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Last updated 11/22/2024 - Originally published 11/22/2024
Written by SimpleTire
When one of the oldest tire makers in the world competes against a new entrant, experience is bound to play a major role. However, one is likely to be surprised while looking at how well the new entrant handles and displays long tread life. We’re talking about a standoff between the legendary Italian manufacturer Pirelli and South Korean tire maker Kumho, with the former having originally arrived two centuries ago! This face-off aims to find out which is the best all-season tire that offers a great mix of year-round performance, value, comfort, traction, and longevity. Let’s stack the Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus and the Kumho Solus TA51a against each other for the above purpose.
Designed for coupes, sedans, CUVs, and minivans that fall under the passenger vehicle category, the Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus and the Kumho Solus TA51a are dependable all-season tires that offer superb traction, handling, longevity, and durability. Backed by fairly long tread life warranties, both tires provide excellent year-round performance in dry, wet, and light snow. To decide which is the best one for your vehicle, read through our Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus vs Kumho Solus TA51a tires comparison that is based on our proprietary SimpleScore system.
Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus tires
The Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus is designed for use on sedans, coupes, minivans, and CUVs. Its special all-season rubber formula ensures reliable performance in dry, wet, and light snow conditions. The notched center rib maintains year-round outstanding handling and stability, while the optimized tread pattern minimizes noise for a quiet and comfortable ride. While the thick sipes provide additional biting edges for better grip and traction, the longitudinal grooves enable quick water evacuation from the tread for increased resistance to hydroplaning. The P4 Persist AS Plus is available with a higher tread life warranty, the details of which will be given soon. This tire is made with a unique structure that encourages even wear.
With an outstanding overall SimpleScore of 9.4, the Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus has the characteristics that make it a worthy option in its segment.
Kumho Solus TA51a tires
One of the greatest selling points of the Kumho Solus TA51a is that it ensures a whisper-quiet ride thanks to the ribs in the main channel grooves that break up the resonant noise. The tire features a special high-grip compound for consistent year-round traction and is available with a variable limited manufacturer tread life warranty. As all-season tires, all Kumho Solus tires are more sports-oriented than family-oriented, which means great performance and handling on dry, wet, and light snow roads. A lengthy mileage warranty also makes this an attractive purchase, as does its price point. There are wide grooves to remove water and provide better wet traction. Don’t worry about stability on various surfaces, as the 3D interlocking sipes are responsible for the same as well as steering control. You’ll be able to obtain impressive mileage figures as it features a low rolling resistance design. This tire is offered in several sizes and is suitable for an above-average SimpleScore of 8.8.
Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus vs Kumho Solus TA51a tires on traction
A tire's ability to maintain forward motion without skidding is known as traction. We believe that traction is still the most important feature of tires, whether they are all-season, Ultra-high Performance (UHP), or any other category. In varying driving circumstances, both tires have been designed to provide high traction.
The Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus features wide grooves that quickly remove water and increase wet traction. Dense sipes also add additional biting edges for better traction and snow performance, and the tire gets a special rubber compound. For superior grip and traction in dry, wet, and light snow conditions, the P4 Persist AS Plus receives an exceptional average traction score of 9.6.
The Kumho Solus TA51a's high dispersion silica and multipurpose polymers in the tread maximize grip during the winter. Four circumferential grooves are a key feature for effective water evacuation and inhibiting hydroplaning. The best traction is achieved using 3D interlocking sipes. The differences in the two rubber compounds are likely to be the major cause for different scores, as the Solus TA51a scores an 8.6 rating.
ADVANTAGE: Pirelli Persist AS Plus
Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus vs Kumho Solus TA51a tires on handling
The pleasure of riding is doubled and the driving confidence is increased with responsive steering. Both tires are designed for great handling and stability in dry, rainy, and light snow conditions during the year. With a handling score of 8.8, the Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus boasts strong shoulder blocks for improved cornering ability in a variety of year-round driving situations and a notched center rib for efficient steering response.
For the Kumho Solus TA51a, a silica Chamfer block edge bites into the road to ensure secure braking performance on wet roads. Great contact with the road during acceleration and braking shows great handling performance, leading to a handling score of 8.6.
This is one battle where the Kumho fights tooth and nail with the Pirelli but falls slightly short.
ADVANTAGE: Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus
Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus vs Kumho Solus TA51a tires on longevity
The longevity of a tire refers to how many years or miles it may last. Both tires feature specialized all-season rubber compounds and high tread depths, though the Pirelli is slightly ahead of the Kumho in the latter.
With a tremendous longevity SimpleScore of 9.9, the Pirelli P4 Persist AS boasts remarkable endurance and tread life that are further highlighted by its 85,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty. An optimized tread pattern supports uniform tread wear throughout its life cycle, as do the dense sipes.
On the other hand, there are 3D interlocking sipes on the Kumho Solus TA51a that also ensure uniform wear. A low rolling resistance design will allow you to derive the maximum mileage from these tires. The strength and durability of Kumho Solus tires are guaranteed with a strengthened belt construction. There’s a limited tread life warranty of 75,000 miles for T-rated sizes and 65,000 miles for H-rated sizes, further backed by Kumho’s Road Hazard warranty and a 30-day trial. As a result, this tire has an amazing average longevity rating of 9.3.
ADVANTAGE: Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus
When to use each
All-season tires are designed to offer maximum traction, grip, handling, durability, and control in different driving conditions like dry, wet, and light snow. Designed for year-round performance, these tires come with a longer mileage warranty than the other tire types. Low rolling resistance on Kumho Solus tires leads to good fuel economy and the tires are built strong and durable. Pirelli tires may be known the world over for their handling performance, but the truth is that they’re just slightly ahead of the Kumho in this comparison.
If the weather in your region is unpredictable with heavy snow and ice expected anytime, you should pick the all-weather tires as they offer the same year-round usability as the all-season tires but with a greater resistance to lower temperatures and better braking, grip, and traction in moderate to severe winter weather conditions. However, if the temperature remains below 45 degrees Fahrenheit for most of the year, dedicated winter tires should be the ideal way.
Which one should you choose?
To conclude, the Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus has a major edge over the Kumho Solus TA51a as it is ahead on all the parameters tested here, despite the handling scores being fairly close. However, that doesn’t mean that the Solus TA51a is a bad tire. Let’s show you the prices and tell you which one would be lighter on your pocket here.
While comparing their prices for the 215/65R16 tire size, we were surprised to see the results. The Pirelli turned out to be cheaper than the Kumho, costing $85.43 per tire ($341.72 for 4) as opposed to $109 per tire ($436 for 4) for the latter.
Based on the above SimpleScores, you can pick the Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus if you:
- Drive vehicles like the Hyundai Santa Fe, Honda CR-V, and Volvo XC60
- Want a longer manufacturer tread life warranty
- Prefer better longevity
- Want the cheaper tire
Here’s why the Kumho Solus TA51a can also be a good choice:
- You drive vehicles like the Subaru Outback, Nissan Rogue, and Dodge Caravan
- Higher strength and durability
- Whisper-quiet ride
Still not sure which tire to buy? Fortunately, SimpleTire is here to help, and our agents will be more than happy to assist you in selecting the right tire for your ride and budget.