Tire: Winter Snowsport
Category: Performance Winter / Snow
UTQG (treadwear): Not rated
This Winter Snowsport from Pirelli is a pretty small volume performance winter tire that has been designed and developed to provide winter traction for high speed European vehicles. These tires are produced for drivers of high horsepower, performance vehicles and come in both low profile sizes and with high speed ratings. This is an asymmetric tire, and has rounded outer shoulder blocks. When you combine this with wide grooves and independent tread blocks, you get a tire that has excellent wet road traction. The integrated multiple biting edges allow the tire to have excellent grip on snow and ice. These Snowsport tires meet the industry standard for severe snow service and Pirelli recommends that you only install these in sets of four.
These tires have a very good track record with drivers. I've had numerous people tell me that they've been able to get 70,000 miles out of a set, which I find phenomenal for the winter tire segment. I think most drivers will see around the 55,000, which is also a very good number as well. Some even keep these tires on year round, though that strategy isn't necessarily endorsed by the manufacturer. People that put these more aggressive performance winter tires on their commuter cars will experience a great level of grip since the Winter Snowsport was designed for performance vehicles. If there is a negative against the tire, it's that you'll get a lot of road noise, which is a fairly common complaint across most winter tires.