Pirelli  Winter Sottozero Serie II Run Flat

Finding a high performance street tire that is winter weather worthy and one that fits your car can be a challenge. These are a direct fit for my BMW. I like these tires for very good performance all around in the winter.

Most all season radials just don't cut it because they are very hard and loose their grip when it drops below 40 degrees. These Pirellis do not suffer from that and they will pull you out of a snow storm too. They can be counted on at high speed and they are RFT so when it is frightful outside your car, you know you are probably not going to get stranded on a lonely road at 2AM in a blizzard where no one is available.

I have these tires mounted on a spare set of wheels that I purchased from TR with TPS. They are my winter set that I can store for the summer and mount on my car when the time it right. Tires are rated for 149mph and offer good to v-good cornering traction. V-good straight line traction and hook-up. Slightly harsher ride from hirer load rating gives firmer ride. RFTs makes nose but windows are usually up in the winter. Wet/Snow and Ice are not a problem and this is why you need them ultimately. They are not max traction summer tires by any means, but when you need to drive fun all winter and it doesn't get above 20 degrees for weeks, you need these tires.

I was skeptical about the unusual tread on the tire, but it is a amazing performance tire. It is my second winter and I put like 10000 miles on them
In dry and wet conditions it outperforms the all season high performance Goodyear and in the snow, the car performs like an all wheel drive car, even my car is rear wheel drive. Noise level I not to bad for a run flat tire. My only concern is that a driver following me in the snow may hit me form the back because of the breaking performance.

These are superior tires for New England urban driving; I've now been thru lots of cold wet roads; slushy roads; fresh snow (2-3 inches); packed snow; and icy/sleet covered asphalt. In all cold and wet conditions, tires grip superbly. Very stable and secure feeling; good cornering at speed appropriate for conditions. On dry pavement and in warmer weather, they do feel noticeably 'softer' than the summer tires (also Pirelli runflats) and you can feel it when cornering, but this is more than compensated by the excellent performance on cold, wet or snowy pavement. I would buy these tires again tomorrow and won't drive a car in a New England winter ever again without them. I would recommend getting them earlier in the season, so you have a chance to adjust to the different grip and ride - it is apparent.

Ottawa. Montreal. Snow and Ice Belt. 2014 335I xDrive. It's not just a question as to how the tires perform, but how they perform on the behicle they are designed for. On an F30 M Sport Performance Edition, the Pirellis provide an unbeatable level of winter driving performance. Within the first 1000 kms, one 40 km stretch of black ice forced me below 100 km/hr, and the Pirellis kept the car within controllable oscillations. I could not tell I was on black ice, until the first accidents notified me. But they gave me feedback i now know, slight oscillations as if wind gusting.

Then that deer popped, I was doing 80 km / hr, just about leaving that black ice rainy Nov 2014 day; nigghtime. Deer was just slowly walking. I swirled left. Then straightenened the car. Full control.

I realize they are not as good as Micheling or Hakapeliitas on pure compact snow and ice, but I did not buy them for pure snow or ice driving. I got them for handling characteristics in alla round winter conditions (or the snow score would be 5/5/3/3/5/4/5). I got them to survive the mix of ice and dry, ice and slush, snow and slush, or 85% of the conditions I face in winter driving, at Highway Speed. The vehicle does another 15% coverage.

These tires may not be for an front wheel drive vehicle. The assymetric pattern is also more unstable in turns- but that why it is made for a car that turns and leans aggressivley into every corner, even if trying it or not. A sportsy SUV or a sports car. Simliarly, no doubt that Michelins will do better on pure snow, but let me down in handling in wet slush, etc.

Treadwear- got 3000 kms and it seems standard for maybe 3 to 5 winters? Apparently, no matter the tire brand, the very rubber is meant only for 3 to 5 seasons top, as changes int emperature gradually nullify advantages, even if treadwear lasts. So 30-50000 city winter kms and 80,000 highway maybe?

Great tires great ride no noise plowed through deep snow will definitely will buy again

I've had these Pirellis on my 335xi for a bit over a month now and I've out almost 3,500 miles on them since, in a number of conditions.

In the last week especially, I've experienced just about everything you could throw at these and I'd frankly rate them as bulletproof.

