Winter tires or all season? It depends on how you use the car
An intense use of your car recommends the choice of specific tyres, but the “four seasons” it has become an excellent alternative for urban travel thanks to the innovations brought by the most recent products, such as the Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF2 or Scorpion All Season SF2. Last year this type of tire saw an incidence on the European market close to 20% with an even more accentuated variation in rims greater than 18″ on crossovers and SUVs (+60% between 2019 and 2022). The reasons are different, starting from milder winter conditions but also thanks to the technological leap that all-season tires have experienced. Pirelli has transferred its experience in the winter segment to these products, in which it is the market leader, equipping almost 50% of the premium and prestige models fitted with custom-developed winter tires larger than 18″. So, how do you understand which tire is the most suitable?
All season tires for those who travel especially in the city
For those who travel fewer kilometers (up to 25,000 per year) and is not a frequenter of mountain roads, in the most modern all-season tires he finds an effective solution where the compromises of the past are no longer found. Starting from mileage: Pirelli has extended development through virtual modeling to all its products, perfected in Formula 1, which in the case of all-season tires has allowed the footprint to be optimized by reducing wear. Even when driving in the wet, the new generation of tires shows behavior comparable to seasonal products, if not better in intermediate temperature situations. This is thanks to the numerous “V” grooves in the tread which facilitate the expulsion of water in case of rain. Demonstrating this effectiveness are the values indicated on the European label: almost 90% of the Pirelli Scorpion All Season SF2 sizes obtained the highest classification for wet braking. Furthermore, the tread design of the all-season tires of the Pirelli Cinturato and Scorpion families has been designed to be effective all year round: it is characterized by an adaptive technology of the sipes which are closed and compact in typical summer conditions and open for cling effectively to slippery or snowy surfaces in the cold months.
Winter tires for travelers and snow enthusiasts
The summer/winter change remains the best choice for those motorists who travel many kilometres, frequent areas where the risk of snowfall is higher and seek maximum performance even in the most severe conditions. The winter tyre, in fact, is designed to work best in difficult conditions, such as low temperatures and asphalt made slippery by snow or ice. The chemical characteristics of the compounds of a winter tire allow shorter braking distances both on wet roads (up to 15%) and obviously on snow-covered roads, where the percentage of improvement increases significantly (up to 50%) compared to a summer. The tread design typical of winter tires also contributes to obtaining performance, in particular the sipes, whose main purpose is to collect and retain the snow inside them, improving grip thanks to the “snow-on-snow friction” effect. , which allows maximum mobility without the use of chains. Another regular customer of winter tires is the owner of a sports car who requires the maximum in terms of grip.
How to recognize the right tire?
Winter or all season, depending on your needs, the important thing is that the tire bears the M+S marking on the sidewall, necessary to avoid penalties where winter regulations apply. To achieve maximum safety on snow you must make sure that the symbol of the three-peaked mountain surrounding a snowflake is also present. This specific marking indicates that the tire has passed the approval tests in the most critical winter conditions. Today the new generations of Pirelli all-season tires all feature this symbol, indicating that these tires have followed a development path comparable to that of winter tires, especially in the most critical conditions.
The Pirelli All Season and Winter range
To respond to every type of driver, Pirelli has developed both winter and all-season tyres, with the same level of technology and safety, for the two product families Cinturato and Scorpion, the first dedicated to traditional cars and the second to crossovers and SUVs. The performance of these two ranges in different driving situations, in fact, has been recognized by the certification body TÜV SÜD, which assigned them the “Performance Mark” after specific safety tests. All tires also available for electric and plug-in hybrid cars, with dedicated Pirelli Elect technology on a selection of sizes. With the expansion of the range, Pirelli can now cover 97% of the European market requests for sizes over 16″. For more high-performance cars, for which winter equipment is always the preferable solution, the P Zero Winter is available, approved by many premium and prestige car manufacturers.
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