Yinn
Active Member
The lighter tire will actually have a positive impact on efficiency and range in theory. In reality, you probably won't notice it. 2-5lb reduction on a wheel/tire combo that weighs in at 60lbs (plus wheel weights, dirt/grime, air weight, etc.)
Going to a 255 from a 265 does matter, it'll affect efficiency and handling. The good news is that the MX originally came with 255/45/20 so they're a tire that isn't far off in terms of working with the car.
If you don't do a lot of towing; then you may also be ok with a non XL tire in the 265/45/20 It really depends on how much you carry. The XL tire has a load rating of 2039lbs vs 1984lbs of a non-XL tire. For comparison sake, the 22" wheels would utilize the Continental DSW06 front tires in a 265/35/22 size with a 1874lbs load rating.
A speed rating is literally just that. It's the maximum speed that your tire is designed for. The speed rating of H is good enough for 130mph. While this doesn't have a direct impact on things like tire wear or traction; you'll find that tires are generally designed for their purpose and have associated characteristics (ie, winter/snow tires are rarely rated to go 186mph; super sticky max summer tires are rarely designed for a 130mph max)
Tire wear and traction are better measured by their wear and traction ratings.
Also, are you sure about the Pirelli Scorpion Verde? That's a summer tire and a bit different than the other two tires you have listed. This would be a bad tire for snow/cold weather driving. The rubber compound is designed for heat and would be rock hard in the winter. I'm also not sure it actually comes in a H rating...
It really depends on what you're comparing it to. They're still an all season tire, but every all season tire is engineered with different tendencies. Some are more wet friendly and sacrifice cold weather performance or dry performance. Some try to achieve all three. It varies.
The Pirelli Scorpion Zero; there's plenty of people who use theirs year round. I commend it for doing a pretty good job at being road compliant. I'm still on these on my 22's; while most say the 22's are a harsh ride I think it does a pretty darn good job at being comparable to the 20's. With that said, I find the performance is a bit lacking.
They're pretty good in the dry; the added tire width helps with this as well, but in wet/cold hard stop situations I wasn't a huge fan. While they've been consistent and predictable in normal driving, the hard stop was alarming for me as they gave way/slipped much more than I expected where as the OEM Contisilents are much more consistent during the stop. Ultimately, they both stopped me in time so I can't fault it too much for actual performance but more so the subjective feel.
The DWS06 (D = Dry, W = Wet, S = Snow) is one of the best all weather tires available (my subjective) because it does a phenomenal job (for an all season) in the wet and snow while being a reasonable price. If I was not switching for winter specific; this is generally my tire of choice. If I'm swapping; I generally prefer a pure summer tire for Spring/Summer and a winter tire for Fall/Winter.
I would recommend reading this to understand tire ratings: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=35&
While my preference and subjective opinion differs from these, these comparison tests may also be of interest to you:
Continental DWS06 Comparison Test
Pirelli SCorpion Zero Comparison Test
