Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 Reviews - Page 4

(225/45 R17) on for 0 miles
If you drive soft winter tires in the summer, and then complain that they wear quickly...
Helpful 1190 - tyre reviewed on July 12, 2016
Given 72% while driving a Opel insignia (225/45 R17) on mostly country roads for 17,000 spirited miles
Everything is excellent except the wear.
I drove it from Dec,2014 - Nov,2015. around 27k kms.
The front tires has less than 3mm left.. so have to buy 2 fronts again this year.
I won't buy it again only because its wearing too fast as i use them all year.
Otherwise its excellent including good fuel consumption..

Cheers..
Helpful 72 - tyre reviewed on November 23, 2015
Given 89% while driving a BMW 530d F10 (275/40 R18) on a combination of roads for 4,000 average miles
I'm running these tyres on a 2015 BMW 520d M Sport F10. The fronts are 245/45 18 and 275/40 18 on the rear. I have heard that you can run 245 on all 4 wheels, even as a staggered setting but I have not tried it myself.

The tyres are without doubt the best winter / all-round tyres I've ever had.

Many folk in the UK think that just because it's not snowing for the majority of the winter then you don't need winter tyres. They stick to summer tyres through the whole 12 months. Hence why the UK road networks grind to a halt as soon as we have 1cm of snow.

BMWs have never been great in the snow and ice but with these tyres I've not found anything that has been challenging. I have recently returned from Alpe D'Huez in the French Alps and there was 3ft of snow and ice on the roads.

If you push them the tyres will break traction but they won't under normal driving conditions. There's plenty of feedback from the road surface and you get a good idea where their limits are before you reach them.

They are outstanding in heavy rain and water too.

Five stars out of five from me!!

Helpful 23 - tyre reviewed on November 9, 2015
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Given 91% while driving a Alfa Romeo (225/50 R17 V) on mostly country roads for 20,000 average miles
Nice tyre. Very good at wet conditions.Had some terrible heavy rain this winter at Hungary, but these tyres kept me on the road, even when 2 cars suffered clear aquaplaning crash ahead of me. Also saved the life of an idiot on an unlighted bycicle. Very stable under heavy breaking, so thanks for Pirelli!
Helpful 15 - tyre reviewed on March 16, 2015
Given 90% while driving a Alfa Romeo (225/50 R17 V) on mostly country roads for 15,000 average miles
Excelent. Also was a suprise, that this tyre has a rim protector, which gives an extra plus point.
Helpful 21 - tyre reviewed on December 19, 2014
Given 83% while driving a Volkswagen Scirocco 2.0 TSI 210hp (235/45 R17 H) on a combination of roads for 2,000 spirited miles
Excellent winter for my 280hp 300tq FWD. Got way more than expected. Traction is really good in almost all winter conditions but the best part is the steering feel, although much lighter that with performance summer tires, is very exact and sensitive which is rather unusual for winter tires, cornering and lateral grip are really good, too, as far as winter tires go, you can really push your car to the limit. Comfort is average. Noise is almost nonexistent in the city but on the highway when you go over 100 they produce a howling ghostly noise that's quite spooky at night. At the same time you can confidently drive as fast as 140-150 miles an hour. This is the tire for speed freaks who don't want to compromise even in extreme wintry conditions with ice and snow on the roads. I used 3 sets of different studded tires before and I was surprised to find the only area where these underperform compared to studded tires is breaking on ice, other than that they are excellent and inspire a lot of confidence. Love them.
Helpful 16 - tyre reviewed on December 4, 2014
Given 90% while driving a Renault laguna coupe (225/45 R18 W) on a combination of roads for 10,000 spirited miles
Bought these last year without any test except the one on the manufacturers claims about the areas they outperformed the competition. I knew the predecessor and experienced new Michelin PIlotAlpin and so I decided to try this new set of PIrellis. I am please to say I made the correct choice. Car is driven pretty hard both on local and highway roads in all sorts of weather conditions. I am very please and especially surprised how they perform on dry road in terms of feedback, precision and grip. That is quite unusual for winter tyre with so many sipes for snow performance. They also grab through thick snow excellently. These are bar none the best max performance winter tyres I had and I always invested in top rubber in 20 years of my motoring so I am comparing this set to all other top level manufacturers.
Helpful 15 - tyre reviewed on November 9, 2014
Given 93% while driving a BMW E61 530d Touring (225/55 R16) on a combination of roads for 10,000 spirited miles
I've been running these tyres for a (snowless) year - so whilst I can't comment on their snow performance, I've got a good feel for them year round.

