Tire: Winter Sottozero 3
Category: Performance Winter / Snow
UTQG (treadwear): Not rated
I'm going against one of my rules here and posting up a tire review even though I haven't had too many miles on this tire, but it has become one of my favorites in this performance winter tire segment. The Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 is the next generation of an already great Pirelli Winter Sottozero tire. These tires were built specifically for drivers of high performance/ high horsepower vehicles that want to keep traction on all winter road conditions. The Sottozero 3 uses an innovated tread compound with specialized (proprietary) polymers that aide the tire's thermal and dynamic properties. Along with a directional tread pattern and arrow-shaped center blocks, this tire was built to handle the rigors of cold and wet conditions. This tire does meet the industry standard for severe snow service, Pirelli recommends that you only install these tires in sets of four.
So far, this tire has blown away expectations and drivers running this tire have been very impressed. Snow and ice conditions were tackled better than with other tires in this performance category and the drivers I know that are running this tire have had no loss of control situations. Even rear wheel drive vehicles have been able to get moving and stay moving. Traction is generally progressive in turns, but braking is not quite as good as with truly dedicated (studded) winter tires. When not on snow or ice, most have found the tire to have a pretty quiet ride compared to aggressive all-season and summer tires. Since these tires have not been out for a really long period of time, I do not have longevity data to share. Previous iterations of this tire have lasted around 40,000 miles, so I would at least expect that. I will plan to update this review after a few drivers I know have worn out their sets. Overall this is the best performing performance winter tire on the market and I've slotted it at the top of my list for good reason. So long as it has decent longevity, it's likely to stay there for awhile.
