Pirelli 210 Sottozero Serie II winter tire

[rickshaw]

Hi

I would love to hear from people who have tried the Pirelli 210 Sottozero Serie II RFT winter tires in snowy conditions. Not many reviews available. I can get a pretty good deal on a set of 4 tires.

I currently have Blizzak LM-22 on my 2006 325i rwd and not too pleased with performance in the snow but are otherwise fine. Do these tires deteriorate over time? The tread looks fine but grip on snow is awful.

My other option is the Blizzak LM-25 RFT that seems to be popular among BMW owners here in Ottawa. They are bit more expensive than the Pirelli.

Thanks

[AngelsNeverLose]

i have blizzak LM60s and love them! They turn my 325ci into a beast in the snow!

I can not believe you aren't getting grip with yours if they have grip... Blizzaks are the best for winter only tires. Altough others are getting better

[mryakan]

Most, if not all, snow tires lose winter traction at 3/4 tread or sooner. The reason is that the manufacturing process used for most winter tires cannot for some reason put a full winter compound throughout the tire tread. You will notice that those tires have 2 wear bars, one indicating when the winter compound tread is gone and are then effectively all season tires, and one for the legal minimum tread depth. Not sure if the LM22 fall into that category.

[samger2]

As far as the Pirelli you asked about, I don't have any experience driving on them, but I've sold quite a few. I sell the LM22 and LM60 first, but when those are gone for the season we move onto the Pirelli, I've never heard anything negative from a customer about them, they've always been more than adequate.

[rickshaw]

Thanks for all the responses.


...snow tires lose winter traction at 3/4 tread or sooner.

Yes, I realize that, it's just my current set of LM-22's does not have that much wear.

Just wondering if they harden up with age or the winter tire compound loses its effectiveness after about 4 or 5 years. Perhaps that's why they have the manufacturing date stamped on the sidewalls. I may just pay a bit extra and buy a set of LM-25's as you've done instead of Pirelli.

By the way, I did not know if the Blizzak LM60's came in the size I need (205/55R/16) for my winter wheels, I checked at tirerack.com

[mryakan]

Thanks for all the responses.



Yes, I realize that, it's just my current set of LM-22's does not have that much wear.

Just wondering if they harden up with age or the winter tire compound loses its effectiveness after about 4 or 5 years. Perhaps that's why they have the manufacturing date stamped on the sidewalls. I may just pay a bit extra and buy a set of LM-25's as you've done instead of Pirelli.

By the way, I did not know if the Blizzak LM60's came in the size I need (205/55R/16) for my winter wheels, I checked at tirerack.com

Even though the Pirellis were cheaper, I stayed away since there weren't enough reviews. I played it safe and went with the Blizzaks.
That being said, would be great if you come back and post your impressions on the Pirellis both in the short term, and in the long term after 2-3 seaons of use.

[rickshaw]

I took the plunge and replaced my 4 year old set of Blizzak LM-22 RFT winter tires with four Pirelli 210 Sottozero Serie II performance winter tires. These were a bit cheaper than the Blizzak LM-25 rft tires from a local wholesaler, and MUCH cheaper than price my local BMW dealer quoted me (even at 4 for the price of 3 tires).

I was initially hesitant going with these Pirelli's since there isn't enough user reviews available. Plenty of reviews though for the Blizzak LM-25 RFT and they seem to be fairly good. So probably can't go wrong with them. They sell more of these LM-25 RFT in this area than any others, perhaps that's why there are so many reviews.

I have used the Pirelli's for a few days now. We've had occasional light snow fall in Ottawa over the last few days so I have not had the chance to try them out in deep snow. Anyways, I hardly take my car out when there is more that 2 or 3 inched of snow on the ground since the sport suspension gives my 325i a very low ground clearance. I borrow my wife's '04 e46 325xi shod in Michelin x-Ice2 winter tires when I must drive in deep snow. btw way the x-ice2 is the best non-rft winter/snow tires I have experienced driving in severe Ottawa winter weather conditions over many years.

I find the Pirelli 210 Sottozero Serie II tires much quieter than the Blizzaks. These have asymetrical tread design optimized for dry and wet driving conditions. Not sure yet how they would handle in deep snow, however, on slushy roads the handling is very predictable and a lot of fun.

On dry and wet roads they handle exactly like my OEM summer tires and just as quiet. I used to hate switching to the winter tires in November just because of the tire noise.

I will post a detailed review once I have used it a bit more.