Both Pirelli and Toyo are world-renowned tire brands, but there are many differences between them. Pirelli is what you’d call a premium tire brand while Toyo is on the more sensible end of the scale which means that Toyo makes more affordable tires. In today’s age of technology and rapid advancements, one could argue the need to go for anything more than a budget tire.
However, it’s our job to tell you which one of these two brands is better and why. So, if you want to know how Pirelli vs Toyo tires compare, be sure to read this article!
Pirelli History
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you must’ve heard about Pirelli, a company that was founded in 1872 which makes it the second oldest tire company in the world, only trailing behind Continental. The company is situated in Milan Italy and is currently in the top 10 larger tire companies on the planet, both by name and by profit.
The Pirelli brand started growing when cars became a thing, and in the 1950s the Pirelli Tower was made which pushed the brand to even greater heights. However, nothing made Pirelli more illustrious than the fact that they invented the first wide radial tire in order to give Lancia an upper hand in a rally racing championship.
This is where Pirelli’s might can be felt the most because Pirelli is the sole tire supplier to the most famous racing organization on the planet, Formula 1. Pirelli also supplies tires for the FIM World Superbike Championship which is also a world-renowned racing organization for motorcycles.
Pirelli has recently been acquired by ChemChina which makes Pirelli’s future uncertain. However, whatever the Chinese have in store for Pirelli, they aren’t likely to stop offering performance tires which is what Pirelli does best.
Pirelli Tire Families
The collection of Pirelli tire families is leaning toward performance even in the touring tire segment which means that handling and responsiveness are what Pirelli does best. However, don’t be fooled into thinking that performance tires are the only thing Pirelli does well. That is why we are going to introduce you to the most popular and advanced Pirelli tire families.
Pirelli P Zero
The Pirelli P Zero family of tires is likely the most popular family of tires Pirelli makes. These tires are designed with ultra-high-performance needs in mind which means that these can often be seen on some of the world’s most desirable supercars and hypercars. Tires like the Pirelli P Zero PZ4 can be seen on cars such as the Lamborghini Aventador which only further reiterates how serious these tires are.
The P Zero family consists of eleven different models, five of which will fit SUV/CUVs while all eleven of them will fit regular passenger cars. Most of these are summer tires while there are some all-season options as well. It is indeed a shame that Pirelli does not offer any warranty coverage on its most serious ultra-performance tires, but that is usually the case with premium brands.
Pirelli Cinturato
The Cinturato family of tires represents the efficiency-oriented touring tire family which means that these are intended for fuel savings and fewer Co2 emissions by making their tires more aero-friendly and by lowering their respective rolling resistance. The Cinturato family offers nine different models, most of them are all-season tires, and are mostly limited to passenger cars.
We also need to mention that the Cinturato family offers dedicated winter tires which combine efficiency and winter driving in a single package.
Pirelli Scorpion
Pirelli also offers a dedicated SUV/CUV family of tires called the Pirelli Scorpion. This family consists of fifteen different models, all of which emphasize different aspects of driving. Pirelli class these as high-performance tires which is something Pirelli does with virtually all of its tires. One of the most popular models is the Pirelli Scorpion Verde which is more on the touring side of things
The Pirelli Scorpion MTR and the ATR are dedicated off-road tires, but also manage to be responsive and quite entertaining on dry tarmac. All in all, the Scorpion family offers something for everyone. These come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes which means that fitment should not be an issue.
Pirelli Sottozero
The Pirelli Sottozero family of tires offers dedicated passenger car winter tires and isn’t the most populous of tire families as it only offers three different models. The most popular one is the Pirelli Sottozero 3 which aims to strike a perfect balance between winter driving and handling. As such, these are often the winter tire of choice for supercar owners.
The most popular model in this family is the Pirelli Sottozero 3 which is an immensely capable tire in both dry and wet while also offering an amazing performance on the snow.
Pirelli Ice
The Pirelli Ice family of tires offers dedicated ice tires that also try to be as dynamic and as responsive as tires can be. These can handle extreme Nordic and Alpine driving conditions really well which is why you can often see these equipped cars going to the polar caps. There is only a single model within this family, the Ice ZERO FR which is available for passenger cars and SUVs.
Pirelli P4™
The Pirelli P4™ family of tires is designed to offer more budget-friendly tires, but with most of what makes Pirelli a premium brand. There is only one model in this family and is the Four Season Plus. This is an all-season touring tire designed to save fuel and save your wallet from overspending.
Understandably, these aren’t as comfortable as the Pirelli Cinturato family, but these do come with a 90,000-mile warranty which is indeed superior to most similar models.
Toyo History
A man called Rikimatsu Tomihisa founded the Toyo tire company back in the mid-1940s in Tokyo, Japan. As this was the time Japan was just recovering from WW2, starting a company was difficult which is why Toyo merged with a large industrial manufacturing company which pushed Toyo to the frontlines when it comes to Japanese-made tires.
The 1960s were the golden era of Toyo tires as they were finally approved for US sales which lasts until today as Toyo now has a few facilities across the US and is a fairly popular brand among US customers. Toyo also made its presence on various track racing, drag racing, and drifting events which made Toyo popular among tuners and drag racers.
Toyo also has its place in the top 10 largest tire companies in the world which means that they are not far behind Pirelli. If the recent pace is anything to go by, Toyo is on an upward spiral that could endanger Pirelli to swap its place with Toyo on the Top 10 largest tire companies list.
