[TiredGeek]

I have a spare set of 704s, 19 inch staggered and I do need runflats (northern Scotland trips), which limits my choice of winter tyre to exactly 2:
Pirelli Sotto zero 3 225/40R19 93H XL RFT - £195 / £259
Continental ContiWinterContact TS 860 S225/40R19 93V XL SSR - £228 / £265
The price difference is irrelevant.

The Pirelli are H speed rating while the Conti are V which would look better for the insurance company point of view but I'm very unlikely to get anywhere near even the lower speed rating in winter.

I've never used either brand before, I've always used CrossClimate on my previous cars, and I'd use them again if they did a runflat version in my sizes, but I know some of you guys use winters so which is the better tyre of the two in your experience?

Thanks in advance

[Cilonen]

I have 18" square setup Sottozero 3s on my F11 - they're fine tyres. No complaints regarding drive in cold / wet, but I've not encountered snow in them so can't comment on that aspect.

The Conti's are an older model (superseded by the 870), but most of the tyre reviews online indicate they placed far higher than the Pirelli's in every test, with their weakest point being extended wet braking distance compared to the other tyres on test.

Link will take you to some reviews, which may help.

[Ennoch]

I've run Sottozero 3's since they were released in 2015, first in 225/45/17 non-RFT on my Impreza running c300bhp and had that thing pushing through 18-24" of snow during the beast from the east winter with zero problems. At the time they were released they were the class of the field and while others have improved since, that doesn't mean they're worse tyres for it. When I got the 335d I wanted run flats for the same reason as you and so went for RFT Sottozero 3's in the same size you're after. Personally I don't think they're quite as good in the larger sizes and they've worn more rapidly, albeit it's a 400kg heavier car which obviously takes its toll. They're great in snow, but perhaps not quite so delicate in extracting max grip on greasy warm roads, but again that is likely car weight coming into it. For actual cold roads, slush and winter driving they're still superb tyres which will more than do you. The last two winters I've used them on the BMW I've had them pushing through snow that would make most SUV owners think twice, on steep single track roads covered in deep snow, and the only thing that made me stop occasionally on the worst drive was to clear the build up of snow from the headlights so I could see where I was going! They didn't notice having to push a bow wave created from 2ft of snow that had dumped/blown across the road while we were out climbing.

All that said I'd be tempted to go for the Conti's. They're a little newer despite themselves being superseded and have had better reviews, and over the last few years there have been some significant moves forward in winter tyre tech. If the Bridgestone Ultragrip Perf+ were available in RFT I'd have suggested them, I fitted them to my dad's Evoque in 20" two years ago and their performance is another massive step ahead than the Pirellis.

The reality is that both will be more than a match for the car as the limiting factor to anywhere you go will be ground clearance for snow. The Pirellis work great and I've not had any moments where I've thought any issues to stem from the tyre choice I made.



The tyre tracks in this one were from the farmer's tractor and only got deeper. Funnily enough I was paying more attention to driving than taking photos at that point!:

[robbiep]

I went with Pirelli SottoZero on my RWD manual box F31, used for 4 winters, they drove perfectly well over 6" of packed snow. I've no doubt that any premium winter tyre will perform just as well, if not better.

The biggest limiting factor will be the ability of the driver to recognise that winter tyres still have to obey the laws of physics

[Ennoch]

Originally Posted by robbiep

I went with Pirelli SottoZero on my RWD manual box F31, used for 4 winters, they drove perfectly well over 6" of packed snow. I've no doubt that any premium winter tyre will perform just as well, if not better.

The biggest limiting factor will be the ability of the driver to recognise that winter tyres still have to obey the laws of physics

Yep, 100% this. I'll never forget seeing a guy come over a crest in a big Land Cruiser one winter with white knuckles and doing about 10mph, only to get a few hundred yards back up (and round a corner) to see a full pirouette in the snow on the road. It was pretty easy to realise why he had the white knuckles and looked like he was sat in his own excrement. On the flip side you get people judging you when you do know how to drive in snow because they're on summers and have never spent time driving on lots of loose surfaces.

I found when it's proper white on the road that shoving the TC into dynamic or whatever the half way house is called and using the sport paddles to force lower shift points to be the best way. Leaving it in normal TC mode seemed to have it crapping itself a little too readily which made it feel a little unstable at times.

[TiredGeek]

Thanks to all of you, much appreciated.

Ennoch, I remember the 2010 beast well, I had a week planned up at the house in Sutherland and had a Volvo XC70 awd running nokian winters. I too had to keep unblocking the headlights and rad and above Inverness at around 1am I hit roads that were virgin snow. That was a bugger, just trying to make sure I stayed between the ditches with snow markers few and far between. 10mph was too fast and I had about 40 miles of that!

I'm less adventurous nowadays, I'll put off a trip if it's forecasting that sort of weather, mainly because I have to be able to get back out of the place and a couple of times I've had to have my mate, who drives the ploughs for the council, plough down to my house for me. When it's up to my thighs and my drive is about 300 yards long the car ain't getting through and I ain't shovelling

I think I'll get the Conti, mainly for the V rating so the insurance company have less wiggle room in case of disaster but also because my local place is going to beat the online by £10 a corner.

[kitster]

Originally Posted by TiredGeek

Thanks to all of you, much appreciated.

Ennoch, I remember the 2010 beast well, I had a week planned up at the house in Sutherland and had a Volvo XC70 awd running nokian winters. I too had to keep unblocking the headlights and rad and above Inverness at around 1am I hit roads that were virgin snow. That was a bugger, just trying to make sure I stayed between the ditches with snow markers few and far between. 10mph was too fast and I had about 40 miles of that!

I'm less adventurous nowadays, I'll put off a trip if it's forecasting that sort of weather, mainly because I have to be able to get back out of the place and a couple of times I've had to have my mate, who drives the ploughs for the council, plough down to my house for me. When it's up to my thighs and my drive is about 300 yards long the car ain't getting through and I ain't shovelling

I think I'll get the Conti, mainly for the V rating so the insurance company have less wiggle room in case of disaster but also because my local place is going to beat the online by £10 a corner.

I always stuck with the recommended sizes and ratings as if I was buying the alloys/tyres from BMW. So for my F31 the winter setup was 205/60/16 H and for the G31 it's 245/45/18 V. Personally I don't think I'll ever exceed the H or V rating in summer or winter! So going with the default is fine.

Currently got Conti TS830P SSR bit older but still does the job of ploughing through snow no issues and up 18/19% gradients in Europe.