Test Summary
Wet Braking	Vredestein Wintrac Pro Continental WinterContact TS 850 P Nexen WinGuard Sport 2 Falken Eurowinter HS01 Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
Dry Braking	Vredestein Wintrac Pro Continental WinterContact TS 850 P Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen 1
Wet Handling	Kleber Krisalp HP3
Rolling Resistance	Sunny SN3830 Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 Dunlop Winter Sport 5
Noise	Vredestein Wintrac Pro Falken Eurowinter HS01 Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 Sunny SN3830 Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
Snow Handling	Nexen WinGuard Sport 2

Following on from the 195/65 R15 winter tyre test, the excellent German publication Auto Bild have tested ten UHP winter tyres in 245/45 R18.

The biggest shock in the test is the winner - it's the brand new Vredestein WinTrac Pro. This new tyre from Vredestein proved to have Continental like qualities, displacing the Continental WinterContact TS850 P from it's usual top spot and performing well in the dry, wet and snow tests. The Continental WinterContact TS850 Pl, which has now been replaced by the Continental WinterContact TS860 S, proved that it's still a quality option and finished a very close second place.

The best of the rest was the Kleber Krisalp HP3. This Michelin owned brand have a good winter tyre reputation, and might explain why Michelin themselves weren't included in this test.

As always, details below, and be sure to check out the excellent Auto Bild website.

Dry

In the dry, all the winter tyres lagged behind the reference summer tyre. The Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 proved it was best of the test and won dry braking, with the new Vredestein Wintrac Pro a close second.

The Pirelli and Vredestein once again performed well during the dry handling tests, but this time the Nexen WinGuard Sport just beat them to the top spot.

Wet

The key wet braking test had a new winner, with the Continental WinterContact TS850 S the only tyre to get close to the summer tyre. Vredestein again proved to be strong, taking second place, and Goodyear placed third with the UltraGrip Performance Gen-1. The Pirelli which proved to be so strong in the dry could only manage eighth place overall. The budget Sunny Snowmaster SN3830 had dangerously long wet braking.

Wet handling was the first test the summer tyre did not win, with the Vredestein, Continental, and Goodyear proving once again they have excellent wet performance.

Snow

The Dunlop Winter Sport 5 proved to be the best tyre overall in the snow testing, winning the snow braking and placing third in snow handling. The Vredestein and Continental again displayed their excellent all-round qualities by continuing their run of excellent results.

Environment

While the Pirelli struggled in the wet, it aced the rolling resistance test, using the least fuel of the group.

The Nexen proved to be the quietest tyre on test.

And the budget Sunny was significantly cheaper than the other tyres, but still not recommended overall due to dangerous wet braking results.

Results

1st: Vredestein Wintrac Pro
245/45 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 72 Dry: 11 Wet: 12 Snow: 13 Comfort: 12 Rolling Resistance: 11 Noise: 13 Excellent driving characteristics on wet and snow covered roads. Dynamic balanced handling, precise steering, short braking distances and pleasant quiet ride. Test winner. High price. Read Reviews
2nd: Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
245/45 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 71 Dry: 11 Wet: 12 Snow: 12 Comfort: 12 Rolling Resistance: 11 Noise: 13 Balanced winter tyre with excellent grip in the snow, and good handling in the wet and dry. Particularly dynamic steering and short braking distances in the wet. High price. Read Reviews
3rd: Kleber Krisalp HP3
245/45 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 68 Dry: 10 Wet: 11 Snow: 14 Comfort: 10 Rolling Resistance: 10 Noise: 13 Best performance on snow and ice, precise steering, good aquaplaning result, good comfort, low price. Slightly weak wet handling. Read Reviews
4th: Dunlop Winter Sport 5
245/45 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 68 Dry: 10 Wet: 11 Snow: 13 Comfort: 10 Rolling Resistance: 13 Noise: 11 Excellent in snow and ice, with a balanced performance in the wet and dry too. Good steering speed and feedback, very low fuel use. Slightly long dry braking, average aquaplaning. Read Reviews    Buy from £164.90
5th: Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen 1
245/45 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 69 Dry: 10 Wet: 12 Snow: 12 Comfort: 11 Rolling Resistance: 12 Noise: 12 Premium tyres with excellent performance in the snow and wet. Average dry grip and dry braking. Read Reviews
6th: Bridgestone Blizzak LM001
245/45 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 65 Dry: 10 Wet: 11 Snow: 12 Comfort: 10 Rolling Resistance: 9 Noise: 13 Good in the snow and wet, low noise. Long dry braking, high rolling resistance. Read Reviews
7th: Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
245/45 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 70 Dry: 11 Wet: 10 Snow: 11 Comfort: 12 Rolling Resistance: 13 Noise: 13 Good snow traction and braking, good aquaplaning, good dry handling. Average snow cornering, long wet braking. Read Reviews    Buy from £189.11
8th: Falken Eurowinter HS01
245/45 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 62 Dry: 11 Wet: 11 Snow: 11 Comfort: 12 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 9 Good snow and wet braking, good comfort, well priced. Slightly noisy, high rolling resistance. Read Reviews    Buy from £146.65
9th: Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
245/45 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 64 Dry: 11 Wet: 9 Snow: 11 Comfort: 11 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 14 Balanced handling in the snow with short snow braking, low noise. Average aquaplaning, long wet braking, high rolling resistance. Read Reviews
10th: Sunny SN3830
245/45 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 56 Dry: 10 Wet: 3 Snow: 8 Comfort: 12 Rolling Resistance: 13 Noise: 10 Good comfort, fuel efficient, low price. Extremely poor wet grip and long wet braking distances. Read Reviews