This last week I road tripped to VA from CT to see my family (800 mile round trip) with warm temps at times (50s) and cold (10s). I had light snow & slush, dry roads and cold and the tires just get better the folder it gets. I then drove to VT yesterday to go snowboarding (350 miles round trip) and returned in a heavy winter storm (4+ inches of heavy snow). Roads were NOT being plowed in any state (VT, MA, CT) and tires handled great. Lots of confidence going up and down hills, great braking, ABS/TC never kicked in once and never felt any slip. And most of the drive through MA and CT was like driving through Donner Pass in CA when it's chains only (which I've done a few times - lots of packed snow, can't see lanes, chains or AWD/4WD with snows required) and the 210s were solid. Able to easily do 40-50, visibility & traffic permitting (probably faster but girlfriend didn't like that).

My point of comparison for these is the Continental ContiPro RFTs in OEM size that were the original tires on my vehicle. They rode really hard and were quite loud. The 210s ride a bit softer, and are quieter (for an RFT - not as quiet as non-RFTs). Worlds better in snow handling. Contis were a bit better in dry/warm than 210s, which can feel a bit mushy in corners at speed, but the more miles I get on them, the more its like riding on rails.

If you have an AWD car and live where there's snow, or drive to where there's snow, step up and get yourself some snows - best decision I ever made.

These have worked great on my BMW F30 sedan. They handle great (even in summer!), and have been a definite plus in cold temperatures and the snow of a Michigan winter. They are also tough enough for Michigan pot holes. Overall would definitely buy them again.

This was the only available option for the car with staggered set up. Many go with a straight set up front and back but I have had very good results with staggered on BMW's. These tires were far better than the OEM tires in wet or snowy conditions. Treadwear was well above average and the tires were very quite for a run flat. I actually had a road hazzard deflate one and it got me many miles to safety with no rim damage. Covered by the TR road hazzard protection - my only cost was remounting and balancing the replacment. The tires did very well in wet and snowy conditions - no ice this year but I suspect they would be just as good or better than any other available. While a touch on the expensive side the handling was simply awesome and very crisp even on the very cold AM drives. Well worth it.

This is the best winter tire I have ever driven on. The steering responsiveness isn't quite as good as my summer tires, but I believe that is due to the smaller treadblocks and the nature of the winter rubber compound. I only notice the change in steering responsiveness when switching back to my summer rubber. I use these tires on a RWD car in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs and was able to enjoy many snow days last year. These tires will slip once there are a few inches of unplowed snow on the ground, but even with RWD I never got stuck. Once I needed to get some momentum going to get my car up a snowy parking garage ramp, but these tires even managed that. These tires do get VERY soft above 45 degrees. I have 15K miles on these tires and fully expect them to last another 15K at least.

While the winter has been mild with only one snowfall I have had the opportunity to test them in snow and freezing conditions. Simply a great tire - but you get what you pay for with these - run flat snows are not inexpensive. Most shocking was how quite the tire is in normal conditions, far less noise than the OEM run flats. I have not driven them long enough to comment on tread wear. This was one of the only size options available for the car. Handling is very good. Some slight slippage on really icy conditions, but nothing that is major. With traction control and a modest pedal they seemed to pull or push the car through the snow with ease. Backing up is very good with this tire - some snows have an issue in reverse-these do not. I would buy them again-they are impressive beyond expectation for a snow tire.

These are quite simply the worst winter tires I have ever used. I drive a MINI Cooper: a lightweight, FWD car that requires good snow tires, and given them, the car does quite well for itself in New England winters. N.B.: these are not good snow tires.

For context, my history with snow tires is mostly Bridgestone Blizzak; from my first economy winter tires to their top-of-the-line winters, on FWD and AWD cars. They're consistently great. I've also tried Dunlops (the less said, the better) and Continentals (pretty good).

Most recently I wore out a set of Blizzak LM-30's on my 2009 MINI Clubman S. They were the finest winter tires I've used. The dry grip and stability is ridiculously good; in the wet they let go slowly and gave plenty of warning; they never, ever hydroplaned; they pull well over ice and through light snow. Heavy snow was their one less-than-superb area, so I decided to give another brand a chance.

Which brings us to the Pirelli Sottozero. With great reviews on TireRack, and a manufacturer rebate, it seemed like a great choice. (Perhaps that rebate should have alerted me that something was amiss.)

