The Pirelli Scorpion Winter is a premium touring winter SUV tire that feels secure and polished in typical cold, wet and dry conditions. Drivers consistently report strong confidence in the wet and surprisingly sporty steering for a winter tire, while many also find it dependable in snow. Independent tests broadly support its balanced, road-biased performance and efficiency, but highlight that its winter extremes can be less consistent than the best-in-class.
The quick answer
Owners say79%from 16 owner reviews79% would buy againRead the reviews
Strengths & weaknessesDry, WetComfort, SnowRelative to its rivals across every test we hold
Built from every independent test result and vetted owner review we hold for this tire - the evidence is all further down the page. Data updated July 2026.
How good is the Pirelli Scorpion Winter in the wet?
Across the 3 wet-braking tests it has featured in, the Pirelli Scorpion Winter stops 3.7% longer than premium rivals, 0.7% longer than mid-range rivals and 7.5% shorter than budget rivals. It has a Tire Reviews wet score of 78/100, and owners rate it 8.2/10 in the wet from 16 reviews.
How good is the Pirelli Scorpion Winter in the dry?
Across the 3 dry-braking tests it has featured in, the Pirelli Scorpion Winter stops 3.3% shorter than premium rivals, 2.8% shorter than mid-range rivals and 3.5% longer than budget rivals. It has a Tire Reviews dry score of 91/100, and owners rate it 8.5/10 in the dry from 16 reviews.
How good is the Pirelli Scorpion Winter in the snow?
Across the 3 snow-braking tests it has featured in, the Pirelli Scorpion Winter stops 2.9% longer than premium rivals, 0.2% shorter than mid-range rivals and 22.9% shorter than budget rivals. Across the 2 snow-traction tests, it is 3% worse than premium rivals, 1.2% better than mid-range rivals and 0.4% worse than budget rivals. It has a Tire Reviews snow score of 31/100, and owners rate it 7.8/10 in the snow from 16 reviews.
How fuel efficient is the Pirelli Scorpion Winter?
Across the 3 tests measuring rolling resistance, the Pirelli Scorpion Winter's rolling resistance is 1.7% lower than premium rivals, 4.4% lower than mid-range rivals and 3.5% lower than budget rivals.
What do owners say about the Pirelli Scorpion Winter?
Across 16 owner ratings the Pirelli Scorpion Winter averages 79%. Owners rate Dry Grip highest at 8.5 out of 10 and Ice Grip lowest at 7.2. 7 of those reviews come from owners past 10,000 miles. 85% of owners score it 70% or better.
More questions about the Pirelli Scorpion Winter(7)
What is the Pirelli Scorpion Winter's EU tire label rating?
Across its range, the Pirelli Scorpion Winter most commonly carries EU label ratings of C for fuel efficiency, C for wet grip and 72 dB for noise.
How comfortable and quiet are the Pirelli Scorpion Winter?
Owners rate the Pirelli Scorpion Winter 8 out of 10 for comfort and noise across 13 reviews.
How well do the Pirelli Scorpion Winter wear, according to owners?
Owners rate the Pirelli Scorpion Winter 7.3 out of 10 for wear across 13 reviews. 7 of those reviews come from owners past 10,000 miles, and the typical review covers 11,000 miles.
Would owners buy the Pirelli Scorpion Winter again?
79% of owners say they would buy the Pirelli Scorpion Winter again, based on the 14 owner reviews that answered the question. 50% of them gave it the highest possible answer.
What do owners say about the Pirelli Scorpion Winter's wet grip?
Of the 13 owner reviews analyzed for the Pirelli Scorpion Winter, 8 mention wet grip: 7 praise it (confident wet grip) and 1 criticise it (weak wet grip). One owner wrote: "truly excellent in the wet where we can maintain higher speeds even in a downpour". Read those reviews
Questions and Answers for the Pirelli Scorpion Winter
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Overall, drivers rate the Pirelli Scorpion Winter as a confidence-inspiring winter tire with strong wet-weather security (including aquaplaning resistance) and surprisingly sporty dry-road handling for a winter design. Most reviews also report capable snow performance and predictable behavior across typical cold-weather conditions, with several users happily running them for multiple seasons. The most consistent downsides are that traction can be less reassuring on ice/slush (especially as tread wears) and some owners note faster-than-expected wear versus other tires.
What owners mention most counted across 13 reviews
Tap one to read only the reviews that mention it.
Owner ratings averaged from 16 ratings
Owner score79%
Dry Grip85%
Wet Grip82%
Comfort80%
Handling79%
Snow Grip78%
Road Feedback78%
Wear73%
Ice Grip72%
Featured reviews
Most helpful 82%
“Tires that exceeded my expectations because they are winter tires that drive like UHP summer tires on dry roads and lower temperatures. On wet roads and snow, they are also solid and predictable. Wear is average, after...”
“Simply DANGEROUS tires!! Worst tire I ever had. can't get grip on even dry roads.. on wet roads they are dangerous!! Do not EVER buy these! throwing mine away after using them for 2 months. I value the life of my family...”