The reason why Toyo tires are so popular is that they truly do offer a lot of value for money. Toyo makes affordable, but quality-made tires that can be seen on both expensive and affordable cars. Thanks to innovation and clever marketing, Toyo is as big as Pirelli is if not even bigger in some regards.
Toyo Tire Families
Toyo is also a brand known for making performance tires, but Toyo offers many different tire families that really do encompass a huge market audience. We are going to list the six most famous Toyo tire families which include the Toyo Proxes, the Toyo Open Country, the Toyo Extensa, the Toyo Observe, the Toyo Celsius, and the Toyo Nano Energy.
Toyo Proxes
The Toyo Proxes family of tires is what Toyo believes an ultra-performance tire family should look and feel like. These share pretty much the same philosophy as the Pirelli P Zero family which means that these are the ones to go for if you want maximum traction, responsiveness, handling prowess, and entertainment.
The two standout models within this family are the Toyo Proxes R1R which is on par with the most dedicated performance tires within its class while the Toyo Proxes ST III is a more toned-down version of it. These are available in many shapes and sizes and can fit anything between SUVs and trucks to passenger cars.
Toyo Extensa
The Toyo Extensa family of tires consists of affordable touring tires which are some of the best touring tires in this part of the market. Models like the Toyo Extensa A/S II are the go-to tires for smaller passenger cars while the Extensa HP2 is somewhat of a bridge between an all-performance tire and a touring tire. These are usually available in the all-season form, but there are a few summer options as well.
These can also go on a wide variety of vehicles as there are a few different models within this family including SUV, truck, CUV, and passenger car tires.
Toyo Observe
The Toyo Observe family offers two dedicated winter tire models. The first one is the Observe GSI-6 while the Observe G3-Ice is what Toyo believes is the ultimate tire for ice driving. The G3-Ice can be equipped with studs that offer the best ice-driving dynamics. Moreover, these are predominantly designed for SUVs and trucks, but can also fit on some smaller cars as well.
Toyo Celsius
The Toyo Celsius family of tires offers dedicated all-weather tires which means that these are perfect for places where the weather can change rapidly. Toyo made sure to design the Celsius family to be both comfortable and refined on the road while also giving you the proper traction and aquaplaning resistance needed to combat heavy rain and even light snow.
These come in about three dozen sizes which means that they can fit on SUVs, hatchbacks, and everything in between.
Toyo Open Country
The Toyo Open Country is a tire family with somewhat of a cult following among off-road tire enthusiasts which is why it can often be seen on various trucks and SUVs. The two most prominent and arguably best models are the Toyo Open Country AT2 and the Toyo Open Country AT3 which are widely regarded as the golden standard of the family.
These are available for SUVs and trucks and come in a wide variety of sizes which means that they can fit on dedicated off-road machines and huge heavy-duty trucks as well.
Toyo Nano Energy
One of Toyo’s latest tire families is the Toyo Nano Energy family of tires which aims to offer sustainability and eco-friendliness above everything else. These are available for both SUVs and passenger cars and Toyo aims to slowly make all of its tires with the very same manufacturing philosophy. They come in SUV and passenger car sizes and are mostly on the touring tire end of the scale.
Differences Between Pirelli and Toyo
Performance
As far as ultra-performance tires are concerned, it’s hard to go against Pirelli as Pirelli is often a synonym for amazing performance tires. As such, Toyo simply can’t compare with Pirelli, but that is not to say that Toyo does not make good performance tires. Pirelli offers more performance models with higher levels of traction, stability, and especially handling where Pirelli is difficult to compare with.
Touring tires are a bit closer than one would hope for as Pirelli touring tires do seem to be slightly more agile and comfortable, but not by much. Winter tires are also a close call, but we got to give it to Pirelli as Pirelli Sottozero winter tires are absolutely amazing and some of the best winter performance tires money can buy these days.
Off-roading is where Toyo takes it as the Open Country tire family is leagues above anything Pirelli offers in the off-road segment. True, Pirelli is not overly bothered with off-road tires, but they do offer a few off-road models such as the Scorpion MTR, and ATR, which didn’t fare all that well in off-road exclusive environments.
Availability of Options
In this segment, it’s really difficult to pick a winner as both brands offer many families and quite a few models within them. Pirelli does get an upper hand for offering more performance tire models throughout while Toyo offers more utilitarian off-road-ready tires.
Price and Warranty
Even though Pirelli does offer the P4 family of tires which aims to be the more budget-friendly family, Toyo still undercuts Pirelli by quite a margin. This makes sense as Pirelli is a premium tire brand while Toyo is not. Warranty is where Pirelli takes it as the maximum Pirelli will offer you is 90,000 miles while Toyo will max out at around 80,000 miles.
Toyo does offer treadwear warranties on some of its ultra-performance tires which is not something you’ll see Pirelli doing.
Advantages Of Pirelli
- Better Performance Tires
- Better Touring Tires
- Better Winter Tires
- Slightly Better Warranty Coverage
Advantages Of Toyo
- Cheaper
- A Dedicated Sustainable Tire Family
- Warranty Coverage On Ultra Performance Tires
- Better Off-road Tires
Which Brand To Choose?
At the end of our Pirelli vs Toyo tires comparison, we can easily conclude that Pirelli is the superior brand of the two which makes perfect sense as Pirelli is a premium brand after all. However, this does not mean that Toyo makes bad tires, quite the contrary as Toyo wins this competition if the sheer value for money is concerned in all segments besides the very top-end of the ultra-performance tire market.
