Pirelli Winter Sottozero Sizes & review

great handling tire considering its snow capabilities

Winter only tires for rear of my Miata. Performed very well for their purpose. Obviously not as smooth a ride as high performance summer tires, but got me through uncommonly frequent snow with no problems. Too bad no longer available for this car. Wanted 2 more for front but had to buy something else.

couldn’t utilize my car in winter without them, however the road noise is unbelievably high to the point of distractionthey’ve never let me down, and never been stuck in brutal Michigan winters

Overall, a decent winter tire, albeit in slush it leaves a bit to be desired. It does flatten out overnight and takes a bit to warm up and round back off, but once it does, it’s a pretty decent ride. In a few inches of snow, it’ll drift a bit, but nothing my AWD couldn’t handle and these would keep me on track at higher than the average person would drive. Yes, I’m one of those ‘idiots’ who drive above 50 in 3″ of snow, cause I can. Especially with these tires. Even when in a parking lot doing doughnuts, these tires were very predictable allowing me to maneuver the car anywhere I wanted it to go. Since I have to travel a bit further than when I originally bought these tires, I plan on going with something more snow focused than performance focused as these tires. Overall, I’d recommend these to someone who doesn’t see a lot of snow but gets colder weather and black ice and when there is that occasional snow, these will keep your car true and on the road in your own lane.

ROCK STAR TIRES! I live in Pittsburgh, PA and could not review these tires until now since this winter really nothing until February….Formerly had 4 Michelin Alpin snow tires and they no longer make them to fit my Caddy. WHO CARES! No contest – these Pirellis were unbelievable and had my rear wheel drive right out of my steep driveway without my traction control even coming on! The Michelins would just keep me spinning and causing arguments between my spouse and me….Highly recommend these fab tires!!!!

Originally 4 tires driven through two Philly winters with record snow. Tires gave new life to driving in winter. Rarely grounded because of weather. Great grip, holds on turns in snow,ice, wet conditions. Road noise in undetectable. High confidence in winter driving. Last year left tires on year round without loss of road comfort or mileage. Great tires. Replaced two because of unavoidable major pot hole damage.

So far these have been very impressive tires. My 2000 miles to date has been mostly cold winter, cold wet, and a little cold with dry snow. In all conditions they have excelled. My only worry is tire wear – they perform so well they must be giving up something… time will tell.

Purchased these in a winter wheel and tire package from Tirerack in a -1 size to take advantage of the run flat and taller side wall for winter. Reviews were spot on. Very little tire noise considering the aggressive snow tread. Took a lot of stress out of those White Mountain Winter drives to work. Would absolutely purchase again.

Wow!!! In comparison to other winter tires I’ve had, especially the Michelin Ice X I had before, this tire gets the highest compliment: driving on dry pavement I don’t feel like I’m on a winter tire! Everyday driving is a pleasure: responsive to steering and very good grip. They are not my SE 04s but the Sotto Zero is not mushy, sloppy and gives good cornering. I had the ‘SUV driver on a cell phone’ attempt to turn into me on 95 and had to do a fast avoidance – the Pirellis responded with a confident and safe feeling minimal sway response. Also had them in 3-4″ (Miatas can’t take much more) and they handled the snow as good as can be. A great tire. Miata owners note I’m using winter wheels with a narrower profile which helps in the snow ….also a tire rack idea. Thank you Gill for recommending these!!!!

My little Civic is very comfortable with this tire. Originally bought for winter, but has performed so well all season I don’t think I will change back to another tire. Plenty of tread to get me through summer, come November I will be buying another set, thanks Tire Rack.

Bought these after reviewing many tires based on both other Speed6 owner reviews and comparing price and design with similar high performance tires. In the 2 months and 6,000+ km’s I’ve been running them, I havent encountered as much snow as I’d like but when I have, it’s been an awesome experience. These are truly confidence inspiring. For Daily Driving, they are quiet up until about 110km/h when a distinct whirring arises from the rear. They do perform admirably in the dry and wet – an NFA attitude. Winter-wise, able to hold a line up a 30% hill at 90Km/h and still be agile moving uphill. Going downhill obviously requires some more care and caution, yet these will keep you feeling smug and safe. These coupled with an AWD car is something that’ll have you craving snow. Also for other Canadians reading, I bought these from tirerack as they were $149/ea for 215/40/18’s which is pretty much at least 50% off from what local tire shops were quoting ($349ish). If this tire is on your list, it can easily be #1. If Pirelli made a Summer orientated version of this tread pattern, I’d be all over it. Mileage hasn’t dropped much – I’ll estimate 40km a tank. This is a true high performance winter tire able to shed water, shred pavement and chuck snow and worth every dollar.

