Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus vs Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring tires

When two of the oldest tire makers in the world compete to find a place on your car, the battle is sure to get enticing. The Italian Pirelli and the American Cooper face-off as to who offers the best all-season tire, which can provide great value, performance, comfort, traction, and longevity year-round. Let’s stack the P4 Persist AS Plus and the CS5 Ultra Touring against each other to know which is a better all-season tire.

Designed for coupes, sedans, CUVs, SUVs, and minivans, the Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus and the Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring are dependable all-season tires that offer superb traction, handling, longevity, and durability. Backed by long limited manufacturer tread life warranties, both tires provide excellent year-round performance in dry, wet, and light snow. So, which one should you pick? Let’s compare Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus vs. Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring tires based on our proprietary SimpleScore system and find out the winner.

Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus tires

Engineered for coupes, sedans, minivans, and CUVs, the Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus features a unique all-season rubber compound for consistent performance in dry, wet, and light snow. While the optimized tread pattern reduces noise to return a quiet and comfortable ride, the notched center rib returns excellent handling and stability year-round. The longitudinal grooves allow quick water removal from the tread for increased hydroplaning resistance, while the dense sipes allow enhanced grip and traction by providing extra biting edges. Backed by an 85,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty, the P4 Persist AS Plus features a special construction that promotes even wear and reduces uneven wear.

Boasting an excellent overall SimpleScore of 9.3, the Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus returns exceptional grip, traction, handling, and longevity.

Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring tires

Introduced in 2014, the Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring features a modern tread design and rubber compound that not only provides adequate traction and grip, but also promotes uniform wear throughout the tire’s lifecycle. While the Stabiledge Technology boosts dry traction and stability, the multiple sipes provide extra biting edges for improved wet performance. The circumferential grooves with connected lateral grooves ensure quick water evacuation to mitigate the risk of hydroplaning and boost wet traction. To keep you updated on the tread life, the CS5 Ultra Touring features a Wear Square indicator that lets you know the approximate tread left. It is backed by a 70,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty.

With an overall SimpleScore of 8.4, the Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring returns responsive handling, enhanced control, better cornering, and longer service life.

Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus vs Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring tires on traction

Traction ensures the tire continues its forward motion without skidding. Be it ultra-high-performance or all-season, traction continues to be the most vital aspect of the tire. Both tires promise great traction in different driving conditions.

With an excellent traction score of 9.6 out of 10, the Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus delivers superior grip and traction in dry, wet, and light snow thanks to the wide grooves that reduce the risk of hydroplaning by removing the water quickly and boosting the wet traction. At the same time, dense sipes provide extra biting edges for enhanced snow performance.

Scoring 8.5 in traction, the Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring features a unique rubber compound and extra biting edges for maximum stability and traction in dry, wet, and light snow. While the Stabiledge Technology of the CS5 Ultra Touring boosts dry traction, the circumferential grooves evacuate water quickly to resist the risk of hydroplaning and increase wet traction.

With a superior score, the Pirelli is way ahead of the Cooper in traction.

ADVANTAGE: Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus

Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus vs Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring tires on handling

A responsive steering doubles the joy of riding while improving the safety quotient. Both all-season tires promise fantastic handling and stability in dry, wet, and light snow throughout the year.

Scoring 8.7 in handling, the Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus features a notched center rib for effective steering response and solid shoulder blocks for enhanced cornering abilities in different driving conditions throughout the year.

Matching the handling score of Pirelli at 8.7, the Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring comes with an asymmetric tread design with interconnect center rib and Stabiledge Technology for optimum steering response in dry, wet, and snow.

With the same scores, it’s a tie as both tires are neck-and-neck in handling. Pirelli, with its rich motorsports heritage, has always been known for its handling prowess, but Cooper has done substantial work on the CS5 Ultra Touring to bring it to par.

ADVANTAGE: Tie

Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus vs Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring tires on longevity

Longevity defines the number of years or miles a tire can survive. The P4 Persist AS Plus and CS5 Ultra Touring feature an all-season rubber compound that assures a longer service life.

The Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus continues to impress with its SimpleScore and grabs 9.9 out of 10 in longevity. While its optimized tread pattern promotes uniform tread wear throughout its life cycle, the 85,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty of the Pirelli tire highlights its strong durability and longevity performance.

The Cooper scores 8.8 in durability thanks to the balanced tread design that features a modern rubber compound and tread profile, which promotes uniform wear and assures a longer service life. Backed by a 70,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty, the CS5 Ultra Touring has a Wear Square Indicator that helps you identify the remaining tread life.

With an almost perfect (9.9) longevity score, the Pirelli tire outshines the Cooper.

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.

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 massive edge over the Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring, as it beats the latter in traction and longevity while leveling scores in handling. Let’s look at the prices to see whether that could prove lucrative enough for a buyer to go for Cooper tires.

Comparing their prices for the 215/65R16 tire size, the Pirelli costs roughly $114 per tire, and four such tires cost $456, while the Cooper tire costs approximately $108 per tire, and four tires cost $432 (a difference of $24).

Based on SimpleScore, you can pick the Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus if you:

• Drive vehicles like the Honda CR-V, Hyundai Santa Fe, and Volvo XC60
• Prefer better longevity (9.9 vs 8.8)
• Want excellent traction (9.6 vs 8.5)
• Want a longer mileage warranty (85,000 vs 70,000 miles)

You can go for the Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring if you:

• Drive vehicles like the Chrysler Town and Country, Jeep Renegade, or Honda CR-V.
• Want the tire with the higher speed rating
• Want to monitor tire wear through the Wear Square Indicator

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.