From the seat of my pants after an hour of braking, swerving, accelerating and braking on polished hard-packed snow, I’d peg the performance of the X-Ice and Ice Zero similarly, with the X-Ice maintaining the stronger bite in braking and cornering, in the conditions I drive in most often. I find the Pirelli Ice Zero tires a little less impressive than my favorites from Michelin, but they give me no complaints.
Returning to the same testing surface 90 minutes later with the R3s installed ensured a good comparison using the same surface, on the same day, in the same conditions. That’s a rule I learned after many years as a member of AJAC (the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada) and long-time participant in their Canadian Car of the Year Awards program. In this program, “same roads, same day, same conditions” helps form the basis of a more accurate comparisons.