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All-weather tires are a category that still might be a little unfamiliar for a lot of drivers, so what’s the story with them, anyway? All-weather tires might still be a little unfamiliar to you; they have a lot in common with all-season tires but are intended for improved performance in winter traction without any serious sacrifices in tread life, ride quality, road manners, handling, cornering, and braking.
All-weather tires are designed for a specific niche of performance whereas all-season tires aren’t quite able to get the job done. Anyone who’s tried to get around on the roads in rough winter conditions when there’s 3-4 inches of snow (and more on the way) knows that most all-season tires are usually just not capable of delivering the traction, control and braking you need (in most cases), so all-weather tires are designed for an advantage in winter traction with optimized rubber formulations, more aggressive tread patterns, redesigned sipe networks and other features. The whole package is designed with the goal of dependable traction in snow and slush. In other words, they’re designed for a specific category between all-season tires and winter tires, without the headache of having to remove winter tires and store them once temperatures get above 40-45 degrees F.
Are you familiar with SimpleScore? SimpleScore is the system the SimpleTire team developed to give you a quick at-a-glance idea of a tire’s strengths and weaknesses. We take in the specs, review information, and other data points for any given tire, then use that information to determine a numerical value from 1-10 for the categories of traction, handling, and longevity, as well as an overall average SimpleScore for the tire. For the Pirelli Scorpion Weatheractive and Nokian Nordman Solstice Directional CUV, the SimpleScore numbers shake out like this:
Pirelli Scorpion WeatherActive
- Traction: 9.8
- Handling: 9.6
- Longevity: 9.2
- Overall average SimpleScore: 9.5
Nokian Nordman Solstice Directional CUV
- Traction: 8.7
- Handling: 8.7
- Longevity: 8.7
- Overall average SimpleScore: 8.5
As you can see, there’s a gap between the SimpleScores of both tires, but as helpful as SimpleScore is, it’s the 30,000 foot view that doesn’t give you the full picture of any tire’s strengths and weaknesses. Let’s go in for a closer look with this head-to-head product comparison:
Pirelli Scorpion WeatherActive tires
For decades, drivers have come back to Pirelli tires for their combination of performance, quality, and value, and the Scorpion WeatherActive is a great example of why. This tire is one of the newer iterations of the Scorpion family and has the tire industry’s Three Peak Mountain Snowflake rating for severe winter service. In real-world situations where you’re relying on that tire for dependable traction and control, the Pirelli Scorpion WeatherActive is designed with a directional tread pattern, a 3-rib design that’s rigid enough to resist tread squirm during braking or cornering, a zigzag central groove, angled grooves that capably route water and slush away from the contact patch to resist hydroplaning, and a tread pitch that’s randomized and computer tuned to suppress and muffle road noise by canceling certain frequencies and resonances. The tread compound of the Scorpion WeatherActive is designed to stay pliable and deliver winter traction when temperatures are below freezing, but is still durable and tough enough for long miles and great wear characteristics. Pirelli backs the Scorpion WeatherActive with a 60,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty. After running the numbers for the Scorpion WeatherActive, we get SimpleScores of 9.8 for traction, 9.2 for longevity, and 9.5 for handling – all certainly pretty respectable, if you ask us. SimpleTire’s price on the Scorpion WeatherActive starts at $220.49 per tire.
Nokian Nordman Solstice Directional CUV tires
Finland-based Nokian has built their reputation on top-quality winter tires, and the Nokian Nordman Solstice Directional CUV is approved for winter service with the Three Peak Mountain Snowflake rating. The Nordman Winter Solstice Directional CUV features a directional tread pattern with dense 3D sipes that multiply the tread’s surface area and traction with hundreds of tiny biting edges to slice through snow and slush. Its angled and circumferential grooves help divert water away from the tire’s contact patch to resist hydroplaning and an all-weather tread formulation that’s designed to stay flexible for dependable traction at subfreezing temperatures. Nokian designed the Nordman for low rolling resistance, helping to save on fuel costs over the life of the vehicle, and the Nordman Solstice Directional CUV is protected by a 50,000 mile limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty. SimpleTire’s price on the Nokian Nordman Solstice Directional CUV starts at $113.65 per tire.
Pirelli Scorpion WeatherActive vs Nokian Nordman Solstice Directional CUV tires on traction
So when it comes to traction, how do the Pirelli and the Nokian stack up against each other? Both tires have the 3PMSF certification for severe winter service, and both have directional all-weather tread patterns with advanced networks of sipes to boost grip in wet or wintry conditions. However, the Pirelli comes in with a SimpleScore of 9.7 vs 8.7 for the Nokian. This is an instance where, even though the two tires stack up well against each other when it comes to design, technology and features, reviews and anecdotal evidence are what move the needle, with drivers noting that the Pirelli delivers traction that’s more consistent with better braking and control. Our decision:
ADVANTAGE: Pirelli Scorpion WeatherActive
Pirelli Scorpion WeatherActive vs Nokian Nordman Solstice Directional CUV tires on handling
When it comes to handling, it’s often a function of the traction a tire can produce, and in this case, the Pirelli comes in with a SimpleScore of 9.6 for handling vs 8.7 for the Nokian. Considering how the SimpleScores are for traction for the two tires, that shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. Pirelli tires in general owe a big debt to the company’s decades of involvement in motorsports, and Pirellis tend to have a reputation for nimble cornering and quick, direct steering response, so it’s not a big surprise that reviews would point in that same direction. Our decision:
ADVANTAGE: Pirelli Scorpion WeatherActive
Pirelli Scorpion WeatherActive vs Nokian Nordman Solstice Directional CUV tires on longevity
In the longevity department, the Pirelli comes along with a SimpleScore of 9.2 vs 8.7 for the Nokian. At least this one’s a pretty easy call – the Pirelli has 60,000 miles of limited manufacturer’s tread life coverage vs 50,000 miles for the Nokian. Either way, that’s some pretty good warranty coverage for a tire, but it’s clear that the Pirelli outranks the Nokian on this one. Our decision:
ADVANTAGE: Pirelli Scorpion WeatherActive
When to use each
The Nokian and the Pirelli are both great choices in all-weather tires. Like we said from the git-go, all-weather tires are a perfect solution when you live in a part of the country that has tough winter weather where all-season tires are going to fall short of getting the job done for you, but you don’t want the headache of having to install winter tires for a few months, then dismount them and figure out where to store them until the next winter. Instead, all-weather tires like the Pirelli and the Nokian are good year-round and offer the same kind of ride comfort, low noise, long wear properties, sharp handling, and good road manners as all-season or Grand Touring tires…but with serious traction in snow and slush, the conditions where those tires will fall short.
Which one should you choose?
Here’s where the rubber meets the road (yes, pun intended). The Pirelli outranks the Nokian in all the SimpleScore categories, despite Nokian’s extensive experience in winter tire design. That kind of surprised us too, but the SimpleScore numbers don’t lie. However, it also comes down to what you have on hand to spend for a set of all-weather tires: the Pirelli Scorpion WeatherActive starts out at $220.49 per tire vs $113.65 per tire. That’s not a slight price spread between the two, the Pirelli is close to double what you’d spend on the Nokian. If you’ve got the cash on hand, go for the Pirelli. If you’ve got an older vehicle with a lot of miles on it and don’t want to clean out your bank account to get a set of tires, go for the Nokian. You’d only be giving up 10,000 miles of tread life coverage, and you’d still get a great, capable set of all-weather tires that are designed specifically for the weight, power, torque, and handling of an SUV or crossover.
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