This is my second set of WInter Sotto Zeros. They are the perfect compliment to my Subaru’s AWD and balance and give me a very high confidence level that I can get where I need to go regardless the weather. This has been an unusually cold and snowy New England winter but, while it has stopped friends with other cars and SUV’s, my ‘Ru/Sotto Zero combination has been invincible.

Pirelli’s name and reputation are the initial reasons for purchasing – and I am cerainly not disappointed. Driving through the west coast cement with the feeling of control and comfort is truly an experience one should cherish. These tires will not disappoint! Ice, rain and snow merely enhance the thrill of pushing the performance as the tires hold to the road like glue. Steering and acceleration/braking response were improved by adding 5 pounds of air to the suggested pressure – not to mention fuel economy. Wear is impressive for such a soft tire. Hard corners are held well in all conditions, but when first purchased are a little soft. Of course, as the tire wears, it becomes an animal… or is it me? Makes me look forward to winter driving.A big thank you Tire Rack for great service!!Have fun!

I have these tires in C6 sizes on my C5. I have a cammed LS3 that makes around 450rwhp and I can not say enough about how these tires perform in the snow and cold weather around DC. These tires let me drive my vette through snow like it wasn’t even there. Obviously once the snow got deep enough that it was up to my bumper my vette wasn’t going to drive very well but for deep snow up to the bumper and lower these tires maintained traction, kept me moving and provided excelent steering in the snow with now understeer or unwanted sliding throug corners. I have drive behind a shopping center for work and it is never plowed so whether I want to or not I get to drive through unpacked snow. Crown Vics, 2000-2005 Impallas constantly get stuck in this snow and my vette would too with my summer tires. These snow tires are a game changer, I drove right though all that snow with no problems.I highly recomend these tires.

Used from Dec 2010 to Aug 2011 w/ 25,000KMs on them. These tires do not disappoint. At all. I opted to run them for the majority @ 42-44psi to increase mileage which was on par if not superior to the Falken Ziex 912s they replaced. They felt soft and sluggish initially @ 32psi hence the increase. With that changed, these tires come alive and do live up the performance aspect in the name. For a Winter tire, they are quiet and smooth. For a more than spirited driver like myself and car, they offer summer like qualities: chirps off the line, corners exceptionally well (even in summer heat) all while maintaining the safety we want in winter conditions. Part of these qualities may be due to the weight of my vehicle, she’s not light, but that does helps in the snow. For the amount of mileage I drove on these, the wear is beyond excellent; specially considering the amount driven outside of the intended operating temp. I do not see how anyone could not like this tire unless Pirelli changes the compound or had a batch. There was tons of positive reviews before I bought these and there seems to be more since and I had to add mine. I just hope we get moar snow this year as my Winter wheels are being reinstalled right now.

Outstanding Winter tires for a city/highway commuter car. Not quite as snow & ice worthy as Blizzaks, but handling, ride & noise levels are comparable to a Summer all-season tire. These tires made a huge difference in the snow/ice traction of my MINI Cooper. The rubber compound seems well-suited to colder climates, as traction was still good on those cold mid-Winter mornings.

Tried without snow tire in the Chicago suburbs, mostly paved roads but also some gravel in snow conditions, for 2 years with OEM all performance tire with ok results. Then bought low resistance tires for summer and winter tires with wheels and GREAT difference, gas mileage better in summer and GREATER traction in winter. Some might say duh, but big difference on winter driving for such a light car as the Prius.

Exceeded all my requirements for a proper BMW winter tire! I could leave these on year round! Ride is excellent, Noise Level is very low. Handling is very good for a winter tire. Turn-in is quick in Dry or Wet conditions. Here in SW Washington we get sloppy winters, mostly ice overnight that turns to slush. These tires provide confidence in all conditions. I highly recommend these tires.

Incredible tyre. After 17000 of driving they still have between 6-7mm (8/32″) of tread left on them, new they have 8.7mm (11/32″). This includes leaving them off for a few months after winter…Frankly…best tyre I have ever owned and they let you drive safely and with a lot of security if you wanna push it a bit.Actual make it up a hill early winter with a bunch of stuck 4×4 at the bottom, all with stock tires on, using these tyres and DTC enabled. They where not happy 🙂

These tires are fantastic snow tires. They turn my RWD sports sedan into a legitimate Michigan winter car. Additionally, these tires have steering feel, steering response, and dry traction properties that are better than most all-season tires; you don’t give up much lateral or longitudinal capability when you put these tires on your car.

