If you live in a place that has hard winters with lots of snow, you need a winter tire that delivers confident traction in deep snow, slush, and ice. But traction isn’t the only priority you need to worry about – you also need a tire that can deliver good control and handling, with great braking and minimal oversteer or understeer in snow and slippery conditions. Hopefully, it’ll also be a tire that can provide good ride quality and minimal noise on the highway in dry conditions, with good road manners and wear properties.

We’re happy to report that the Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 can check all those boxes. The Winter Sottozero 3 is Pirelli’s third generation performance snow tire (Sottozero being Italian for “below zero”) and it’s truly a premium tire that can handle all sorts of ugly, unpredictable weather conditions with ease. That’s all with the kind of handling and ride quality you’d expect from a top-tier touring or all-season tire.

So what is it about this tire from Pirelli that makes it a standout in an already-crowded field of winter tires? Let’s drill down and take a closer look with this Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 review.

Features and Benefits

Pirelli is a company that’s always been ahead of the curve with innovation, and the Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 is no exception:

• Innovative tread compound with high-tech silica, carbon black, polymers, and binders enhance the tire’s thermal and mechanical properties while staying supple for traction at subfreezing temperatures
• Directional tread pattern with optimized contact patch puts more rubber in contact with the road for better traction and stability
• Arrow-shaped center blocks and rounded shoulders work together to expel snow and slush as the tire turns
• High-density 3D sipe pattern improves braking performance and snow-to-snow traction with hundreds of sharp, biting edges to dig into snow and slush
• Twin steel belts with spiral-wrapped polyamide layer for improved thermal stability and less sensitivity to road and air temperature changes
• Tread pitch computer is tuned to keep road noise low
• Wide grooves make for better expulsion of water and slush
• Three Peak Mountain Snowflake certified for severe winter service
• Available with run-flat design, allowing a driver to keep going for up to 50 miles at speeds less than 50 mph even after complete loss of air pressure
• Thanks to the traction qualities of the Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3, Pirelli recommends that these tires be installed in sets of four

Pros and Cons

PROS:

• Amazingly quiet and comfortable ride on dry or snowy pavement
• Very good performance and handling on snowy, wet or dry pavement
• Good resistance to hydroplaning

CONS:

• Cannot be used when temperatures are consistently above 45 degrees Fahrenheit
• Not pre-drilled for installation of studs

SimpleTire’s view on Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 tires

You shouldn’t have to sacrifice ride quality, handling, and low noise to get great traction in winter weather. Pirelli knows that, and that’s their goal with the Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3. This is a tire that really lives up to its promise, one that won’t wear you out on long trips due to loud road noise and a rough ride, but still provides the kind dependable traction you need to get through the worst winter weather. The tire industry doesn’t hand out the Three Peak Mountain Snowflake rating for tires that can’t perform, after all.

The quibbles listed above are pretty minor, really. Winter tires like the Sottozero 3 use a softer, more flexible tread compound for enhanced traction in subfreezing weather (when other tires might stiffen up and lose grip), but they will wear quickly in warmer weather and on dry roads. Tire manufacturers advise against using them when temperatures are consistently above 40-45 degrees Fahrenheit. As for studs, you only really need studs for the most extreme ice and snow – they’re really hard on pavement surfaces, which is why they’re illegal in many states and are restricted to certain months of the year in others.

It’s our opinion that if you need a winter tire, the Winter Sottozero 3 from Pirelli is a great choice. It might be a little on the expensive side, but it’s really worth it and lives up to the reputation for quality and performance that Pirelli tires are known for.

Vehicles the Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 is a good replacement tire for

The Winter Sottozero 3 from Pirelli is designed for sedans, coupes, minivans and crossovers. It could be a great fit for vehicles like the Buick Envision, Chevrolet Traverse, Dodge Grand Caravan, Ford Explorer, Honda Accord, Hyundai Elantra, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Kia Forte, Mazda CX-5, Nissan Murano, Subaru Forester, Toyota Highlander, or Volkswagen Passat.