Michelin Latitude Sport 3 vs Pirelli Scorpion Verde: We have been covering the SUV segment quite a bit with the Michelin’s Primacy SUV and Continental’s Ultra Contact 6 SUV. This time around we would like to compare two premium SUV tires which are slightly old but still extremely popular among consumers. The Latitude Sport 3 from Michelin was launch in 2013 while the Scorpion Verde was launch in 2010. Lets have a detail look into the test results of both these tires.
Table of Contents
Results
Results below were taken from the 2016 Auto Zeitung test. A total of 8 tires were tested this time around. The graph below shows the comparison between Latitude Sport 3 vs Scorpion Verde based on the relevant performance category. The Latitude Sport 3 was set as a reference hence at the 100% mark.
For the first time ever in our website history, we have the luxury to evaluate the off-road performances of both tires. The tires were tested on sand, grass, mud & gravel to simulate typical off-road condition. The tire size of interest is a 255/55 R18 which is a common tire size for Volkswagen Touareg V6 & Audi Q7 . You can check out our latest tire size table for more information.
Wet
Due to the ever persistence water layer on top of the road surface during we conditions, the coefficient of friction generated is much lower compared to a dry situation. Hence the issue of safety has become a big topic when it comes to wet road. It was so important that the EU label has wet braking as one of its three criteria. Scorpion Verde had the slight edge when it comes to wet braking, edging the Latitude Sport 3 by braking 0.8m earlier.
While in wet handling, the performance gain in wet braking was transferred into an 0.6 seconds advantage in lap time for the Scorpion Verde. While in straight aquaplaning, the two tires are very closely match with only 0.5 km/h difference in the slip velocity. Overall in the wet category, Scorpion Verde definitely has the upper hand.
Scorpion Verde:
- +1.9% in wet braking
- +1.2% in wet handling
- -0.6% in straight aquaplaning
Dry
As for dry, safety is usually not an issue as the braking distance is much longer than wet. However this is the default daily usage and the tires have to perform at a very consistence level. The tables have turned in the dry braking scene as the Scorpion Verde trails the Latitude Sport by stopping 0.4m longer. They were almost inseparable when it comes to dry handling lap times as they are 0.3 seconds apart.
Scorpion Verde:
- -1.1% in dry braking
- +0.3% in dry handling
Off-road
Sand/Grass/Mud
As both SUV tires have the potential to be driven in an off road condition, Auto Zeitung decided to have the tires tested in 4 different off road surfaces. To our surprise, the Scorpion Verde showed a really strong performance in all categories apart from grass. It was extremely strong in Mud as it disperse the mixture of soil & water quite efficiently. However the opposite could be said in grass traction as the Latitude Sport 3 shows its superiority in it.
Scorpion Verde:
- +1.2% in sand traction
- -4.6% in grass traction
- +4.1% in mud traction
Gravel
In most of the off road use cases, gravel is the most common surface you would encounter. That’s why Auto Zeitung decided to run a detail evaluation on Gravel. This is where the Scorpion Verde excels the most by having 2.2% edge in gravel braking while outpacing the Latitude Sport 3 in the handling course by 2.1 seconds.
Scorpion Verde:
- +2.2% in gravel braking
- 0% in gravel traction
- +2.1% in gravel handling
Noise
In the noise criteria, the tires were only evaluated based on its EU label. The Scorpion Verde has a 71 dB rated tire while the Latitude Sport 3 is 2 dB worse by having a 73 dB label. It would be interesting to have a raw pass by noise results but it was not rested in this test.
Scorpion Verde:
- +2.8% in exterior noise (-2 dB)
Rolling Resistance
In the current sustainability and CO2 emission climate, rolling resistance has become a much stronger driver from a consumer requirement point of view. With the biggest deficit in the test, the Latitude Sport 3 is tremendously better in terms of rolling resistance at 21.7% better compared to Scorpion Verde. This is extremely shocking to see as Scorpion Verde was ranked the worse rolling resistance tire in the test.
Scorpion Verde:
- -21.7% in rolling resistance
Price
Being the undisputed technology leader, we would expect Michelin to command the highest priced tire in the market. This was reflected somehow as the Scorpion Verde is 15% cheaper than the Latitude Sport 3.
Tire size: 255/55 R18
Latitude Sport 3 : €149
Scorpion Verde: €129
Difference: -15.5% more cheaper for Scorpion Verde.
Summary
Overall, the Scorpion Verde was clearly the best in most of the performance criteria however it was extremely weak in rolling resistance. It has strong gravel/mud performances and also has the clear lead in wet criteria. Overall from our point of view, the Scorpion Verde is the clear winner!