Pirelli Sottozero Serie II

I have just fitted these tyres on a Mercedes E Class estate. As you may know this car has one common feature with many BMW's in that it has rear wheel drive and is like a sledge on snow. Well I can say without any doubt that this is one of the best investments I have ever made. On both snow and ice this car has been transformed into a relitive Pussycat. You still need to remember to allow for others behind who may not be able to stop so quickly and in bad conditions you still have to take care, however, at least you are still mobile.

These tires blew me away. In my opinion, they are best for 'cooler' winter climates (-30C to 0C), although they still work completely acceptably above freezing (they just soften up a bit and seem a bit noisier). Their second strength is wet, especially things like puddles and slush or damp roads.

The snow and ice performance was good - much better than an excellent all-season, and even slightly better than some mid-range snows, but these weren't exceptional in deeper snow (they were better in packed snow than fluffy snow) or ice. But not bad at all.

But when you are on very cold roads, or in slushy environments or with plentiful puddles of salty water (likely super-cooled), these tires actually let you drive like on a summer day. I'm not kidding. I'm so happy with these. If you live in a city and don't do too much commuting to the back country, and live somewhere where it can get fairly cool, and the roads get reasonably plowed within a few hours to a day, and you if you like spirited driving in the winter, these are positively joyous.

Strangely, tire wire (at least for the first season) is almost undetectable, and the ride was very nice, and no noisier than my stock all-seasons (however, my stock all-seasons are a bit on the noisier side, so its a relative comparison). I honestly hope they don't mess with this formula at all, because I will definitely buy this again.

Simply an outstanding transformation occured to my 320d. Going from an absolutely appalling and down right terrifying drive on even a flat road with one inch of snow, to a car which felt like I had 4 wheel drive. Better even than my disco in the snow and ice. Definitely buy these again. Did 11000 miles and the rear ones wore down quite a bit, but will still get another winter out of them. Worth every penny, for safety and peace of mind.

Fitted in December and transforms car from sit in the drive vehicle during snow to one which can be driven on any road. In snow grip, steering and braking are totally transformed and car feels safe and sure footed.
These tyres are comfortable with no appreciable increase in road noise over summer continentals. In summary I was a bit sceptical about merits and cost of winter tyres but have been totally won over, especially for Rear wheel Drive vehicles.

Put these on just before Christmas 2010, a very, very cold December and January. Stuck to the road in some very icy conditions. So glad I fitted these.

I have just fitted these tyres to my carrera to replace Michelin Pilot sport for the winter. I live in Beijing, cold dry winters. The morning temp in winter is usually minus 10 - 15. The Michelins are great in summer but in winter the car is almost undriveable, a lot of wheel spin braking terrible, ABS engaged as soon as you start to brake, even at low speeds.

The Pirellis are magic, awesome in all respects, braking is as good now as the summer and I haven't as yet managed to get them to lose traction and as well very quiet. I would highly recommend them to anyone, who has to drive in temps below 7 degrees C.

Chosen as a runflat winter tyre for 4 months expecting 4 months of cold weather and a couple of days of snow. Turned out the snow lasted for 5 weeks so I got a good show of this tyres capabilitys. I am a big fan of this tyre, handling of car in damp or icy conditions was predictable and safe and always controllable. The weeks we had snow/slush meant I was on an inch of snow on motorways a few times and could cross between clear/snow laden lanes with no heart attacks. All in all a great looking tyre thats worth buying to give you 365 access to your favourite toy. As the weather has got warmer the last few weeks I would say the car is bogging down a bit with too much grip at the rear, definetly be worth changing them soon for Summer tyres.

Excellent grip on snow and ice, good control with FWD and 200 BHP even without ESP/ASR in use. Responds well on wet surfaces. Braking on dry surfaces (and above 7 degrees celzius) a little bit longer then with summer tires. Deffinetly top 5 winter tire.