Pirelli sottozero vs. Hankook ice pike

[Oli77]

So over night and all day, we have accumulated about 8-9 inches of snow in Lexington, KY.

My street is at a small but steady and long incline (difficult to judge exactly, but maybe 10-15 degrees incline).

This morning with 2 Pirelli sottozeros in the back and 2 Hankook ice pikes in the front, I head out. Could not go up the street (DSC off). Even tried my trick of going all the way down the street (cul-de-sac) and onto a neighbor's driveway which is flat, in order to get a head-start. I could barely make it back to my garage.

So it was still snowing and I was bored at home. Switched the ice pikes to the back and sottozeros to the front.

Night and day difference, I didn't have to do the neighbor's driveway trick, I went up the street without issues.

Then, well, things got hairy. I could go no further once at top, the car was bottoming out and the ruts were too deep and every which way.

The Hankooks won that challenge for sure. My car is just too low at this point.

Pics

[Oli77]

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[ryankokesh]

Great comparison/experiment!

Just out of curiosity, what were the tread depths and ages of each set of tires?

[Oli77]

I don't have a thread depth measuring device but I know the ages of the tires.

Hankooks are on third winter with maybe 5000 miles on them.

Pirellis on fourth winter with more miles than that, not sure exactly.

Your point is well taken. For sure the depth of thread is deeper on Hankooks and their profile is much more aggressive and knobby, compared to Pirellis.

[jwalther]

Crazy day. . .I was out yesterday morning and got around fine on my winter Nittos but became worried about clearance. Switched to the wife's R350 for the afternoon and felt much better :).

[slater]

good post, oli. the hankooks will do much better in deep snow, whereas the sottozero's - if i remember correctly - are more of a 'high speed' winter tire - as in, not made for the stuff you've got right there, likely better on hard-pack.

peter

[Nivo]

My cheapo Winterforce in 205/60/16 work me every time no studs in them yet either and I have done 8" of snow driving (we have had over 80" of snow so far in y town here in Mass)

[az3579]

I had the Pirelli Sottozero tires as well as my first ever winter set. They were excellent for me.
Once winter tires get below a certain tread depth, their effectiveness is greatly reduced. Yours were probably past that point.

[ryankokesh]

I had the Pirelli Sottozero tires as well as my first ever winter set. They were excellent for me.
Once winter tires get below a certain tread depth, their effectiveness is greatly reduced. Yours were probably past that point.

Exactly... The recommended replacement depth for winter tires is actually at 6/32nds. Much more tread than you'd imagine. For comparison, other tires are recommended to be replaced at 4/32nds and are 'legally' worn out at 2/32nds.

[M0nk3y]

I don't know if it's ever valid, but I always think winter tires have certain amount of "life" in the rubber....so to speak.

My dad's M235i is on 3 years of the same tires. Michelin IceXi2, tread is still optimal.

I'm on 1.5 years of Michelin IceXi3, and I can drive circles around him...even without a LSD.

[slater]

I don't know if it's ever valid, but I always think winter tires have certain amount of "life" in the rubber....so to speak.

My dad's M235i is on 3 years of the same tires. Michelin IceXi2, tread is still optimal.

I'm on 1.5 years of Michelin IceXi3, and I can drive circles around him...even without a LSD.

i hear ya - lots of changes as well with the xice3, like with the sipes that go down to 3/32" depth - they are supposed to be still pretty darn good at that depth, but i can't see how they would evacuate much snow/etc.

they do have a great treadwear rating, so 3 years of reasonable use is what i am expecting.

peter

[az3579]

i hear ya - lots of changes as well with the xice3, like with the sipes that go down to 3/32" depth - they are supposed to be still pretty darn good at that depth, but i can't see how they would evacuate much snow/etc.

they do have a great treadwear rating, so 3 years of reasonable use is what i am expecting.

peter

If the technology on the Michelin XIce is anything like the Michelin Premier A/S, then that is because sipes emerge as the rubber wears down, effectively creating new sipes as wear increases. I participated in a Michelin event in CA last year where they pitted their 50% worn Premier A/S against brand new out of the factory competitor tires and the Premier A/S did better than all of the competitor tires in all of the tests. Note that all of the tests were done in the wet.

If the XIce 3 has the same technology, then I wouldn't be surprised if you can use them safely a bit past where you'd normally have to replace other tires.


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[brettbimmer]

Are you running a square setup? Curious as a staggered setup would give slightly different contact patches.

+1 for Michelin Xice winters. Great tires, even if the temps rise for a few days.

[Oli77]

My setup is square. Wish I could measure depth. I'll find a way and report back.

[Oli77]

Found a metric caliper at work.

Important facts:

Pirellis 4.5 mm, new were 8.7 mm (so i'm half way into it!)
Hankookks 7.5 mm, new were ~10 mm (exactly a quarter in)

So I guess that's half (almost ), the reason for my judgement about the snow performance on these tires.

But today I got to drive with the Pirellis out front on asphalt. The sottozeros are much more precise and stiffer, almost "twitchy", when compared to the Hankooks that even in freezing temperatures (~-1-11 oF) feel soft and almost slow responding to input.

[ryankokesh]

I don't know if it's ever valid, but I always think winter tires have certain amount of "life" in the rubber....so to speak.

My dad's M235i is on 3 years of the same tires. Michelin IceXi2, tread is still optimal.

I'm on 1.5 years of Michelin IceXi3, and I can drive circles around him...even without a LSD.

Yup. Tires basically 'expire' in six years. Each year the compound gets just a bit harder and less pliable in cold temps. So that seems plausible, but 3 years should still be in good territory.


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[Mike V]

I put a set of iPikes on my wife's X5. They are great! I tried to get a set for my M3 too, but they were already sold out. Ended up with Blizzak WS80 on the M3. The Blizzaks have improved immensely in the dry handling aspect. I hadn't owned a set for years because they always felt too squirmy to me (WS50 and LM22).