A great performance snow tire – I used to exclusively purchase Dunlop Winter Sports for my cars. This is my first time with a Pirelli snow tire, and the 240 is impressive as a high performance snow tire. Good grip even in dry weather.

Breaking, turning, traction has been great on ice, packed and fresh 2 inch snow fall. Stabilitrac has not been called into action once since these tires have been on board. Hill with ice and hard pack on driven on with excellent traction. Same hill last year, left car ant bottom and walked home.

I have driven about 25k km’s on these tires, and the traction from the set of Toyo’s I had previously is greatly improved. However, I can’t stress this enough, road noise from the tires is huge! I noticed it immediately after I swapped the tires onto the winter set. They were louder than the Toyo’s I had which were already well used.After I read the reviews, everyone gave it a good noise review. What really clinched the purchase was the grip of the tire. It is vastly greater than the Toyo’s. But the road noise is also huge on this tire! I understand if your car has alot of factory noise surpression built into the car, you won’t notice it too much. But when you’re in a light weight sports car like the Miata, well, you feel and hear everything!I’ve also noticed there is significant wear already showing. I think I might have 1 more season with these tires, then I’ll have to replace them.It’s too bad because the grip is great for winter driving. But I will pass on Pirelli’s for winter. I’ll make sure to spring the extra $ for either the Bridgestone or the Michelin equivalent.

Just drove my Corvette with these tires through the recent Christmas snowstorms in the Northeast US. These tires provide terrific traction on snow covered roads. Such poor conditions that the speed limit on I-81 was reduced by PennDOT. Was able to pass many others on the road while they were spinning their tires and I was confidently cruising. Many confused looks from other drivers on all-season tires while I passed them. A lot of other cars and trucks were off the road and I hardly had any issues, with traction control activating only twice in the 3 hours it took to travel from Binghamton NY to the Delaware Water Gap. Cannot comment on traction in deep snow, but if the snow gets any deeper than 3 or 4 inches, the front air dam will be a snow plow and I wont be going anywhere anyways, but up to that point, these tires are very impressive.

I kept the staggered set-up despite advice to use a narrower rear tire. The ride and handling in cold, dry conditons remained fine, and I am definitely glad I maintained the original set-up. This tire is outstanding in snow. Despite having rear wheel drive I was able to safely drive through 6-8 inches of snow and slop before the streets were treated. Last year I was caught with summer tires and got stuck in a suprise snowfall of only 1-2 inches. With these tires even the 8 inches of snow in my unplowed driveway couldn’t keep me out of my garage. Have not had them long enough to gauge the treadwear. However, it feels great to no longer have to change vehicles when snowfall is predicted. These tires have given me peace of mind. P.S., Tire Rack’s price, customer service, and fast delivery was great too.

Have only 2,000 miles on these tires, but so far so good. They are amazing in the cold dry and have gotten me through a huge blizzard this year. Ultimate snow traction is less than studless tires but the tradeoff is well worth it for the dry weather performance. I would definitely recommend to other C63 drivers.

No tire alone will stop on ice but this was pretty decent on some very solidly frozen interstate. Travelled through two snow storms up to six inches on the road and held up quite well without losing control. All with a rear wheel drive vehicle. Tires gave you the confidence to climb hills in snow. I’d recommend these tires if expecting snow.

This is the best winter tire I’ve ever had! It’s also the best summer tire for around town driving (this is my 2nd set and I leave them on year round…I got 60k miles on the 1st set) I know it sounds crazy but our Tiquan drives like a GTI with them

I think I like driving my Cayman S better with these than my summer tires. They ride beautifully and the steering is great. They’ve gotten noisier in the last few thousand miles and the rears may need replacement this year. No place for staggered sizes on the form above. I’m using stock 18″ summer tire sizes: 235/40/18F 265/40/18R.

Big Improvement in snow. This is a rear wheel drive vehicle and requires extra weight in trunk for snow. Nothing really stops on ice but the length of the skids is much shorter. Two decent size snowfalls and the vehicle with these tires made through it.These Pirellis have been the best in snow and rain so far for this car.

Worse year in NYC, snow after snow! riding on a small car is not fun. but thanks to the Sottozero, I go through it! This tire is fantastic, many road in Long island is unplowed, traveling 20 miles each way is no joke! but I never had any problem going through, never got stuck! Not even once! Not must road noise, corning and handling very good. Also my car is lowered, I have only about 4.5 inch clearance but is still doing fine. Love it!