Can somebody enlighten me ?
I have P Zero's on my car that are supposedly directional, however I think that they only fit one side of the car, the tyre wall has "outer" moulded into it so that you can tell which way around to fit them.This is fine on one side but on the other the tyre pattern actually faces the other way.
Is this correct or do they make them in two directions and I have been stitched into buying the wrong tyres?

Chalkie,
The PZero Assimetricos I have used on my last 2 Imprezas were NOT directional, but did have an outer face.

If your tyres are the directional version, which I believe does exist I'm fairly sure it will have a directional arrow/and or rotation sign on them.
If there is no arrow or instruction regarding 'ROTATION' on the tyres, you just have to ensure that the outer edge of all the tyres, is on the outboard edge of the wheels.

The tread pattern varies across the tyre, with a bigger block pattern at the outboard edge of the tyre.

Cheers MTR

MTR
Thankyou for your reply, I am sure you are right however, on the inner third of the tyres you have what I would describe as an arrow pattern which are designed to disperse the water faster,this is fine on one side but on the other the arrows point backwards so I would think that this would mean that they wouldn't work as well as they might if they were opposite.If you can imagine Michelin Pilot sports or something similar with two of them on the wrong way round this is what mine are like, but not so obvious because the arrow type pattern only covers a smaller section of the tyre.
(or am I just being THICK)?
Thanks again for your reply.

Chalkie

I had a similar dilemna when I purchased some wheels and Pzeros off a P1 and then couldn't decide which was the best way to fit them. I had a look at a P1 in the showroom, and they are fitted as you described with the arrows facing in different directions on the left and right of the car. Strange, but I guess it must be correct.

Dales

Just remember the difference between Aysimtric pattern and what is classed as directional.
The foot prints of each should look like this.

Aysimetrics have 'handed' left and right tyres and the footprint looks like this:

//// \\

//// \\

(with a tread pattern added as well.

Directional tyres (like SO2's or T1 S's) look like this (imagine Army Sergeants stripes laid upside down on the floor at point of contact).


/ /


/ /

My freehand drawing is even worse! http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/eek.gif


Mike. http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by Mike Tuckwood (edited 04 May 2001).]

Mike, Thanks for the reply, does this mean that P Zeros should be supplied in pairs ie near and offside?

Yes -- they should be different on either side (that's why they've got 'Outer' on them). The bit on the outside has drainage channels, whereas the bit on the inside seems to have less.

I'm sure that the P-Zero's are not directional.

They are indeed assymetrical, meaning that one side of the tyre is not the same as the other.

The important thing with assymetrical tyres (the old Yokohama A008's, which were the first assymetrical tyres are an example of this), is that attention is paid to ensuring that the part of the tyre marked as outer does indeed face the outside.

I've got 225/35ZR18 P-zero's on my P1 and they have no direction arrows.

Regards
Kurt

Mr Data,
I went through quite a few sets of A008's on my XR2, and yes they are assymetrical.
But I definately remember a Michelin XAS back in the early 1970's that was assymetrical.
A chap I knew with a Volvo P1800 (the Saints car) had them on his, and a chap with a TR6 had them as well.

Don't remember if they were directional or not though.

Cheers MTR

Mr Data, Aoo8Rs are assymetric as you say, but they are also directional (and this also changes whether the axle is driven or not (you could buy an Aoo8R (A) or a (B) depending on the corneri it was going on.

cheers ---john---

John

The A008's i am referring to are the ones that were around about 14 years ago. Don't confuse them with A008-R's.

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/wink.gif

The words directional, assymetrical, handed or whatever only refers to the tread pattern.

PZeros have an assymetrical tread pattern, so just make sure the side marked 'outer' is on the outside. The same tyre can be fitted front or rear, left or right.

Bridgestone's SO-2 has a directional tread pattern, so must be fitted in matched pairs for left and right hand sides of the car. You can swap them front to rear, but not left to right.

Slicks, obviously without any tread, are not marked at all.

Richard.

Wow, what a lot of different answers some very wrong. Do not worry the Pzeros you have are not directional, yes they do look as if they should be with their / bits but as long as the outer bit says outer on the outer you are fine!
This is a great advantage IMHO, as most circuits are clockwise it means you can switch from one side of the car to the other and even out tyre wear which you can't with directional.
Surely thats all cleared up now