I want to buy some dedicated snow tires on my wife's '09 CS. I've come down to the Pirelli Scorpion Ice & Snows ($175/ea) and the new Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V! ($144/ea).

My understanding is that the DM-V1's are more snow and ice performance while the Scorpion's are more all winter tires.

Does anyone have an opinion?

Thanks.

 

i have the 20 in scorpions. they were fine last winter when we had 7ft of snow in december.

 

i have the scorpions, and i like them.

 

Why did you rule out the Michelin Lattitude Alpin? Great snow performance and quieter dry. Also superb wet which is better than the scorpion.

 

The Alpin's caught my attention but they're only offered in (5) different sizes and 255x55x18 ain't one of them.

Thanks though.

 

Au contrair, mon frere. I am riding the Alpins 255/55/18 on my TS right now. They are listed on TireRack and TreadDepot and TiresByWeb. They are 109V, NO (Porsche approved) and they are phenomenal. I got them after one rainy day with the Goodyear LS which were pathetic and stock on the TS. Tried the BFG 265/65/18 but they rubbed when the car was in Sport mode. Love the Alpins. Got 7500 miles one them now.

 

Sorry man, you're correct. I just went back to TireRack and I didn't see them originally because I had my filter set to nothing over "$200/tire".

Nice tire for sure but at ~$100 more PER tire than the Blizzak's, they don't seem like a great value.

 

I had the Scorps on my X5 4.6is and my Cayenne Turbo S, Both in 20" size. They are awesome tires and I never once felt that I needed a better winter tire even in 15" deep snow in VT. They are great in even when the road is clear, low noise, handle very well.

 

The Blizzacks are very squirmy on dry. Pirelli's get louder as they wear. Have not had any probs with the Alpin and had a set on an ML and was happy. JMHO. Good luck.

 

I use 20" Scorpions and they were excellent. Highly recommend them.

 

scorpions also don't make any noise when driving

 

The DM-V1 is brand new this year and untested. It's slated to offer the snow and ice performance of the softer DMZ-3, while giving improved dry performance like the Pirelli. The Pirelli has been the favorite of Cayenne owners to date and is N-rated. Something to keep in mind if still under warranty.

I comes down to what you want from your tires. The best performance in the worst conditions (Blizzak), or increase dry performance (Pirelli). I have the DMZ-3 on our XC-90 and the car is absolutely unstoppable in the snow - and the DMZ-1 is supposed to be better.

Time will tell if the DMZ-1 delivers, but I know how proud of the Blizzak line they are, and I am sure they are going to be a winner.

 

Comments about the Alpin as compared to the Blizzack and the Pirelli, Damon? It is also N rated. Is the Blizzack?

 

just make sure you stick with 18" 's imo over the better looking 19" & 20"s.


i have had the scorpions for 2 winters now

 

Ok, so two different vehicles, but I currently own both and can give you my impressions. I put winter tires on two vehicles each season and each is downsized 1" and 20mm:

I've got the Bridgestone Blizzaks on my S6 wagon (235/16's) and the Pirelli Scorpians are on our Cayenne S (255/18s). While I can't give empirical evidence and I am comparing two different vehicles ... I can tell you that the S6 has been our preferred Tahoe car versus the Cayenne for the past 3 years. The Blizzak tread/tire compound just simply hooks up. I can't tell you how many times I've come to a dead stop on Northwoods Blvd or Alpine meadows access road (you Bay area folks know what I'm talking about) as someone else spins out ... then ease away from a dead stop while everyone else sits there and spins.

I agree with Transiberia that the Blizzaks are squirmy - they are quite soft in the sidewalls as well as the tread, but in the worst weather, they stick to the snow & ice. We tend to head up to the snow every other weekend - so I end up driving the Blizzaks a majority of the winter on dry pavement all week down in the bay. I can give A++ ratings in the rain as well - but after a few months, I do look forward to swapping back to my summer tires toward the end of the season for a bit more precise dry road handling

On another note, this year I'm going to put a set of Nokian WR G2 SUV tires on the Cayenne and see how that goes. This tire looks interesting to me because it is considered an all season, but has that snowflake symbol that the snow tires must have in order to avoid chain controls and it is also a V rated tire - should be quite stiff in the shoulders for the dry driving. The Nokians are highly regarded and this tire is usually compared directly with straight snows (even though it is an all season).