Tires Pirelli Formula Ice: tests, reviews. Tires Pirelli Formula Ice 91t

In the issue of choosing tires for your car, some drivers have two extremes. Some believe that it is necessary to take the cheapest, because they still ride neatly and nothing will happen to them. Others do not believe in the existence of good budget models, so sometimes the tires they have the same value as half of the car.

Let's look at why it's important to be responsible for choosing a rubber. In parallel, we will study what the experienced drivers write about rubber, making reviews. Tires Pirelli Formula Ice will be "experimental" in this review, on their example just you can see where the line of low cost intersects with an acceptable quality.

Brief information about the model

The first time the company introduced this model of winter tires on public display in early 2013. Thus, during this time, users already could form a general impression of quality.

The model of Pirelli Formula Ice 91T rubber was developed first of all for the countries of Northern Europe. The main reason for this targeting is rather severe conditions in this area during the winter season. However, in general, as we can see further, these tires are suitable for any terrain in which most of the road in winter is covered with snow or ice.

First of all, the goal of the developers was low cost, which could at the same time allow to preserve the main features of functional and universal winter tires. Install this model can be for all types of cars, as well as urban SUVs, also called crossovers.

The main distinguishing feature - aluminum spikes

The team of designers creatively approached the development and decided on a rather risky step. While most manufacturers prefer to use steel spikes in their tires, in this case they were made of aluminum. But do not immediately think that such a soft metal can not be durable, this nuance is confirmed and feedback. Tires Pirelli Formula Ice thanks to aluminum spikes have become an innovation that has made the movement even safer.

Consider in order the benefits that have emerged due to this decision. First of all, it was possible to almost halve the weight of each individual spike, which positively affected the total weight of the entire tire. Thanks to such a decision, the stability of the machine increased when passing sections of the road with an icy coating. In addition, unlike steel, aluminum spikes are held more firmly due to the special properties of the material itself, and this prevents them from falling out during braking or acceleration.

Special form of spines

Not only the material surprises us the tire Pirelli Formula Ice. The spike is made in the form of a hexagon and has received the strengthened basis of fastening. This aspect also increased the tenacity of the spikes and strengthened their adhesion to the surface even on ideally mirror-like ice.

As a consequence, increased manageability on the corners of slippery slopes. And there was an opportunity to reduce the stopping distance. In this case, the driver can, if necessary, bravely apply emergency braking, without fear of losing half of the studs from the tire. In addition to using the special properties of aluminum to increase reliability, the fastening itself was carefully worked out.

Tread pattern and stability

The manufacturer did not forget about the most successful variants of the arrangement of the tread elements on the surface. For those who like to not even slow down in the straight sections of the track even in winter, a solid central rib is provided. Its task is to maximize the stabilization of the direction of motion and control stability at smooth turns. In doing so, it is performed in such a way as not to adversely affect the stopping distance.

Passage of rubber on the snow covered surface

If on the roads in your area more prevails loose or freshly fallen snow, the tires "Pirelli" will also be able to please you with their thoughtful design. The lamellas, which are located as often as possible, allow the snow porridge without problems to be diverted beyond the bound surface. They reduce it to wider grooves designed to quickly remove all moving objects from under the wheel. Thanks to this, even during the thaw period, rubber behaves well on the road and successfully copes with thawed snow and water, as well as deep puddles.

Each of the lamellas forms end faces that can manifest themselves during start or braking. Their large number allows you to efficiently rake the snow, spending all the energy of the wheel's rotation on a useful action. However, it should be remembered that with such a structure, you can easily dig in loose snow, so it's best to start off smoothly and slowly.

Improving traffic safety

As already noted above, the shape of the sipes and drainage grooves perfectly allows them to cope with the tasks set, which reduces the chance to catch a rather unpleasant aquaplaning effect in the deep pool, in which the car completely loses control.

It is especially worth noting this rubber for front-wheel drive cars, because thanks to a constant good coupling with the track, it can allow you to get out of the drift by increasing the revs, which is also noted by the reviews. The tires Pirelli Formula Ice and here showed their concern for the driver.

Thoughtful composition of rubber

When driving on a winter track, there are times when spikes become powerless and can even do more harm than good. This is an exit to dry asphalt, completely cleared of snow and ice, or a movement along a route treated with chemical reagents to melt the snow.

In this situation, care should be taken, because the braking distance may increase. And in general, the winter is not the time to get out on the road. However, the manufacturer took care of this situation.

