Pirelli  Winter Sottozero 3 Run Flat

Overall, I am pleased with these. This is my second type of performance tire on my 335, the first being Dunlop WinterSport 3D (non-runflat). Compared to the WinterSports, snow and ice traction is improved. I also feel that dry and wet traction is superior to the WinterSports as well. Feedback/steering responsiveness is slightly better than the WinterSports, but that is most likely due to the stiffer sidewall construction on the Sottozeros since they are the Run Flat versions. On the negative side, the ride is stiffer due to the run flat nature of the tire and road noise is noticeable louder (but not terrible) than the WinterSports.

When these wear out I think I'll try the non-runflat version of this tire as it has been really good as a performance Winter tire here in NJ. I've got more confidence when the weather turns bad with these and wear seems to be very good so far (about 5,000 miles and maybe 1/32" of treadwear).

Excellent grip in rain, slush, snow and cold surfaces in general. Best grip below 40F, as it is kinda noisy and mushy above that temp, and wear exponentially faster, as we all know about winter tires. The rubber gets really soft above 60F, so I wouldn't recommend high speeds as strange steering yaw begins to happen. In that case: tire inflation - a slightly higher than recommended pressure is key I found, if you must drive far.
Really nice and wide rain channels, great grip in wet or flooded conditions. Excellent hydroplaning resistance, especially on my lightweight vehicle.
Snow grip is much better than average, plenty of sipes to get thru the snow. Feels like driving on summer grass!
Tires do not like high speed corners too much, as they groan, but it could be the snow-packing that's groaning, not sure :)

This is my second set (First were series II) and I have to say that the 3's are far better than the 2 series was. That said, I'm a high mileage driver and got 3 seasons out of the first set (roughly Thanksgiving to end of March). around 30-35K mi total?. This tire is much better all around, ride, resistance to hydroplaning, snow traction light and heavy. Choices are very limited in run flats in this size, handling is a little different because I go from the standard stagger with 245/40's in the rear to 225/45's all around with the winter tires, but still comfortable and sure footed in a wide variety of weather conditions and temperatures. With previous set, as temp increased (steady mid 40's & above) seemed wear increased rapidly. Have only had this set on 1 season & took them off early because I had to put new summer all seasons on this year, but would suspect the cold/wet weather compound would wear equally as fast in warmer temperatures.

Excellent all round performance. Where I live we get cold temperatures and occasional light snow, with the odd heavy snowfall thrown in, so I bias my selection of winter tires to dry pavement. I must admit I was very pleasantly surprised by these tires. They truly feel like summer tires on dry pavement, and are way ahead of my old Blizzak OEM runflats for noise, comfort and handling in the snow.

In Massachusetts the 9 feet of snow this winter set a record. These tires got me through when others were in trouble, including climbing icy hills. The steering responsiveness was better than with these winter tires than it was with the all-season Pirelli P-7's that came on the car.

Consumer Reports regards these tires as inferior to the Michelin Xice Xi3's that we put on my wife's Tiguan on ice and snow but superior on wet and dry surfaces. If there is a difference between these two brands, it was not significant enough for me to notice. My car was never in trouble with the Pirellis on ice or snow and her car was never in trouble on wet or dry surfaces. I bought the Pirellis for my car because they came as run-flats. I can recommend them most highly.

I rate tires subjectively based on expectations for the type and conditions, i.e. a winter tire would never objectively get a 10/10 in the dry but it can when you consider what it's intended for. These are very impressive tires in almost any winter condition. This is my second winter season with a mix of city and highway driving in central to northern Minnesota including up to 10" of snow and temps of -40 (yes, actual air temp!). They've never skipped a beat. On the highway there's basically no discernible difference in tire noise from the OEM all seasons (yes that's partly due to the car itself) and even during an emergency braking event due to an accident ahead they never felt unstable in terms of braking. Cornering is only slightly off the pace of the all seasons, an interchange ramp marked at 40mph that I can easily take without slowing from highway speed on regular tires I only need to slow about 5mph with these.

In terms of snow/slush/wet conditions, you'd think they're a dedicated wet weather tire in the rain but that's what I expect from a high end winter tire with the extra sipes and tread blocks. Slush is similar to hydroplaning conditions and that's the only chink in the armor, I have definitely noticed a need to slow a bit more than my Wrangler with Blizzak DM-V2 tires, but again this is expected because the Pirelli blocks aren't nearly as high (which is why they blow the Blizzaks away for cornering & stability as the counterpoint). Mixed conditions are where they really shine, highway or city driving with partially cleared roads, changing from dry to ice or light snow, again partially due to the AWD system but the tires also handle it with ESP very rarely kicking in.

Deep snow I'm limited to the car itself which can handle about 10" before the bodywork starts to be the limiting factor. Again, based on realistic expectations, the tires chewed through that much snow at a slow consistent speed with reasonable inputs.
Very impressed and will buy again!

More sporting than the OEM Conti Pro Contacts (touring/ All Seasons) that were the OEM tire on the TourX, but Pirelli's are some what noisier and rougher ride with greater rolling resistance. (Not terrible ) These are good performance snow tires, not ultimate snow/ice grip tires, but way better than all seasons in snow, slush, and ice. Steering response and dry/wet grip are very good. I like they are speed rated. I hope they wear well.

