Here at Winter Tyre Reviews, we look at as many tyres as possible, and sometimes, well, they don’t always rate as highly as others.

The Pirelli winter Sottozero W210 Serie 2, has struggled with reviews (click here for the Auto Express Test)  and feedback has been, sadly, lacking. But does that make it any less of a tyre?

Auto Express verdict? A decent performance, but a step behind in rivals in just about all areas. We feel this is a little harsh, looking at the test results, it rarely falls below 95% and was tested against proven winter tyres.

Here are the basics.

Sizes available:16″ – 20″

Speed ratings: H (136mph), V (149mph), W (168mph)

Suitable for: medium sized cars, saloons, executive, SUV & high performance sports

The W210 certainly has some positives, most notably I would say is the vast size range. When I’m trying to find a really unusually sized winter tyre Pirelli have to be one of the first points of call. One of the main reasons that they service this huge range is because of their original equipment work with the car manufacturers.

We think it’s fair to say that Pirelli have the most original equipment winter recommendations out of any of the tyre manufacturers. Looking through the Pirelli price list you find lots of O.E markings such as BMW, Porsche, Jaguar… and if you own one of these vehicles and you look in your handbook you may well see Pirelli winter being recommended.

So does that fact that the premium car manufacturers endorse their product make it a good tyre? Well to be honest there are better options out there.

In 2010 Pirelli put the W210 forward for the European winter tyre test and it was placed 9th out if 10 – oh dear! Worse still was the testers comments, “slight weakness on wet roads and in snow and ice”. Personally if I was investing in winter tyres, great traction in those same 3 areas would be very high up on my shopping list. I just can’t imagine how the manufacturers think this is acceptable, in their testing during development Pirelli must have realised that the tyre worked great in the cold, dry conditions but not so well in snow and rain! And someone high up at Pirelli must have passed this, its incredible really.

Maybe I’m being a little harsh? Maybe at the time this was the best Pirelli could do and it just so happened that their competition stepped up their game that year? However it certainly highlights a point that you shouldn’t just follow the car manufacturers recommendations when it comes to tyres.

What else, well they are expensive too so all in all there are certainly better options out there. They may have this vast range of sizes but a lot of them are super wide 20″ tyres for vehicles like Jaguuar XF. Well when you look at the cost of these you could go for a smaller and narrower wheel & tyre set which would be cheaper and more effective.

Lets leave things on a positive though – a large percentage of these super large, average performing winter tyres are…. made in the UK!!

Have you had these fitted to your vehicle? Leave a review below

Need further help, call the team at Tyremen on 08456 807808

The Winter Tyre Reviews Team