Pirelli Ice Friction

The Pirelli Ice Friction is this year's most interesting newcomer, sharing second place with Goodyear in an impressive debut. This Nordic friction tyre grips genuinely well across winter surfaces, though it shows slightly worse stability than the test winner and somewhat poorer fuel efficiency. The ice grip is better and fully in the class of good studded tyres, allowing the tyre to handle difficult situations where grip level is sufficient. On snow, it performs excellently and can compete with the best in the test. While wet road performance follows the typical Nordic friction pattern of being adequate but not outstanding, the tyre delivers respectable handling characteristics. The slightly softer character compared to Continental means it doesn't quite match the precision and stability of the test winner, but it remains an accomplished all-around performer that validates Pirelli's development in the Nordic friction category.

The Pirelli Ice Friction earns the title of "Debut of the Year" with an unusually large improvement over its predecessor, the Asimmetrico. Pirelli has excelled in the wet rounds with flying colors - no other tyre in the test has such good resistance to aquaplaning, and it also receives top marks in both braking and cornering on rain-soaked asphalt. Despite these excellent wet weather characteristics, Pirelli also performs at the top on snow and isn't far behind the leaders on ice, with a slightly oversteering rear that helps with cornering. On dry asphalt, it's the best performer with crisp steering feel and good driving enjoyment. The tyre maintains a high and consistent level across all surfaces, with an emphasis on dry pavement performance, earning it second place overall. The only average aspect is road noise levels.