Pirelli  Winter Sottozero 3

These tires are excellent for winter-rated rubber on dry and wet roads, with progressive and predictable traction loss as you approach their limit while cornering. They are plenty capable of propelling my Subaru Legacy 2.5GT through over a foot of snow, although they are obviously aided by the AWD system's viscous limited slip differentials in this task. At speed, they maintain traction and stability through slush and shallow snow on the road.

On light snow and ice, they brake well but not as well as a fully dedicated snow/winter tire. This is to be expected, however, as these are designed for performance cars in areas with milder winters, where snows happens but infrequently. The trade off is far superior dry and wet traction than fully dedicated winter tires, with handling and braking comparable to some summer tires. Steering response compared to a summer tire is noticeably slower, due to the softer winter rubber compound.

Regardless, these will allow you to enjoy your car throughout the winter months without sacrificing much of the handling, braking, and cornering enjoyed on summer tires during the rest of the year. I highly recommend them, and they are a great deal for the price.

Call me crazy, however, these are one of the best performing tires I have ever owned. I run the Michelin pilot sports on both my 2008 VW Jetta Wolfsburg 2.0T FSI, DSG w/K04 S3 Turbocharger upgrade, and supercharged 1994 Classic NA Mazda Miata as summer tires and these on the Jetta for the winter. The Michelin Pilot Super Sports are at the top of their category and easily the benchmark performance Summer tire hands down. That said and after many years experience with the pilot super sports I was blown away with how the Pirellis handle!! I have been so impressed I have left the Pirellies on the car for the entire summer!!! The Pirellies should be sild as ALL SEASON PERFORMANCE TIRES instead of just winter performance. The Pirellies performance and handling is supperb and are easily what the Pilot Super Sports would be if Michelin made a winter version of the PSSs. I LOVE THESE TIRES!!! Yes the pilots will hold grip when cornering longer however taking into account that these are in fact snow tires I am amazed!! In the dry (both summer/winter) these will hold corners extremely well and give plenty of warning letting you know your closing in on the limit with some squeeling however are progressive, and predictable. Treadwear has been excellent besting the Pilots and Conties of past by a large margin. So far I have one full year and 22,000 miles on these, they are at the wear bars however still did brilliantly in our surprise March winter storm. With just a little tread left they pulled through the snow just fine without even a hint of instability. Now I do have a limited slip differential however ltd slip difs arent any good if you dont have grip as such I attest the still great traction to the Pirellies. They have about 3k mi. of usage left in them however I will need to drive with caution on wet roads since so little tread left at this point. The wet traction has been great yet with any tire as they wear down wet traction will decline while dry traction will increase.

I live in Southeast PA, and my 3 season tires are Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3s (which I've also reviewed). I purchased the Sottozero 3 for below freezing driving months, frequently harsh winters, and to retain the sporty driving characteristics of my car when road road conditions are good. It's not easy to find a winter tire that is good in many road conditions and temperatures. After talking with Tire Rack, we went with this tire for the Infiniti Q50.

These tires are absolutely AMAZING; in light snow, deep snow, ice, and freezing rain! Today, I drove in 7-8 inches of snow, with 1 inch of ice mixed in, and the car handled perfectly. No sliding, solid braking with a short stopping distance close to dry weather conditions. The Sottozeros pushed their way through deep, unplowed, snow with no difficulties. I saw cars, trucks,and SUVs sliding on and off of the road... and the Q50 was firmly planted. My traction control light never even went on during a two hour drive in these conditions; whether I was taking a sharp turn or going up a ramp or a hill from a dead stop. No problem.

As for dry and wet driving conditions; they are excellent as well. They really don't feel like winter tires when you are driving on clear days. I've tested them from 7 to 60 degrees F and they work very well. They are quiet, handling is exceptional, as is braking, with minimal to no hydroplaning in heavy rain.

The only downside, which I'm fine with, is that the car is about 2 mpG less fuel efficient than with the A/S 3s. That's a price I'd gladly play in exchange for the great traction and enjoyable driving. I can't recommend these tires any higher. Thanks Pirelli for making these and for Tire Rack recommending them. I never thought I would enjoy driving on days like today!

This is a superb performance winter tire. Living in the DC metropolitan area, winters are mostly dry or wet rather than snowy, but serious snowfall does occur (not to mention road trips where snow is to be expected). These tires handled everything the weather threw at them with aplomb, including dry roads, wet roads, slush, packed snow, and ongoing heavy snowfall road conditions. One still can't drive in the snow like it's dry pavement, of course, but these tires are remarkably stable, grippy, and secure; I could confidently pass slower vehicles on a "2+1" road in an ongoing snowstorm, even where the passing lane was essentially unplowed and without cleared tracks. During the time I had these tires on, the car's stability control system only had to engage -briefly- a handful of times, which is very different from the regular tires in snow. For consistently serious winter conditions, a heavier duty (i.e., non-performance) snow tire is superior, but these tires are a great match for the road conditions I encounter.

