| Test Summary | |
| Wet Braking | Yokohama BluEarth Winter V905 |
| Dry Braking | Continental WinterContact TS 860 |
| Wet Handling | Kleber Krisalp HP3 Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Nokian WR D4 |
| Rolling Resistance | Nokian WR D4 |
| Noise | Continental WinterContact TS 860 Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO |
| Snow Braking | Michelin Alpin 5 |
| Snow Handling | Semperit Master Grip 2 Pirelli Cinturato Winter Kleber Krisalp HP3 Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO |
As always, an (unnamed) summer and all season tyre have been included as reference, and to make a change from the past few years, it isn’t the remarkable Continental WinterContact TS860 taking the top spot overall…
Dry
During the dry braking test the summer tyre dominated, with the all season tyre bridging the gap between the best winter tyre and the summer tyre (which leads us to guess the all season tyre was either the Michelin CrossClimate or Continental AllSeasonContact.) Yokohama had a small dry braking advantage, but the rest of the pack was extremely close, covered by just a few meters.
Dry handling resulted with the summer tyre with a similar advantage, but this time the Hankook was the leading winter tyre.
Wet
Wet performance is a key factor for UK winters, so these are the most important results in the test. Both Bridgestone and Continental were the standouts of wet braking, with Dunlop, Fulda and Hankook extremely close.
Continental and Hankook were the two brands that managed to score consistently in the wet grip tests.
Continental once again proved its wet consistency with a third wet podium in the straight aquaplaning testing.
Snow
It will come as no surprise the summer tyre struggled in the snow testing, with dangerous / unusable levels of performance. During snow braking Goodyear lead, but the results were close overall.
Snow handling once again had the Goodyear leading, with both the Pirelli and Nokian also consistent across the two tests.
Environment
Nokian and Goodyear continued the strong results in the rolling resistance tests, with the Nokian having a huge advantage in fuel use.
The noise testing highlighted the fact many winter tyres are now quieter than their summer counterparts.
Value
As we’ve seen with other Michelin patterns, the Alpin 5 had a clear lead in wear testing, which made them the best value tyre on test. Hankook also proved to be a very low wear tyre, which when combined with the lower purchase price, proved to be as equally good value as the Michelin.
Results
The overall results are below, and be sure to check out autobild.de, or the September 20th issue of the Auto Bild magazine for the full results.
1st: Dunlop Winter Sport 5 | |
| The best tyre on test, with no drawbacks. Stable handling in all conditions, precise steering behavior and good feedback. None mentioned. Read Reviews Buy from £96.98 |
2nd: Continental WinterContact TS 860 | |
| Excellent all rounder with excellent winter performance. High steering precision and dynamic handling on snow and in the wet, good comfort, low rolling resistance. None mentioned. Read Reviews |
3rd: Kleber Krisalp HP3 | |
| Inexpensive winter tyre with excellent snow performance. Short braking distances in all conditions, low noise, good price to performance ratio. None mentioned. Read Reviews |
4th: Fulda Kristall Control HP2 | |
| Winter specialist with a balanced performance in the dry and wet. High aquaplaning safety, quiet, low fuel use. None mentioned. Read Reviews |
5th: Hankook Winter i cept RS2 | |
| Premium tyres with excellent handling qualities in all weather conditions. Low wear, good price / performance ratio. Slightly high rolling resistance. Read Reviews |
6th: Goodyear UltraGrip 9 | |
| Good steering precision on snow covered and wet roads, safe aquaplaning properties, high mileage, low rolling resistance. Extended dry braking distances. Read Reviews Buy from £82.88 |
7th: Debica Frigo HP2 | |
| Good value winter tyres with balance driving on snow and dry roads. Short braking distances in all weather conditions. Average handling in the wet. Read Reviews |
8th: Falken Eurowinter HS01 | |
| Balanced winter tyres with a good ability on on snow and dry roads. Best aquaplaning performance. Average wet cornering. Read Reviews Buy from £82.96 |
9th: Nokian WR D4 | |
| Best tyre for snow covered roads, good price / performance ratio with low rolling resistance. Average wet performance. Read Reviews |
10th: Uniroyal MS+ 77 | |
| Excellent in the wet, good aquaplaning resistance, comfortable, well priced. Long dry braking and poor dry handling. Read Reviews |
11th: Michelin Alpin 5 | |
| Even as one of the most expensive tyres on test it finished as the best value tyre due to extremely low wear. Good in the wet and dry. Average snow performance, high rolling resistance. Read Reviews |
12th: Semperit Master Grip 2 | |
| Good in the snow and wet, low noise. Long dry braking, average dry handling. Read Reviews |
13th: Pirelli Cinturato Winter | |
| Dynamic sporty handling in the snow and wet, good steering precision. Poor wear, low value, average dry grip. Read Reviews Buy from £71.99 |
14th: Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO | |
| Wet specialist with short braking distances and good aquaplaning properties, good value. Poor snow performance. Read Reviews |
15th: Yokohama BluEarth Winter V905 | |
| Dry specialist with short braking distances and good handling in the dry. Good comfort. Average snow performance. Read Reviews |
16th: Barum Polaris 3 | |
| Good snow performance, short wet braking distances, low price. Understeer in the wet, long dry braking, poor wear. Read Reviews |
17th: Vredestein Snowtrac 5 | |
| Balance performance in the snow and dry, low rolling resistance. Low grip in the wet, poor wear. Read Reviews |
18th: Matador MP 92 Sibir Snow | |
| Good snow handling, good comfort, low priced. Poor wet performance, long dry braking, high wear. Read Reviews |
19th: Firestone Winterhawk 3 | |
| Low price, ok in snow. Low grip and slow steering in the wet, long wet and dry braking, low comfort. Read Reviews |
20th: Gislaved Euro Frost 6 | |
| Balanced snow performance. Poor wet grip, slow wet steering, low aquaplaning resistance, long dry braking distances. Read Reviews |
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