Pirelli Ice Zero 2

The Pirelli Ice Zero 2 steers precisely, but its handling on ice is marked by oversteer, which can make control difficult. The steering feel on snow is good, but the rear tyres may lose their grip in evasive situations. On wet asphalt, the handling becomes restless during fast maneuvers due to a low level of lateral grip, while on dry surfaces it steers slowly but consistently.

The Pirelli Ice Zero 2 lacks the ice grip of Goodyear UltraGrip Ice Arctic 2 and Nokian Hakkapeliitta 10 to truly compete for the studded tyre title. While ice grip could be better, it performs well in all other test aspects on bare pavement, standing out positively with notably better wet braking performance than other studded tyres and achieving the highest score among studded tyres for wet handling. The stability is somewhat better than most studded competitors, though the rather mediocre overall directional stability when cornering gently makes the tyre feel somewhat unpredictable in its reactions. This is a recurring theme across studded tyres - they simply cannot match the precision and composure of the best Nordic friction tyres on bare pavement. Still, for a studded tyre, the bare pavement manners are as good as they get in this test, making it a reasonable compromise for those who want studs but drive frequently on cleared roads.

The Pirelli Ice Zero 2 emerged as the top-performing studded tyre in the test. It offered good all-round performance, excelling in wet conditions for a studded tyre. Its ice grip, while good, wasn't as exceptional as some other studded tyres. The tyre performed well in the moose test, indicating good stability. However, it suffered from higher rolling resistance and noise levels compared to non-studded options. Despite these issues, its balanced performance across various conditions made it the top choice among studded tyres.