Auto Bild, well known for their excellent tyre tests, have recently tested 11 premium winter tyres and 1 premium all season tyre in the popular 225/45 R17 to create their 2011 winter tyre test.
As always, the tyres were put through their paces on snow, wet roads and dry roads, with their wear rate, noise and comfort measured objectively and subjectively.
As always with winter European tyre tests, the scoring was bias towards raw snow and wet performance, with subjective handling and dry performance given a lower weighting in the final results.
We'll have a full write up soon, but for now here are the overview results with testers comments on each tyre.
The Results
1st: Michelin Alpin A4 | |
| World class all round performance with excellent mileage. Safe handling, good ride comfort Slight weakness with aquaplaning Read Reviews |
2nd: Bridgestone Blizzak LM32 | |
| All round talent with excellent traction on snow. Best handling with precise steering on wet and dry roads. Excellent low rolling resistance Average wear Read Reviews |
3rd: Dunlop SP WinterSport 4D | |
| Fantastic snow performance with safe handling on both dry and wet roads. Shortest wet braking distance Slight weakness with aquaplaning Read Reviews |
4th: Goodyear Ultra Grip Performance 2 | |
| Good winter tyres with good traction and stable cornering on snow. Excellent steering response on wet roads Quite high pass by noise, average wear Read Reviews |
5th: Uniroyal MS plus 66 | |
| Stable cornering and safe handling qualities on snow, high mileage, good value for money Only average wet performance Read Reviews |
6th: Toyo Snowprox S953 | |
| Convincing winter tyre with dynamic handling on snow. Good aquaplaning High wear, increased rolling resistance, lots of understeer on wet roads Read Reviews |
7th: Continental WinterContact TS 830 P | |
| Safe handling with stable corning in all weather conditions. Good braking on wet roads Poor dry braking, average wear Read Reviews |
8th: Nokian WR D3 | |
| The snow king. Low rolling resistance, low noise Average aquaplaning, poor wear Read Reviews |
9th: Pirelli Sottozero Serie II | |
| Good lateral grip on snow and wet roads, good aquaplaning results, low rolling resistance Poor wet and dry braking, high wear Read Reviews |
10th: Nexen Winguard Sport | |
| Good price to performance ratio, low rolling resistance Low traction and long stopping distances in snow, poor handling and long braking on wet roads Read Reviews |
11th: Kumho IZen KW17 | |
| Good rolling resistance, low price Low grip on the snow, poor steering response and long stopping distances on wet roads. Poor ride comfort Read Reviews |
12th: Goodyear Vector 4Seasons | |
| Dynamic handling and short braking distances in the dry, very good value for money When compared to a full winter tyre, poor snow performance. Average ride quality Read Reviews |
Best UUHP Tyres
Best All Season Tyres
Best Winter Tyres
