fourwheeler.com FOUR WHEELER SEPTEMBER 2019 47
We met the previous iteration of Pirelli’s
all-terrain tire, the Scorpion ATR, more than
a decade ago in the Nevada desert, and the tire
has since been heavily reimagined. We were
told emphasis was put toward building a tire
that was visually appealing and capable off-
road, while making no sacrifices to handling
on the blacktop. Engineers even addressed the
tire’s performance in wet grass, identifying
an off-road niche they claim to be frequently
overlooked. Our initial rendezvous with the tire
was inspiring (yet brief), so we decided to get
chummy with the Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain
Plus between Ohio and California, driving in
everything from thick mud and rocky washes to
blizzards and sand dunes.
The Mud
Summer in Ohio means rain, and rain not
only makes corn but mud as well. The blue-
gray sludge has the sucking power of your shop
vacuum, the consistency of cold pudding, and
it is where we sunk our new Pirelli tires the
same day we got ’em mounted. The^15 ⁄ 32 -inch-
deep treads fought the mud to the best of their
ability, and despite being at street pressure,
they succeeded at pulling our Jeep through a
severely rutted backwoods trail, with the help
of the moderately sized shoulder lugs and some
momentum.
The Road
Once we flung the mud from the tires, the
highway portion of the test started in a big
way—driving the open interstates from Ohio
to California. Having stepped into our new
Pirelli shoes from a set of mud tires, we were
pleased that highway noise was next to im-
perceptible. The tires took minimal weight to
balance, tracked straight on the pavement, and
appeared to be right at home on the surface we
spend the majority of our time driving. When
the summertime thunderstorms left the high-
ways resembling small waterways, we were
|>->When we dropped the pressure down to 15 psi,
the sidewalls were happy to conform to whatever
boulder the Jeep laid eyes on. The two-ply sidewall
meant that caution in extra-jagged rocks was neces-
sary to avoid sidewall failure.
Though definitely not sand
paddles, the Scorpion All
Terrain Plus warranted no com-
plaints in the dunes or washes.Let’s cut right to it:
What the Scorpion
lacks in the mud is
made up for with
snow prowess. The
Three-Peak Mountain
Snowflake even makes
it permissible on snowy
highways, which re-
quire 2WD vehicles or
vehicles with all-season
tires to don chains.