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Last updated 7/10/2024 - Originally published 7/10/2024
Written by SimpleTire
Light trucks, Jeeps, and SUVs are everywhere on American roads these days. They’re dependable, practical, and far more comfortable than the bare-bones work-oriented trucks of a generation ago. Many of these trucks and SUVs are, of course, equipped with four-wheel-drive. For any driver who wants to get the most out of their 4WD truck’s performance potential, all-terrain tires are the best way to go. All-season tires and highway-terrain tires have their advantages, but they aren’t designed for the durability, traction, and control that are necessary for off-road conditions and terrain. The best all-terrain tires can deliver that kind of performance, yet they are also compatible with day-to-day driving on the highway, with low noise, competent handling, a refined ride, good wear properties and solid road manners. That’s also a departure from the tough-but-rough all-terrain tires that were around decades ago. With that in mind, we’re going to look at a pair of all-terrain tires from premium brands: the Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar from Goodyear, and the Scorpion All-Terrain Plus from Pirelli in this head-to-head comparison.
The Wrangler product family and the Scorpion lineup have both been around for a long time, with a lengthy track record of performance and thousands of satisfied drivers to show for themselves. These are both competent tires and are pretty evenly matched with each other in terms of quality and performance. While the Pirelli Scorpion All-Terrain Plus is a tire from a manufacturer predominantly known for its Ultra-high performance (UHP) tires, the Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar has made a name for itself due to the revolutionary Kevlar tread compound.
Are you acquainted with SimpleTire’s SimpleScore system? SimpleScore is the ratings system that the SimpleTire team devised to give you a quick, easy, at-a-glance idea of a tire’s strengths and weaknesses. We look at a tire’s specs, the manufacturer's information, customer reviews, and other data points, then process that to a 1-10 numerical score for the categories of traction, handling, and longevity for the tire, along with an overall average SimpleScore rating. For the Pirelli Scorpion All-Terrain Plus and Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar, the SimpleScore numbers look like this:
Pirelli Scorpion All-Terrain Plus:
- Traction: 8.7
- Handling: 8.3
- Longevity: 8.3
- Overall average SimpleScore: 8.4
Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar:
- Traction: 9.6
- Handling: 9.2
- Longevity: 8.3
- Overall average SimpleScore: 9.0
Whether you’re talking about sneakers, bowling balls, or tires, anything that ranks solidly in the 8s and 9s on a scale of 1-10 naturally has something going for it. As handy as SimpleScore numbers are, though, they present an overhead view that may not give you the full picture of a tire. Let’s go in and get a closer look at this product line comparison:
Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus tires
First up in our matchup is the Scorpion All-Terrain Plus from Pirelli. The Scorpion All Terrain Plus is a tire that’s nothing if not versatile; it’s designed for consistent traction in wet, dry, or light winter conditions with a system of circumferential and angled grooves that resist hydroplaning as they divert water from the tire’s contact patch. In addition, a system of high-density 3D sipes with angled and lateral grooves significantly improves all-season grip. For rough or slippery off-road terrain, there’s an aggressive all-terrain tread with irregularly shaped tread blocks and sharp edges for great braking and control. Winter traction is especially robust with the Scorpion All-Terrain Plus, earning it the 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake certification for severe winter service. With a 55,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty, tread life is also excellent, thanks to its robust internal construction and a tough, damage-resistant rubber formulation. The Scorpion All-Terrain Plus is widely regarded as one of the best all-terrain tires on the market and has gone a long way to justify that reputation. SimpleTire’s price on the Pirelli Scorpion All-Terrain Plus starts at $139.16 per tire $(556.64 for 4 tires).
Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar tires
Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure With Kevlar: just the name by itself sounds tough. If you expect this Goodyear to be a durable tire with tenacious performance off the pavement, you’d be making the right call with that. The Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar is designed with two high-tensile steel belts over a polyester casing and a double layer of spiral-wrapped DuPont Kevlar cord (yes, the fiber that’s found in ballistic vests and body armor) for enhanced load rating as well as resistance to cuts and punctures. The Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar also features a cut-and-chip-resistant tread formulation (with an even more heavy-duty rubber compound for Pro-Grade versions of the tire) and is protected by a 60,000 mile warranty, helping it pull in a very respectable SimpleScore of 8.6 for longevity. Apart from its high tread depth and aggressive all-terrain block tread, the Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar also has the Three Peak Mountain Snowflake certification for severe winter service. The Kevlar-reinforced Durawall sidewall and shoulder deliver a lot more than just off-road durability– they also provide the rigidity that’s necessary for accurate and quick handling and steering response for a stellar SimpleScore of 9.7. Long wear, dependable traction, and a ride that’s controlled and quiet– that’s what you can expect with this great all-terrain tire from Goodyear. SimpleTire’s price on the Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar starts at $167.96 per tire ($671.84 for 4 tires).
Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus vs Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar tires on traction
How do the Pirelli and the Goodyear stack up against each other when it comes to traction? The Pirelli Scorpion All-Terrain Plus weighs in with a SimpleScore of 8.7 for traction, vs 9.6 for the Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar. That’s a pretty significant gap in SimpleScore numbers, but both tires have the 3PMSF rating for severe winter service, so neither of them is likely to let you down when there’s deep snow on the roads. Both tires have aggressive all-terrain block tread patterns and both are very capable in mud, loose dirt, rocks, and rough terrain, but the specialized tread formulation of the Goodyear gives it an edge in traction as well as durability. Our decision:
ADVANTAGE: Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar
Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus vs Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar tires on handling
When you’re talking about handling properties for an all-terrain tire on a light truck or SUV, nobody really expects the kind of cornering ability and nimble steering response you’d get from a performance tire. Still, the Goodyear comes to the table with a very strong SimpleScore of 9.3 for handling vs 8.2 for the Pirelli. It may be a surprise for some of you who might be thinking of Pirelli’s stature in terms of UHP tires, but that’s how it is. For any tire, it must be able to handle the weight and inertia of a vehicle that’s trying to continue in a straight line as it makes a turn or rounds a corner. A tire that doesn’t have a rigid enough shoulder and tread face will deform and experience “tread squirm” from those stresses, with the inboard side of the tire sometimes losing contact with the pavement. The Kevlar cord in the Goodyear gives it that rigidity, helping to resist tread squirm and delivering a steering response that’s sharp and precise and cornering ability that’s accurate and predictable. Our decision:
ADVANTAGE: Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar
Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus vs Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar tires on longevity
When it comes to longevity ratings, the Goodyear and the Pirelli are locked in a dead heat with each other, with both registering a very respectable 8.3. In most cases, the limited manufacturer’s tread wear warranty is what tells the story when it comes to SimpleScore numbers for longevity, but the Goodyear has 60,000 miles worth of coverage, more than the 50,000-55,000 mile range from Pirelli. Expect to see conical ejectors on the Pirelli that provide self-cleaning properties. Seeing that there’s a disparity between the two but they both come out with the same SimpleScore, that’s when we defer to customer reviews, and those customer reviews indicate that both tires are durable and have great wear properties as well as being very tough and damage-resistant in off-road situations. Our decision:
ADVANTAGE: TIE
When to use each
The Pirelli Scorpion All-Terrain Plus and Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar are both excellent choices for durable off-road performance and for delivering composed highway rides. Both tires are otherwise great choices if you have a 4WD truck and regularly have to traverse ranch roads, logging roads, oilfield lease roads, or other difficult terrain, or if you just like to be able to go off the pavement for camping trips, fishing, or fun. Additionally, the 3PMSF certification means that both tires are fully capable of dealing with tough winter weather and snow that lingers on the roads for days on end. Apart from their high strength as off-road tires capable of great winter performance, they are also designed so that you don’t have to make any serious compromises in the kind of ride, handling, and road manners expected over long interstate trips or daily driver duties.
Which one should you choose?
Here’s what it all comes down to. Both the Pirelli and the Goodyear deliver much the same kind of traction, durability, handling, road manners, and overall performance, but the Goodyear edges out the Pirelli in just about every category. That doesn’t mean that the Pirelli is an inferior tire, because there are plenty of drivers with Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus tires who are very happy with them and will buy them again or recommend them to friends. So let’s compare prices, with the Goodyear starting at $167.96 per tire vs. $139.16 for the Pirelli. That’s a pretty considerable price spread between two tires that compare well with each other, so the advice from the SimpleTire team here would be: go with the tire that suits your budget best.
Still not sure which tire to buy? Fortunately, SimpleTire is here to help, and our helpful agents will be more than happy to assist you in selecting the right tire for your ride and budget.