Test Summary
Wet Braking	Nokian WR D4
Dry Braking	Goodyear UltraGrip 9
Wet Handling	Debica Frigo 2 Sava Eskimo Ice
Wear	Nokian WR D4
Rolling Resistance	Debica Frigo 2
Straight Aqua	Debica Frigo 2 Sava Eskimo Ice
Snow Handling	Nokian WR D4

For 2017 the Polish publication AutoCentrum has tested eight studless winter tyres in 185/65 R15. As with the other winter tyre tests we've featured across 2017, AutoCentrum tests the winter tyres in the dry, wet and snow, but also includes ice testing, a first for 2017.

Six of the tyres on test are European winter tyres which are available to the UK market, and two of the tyres (Debica Frigo 2 and Sava Eskimo Ice) are full nordic friction studless winter tyres, so it should give us a good overview of how these two different types of tyres perform, and why Nordic winter tyres aren't suitable for the UK market.

Dry

In the dry testing, the Nokian was supreme, stopping the car in 27.76 meters. The more heavily siped nature of Nordic winter tyres means they struggle in dry testing, with the Debica 3 meters and Sava nearly 4 meters behind the best European winter tyre on test when braking down from 80 km/h.

Wet

As in the dry testing, the Nordic winter tyres were last by a huge margin. The best European tyre on test stopped the vehicle in under 30 meters when braking from 80 km/h, with the Sava Nordic winter tyre a full 10 meters behind.

The gap was similar in the wet slalom, with both Nordic winter tyres a long way off the pace and controllability of the European winter tyres.

Goodyear rounded out an impressive wet performance by winning the aquaplaning test too.

Snow

Snow is where the Nordic winter tyre should take the advantage, but during the snow braking test the Goodyear once again won, stopping the car in just 15.79 meters from 40 km/h.

The Goodyear was also strongest in snow traction, who's results mirrored snow braking closely.

Ice

Ice braking is finally where the Nordic winter tyres won a test, with the Debica Frigo having a big advantage when braking down from just 25 km/h.

As with snow traction, the results were broadly similar to ice braking, with the Nordic winter tyres having a strong advantage.

The ice slalom was again won by the Nordic winter tyres.

 

Results

The overall results are below. If you've ever wondered why we don't get the more extreme Nordic winter tyres in the UK, this is your answer, with both Nordic tyres on test struggling in the dry and wet when compared to our European winter tyres.

1st: Nokian WR D4
185/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 160.5 Dry: 19 Wet: 35 Snow: 23 Ice: 31 Subjective: 35 Rolling Resistance: 9 Overall: 8.5 Very strong in the dry with a balanced performance across the other tests. Average ice grip. Read Reviews
2nd: Goodyear UltraGrip 9
185/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 155.3 Dry: 15 Wet: 39 Snow: 25 Ice: 29 Subjective: 31 Rolling Resistance: 8 Overall: 8.3 Read Reviews
3rd: Michelin Alpin A4
185/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 146.9 Dry: 17 Wet: 35 Snow: 22 Ice: 28 Subjective: 31 Rolling Resistance: 6 Overall: 7.9 Balanced winter performance, but also excellent in the dry and wet. Higher rolling resistance. Read Reviews
4th: Fulda Kristall Montero 3
185/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 126.9 Dry: 13 Wet: 31 Snow: 19 Ice: 26 Subjective: 23 Rolling Resistance: 8 Overall: 6.9 Good resistance to aquaplaning. Poor ice handling, long dry braking. Read Reviews
5th: Debica Frigo 2
185/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 134.7 Dry: 11 Wet: 18 Snow: 26 Ice: 37 Subjective: 26 Rolling Resistance: 10 Overall: 6.7 Excellent on snow and ice, lowest rolling resistance. Poor dry and wet braking and handling. Read Reviews
6th: Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2
185/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 123.6 Dry: 12 Wet: 29 Snow: 19 Ice: 27 Subjective: 24 Rolling Resistance: 6 Overall: 6.6 Good wet handling. Poor snow handling, low grip on ice. Read Reviews
7th: Kumho Winter Craft WP51
185/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 111.5 Dry: 11 Wet: 28 Snow: 16 Ice: 27 Subjective: 17 Rolling Resistance: 6 Overall: 6.5 Good ice traction. Poor grip in the snow, wet and dry. Read Reviews
8th: Sava Eskimo Ice
185/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 131.2 Dry: 10 Wet: 17 Snow: 26 Ice: 37 Subjective: 29 Rolling Resistance: 6 Overall: 6.2 Excellent performance in snow and ice. Very low grip in the wet and dry. Read Reviews