“Our Nissan Xtrail (2020) is, since new, fitted every winter with Pirelli Scorpion winter tires. They have a good and comfortable road feel, very good dry grip and handling, good on snow at higher speeds (German...”
When buying my “new” 2nd hand Kia EV6 LR RWD last autumn it was equiped with these tires in the Runflat edition. As they had car-round 4,5-5 mm of profile i decided to keep them for the upcoming Winter. As miles progressed i decided to also keep riding them in spring & summer so i can replace them earlier for a all season variant.
The tires are absolutely trustworthy to drive in dry, wet and snow (yes we had 2 weeks of snow in Holland last winter) But for me a bit too noisy & firm/unconfortable (especially on short kerbs) for my preference.
Tires that exceeded my expectations because they are winter tires that drive like UHP summer tires on dry roads and lower temperatures.
On wet roads and snow, they are also solid and predictable.
Wear is average, after three seasons they are at about 4mm of tread.
Check out how the BEST all seasons tires perform against premium summer and winter tires!
Our Nissan Xtrail (2020) is, since new, fitted every winter with Pirelli Scorpion winter tires. They have a good and comfortable road feel, very good dry grip and handling, good on snow at higher speeds (German Autobahn) and truly excellent in the wet where we can maintain higher speeds even in a downpour. Only slight downside is higher wear (compared to the Goodyear Efficient Grip summer tires). The Pirellis are now just below 4mm of tread depth and will be replaced soon, either with the currently mounted Scorpions or the Scorpion 2's.
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Good handling, great wet & dry grip. Drove through pouring rain at high speeds on German autobahn upwards of 200, gripped very well, gave a lot of confidence. Have used it on track as well and they performed very well. Very comfortable tires cruising on motorways. However, quite weak on ice, slush and snow. Its more of a performance tire during the cold rather than a snow/ice tire. Had an instance climbing a mountain road where the path became completely covered in hard ice and there was no traction whatsoever. Was a hair raising moment with a sheer drop. I guess it was also to do with the tread as it was already down to abt 4mm. Used them for 5 seasons and abt 28K kms and parted ways.
84%
Member
Porsche
245/45 R20
4,400 miles
Mostly Motorways
Average
Fitted these by the end of February 2023, and then again in November 2023. Car has staggered set-up with 285/40 R20 rears, 245/45 R20 fronts.
Although a fairly old design which has now been replaced by Scorpion Winter 2, I must say I have really enjoyd them so far. Have about 7000 km on them now, in various conditions. So far they have not let me down, and I would say that dry handling as well as wet performance have been very good. They are quiet and provides good feedback when pushed to the envelope of their grip. Performance on ice is where they struggle the most, so this is something to take into consideration if you drive in harsh conditions. Most of my driving is on wet/salted highways (legal limit 110 km/h), and this is were I need performance the most. But even going into the mountains, on snow and in cold temperatures (-15 C) they deliver as expected.
All in all, a well balanced performance winter tire suitable for heavy cars.
The tire is comfortable to drive and I was satisfied until the rear tire on my Audi Q8 exploded at 160 km/h. The tire completely disintegrated after only 30,000 and 3 years of use, without damage.
Good handling, great wet & dry grip. Drove through pouring rain at high speeds on German autobahn upwards of 200, gripped very well, gave a lot of confidence. Have used it on track as well and they performed very well. Very comfortable tires cruising on motorways. Down to 5mm after 3 seasons, probably due to warmer temperatures the last winters. Very impressed with them and would want to buy again.
How I have chose this tire?! Well, I do like run-flat tires and, for the original 18" rims of my car, it was a good choice. The pandemic has coming and summer time as well and guess what?! Using first time in 2018's winter and again in 2019's winter I do not changed my Pirelli Scorpion Winter run-flat in 2020's summer. Their behavior it was just awesome except the fuel consumption: good grip on wet, good grip on grass, good grip on dust, good grip on highway, in the real circumstance of a little aggressive driving style which I have. Now, in Transilvania winter has coming and the first snow as well. I already was on mountain area for outdoor activities and, on snow and snow & mud the grip it was good as usual. In conclusion, on my car, with 4x4 system and almost 1.9 tones weight, the Pirelli Scorpion Winter run-flat gave me a good and complete predictable behavior of my running car, on all road circumstances.
Bought them as a winter tire set for a brand new Kodiaq RS. Good handling, great wet & dry grip. However, had one instance in snowy slush at very low speed, it lost complete grip and the car moved side ways. Did not get a chance to drive through much snow & ice as the winter was quite mild this season.
89%
Member
Toyota
265/60 R18
11,000 miles
A Combination of Roads
Easy Going
Fantastic snow and ice grip. Also, aqua planning is wonderful. Saved my life. Only con is mud performance.
These tires were great in the snow. Never got stuck even in quite deep snow and braking was good. Had to stop pretty hard before they would skid in the snow. Also in heavy rain they felt good and didn't aquaplane going through deeper puddles.
They feel confident up to about 110mph. Above 130 mph they feel really vague.
I've had mine for 3 winters and that's enough. Even though they have a good bit of tread left they don't grip the snow so well. On cold frosty day, down to -12 I've had, they still work well. Just not in the snow anymore so much.