I got them at a great price, Buick does not have a spare, so run flat feature is nice to have.

these tires worked very well in snow and dry pavement ,very impressed with the dry road traction and handling, unfortunately these were H rated when I purchased the tire and wheel package , not equal to the cars required rating( I don't drive that fast in snow but should have been a disclaimer) also I'll never buy a "run flat again " I had puncture (run flats are not)repairable , this required my purchase of two new tires to match the rotation diameter for my AWD to function properly .
pleased with the performance , not with the durability and or service life
long time customer

I wanted a winter tire that would hold up well on the majority of cold and dry days too. This performance tire does exactly that.

First year ownership had no snow or ice to test them in. Road noice very low, smooth tire, would keep on all year round except no point to wearing them down in summer.

great tires for driving but I would not buy the run flat style as they are not repairable if punctured, and with AWD i had to buy two new rear tires to keep the differentials in sync
road wise, I was impressed with the driving comfort and performance and the original 4 tire and wheel package were only "H" rated not that I needed a higher rating , for winter driving.
I'm a little miffed that for this car an H rated tire was recommended as the winter package available

Immediate need for snow tires when these tires arrived. These tires were the perfect solution. This front wheel drive car just isn't built for snow, especially packed smooth snow, without good snow tires. The car will constantly fail to move at all, the traction control system is the worst for accelerating from stop. Any slip and it will completely gut itself of all power and stop all momentum. Shut traction off and you just spin if you can't dig to the surface. Running on stock 18 rims, so previous cheaper snow tires easily ripped small sidewalls on small potholes or even Ice ridge. But now, these Pirelli Winter SottoZero 3 runflat tires are tough and have given me newfound snow confidence in this car. These tires have already proven to hold a line through thick slush on highway, cut through powder snow, grab on packed down road snow. It holds a corner and feels safe on fresh snow with ice underneath. Ebrake snow drift seems near impossible now. It has snowed heavily and even frozen rain at times since I put them on nearly 500 miles ago. It's not hiding in the driveway anymore. I got the car to spin the fronts once on quick take off on wet road, otherwise they feel like glue. The only time I noticed unintentional slip was trying to reverse up an incline on Ice covered parking lot. Turned it around and it went up forward with no issue at all. Maybe the Directional pattern matters to reverse on ice. Highly recommend where runflat strong sidewall winters are needed. Highly recommend for Hyundai Veloster. (225 40R on size 18 stock wheels) . The one day I had all dry road driving they seemed to work as well as any Summer tires I've tried on this car. Just solid. No additional noise noticed. Most importantly, no more constant traction control kicking in on this urban go cart. I have not tested them on mountainous roads at all, but steep city snow covered roads were climbed that I normally would have avoided or struggled with before.

I have run another major manufacturers winter tires on my Honda S2000 and a previous 370Z (almost 2 decades). There simply is no comparison. Firstly, if no one had told me, I'd never know these were run-flats. Secondly, these tires feel as though they handle as well as the stock summer tires that came with the car. I'm truly serious here. These handle so much better than any previous winter tire I've used, that I almost look forward to driving these again next winter. I have very good tread depth left and based the wear this year, I see no reason why I couldn't get 5 or 6 seasons out of these.

12,500 miles in one season. These tires have been incredibly durable, long-lasting and perform great.

At the end of last season I noticed a screw in one of my tires unfortunately. Not sure how long it had been there since it still had pressure. No big deal.. Now just today while driving 70 mph on the interstate the cars Tire Pressure Monitor told me I had a flat and sure enough. The valve stem came loose and leaked out all the air. Luckily their was a tire shop on the next exit. I'd driven on the flat for about 3 miles at highway speed. No problem. When I got there they were able to just tighten the valve stem and fill the tire. Their was no tire damage at all.

Run flats really are worth it in my opinion. And these tires lasted too. On one set (the front) I have over 20k miles. The rear set lasted about 12-13k miles. Since my car is rear wheel drive and has more torque than your dads diesel truck. I'm happy those numbers.

The performance of these tires is what makes them so well rounded. The traction in snow is great and they handle winter conditions with ease. Even on dry surfaces these snow tires will give you lots of confidence on the road.

Some reviewers really dislike this tire, but I can’t say I have any complaints. 36000+ miles and that includes me being too lazy to switch them over and driving on them for the past three summers as well. Didn’t even rotate them front to back to the back set is significantly more worn. Ran them in a winter car control clinic with over 26K miles on them last winter and they did the job - any snow banks hit and spin-outs were the fault of the driver! Wet traction was good as was hydroplaning resistance. These definitely get squirmy on hot days taking fast clover leafs, but what do I expect from a winter tire? Some reviewers have said these bubble easily, but that hasn’t been my experience. Still have tread left, but replacing because I want more tread for this winter and one finally developed a bubble on one of the inner sidewalls. I’ve hit many holes that I could have sworn would kill the sidewall, and didn’t - till recently. Retiring these for some run-flat Blizzaks and hopefully I’ll get serious about a winter/summer rotation again, but I will have no reservations putting the 225/40R17 version of these on my E92.