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Do stock P Zero A/S tires suck on snow & ice or is something wrong with my traction control?

3K views 22 replies 13 participants last post by  Timcredible 
#1 ·
I bought a low mileage 2018 ST3 with stock A/S tires that have nearly full tread depth ~ 8/32nds. They're fine in rain and slush, but on real snow and ice the car has zip traction and even drifts side-ward while driving straight on roads with any amount of a crown. Full ECS/TC is on. I've never noticed a TC light come on when tires are spinning, even on dry pavement.

I've driven in snow for 45 winters now without any problem (yup, I'm old). Like my first car, a 1971 Camaro SS with 12" wide bias plies. No problem. My last car for 18 years was a manual tranny front wheel drive V-6 Eclipse with only ABS (no TC at all) that I drove through serious $hit using 225/45-18 A/S tires with no problem. This car with P Zero A/S tires is scary.

What is your experience on snow and ice with the with P Zero A/S tires? Should I be noticing an actual TC benefit?
 
#2 ·
I didn’t even drive them in snow and thought the stock Pzero Neros were garbage, but I usually buy decent tires. Needless to say I wouldn’t recommend Pirellis to anyone. Pretty sure I read a review that Michelin AS3s will best a Pirelli summer tire in the dry heat. Before that I was also a fan of BF Goodrich. Didn’t have much of a chance to test the Michelin Premier A/S that I stuck on my Volvo this winter, but last year the Vredesteins I had on there (as a sneak peak of that manufacturer’s return to North America) did very well. TLDR: Pirellis suck.
 
#3 ·
I've never been a Pirelli fan. High end Contis and Michelins have been good. My last tires on the Eclipse were Pilot Alpin 3 that I drove year around and before that Conti DWS were good other than wearing out quickly. The AS3 reviews for real winter conditions seem kind of poor, but I don't have direct experience with them.

As for new A/S tires, I saw a review on Tire Rack for 245/40-18 Y-rated Vredestein QuatroPro that looks promising.

We have freezing temps here almost 8 months per year, so doing summer & winter tires isn't of interest since most of the year would be on the winter tires.

Just trying to figure out if the TC system is defective even though there's no warnings showing up...
 
#12 ·
When I bought my ST1 I had to drive it from the dealer in Chicago to home in Upstate NY and tried to beat a January snowstorm. I didn't and it snowed on me from South Bend, Indiana all the way home and I was surprised how well the Pirellis did for me as I never felt a tire lose traction and people were sliding off the interstate at regular intervals.
But now they are noisy as hell (almost 20k on the clock) and I hope never to drive in the salt again so I will not be putting the same back on. Might go with a Continental since so many on here recommend them.
So, one positive snow traction vote, for what it's worth.
 
#13 ·
The Pirellis are usable in snow but obviously not very good. I've never been stuck and I leave for work at 5:30am which is often before streets are plowed.

The traction control on the ST is actually very good for snowy conditions. It will get you safely through turns even if your grip is terrible.
 
#16 ·
Yeah, the stock Pirellis are a "performance oriented" A/S which is code for sucks on snow and ice. If you're not going to be running dedicated winters then something like an all weather tire is the way to go but your choices may somewhat limited. I know Nokian makes some kick ass winter tires and they make very good all weather tires as well. The problem is that you're trading off winter performance for all out street performance.
 
#17 ·
Spun the tires purposely on an icy patch yesterday and the TC lit up, so I guess it works. But I can spin the tires on dry pavement until I smell smoke with TC full on... Perhaps it's just a certain snow condition where it's transitioning to a wet ice that is making things creepy. But I've been driving a FWD manual tranny car for years without TC no problem. Good news is the TC apparently is doing whatever job it can. But I will be looking for better tires next fall. Thanks for all your input!
 
#18 ·
I think what's happening is if you're going mostly straight on dry pavement, then the e-differential function is taking priority over the TC. On the icy patch, there's more imbalance between left/right sides, so the TC takes priority.
 
#21 ·
Even my last dedicated set of Pirelli winter tires (Sottozero III) were complete garbage on snow and ice. Italians can't do winter tires. They can build Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Paganis, they can make Pizza and other delicious stuff. But they should stay far far away from winter tires.
My current Goodyear Ultragip Gen-1 are a night and day difference to the crappy Pirellis on snow.
 
#22 ·
All season tires are really sun and rain tires. Buy winter treads and your car will be just fine in the snow. Had to replace my Michelin Xice after 4 years. Went with Sumitro winter treads to save some money
(Don’t have to drive as much in really bad weather anymore or I would’ve stayed with Michelins). I have been very pleasantly surprised by the sumitomos. Comfortable with good grip. About 20% cheaper than the X ice.
 
#23 ·
Similar to you, I've got 40+ years of driving in the snow, with 35 of those years in rwd cars. I drove my '18 st3 last year with Goodyear F1s, and they were mediocre, and I didn't have any sideways adventures, but I also go slow in snow and ice. I bought A/S tires just before winter this year, and there's been basically no snow for the first time ever, so I don't know how they will do. But if you're going slow with A/S tires and still sliding, then I'd say there's a problem.
 
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