In warm dry temps the grip is as good as premium branded summers I've driven on other cars, they feel progressive when pushing on, and I'm quite confident pushing them. Don't get me wrong - for a similarly priced summer I'm sure the performance would be greater, but if you're running them through summer the performance is solid. To summarise they feel like 'good,' summers rather than 'premium' winters when driving around in 25C+. Driving normally you don't notice that you're driving on winters. But I wouldn't run them year round unless you can avoid it - see below.

In warm/wet conditions they again do well and resist aquaplaning brilliantly - something the last summer has provided ample opportunity to confirm that.

In colder conditions they do what any good winter tyre should - become very grippy. You can feel the traction increase as they temperatures drop and they they start to feel like a 'premium' tyre. From 2C and below the change is very noticeable.

Noise and comfort are good and I haven't noticed any noise as another reviewer mentioned.

But if you're planning on running them year round - don't. Whilst grip and performance are more than adequate for summer use, wear has been pretty bad - I've got through a set of rears (down to about 3mm, so below the limit to be useful in snow) in less than a year/10,000 miles. They haven't always been driven conservatively, but that was a surprise.

But I've got a lot of confidence in the Sottozero 3's, so I've ordered a new pair for the rear and will be switching to dedicated summers when the temp increases. Great tyre and hopefully I'll be able to update this with snow performance in a few months.
Helpful 12 - tyre reviewed on November 1, 2014
Given 83% while driving a Mercedes Benz C Class coupe 250 CDI sport (225/45 R17) on mostly motorways for 8,000 spirited miles
As far a winter performance tyres go - very good.
They are a little noisy and feedback lacking due to softer compound but grip is good.
Haven't put them to the test in snow as yet, but certainly better in icy conditions than summer / all season tyres. Very confident in cold conditions.
They get very loud and even less feedback when temps over 15C so make sure you get your summers back on pronto for spring! Tear wear minimal after first season and 8000 miles.
Helpful 13 - tyre reviewed on May 25, 2014
Given 90% while driving a BMW 320 d (225/45 R17) on a combination of roads for 15 average miles
Very good ones. I love them... I agree on what the first friend said!!
Very good job!!
Helpful 14 - tyre reviewed on February 19, 2014
Given 81% while driving a BMW 320D M Sport (225/40 R18 V) on a combination of roads for 5 spirited miles
Ok, let me start by saying that eyes need their part as well. Very sexy looking tyres on my BMW. grip on dry weather is very good. in the wet it even scared me the first time i engaged in a serious curve at high speed. i actually wanted to drift under the stormy rain...nothing to do, was kissing the asphalt as i would kiss Adriana lima. very good. tyres are very precise on curves and follow direction very accurately. On how well the tyres lasted i can not say a lot because i have done around 5.000 km oonly yet. so far, no sign at all of wearing. I could sell them back after a quick shower and say they have only 10 km. My profile isd very low, for sporty drives and quick response i have a 40 wall profile so i a was not expecting the to be very confortable, well they are, steering got much lighter and the tyres are more gummy so more flexible i guess. or most likely is the 3d lines design that makes feel more gummy. at the same time i have to say that in town they are a bit noisy. i mean you dont hear that much but i9 hear more then the nokkian and continental i had before. maybe in few more km this will stop or reduce, but it does not bother at all. you have to look for the noise, it does not come and knock at the window.On the highway they get very silent. more then nokian and continental i had before. weired ha? on high ways they really are a pleasure. silent soft and precise.mountain road they are very good, and on snow, well i have to say i was amazed. they have a very good grip breaking spefcially, accelerating also but breaking more. yes i would by them again and for what they are, it is not even that expensive. overall i have to say the italians made a good job here. I am not easy to satisfy but i have to say they did a good job.
Helpful 16 - tyre reviewed on February 19, 2014