Thanks to special fastenings of thorns when driving on a clean track, they are almost completely absorbed into the rubber. In order to ensure reliable coupling of the road surface, special additives are used in the production of the rubber compound, which make it more elastic even at low temperatures. In addition, they have a protective effect against aggressive chemicals, so that the Pirelli Formula Ice rubber can last much longer.

The main features of the tires, according to the manufacturer

As is known, each manufacturer seeks to identify the main positive features of its product. In this case, too, there is a similar trend. Let us briefly review the developer's stated pluses, which were noted for Pirelli Formula Ice. Reviews, tests, which were carried out, will not be discussed in detail, we will take only the main essence, and a little later we will compare them with the real picture on the basis of user reviews.

So, among the positive moments of this model are the following:

• Reduction of the stopping distance.
• Increased grip under all conditions of the road, whether it is snow or ice.
• Preservation of good handling on slippery slopes.
• Ensuring traffic safety at the proper level.
• Increased tractive power, good preservation of engine dynamics.
• Stable wear, which does not affect the performance of the rubber.
• A good balance between value and quality.

Let's now look at what points drivers first of all give out as positive, and what they are obviously unhappy with.

Positive user reviews

Among all the reviews one thread is the topic of low cost of these tires. This is true, tires "Pirelli" fully justify their budget category. However, they can not be called substandard. As well as an acceptable cost experienced drivers distinguish several more positive moments.

The second positive feature can be considered the relative noiselessness of this rubber. As you know, any studded tire makes noise, but the noise level depends on many factors. Perhaps in this case, the same aluminum is to blame, and maybe a certain form of tread helps out, but the level of noise pollution in the cabin is much lower than that of competitors. And it is actively noted in reviews and reviews.

The third and, perhaps, one of the most important moments is confident controllability on the winter track. Despite its budgetary component, this rubber was able to receive positive feedback from a large number of drivers based on its main feature - high-quality grip with the track, regardless of conditions. At the same time, the most popular size that drivers have to deal with is the Pirelli Formula Ice R15, which can be called the golden mean, so most of the information from the reviews can be applied to the entire grid of sizes.

The fourth point, which may appeal to fans of very cheap options, is wear resistance. Perhaps rubber and has a higher cost, but it can travel much longer than its cheaper counterparts. On sites with reviews there are comments of drivers who bought it, as soon as it appeared, and still continue to exploit it, and this is the fourth season.

Negative moments noticed by drivers

I received this rubber and some remarks in my address, but they can not be called too critical. Perhaps most of them can be attributed to the category of specific, but no more, and yet it is not necessary to bypass such reviews.

Pirelli Formula Ice tires, according to some drivers, have some problems with balancing after installation on disks. Sometimes it was necessary to add a fairly large weight of weights to get an acceptable result. For some unknown reason, some tires were poorly balanced during production. Therefore, if you neglect the procedure of balancing the wheel, you can get a pretty unpleasant effect of heartbeat and vibration. Not only will he be annoyed, it also has a bad effect on the chassis of the car.

For the sake of justice it is worth noting that after balancing this problem disappears and does not manifest itself in the future. Recall that the balancing is recommended to do at the beginning of each season, before "re-training", even if the rubber was stored together with the disks.

Among the remaining moments there are isolated cases when mention is made of increased noise on roads with perfectly clean asphalt (which, in general, is quite acceptable for any studded rubber) and dropouts due to aggressive driving. More users have no complaints about the model.

The results of comparing real and stated advantages

As you can see from the reviews of Pirelli Formula Ice, the manufacturer spoke the truth, highlighting the main positive points of this rubber. It has won the hearts of users and its manageability, and stability on the roads, and, as a result, providing confidence in traffic and security.

In general, the developers have done a good job, having managed to create a truly massive product that has good characteristics. Find the rubber of this model line for your car is easy, because it is available with a large number of sizes and for any size of the disc, from R13 to the giant Pirelli Formula Ice XL for R18. Therefore, owners of both budget classics and modern crossovers can confidently go to the store, knowing that they are waiting for a personal copy of the tested winter tires.

Conclusion

Considering the above, it is possible to come to the conclusion that the goal of the developers was to maximize the price of a popular sample of quality rubber. They again took care that the price was adequate and affordable for most motorists. As a result, Pirelli Formula Ice - studded inexpensive tires, which can serve you more than one year. Thanks to her, you can feel more confident on the road, knowing that the installed rubber is really safe.

In this case, do not neglect the rules of the road and your own intuition, because all the same winter is not the most favorable and predictable for motorists.