Pirelli is headquartered in Milan. Per Wikipedia, Milan averages seven days of snow per year, and less precipitation than most of Europe's cities. In other words, they don't get cold, or snow, or even cold winter rains like New England does. And the tires show it.

In the wet, they lose grip easily and with little warning; at times I would simply find myself sliding (and thank you, BMW, for donating the stability control system to MINI's cars). In the dry, they respond promptly enough to steering input, but lack cornering grip and brake poorly. In the snow, they're just embarassing; I've had better performance from cheapie all-seasons.

Pros: They are round. They are cheap.

Cons: Terrible grip in all conditions.

Lesson: Do not trust Italians to design for winter. Pirelli, stick to the race track where you excel. Next winter I'll get Blizzaks again.

I purchased the Pirelli Sotto Zero runflat winter tires just in time for the big 2016 blizzard which is currently walloping Maryland (DC Metro area). As the snow accumulated last night, I was able to continuously test them in the varying levels of snow accumulation (just in my immediate neighborhood for safety reasons). Keep in mind my MINI is front wheel drive only and I can say, these tires performed brilliantly. I felt as if I had an AWD car. My stability control almost never flashed and a standing start from the bottom of a steep hill on an snowy/icy road was no problem.

As the snow accumulated, I took the car out again in four inches of snow on un-plowed roads. Again, the MINI could perform a standing start at the bottom of a hill and plowed through the snow fairly easily. At this point, I could feel some slippage in the corners but the rear tires quickly regained grip and the small amount of sliding was very controllable as well as predictable. It felt as if the back end always came around nicely as compared to when a car experiences extreme under-steer in snow. The slippage only occurred when I gunned it a bit. If I took the corners nice and slow, there was no sliding at all. After four inches, I felt it best to simply stay off the roads.

Before the storm, I was able to get a good feel for how the tires performed in the extreme cold on dry pavement. Again, I was amazed at how well they handle on the dry with almost no noticeable increase in road noise. The car feels very planted and secure with the softer tread obviously reducing the harshness of my performance stock tires. I do not feel I have lost any performance from the MINI and driving remains as fun as ever. Most importantly, the tires give me confidence to drive in snowy conditions, so runs to the ski slopes and through the mountains no longer seem as daunting. I highly recommend these tires.

Superior product.
My second set of these tires - once again proven entirely satisfactory. Tire noise at high speed - nil. Rate of tread wear - incredibly low. Wet road handling and hydroplaning resistance - the reason I use these tires - just great. The only tire I use - year round. Temps I encounter are usually below 70 deg F, since I live on the left coast and travel during the months of January, April and September to the US. I intend to put a third set of these on my car this fall.
Recommended.

Finding a high performance street tire that is winter weather worthy and one that fits your car can be a challenge. These are a direct fit for my BMW. I like these tires for very good performance all around in the winter.

Most all season radials just don't cut it because they are very hard and loose their grip when it drops below 40 degrees. These Pirellis do not suffer from that and they will pull you out of a snow storm too. They can be counted on at high speed and they are RFT so when it is frightful outside your car, you know you are probably not going to get stranded on a lonely road at 2AM in a blizzard where no one is available.

I have these tires mounted on a spare set of wheels that I purchased from TR with TPS. They are my winter set that I can store for the summer and mount on my car when the time it right. Tires are rated for 149mph and offer good to v-good cornering traction. V-good straight line traction and hook-up. Slightly harsher ride from hirer load rating gives firmer ride. RFTs makes nose but windows are usually up in the winter. Wet/Snow and Ice are not a problem and this is why you need them ultimately. They are not max traction summer tires by any means, but when you need to drive fun all winter and it doesn't get above 20 degrees for weeks, you need these tires.

This is my first winter on these tires. I purchased a wheel and tire (set of 4) package. They are everything you want from winter tires. Snow and ice traction is almost perfect. While we have had a mild winter in the Pittsburgh, PA area, was in snow country a few times and SUVs were getting stuck and I was not. They are a little noisy, but the noise decreases with miles. Wear is great so far - 1/32 only. Would buy again. They are really the only winter run-flat option for my 2015 BMW 435xi convertible.