The price for the winter traction is that on dry & wet roads, these tires are not quite as sharp as the regular tires: in particular, steering response is a little slower, though the car is still accurate and stable; it's a difference of degree, not of kind, and it might not even be noticeable on a car with less razor-sharp steering. There may be a small increase in road noise, but I did not notice any decline in ride comfort. All in all, the gains in capability on winter roads far outweigh the losses on dry/wet roads.

In summary, I'm extremely happy with these tires and heartily recommend them.

WOW.. Winter with the OEM performance tires on my 2019 Z4 were a total non-starter. 40° was a total skating rink with those Summer tires.

With the Sottozeros, the car actually "hooks up" in below freezing temperatures. Stunning difference & confident driving. Pouring the car into a corner in freezing temperatures? Check.

Not to mention I took the car on a 2500 mile trip in winter going from the north to Florida, & the tires were great at all speeds and temperatures. And snow performance is great.

Was not looking to take my Z4 out in the snow, but could/would - anytime - NO problem. Really was just trying to not have to put it away during winter, which these tires accomplish & then some. Highly recommended!

My name is Anthony I live in Connecticut. Last year I leased a BMW M4 Comp pack. I have a 32 mile commute to work everyday with hills and sharp curves, so i was a little worried about driving it in the snow. I have driven in Blizzards with heavy snow, Ice and slush. The worst storm was a 13 inch snowstorm we had in January 2018, the snow was above the bumper and i still had traction to accelerate, stop and turn. I am seriously amazed at how it turns a low, rear wheel drive sports car into a snowmobile. They even have great traction when the temp is well below zero, make almost no road noise, and in the dry are tight and handle great. This is all with a car that with the OEM wheels and tires will not even leave the parking lot with anything more then a dusting. I highly recommend this tire to anyone with a daily sports car or any daily rear wheel drive vehicle. Thank you pirelli!!

This was one of the only winter tires in 225-55-16, which I got to closely match my summer tires, and very high load and speed rating for a 16" tire. Also favor performance winter tires (vs studless ice and snow) where I live because it's more ice and dry and wet cold than deep snow. Higher rolling resistance than the AS that I took off the car. Much better all out grip in dry and wet at cool and cold temps than the cheap AS that came on the car. Better ice/snow traction than Vredestein Quatrac Pro (snow rated AS) on my other car but less dry traction than those (normal for winter tire). Acceleration grip was hard to test because AWD, but for winter tires, they are fine. Cornering is also good enough, better than other normal winter tires I've used. Essentially no hydroplaning. I expected winter tires to be loud, and they're not terrible. Tested full emergency / ABS stop in a parking lot in 2-3" of snow and ice and several real-life emergency stops. Worked great. Stabile at high speeds which I tend to drive in winter when it's not snow/ice. Firmer than the Viking Contact 7 on my wife's car. Gripped fine up/down hills in deep snow and ice where other cars were all over the place, but AWD so hard to say on all-out grip. No tire or wheel damage after hitting (way too many) potholes, but there's a lot of sidewall on 225-55-16. Wheel protector built into the tire seems to work well... the tire is scuffed but not damaged, and the wheel is fine.

Didn't put many miles on it yet, however already I have experienced excellent combination of performance and ride comfort. With my "spirited driving" I have observed solid performance under hard acceleration, braking and cornering under cold temperatures below 32 F. Ride comfort has been exceptional as well for my daily commute to work. On the negative side the tire noise is louder than the Michelin X-Ice and Bridgestone Blizzak's in comparison. Also I cannot comment on the treadwear at this moment due to the low milleage so far. I recommend them for those that are looking to continue their spirited driving and continue getting the most out of the vehicles performance during the winter months .

So far they have served me well. I cannot tell the difference between these snow tires and the summer tires as far as the ride and comfort. They did skid a little in 4 inches of snow, but for a rear wheel drive car that is acceptable.

The SottoZero3 is a pleasant surprise. Quiet and somewhat comfortable to drive, it has incredible performance in dry and snowy conditions. The issue is the walls weakness to potholes. If they are unavoidable in your area during winter, you're likely going to find that a bubble will develop, as did on one of my four tires.

I have a set of Sottozero 3's for two Maserati's (my 2014 GT and my wife's 2014 Ghibli). These tires are fantastic. They take no time at all to get a little heat into them and get and stay soft in real subzero temps. I live in Westchester, NY and we range from slushy 32 degree snow to -7F ice and these tires really shine in the winter. The tread wear is very good in my opinion. I put 14k on my GT on these tires and the fronts are still like new and the rears are about half down in tread but plenty left and I drive pretty aggressively in dry conditions. The initial turn-in response is a little softer but that's to be expected, and particularly as I went down to 18" rims for the winter wheel set (down from 20" with PZero OEM). The ride is great and road noise is very low and quiet. Love these tires. I used to have a set of Michelin Pilot Alpin several years ago on a 535i rear drive and these tires are much much better in my opinion.

These snow tires give an appreciable difference in traction, without a huge increase in tire noise. You know that you're running snow tires (I put them on the front only), but these are quieter than other snow tires I've used, and the traction is comparable.