Pirelli P6000s – why you should ditch them before they ditch you
The Pirelli P6000 was a tyre manufactured in the late 1990s, fitted as standard to the Gti-6, Audi TT as well as some Jaguars and Vauxhalls.
In some respects the tyre has a lot of merit – it is very hard-wearing with reports of some tyres lasting well over 50,000 miles. It also produces adequate grip in dry conditions for most run of the mill cars.
However wet conditions are another story – The P6000s have a fearsome reputation in wet weather – producing understeer and scary snap lift off oversteer, even when driving fairly sedately. Browse any review site on P6000s and there will be countless stories of vague feedback, scary handling, and often a reports of cars pirouetting in the wet!
They also lack a progressiveness present in other performance tyres – when the car does lose traction and slide it struggles to regrip, and when it does, its liable to snap violently in the other direction.
The P6000s are old tyre technology now and the game has moved on so much in the past 20 years. These tyres have a well earned nickname of “ditchfinder” across the whole motoring community despite still being fitted to many cars on the road.
With the Pirelli’s legacy of 306s ploughing through hedgerows littering farmer’s fields, isn’t it time you ditched them before they ditch you!
