Pirelli Winter Carving Edge vs Pirelli Scorpion Ice & Snow

[HIRISC]

My 2013 50i was due for some new winter tires this year so I decided to try out the 'new' Pirelli Winter Carving Edge runflats.

By way of reference, last year I used (up) a year old set of Pirelli Scorpion Ice/Snow runflats. The Scorpions had been my winter go-to through two other X5's, including my previous X5M.

I've always run the full-size winters 275/315 on OE 20" wheels.

I was not unhappy with the Scorpions at all, but the aggressive look of the tire's tread design and siping lured me over. There were no online reviews of the WCE so I decided to take one for the Team.

Winter Carving Edge

Scorpion Ice & Snow

After two storms on the Winter Carving Edge, my initial opinion is that the Scorpion is a (edited - MUCH) better 'winter' tire for the X5.

While adhesion on ice could actually be slightly better with the WCE, the tradeoff is that the tread design and tiny bit of extra tread depth (12/32 vs 11/32) conspires against handling and slick-condition confidence. It's tough to explain, but the WCE's don't 'feel' as safe or sticky on slick roads. I believe the lack of center channel/s on the WCE is a disadvantage..it seems to ride over the snow rather than through it...in summary, it lacks bite.

On dry surfaces, there is a clear difference in handling, turn-in, etc. that I anticipated based on the categorization of the tire (Scorpion = performance winter snow vs WCE = studdable winter snow.) The Scorpion is significantly better on dry/wet than the WCE.

I'll get by just fine on the WCE, but if you're cross shopping these for use in snowy/icy climates, I would steer you () toward the Scorpion Ice & Snow.

IMO scoring: WCE C+ (edited after 3 weeks), Scorpion A-

Hope that helps someone out.

(ps, I realize that the WCE's can be studded.. MN prohibits this so mine are not)