risk of hydroplaning on wet pavement, and a network of 3D sipes works as a system to improve traction even as the tire ages and tread depth wears down.

Specially engineered tread pattern geometry helps ensure evenly balanced weight distribution and contact pressure on each of the vehicle’s tires, and a tuned tread block and lateral notches help negate certain frequencies and resonances to keep road noise to a minimum. Internal construction details of the Potenza Sport include a single polyester casing reinforced by two wide steel belts and stabilized by an aramid/nylon cap ply. The tread compound of the Potenza Sport is designed for traction in warmer weather – like many UHP tires. This tire shouldn’t be used if daily temperatures exceed 40-45 degrees F.

Pirelli P Zero (PZ4-Luxury) tires

The P Zero (PZ4-Luxury) is a tire that draws heavily on Pirelli’s motorsports experience in the Formula 1 circuit and has been featured as OEM on vehicles like the Audi A3, Audi S3, Lamborghini Huracan, Porsche Boxster, Porsche 911, and Porsche Cayman. The P Zero (PZ4-Luxury) uses a next-generation tread compound with a specialized mix of carbon black and silica for an excellent combination of ride comfort, wear properties, low rolling resistance, and consistent traction on wet or dry roads.

Internal construction details of the P Zero (PZ4-Luxury) include either a 2-ply polyester or 1- or 2-ply rayon casing, depending on fitment, and a belt package with two steel belts and hybrid nylon/Kevlar Zero degree cap ply. The tread of the P Zero (PZ4-Luxury) is an asymmetric design with an outer shoulder tuned for dry handling, cornering, and lateral stability for sports cars versus a shoulder designed for hydroplaning resistance, low noise, and ride comfort for luxury vehicles. The variance in design from one fitment to the next gives Pirelli’s engineers the freedom to fine-tune their tires for the driving and handling characteristics of individual makes and models.

Select sizes of the P Zero (PZ4-Luxury) feature a Pirelli Noise Canceling System (PNCS), with a layer of sound-absorbing foam in the tire’s inner liner, reducing the amount of road noise that makes it to the vehicle’s cabin. Select sizes are also designed with Seal Inside technology, with an adhesive sealant that coats the tire’s inner lining in case of a puncture, self-sealing the tire and allowing the vehicle to continue driving with no loss of inflation pressure. Like the Bridgestone, the Pirelli is a summer tire and shouldn’t be used if temperatures are below 40-45 degrees F.

Bridgestone Potenza Sport vs. Pirelli P Zero (PZ4-Luxury) tires on traction

Both tires do an admirable job of keeping your car planted on the road in wet or dry conditions. The silica-rich tread formulation of tires like the Potenza Sport and P Zero (PZ4-Luxury) is designed for excellent grip and sticky adhesion to the road. However, tests show that the Potenza Sport consistently outperforms the competition (including the Pirelli) regarding lap times on wet pavement, with 3 to 4 percent shorter times. With traction SimpleScores of 9.9 for the Bridgestone and 9.7 for the Pirelli, here’s our decision:

ADVANTAGE: Bridgestone Potenza Sport

Bridgestone Potenza Sport vs. Pirelli P Zero (PZ4-Luxury) tires on handling

There are many things about the Pirelli P Zero (PZ4-Luxury) to like, including a design custom-tailored for specific fitments, Pirelli’s self-sealing technology, and noise reduction. When it comes to handling, though, the Bridgestone is ahead by a nose. Steering response is quicker and more direct, and driver feedback is superior, thanks to that tire's shoulder design and tread rigidity. SimpleScores for handling come down to 9.5 for the Pirelli and 9.9 for the Bridgestone, hence:

ADVANTAGE: Bridgestone Potenza Sport

Bridgestone Potenza Sport vs. Pirelli P Zero (PZ4-Luxury) tires on longevity

Discussing tire longevity for summer/UHP tires like the Bridgestone Potenza Sport and Pirelli P Zero (PZ4-Luxury) comes with some caveats. Like many summer/UHP tires, neither the Bridgestone nor the Pirelli has a manufacturer’s treadwear or mileage warranty. The softer, stickier tread formulation of these tires is designed for superb performance and handling, but it will stiffen up and lose traction (and possibly develop cracking) in colder weather. In other words, tires like the Bridgestone and Pirelli are intended for specialty use on performance vehicles and aren’t designed for long treadwear. Still, the Bridgestone gets a SimpleScore of 7.4 for longevity vs. 7.1 for the Pirelli, so our nod goes to:

ADVANTAGE: Bridgestone Potenza Sport

When to use each

The Pirelli and the Bridgestone are both superb performance tires. They are very good at what they’re designed for: traction, steering response, cornering ability, and driver feedback for high-performance sedans, coupes, and crossovers. What they aren’t, however, is all-season tires that can deliver that kind of performance year-round in all kinds of weather conditions, including subfreezing temperatures. If you’re the kind of driver who likes to push the envelope and test the limits of your car’s handling, braking, and overall abilities, these are both athletic tires that can give you the confidence to explore what your vehicle can do.

Which one should you choose?

As we discussed, these tires are closely matched in design and performance, with their strengths and weaknesses. However, the SimpleScore numbers don’t lie, and the Bridgestone edges out the Pirelli in those key categories. With that in mind, our recommendation would probably go to the Bridgestone Potenza Sport—but in all honesty, you can’t go wrong with either tire.

Still unsure which tire to buy? Fortunately, SimpleTire is here to help. Our helpful agents are more than happy to assist you in selecting the right tire for your ride and budget.