Pirelli Scorpion snow tyres

[Tony M]

Last year I dithered on whether to order a set of wheels and Snow and ice tyres for our two Cayennes. By the time I ordered them and they were delivered from Germany, and we had them fitted, the Snow had virtually gone !

Two weeks ago we had them refitted and I am pleased to report that they are excellent in these current conditions.

Today there was about 25 assorted cars vans and 4x4s attempting to climb a hill into our village. Most were well and truly stuck but the Cayenne with diff lock on and reduction sailed up without a problem.

Our lane, which was quite tricky last year with regular tyres, was just a doddle.

Braking is not a problem either. Obviosly if you Brake too hard the ABS will come into play.

Now I know why those cunning Continentals on the other side fit 'Winter Wheels' every year []

 

[tiskev]

Just driven from Geneva today Tony on my Pirellis with Kn
Atrocious weather no probs.I did the long route though so did not chance the Jura .
Even with M/way all the way ony 73 miles in first 3 hours........
Holed up in Le Touquet wonder how they will perform in Kentish snow on Friday ?
Bad enough to close Gva airport today and the buses were runnig 4 minute late
and the trains 7mins.........Disgusting !............

 

[david_yorkshire]

had them fitted last year, and refitted again last weekend...talk about timing !
massive difference over std tyres in snow;
got a panamera 4 on loan - on pilot sports it just took 50 metres to stop from 25mph on the flat - compacted snow / ice

going to try the same in the KN with the scorpions....

 

[tiskev]

Dont risk the Kn David swop the wheels onto the Pannini

 

[david_yorkshire]

Kn with snow and ice tyres stopping distance in same conditions and road as above
10 metres!
That's how much difference the tyres make
And the kn is a lot heavier
I've taken the panamera back to the opc....

 

[Alex L]

Interesting.

I went from Reading to Kent and back yesterday in my 4wd RS6 running regular tyres. The M25 was a bit scary changing lanes, the A21 was a bit scary going around corners, and the Kent lanes were rather do-or-die with keeping momentum up to make it up hills etc. I did get stuck on a steep gradient once and needed assistance.

Other off-road cars (Cayennes, Land Rovers, etc) were just cruising up the same bit of hill. So now I am thinking I might trade my RS6 in for a 2011 Cayenne Turbo just for such occasions. If what you say is true though - perhaps I just need a set of winter tyres and some snow chains?! Does the off-road car gearing and diff-lock really help that much over a standard 4wd car or is it really all about the tyres??

 

[tiskev]

The winter tyres must make a difference to the traction.
as more or less agreed by the posters here and especially last years thread.
The chains i think you could do without.
The alternative would be to pick up an older Landy or similar for
the few occasions like now ? ?

 

[david_yorkshire]

One thing I do know is that the low ratio box on the KN helps;
in so much that it allows you to move off incredibly slowly and smoothly
thus, traction isn't broken to start with.
the smoothness of power delivery helps too (though to an extent you can control that with your right foot !)
not driven an RS6 so can't comment there;
one thing I did find with the Panamera was that when it was sliding laterally, it was particularly easy to correct, so you could hold it in a nice drift if you wanted too, or bring it straight back into line; made for some good low speed fun!

 

[Tony M]

Last year when I was getting around sort of 'OK' with the regular low profile Wide wheels that the GTS wears, I only needed the low ratio and Diff lock when things got really tough .

This year with the Scorpions fitted I have not yet needed low ratio or diff lock. The Scorpions do what it says on the 'Tin' ( Sidewall Actually).. Snow and Ice.

They way I understand it is that at below 5 C normal tyres become hard and won't grip. The Scorpions are made from a rubber compound that does not harden so much and the softer rubber compound can still manage to grip compressed snow and ice. It seems to have little to do with the tread pattern as both Normal and Winter tyres seem to have the tread full of compacted ice.Tread depth does not seem to come into the equation. This is why you see Land Rovers and even Toyota Landcruisers stuck even if they have 'Chunky' tyres designed for mud and off road use.

The picture below shows the hill that runs up our Lane and the 'Hilly' entrance to the House. The Cayenne goes up and around like it is on rails. Having said that I hope I don't end up posting a pic of the cayenne stuffed into the wall !!

PS I hasten to add that I get no financial reward from Pirelli for these posts. They just work fanbloodytastic in these conditions []

 

[tiskev]

As far as I know your understanding on the construction benefits is correct Tony.
In Switzerland if you have an accident wearing normal boots in the Winter the
Insurance Coy's wont pay out .I was worried about the Defender (steel wheels with the
standard tyres) so I took it into L/rover to ask if i needed to fit a set of Ice and Snow
or any sort of winter tyres.The answer was NO the depth of tread on the tyres is the
deciding factor as far as Ins goes .Strange Eh !

 

[keithn]

Fully agree with comments here. I got a set of Pirelli Scorpion winter wheels for my GTS last year and do not regret it. More people need to be educated about the reduced performance of summer tyres in low temperatures (basically below 6/7 degrees).

 

[Need4Speed]

For the first time ever I've switched to winter tyres and what a massive difference!

After ditching the factory fitted P Zeros in favour of Conti 4x4 Sport Contacts, last winter I had a few sticky moments in the deep snow. Obviously I didn't want to repeat this experience again this winter. Therefore I decided to find a new set of alloys and designate the existing 19" Sport Design alloys as winter wheels and get the existing Contis replaced with approved winter tyres.

I spent a while looking around the usual places [eBay, PCGB forum etc] for a set of delivery mileage or almost new sporty Cayenne alloys. As luck would have it, I found a set locally of the newer 20" Sport Design with brand new Conti 4x4 Sport Contacts fitted. The seller had got these taken off his turbo prior to trading it in against a new M3. As an added bonus he also let me have his original 18" 5 spoke turbo alloys fitted with General Grabber AT2s M+S, for less than the cost of a set of new hub caps! The turbo alloys are immaculate, 2 of the AT2s are virtually new and the other 2 won't need replaced until sometime next winter.

During the past ten years of Porsche ownership, I've always been strict about tyres and would never buy non approved summer tyres. However I feel confident with the AT2s as they have been awesome so far, plus I have read many positive reviews and ultimately General Tire Co is a subsidiary of Continental.

Here in west Edinburgh [close to the airport] we've had over 16" of snow during the past week. All of my neighbours who don't have 4x4s are effectively snowed-in and I'm sure if I still had my summer tyres on, then I would be too! I have to drive about a quarter of a mile in the deep stuff and negotiate a steep hill to reach the main road, which the beast does effortlessly now thanks to the winter tyres!

For any Cayenne owners considering winter tyres, go for it! It's amazing what difference wearing proper 'shoes' makes!