Milan, November 26, 1998 - At the 1998 Essen Motor Show,
from 27 November to 6 December, one of the world’s most important
tuner events, Pirelli will unveil a new range of 19 and 20 inch
diameter supertyres.

The ultra-high performance Pirelli PZero and P7000 car tyres are,
in fact, available today in 10 sizes which, in their latest,
extreme incarnation of 19 and 20 inch diameter, enable not only the
” tuners” but also the car manufacturers themselves to experiment
with the kind of concept cars the creation of which was considered
impossible until today.
The first of this new breed to appear was the futuristic XK180
roadster by Jaguar, the world’s first car to be fitted with 20 inch
diameter Pirelli PZero tyres. Typical of the on-going close
technological co-operation between Jaguar and Pirelli, after having
adopted 18 inch tyres as original equipment for the XKR coupe, the
two companies decided to explore the potential of the giant 20 inch
rims fitted to the ” concept roadster” . The availability of the
Pirelli PZero in such extreme sizes today permits more audacious
new car development work on models like the Audi A8, BMW 7 Series,
Mercedes-Benz S Class and Lexus 400.

But in the meantime, the Callaway C12 supercar, created using the
Chevrolet Corvette as a base, became the world’s first to adopt 19
inch diameter PZero tyres, developed in special sizes 295/30ZR19
and 335/25ZR19, as original equipment to guarantee the C12
hyper-sports handling.
With its 19 inch PZero and P7000 tyres, Pirelli make it possible
for tuners to work with much more extensively sold models, like the
BMW 5 Series, Mercedes-Benz E Class and Audi A6: vehicles which,
with a 19 inch wheel group, can achieve at one and the same time
both sports car handling and the kind of drive comfort expected of
their class.

Now, Pirelli plans to bring that same kind of advanced sports car
handling with comfort to mass produced cars like the BMW 3 Series,
Audi A4, Mercedes-Benz CLK. It is for this reason that the tyre
maker developed a range of tyres which – while of extreme diameter
- maintain a limited tread width in order to be perfectly suited to
the exceptionally confined space of such car bodies and their wheel
housings.
The trend to the giant rim is clearly recognizable also in the SUV
segment, where Pirelli already has the 19″ Scorpion Zero range. The
new 20″ sizes Scorpion Zero will be soon available.
So the Essen Motor Show will be an opportunity to see the applied
technology of the Pirelli ultra-low profile and its considerable
innovative potential in the hands of the tuners: from BMWs by
Hartge to Alfa Romeos by Hormann, the Opels of Irmscher, the
Porsches of Techart, the Renaults of Elia and the Fords of
Schwabengarage.