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      01-18-2013, 02:41 AM   #1
DieselRocket
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Pirelli Sottozero winter tyres: waste of money

Gaaagggghhhhhh!

Lots of snow in Bristol. Was hoping my expensive BMW winter wheels and tyres would help, but I've been floundering all over the place with way less grip than my old 5 series had on 275 summer tyres.

Spent 40 minutes this morning trying to get out of my own driveway (narrow with a bit of a rise). Shovelled clear, swept and still couldn't get anywhere near making it.

The car is great but the Sottozero's are B**ll***s!

Not happy :-(
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      01-18-2013, 04:02 AM   #2
HighlandPete
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Daveyc View Post
Gaaagggghhhhhh!

Lots of snow in Bristol. Was hoping my expensive BMW winter wheels and tyres would help, but I've been floundering all over the place with way less grip than my old 5 series had on 275 summer tyres.:-(
Not sure what is going on with the tyres... or is it the driver?

They are up there with the best Dunlop and Conti in a lot of the key tests, with good snow traction.

If you seriously think a summer 275 works better, I'm stumped for words.

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      01-18-2013, 04:33 AM   #3
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Sorry to hear your having no joy with your winters. I've never had Pirelli winter tires but never had a problem with Dunlop WinterSport M3 and Bridgestone Blizzak LM-32.

But I'm very surprised if your summers have better traction than the Pirelli's

One thing that does help in the snow is having slimmer tires as well as being a lot cheaper, I'm currently down from my 18" alloys to 16" steels (205/60/16).
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      01-18-2013, 04:49 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Daveyc View Post
Gaaagggghhhhhh!

Lots of snow in Bristol. Was hoping my expensive BMW winter wheels and tyres would help, but I've been floundering all over the place with way less grip than my old 5 series had on 275 summer tyres.

Spent 40 minutes this morning trying to get out of my own driveway (narrow with a bit of a rise). Shovelled clear, swept and still couldn't get anywhere near making it.

The car is great but the Sottozero's are B**ll***s!

Not happy :-(
If the snow in Bristol is anything like what it is this side of the Severn Bridge then I salute you for even trying! We've got about 5-6 inches so my car is nicely tucked up under its blanket of snow and will remain there until conditions improve
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      01-18-2013, 06:53 AM   #5
styles997
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I had sottozero's on an S type jag driving around in a Swiss and German winter in the mountains and loved them!
Care to sell yours?
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      01-18-2013, 07:46 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Daveyc
Gaaagggghhhhhh!

Lots of snow in Bristol. Was hoping my expensive BMW winter wheels and tyres would help, but I've been floundering all over the place with way less grip than my old 5 series had on 275 summer tyres.

Spent 40 minutes this morning trying to get out of my own driveway (narrow with a bit of a rise). Shovelled clear, swept and still couldn't get anywhere near making it.

The car is great but the Sottozero's are B**ll***s!

Not happy :-(
I have the Sottozero's on mine and have had no problem, in the Reading area so snow is pretty bad as well.

Especially good under braking but driving 40-50mph on dual carriage way when other cars barely doing 20.

I have 18" 225 45 all round, what's your set up?
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      01-18-2013, 08:18 AM   #7
DieselRocket
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Thanks for all the replies guys. To be fair, we also have 5-6 inches this side of the Severn bridge and my drive has quite a slope on it. Also, I think there was a bit of slush under the top layer of snow, so I had snow sliding on ice, which I guess is a challenge for any kind of rubber.

I bought two sacks of salt grit and cleared clean channels all the way, so I'm going to get the car on the street later and see how it goes. From the comments, it really must be a case of either crap driver or really crap Bristol snow :-)

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      01-18-2013, 05:25 PM   #8
DieselRocket
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Much better

It turns out my driveway was a bit of an extreme test - fresh snow between 5 & 6 inches deep, with some slush and crap underneath.

Went out this afternoon and did quite a lot of miles, some of them on quite steep roads. Once clear of nasty driveways, the Sottzeros really do work well - I could pretty much get through anything and I saw 10 cars that struggled more than me for every one that did as well or better. Even the FWD cars were spinning their wheels all over the place.

So I withdraw the bad mood comment this morning - in fact I'm glad I spent the money.
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      01-19-2013, 05:43 PM   #9
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Interesting... Tomorrow when it snows again, could you give it a go by switching it to the ECO PRO mode, and see if gets easier to move? Since there is no snow button or All weather button, that ECO PRO mode might be worth a try.
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      01-20-2013, 02:57 AM   #10
HighlandPete
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ob2ob2 View Post
Interesting... Tomorrow when it snows again, could you give it a go by switching it to the ECO PRO mode, and see if gets easier to move? Since there is no snow button or All weather button, that ECO PRO mode might be worth a try.
I'm sure ECO PRO will help many drivers, but it is only doing the same as gentle modulation of the controls, which we should be able to master without modes.

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      01-20-2013, 04:42 AM   #11
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True Pete but even with gentle modulation as you put it a little unwanted extra can be applied by mistake. Eco Pro physically limits the revs and I certainly felt better using it on my way home Friday.
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      01-20-2013, 05:33 AM   #12
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It doesn't surprise me... Sottozero and Pilot Alpin tires are not good in really bad winter conditions. They are "ok" in mild winter or on fluffy, powdery snow. On slush, ice and wet snow they are pretty useless IMO... similar to an all season tire. The are just too dry road performance oriented... you have to compromise in one area of the other.
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