Owners rate the Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 highly overall, most consistently praising the secure wet grip and strong winter ability, with good traction and predictable handling on snow (and reassuring ice performance for many). A notable downside is noise: around a third of owners mention it being loud, especially at motorway speeds and often more so as it wears. Tread life is more mixed (roughly three in ten discuss it), with plenty reporting long service but around one in eight to one in ten feeling it wears faster than expected, particularly if used outside its ideal winter window.
What owners mention most counted across 53 reviews
Best winter tires I have driven yet! They are so soft and comfortable (non run-flat) I love driving my car in the winter more than ever. Responsive, great handling and you never loose control even on snow or ice. I am talking about regular driving in a regular car (not performance and drifting or racing) but a family Peugeot 3008. I have confidence climbing on hills or uphill without doubt.
Previously I had driven Michelins (also not bad but comfort and noise is so much better with these), Sava, Tigar and Sailun. Sotozzero 3 were the absolute best among all my previous tires. Highly recommended.
Excellent winter/Snow and ice and wet tire, performance, very responsive too (I immediately noticed the response change, changing from "Saferich" summer tire)
These sottozero 3 tires are expensive, but they Really deliver in the winter,
I will keep to These tires for many winters to come
Dean
Check out how the BEST all seasons tires perform against premium summer and winter tires!
96%
Member
Chevrolet
245/40 R20
250 miles
Mostly Country Roads
Spirited
Driving a 2018 Chevrolet Camaro RS with staggered fitment. 245/40/20 up front and 275/35/20 on the back. I swapped over from Continentals Extreme Contact DWS06+ early-mid November and got a bit of dry driving bellow 50 degrees. In the dry and rainy conditions, they handle extremely similar to the Continentals, similar traction, sound, and handling around corners. We got a snow storm during Thanksgiving weekend and got some snow/ice driving early! The massive surprise is driving on Ice, you can feel the tires biting into the ice and giving you some tractions, although it feels rough compared to driving on snow. But the rough-ish ride on ice makes acts as an indicator for when you've cleared the ice and back on snow/pavement. The tires also grab and go in snow/slush, providing a comfortable ride that gives you plenty of feedback to what kind/type of snow your tires are hitting. Overall, these tires have done great and haven't made me regret buying them in any condition. Weather its dry conditions before snow falls and you need to quickly accelerate, driving in rainy conditions, or safely driving a muscle car through a snow storm, Pirelli Sottozero 3's have got you covered!
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These are the only winter tires I have used on my car. My new car was registered in January 2015 and I had the tires fitted on a different set of alloys. Almost 9 years later, I am going to replace them with the exactly the same tire ! They have been an excellent all round winter tire, used every year from November to April (5 months) If you use them all year round, then I do believe they wear quite fast in the summer months.
Grip has been very good in the dry, wet and snow/ice. Handling has also been very good indeed. Comfort has been adequate, since my tire mechanic told me that all winter tires are quite noisy compared to the best summer tires.
Highly recommended in my opinion.
These are the only winter tires I have used on my car. My new car was registered in January 2015 and I had the tires fitted on a different set of alloys. Almost 9 years later, I am going to replace them with the exactly the same tire ! They have been an excellent all round winter tire, used every year from November to April (5 months) If you use them all year round, then I do believe they wear quite fast in the summer months.
Grip has been very good in the dry, wet and snow/ice. Handling has also been very good indeed. Comfort has been adequate, since my tire mechanic told me that all winter tires are quite noisy compared to the best summer tires.
Highly recommended in my opinion.
These are the only winter tires I have used on my car. My new car was registered in January 2015 and I had the tires fitted on a different set of alloys. Almost 9 years later, I am going to replace them with the exactly the same tire ! They have been an excellent all round winter tire, used every year from November to April (5 months) If you use them all year round, then I do believe they wear quite fast in the summer months.
Grip has been very good in the dry, wet and snow/ice. Handling has also been very good indeed. Comfort has been adequate, since my tire mechanic told me that all winter tires are quite noisy compared to the best summer tires.
Highly recommended in my opinion.
I have this tire part of the original equipment from the car. I didn't know when I imported the car from Germany it already has European winter tire attached so I bought another set to cover it since the car arrived during winter in Finland.
I fit the tire during spring 2021 and since then has covered 1 winter and 2 summer. So around 10,000 kms driven already. When I got the tire mostly has around 5,0 - 5,5 mm thread depth. Now it went down to 4,5 mm front tires and 3,0-3,5 mm rear tires. My car is RWD and has wider rear tires hence the 275 width.
In the spring, summer and autumn the tire held pretty well even during rain and on wet motorways. Sometimes I can feel the aquaplanning but if you are aware and slow down a bit there wasn't any problem still maneuverable. On smooth asphalt it gives quiet noise level but on a little bit harsher surface the noise level goes up quite a lot.
In the winter however it is particularly bad, especially for Nordic winter, which I understand it is not what this tire is intended for. But the rear of my car always wiggling everywhere on every corner, as the temperature dips to under -10 C the tire struggle to grip even it has compact snow layer not on ice.
My winter set has same European winter tire spec from Dunlop Wintersport 4D and it still perform better despite 1 year older and has same thread depth. So comparing both tire sets and considering that both of them are not in their natural habitat I can say that the Pirelli one perform worse in this condition.
If I live in central European country I would consider buying this Pirelli if there are no other comparable branded options.
One of the worst tires I have ever driven.
After 7-8 thousands km start steering wheel vibrations, changed my front tires with Fulda much better. Then my both rear wheels got baloons o the side profile of the tire, of course trow them in the bin.
I suggest you not to buy Pirelli Sottozero 3!
Got these on BMW xdrive GT (f34). Safety is my concern so I don't care about the wear. I put them on when its generally drops 10°C) as expected - these are winter tires. Have tested on snow of +15cms and I really trust them both on cornering and braking, where all-wheel-drive is not in case.
I'd recommend these tires without any glitch. They cost a bit more comparing to others, but 50 cm braking distance would make a real cost and time/life if you can't stop. If you have the budget, these are the trustable winter tires that would worth.
I fitted these this winter and i love them, although being RFT comfort is still good, not much rougher than non RFT i imagine that standard is very comfortable, dry grip is as expected good as winter tire gets, but the best part is wet and slush grip, i am really surprised by the level of confidence i get from them, even on rwd car, snow traction is excellent, compared to Nokian WR D3 i had before and i was quite satified with them, these are in another galaxy when it comes to putting your confidence in tire to keep you safe.
I am impressed! These tires have got me through two winters and look like they are capable of another 2-3. Usually go on around October when temperatures are below 7 degree C. Off by May the following year. Very assuring in wet conditions. Especially when snow melts and becomes sludge. Handle mud quite well too. Ice grip is good. I find when the tires have been driven a while then they grip even more. Same brand on the rear axle and these inspire confidence. You cannot get too excited with them as the traction light says hello. It’s nice to see the look on faces when they think a rear wheel drive car will struggle or stay on the drive. Run flat form doesn’t feel too jarring or noisy. Very good tires and that’s coming from a tire snob. Once scrubbed in these were pleasant and haven’t let me down.
