Safety Question (Tire Tread)

[Samurai of 2day]

What's up guys,

I have installed aftermarket wheels and tires on the three cars I have owned over the past 12 years or so. Every set of aftermarket tires i went with were always "all season" tires because of the changes in the weather over the seasons in the North East. Because of the different sets of all season tires I have used for years, I have never experienced problems in the rain, snow or nice beautiful days with 90 degrees and sunshine.

Recently, I switched out my old 22" wheels and all season tires for another set of 22" wheels with high performance or "summer" tires. My first set of Pirelli's (Scorpions) and the lighter wheels seem to make my X6 run like a dream.

My Question is this.... I noticed that the tread on all four tires is EXACTLY the same. meaning that if you look at the car from the rear... or the front for that matter, the tread pattern is NOT symetrical from the left tire to the right tire. Is this a dangerous tire set up to continue running on? Could the awkward tread pattern cause me trouble in rainy conditions or even cause some sort of long term damage to the xDrive system?

I have always noticed that with the all season tires and OEM tires that the tread pattern will "Mirror" each other from the left to right side of cars. Meaning that a tire that is originally on the right side cannot be mounted on the left side of the car because that would require reversing the tread pattern, causing the tire to not funtion the way it was designed to.

Any feedback from you guys on this matter would be highly appreciated. I really like the look of my car with the new shoes, but I don't want to risk any mechanical or even harmful events with a bad tire set up. I am not sure if it is normal for high performance tires to be designed this way.

Thanks in advance.

[krnboy817]

dont know which scorpions you got... atr or str or verde but the only one that seems to might have a specific tread rotation direction is the verde. i think the other tires are just made for the general mass production usage and not specified with performance in mind.

but i think i see what you are saying which is you got 4 of the same tires for same side. it would help a lot of you had pics of the tires and show us with a picture of what youre trying to explain.

[Samurai of 2day]

Originally Posted by krnboy817

dont know which scorpions you got... atr or str or verde but the only one that seems to might have a specific tread rotation direction is the verde. i think the other tires are just made for the general mass production usage and not specified with performance in mind.

but i think i see what you are saying which is you got 4 of the same tires for same side. it would help a lot of you had pics of the tires and show us with a picture of what youre trying to explain.

Thanks. I will post pics as soon as I get the chance. You are right. My concern is that I have 4 of the same tires for both sides of the car amd i am wondering if it is dangerous to ride like that, or if I am being overly cautious. i will definitely get so before and after picks up to help with the description.

[Samurai of 2day]

Sorry I havn't been able to put up pics of the tires in question. Due to the recent weather condtions, and now I have been traveling for work purposes, I will get pics up at some point, but I am hoping that this information will help me get answers to my question.

The tires I am reffering to in the first post on this thread are called Pirreli Scorpion Zero Assimetrico.

If anyone can either confirm or deny if it is perfectly normal for these tires to have the EXACT same tread pattern on all four corners, regardless of what side of the car they are mounted on to.... or if the tread pattern should "mirror" themselves from the left side of the car to the right side of the car like all of the all season tire sets I have gone through over the years have always done.... I would really appreciate any feedback I can get from those that have dealt with a similar issue with tires.

P.S. : I am well aware that the answer to my question could in fact, be found in the name of the tires themselves (Assimetrico), but because this is the first set of tires I have ever owned that did not have a specific tread pattern for the left side of the car versus the right side of the car, that end up "mirroring" each side, I was just looking for peace of mind from some of you knowledgeable folks out there. Thanks again.

[Samurai of 2day]

BUMP

Just wondering if anyone has any feedback concerning this matter.

Thanks

[Cdnrockies]

Assimetrico's are non-directional. Doesn't matter what corner they go on. We have a set.

http://www.pirelli.com/tire/ca/en/ca...lication%3DSUV

[Silver-Bolt]

Temperature will be your enemy. Below about 45 degrees summer tires turn into bricks. The colder the temp the harder the tire will become.

[Samurai of 2day]

Originally Posted by Cdnrockies

Assimetrico's are non-directional. Doesn't matter what corner they go on. We have a set.

http://www.pirelli.com/tire/ca/en/ca...lication%3DSUV

Awesome. Thank for the info. It's the first set of non-directional tread pattern tires i've had when compared to the nexxen's and toyo's all seasons I have used in the past which always specified a direction of travel.

I was a little concerned for nothing. Stay safe on the roads!

[Samurai of 2day]

Originally Posted by Silver-Bolt

Temperature will be your enemy. Below about 45 degrees summer tires turn into bricks. The colder the temp the harder the tire will become.

Thanks for the heads up. This is good to know because although I know I shouldn't, I run my after market wheel set up all year round. I have always gone with an all season tire set.

Now that i have a summer set, I will follow your advice and get into the habbit of switching out my wheels when the winter comes in.... good thing I still have the old custom wheels I took off of her about two months ago ,lol

[dtwyim]

Not sure about your tires. But I have some Pirelli snows that are not directional in rotation but has an inside and outside to the tire that has to be mounted accordingly.

[Samurai of 2day]

Originally Posted by dtwyim

Not sure about your tires. But I have some Pirelli snows that are not directional in rotation but has an inside and outside to the tire that has to be mounted accordingly.

I understand what you mean. All of the tire sets i have gone through in the past have had an arrow imprinted on the sidewall to show the direction of travel. The Pirelli set i have now does not, but thanks to the info provided by you and a coulpe others on this thread, i realize that this is ok and I don't have to worry about anything except for cold temps with my current wheel set up.

Like you said, as long as you mount them properly, all is well. Stay safe on the roads!