Fixinbones

Looking for winter tires for my TT. I have used the Sotto Zeros on my last two MB CL63s and they were fine. Can anyone comment on the alpins vs the sottozeros for snow/sleat/rain performance and as well as tire wear? Thanks

enzom

There is a video of a tire test on Porsche 991s using the Alpin and the Pirelli winter tires. I am not certain that the Pirellis in that test are sotto zeros or another variety. I will see if I can find it. The Alpins thoroughly outperformed the Pirellis. I

I have Alpins on my 991 and Pirelli Scorpion Winters on my Range Rover Sport. The Scorpion Winters were excellent last winter. Truck felt better than my wife's Infiniti truck on Blizzaks.

JUPJAI

I have tried both. Alpin better for sure!

eg991

I've been extremely satisfied with the Pilot Alpins, though I haven't had a firsthand experience with the Pirellis.

mgent

Sottozero's on my CLS550-4, but don't think that's of much help on a 911...

Carjunky1

I have a few hundred miles on the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4s and they are fantastic. It gets very cold here and we have snow but I usually wait for the roads to get cleared before I go have fun. Therefore most of my driving is on clear roads at temperatures below 30 deg. F. During the few times that I have driven in 1-3 inches of snow the car drove very well, but this was below 35 mph. You can tell the tires were at work because there were no traction warnings blinking in the instrument display!

I just a 60-mile joy ride today on ice-compacted side roads but mostly on cleared, dry county highways. I never received a single traction warning and my speeds ranged between 30 mph and 100 mph. Here is a recent photo...




Got snow?








Not all 20" rims will clear the front Turbo S PCCBs, but the HRE FF01's do

AndrewP

I cannot compare the Alpins to the SZ's, but can only point out that the factory mounts SZ's on the winter sets of TTS CL's. Seems clear that those with experience prefer Alpins and I would have preferred them on my winter wheels, but Porsche apparently favors the Pirelli's. i did not have the opportunity to specify Alpins when I ordered the winter set in Sept. My only unsurprising observation is that the ride is more compliant and the cornering not nearly as fast as with the P Zero summer compound tires that came with the car, but I believe that softer siedwalls are a characteristic of all winter compound tires..

Carjunky1

Increased sidewall compliance is better for winter. Rough and undulating pavement in the summer feels even worse in the winter so the winter compounds are necessary for protecting the wheels. Besides my 2015 Turbo S, I also use the Pilot Alpins PA4s on my 2009 Cayenne GTS. I am able to fit 18" rims with 55 aspect ratio snow tires in place of my 21" OEM rims with 35 aspect ratio summer tires. The Cayenne performs fine although you can tell it is sloppy in high speed turns. The ride becomes subliminal with the added sidewall height and no one has complained.

I think Porsche has a tire contract with Pirelli so it makes sense that they are using the Pirelli winter tires. The Michelin tires are also Porsche specific as they are labeled 'NO' on their sidewall.

RCorsa

I've got the sotto zeros from October to March on my GTS and its great in snow. They drive so well I actually forgot to put the p zeros back on two summers ago.

Cherryblock

I'm generally a Michelin guy but have the Sottos's on my TTS, although very early feedback- they are very grippy, compliant. Very happy with them.

RCorsa

I was just told by my dealer that only the sotto zero will fit my 2015 TTS with center lock wheels and with a narrower rear? Thoughts or advice? I've had the SottoZero on my GTS and they were pretty good but I'd like to try the Alpin.

rjn1

TTS Centre lock winter wheel and tyre official specs are:

Front: 8.5 J x 20 ET 51
Rear: 11 J x 20 ET 59
Front: 245/35 R 20 91V M+S
Rear: 295/30 R 20 97V M+S

Michelin and Pirelli both make a winter 295/30/20 97V N0.

Michelin and Pirelli both make a 245/35/20 N0 91V.

So as usual the dealer is wrong. Michelin are N rated and fit stock wheels perfectly. Narrower rear is totally wrong and possibly dangerous.

If you were keeping the summer wheels which sometime are 11.5J at the rear, sometime 11J, and just swapping the tyres, the front are the same, the rear tyres are 10mm narrower but will still fit on an 11.5J wheel. 295 and 305 are ideal widths for 11.5J. 285 and 295 widths are ideal for 11J.

brad@tirerack.com

At this point in the season the Michelins are sold out, but were the second option for the 245/295 sizing. This season I have sold more of the Pirelli than Michelin for the 20" 991 with good feedback.

RCorsa

Thanks for your help. I found the correct winter tire sizes from Porsche and other members of Renlist. The Michelins are not sold out just somewhat limited. Michelin confirmed this and I found them at Discount Tire Co. After doing so my dealer confirmed they can install them as they are indeed N rated and the same size. FYI, I tried calling and online chatting with Tire rack and could never get and answer. In fact one rep hung up on me when I asked about the tires? The Porsche dealer actually told me that he was getting his info from Tire rack so seams like bad info out there to force an easy sale of the Pirelli.

rjn1

If an OPC employee cannot determine correct tyre sizes themselves from primary data available in seconds from PPN or even the public website, without going to a retailer (albeit as far as I know, one of the best) the OPC employee is a moron.