In this article we will be looking at independent tyre test data, and real world driver reviews of the Continental VikingContact 8 and the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 to find out which tyre is best for your own driving.
The good news is that both the Continental VikingContact 8 and Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 are Premium Touring Winter tyres designed to be fitted to Passenger Cars, which means comparing the two tyres is relatively simple.
Both tyres are hugely popular in the market place with drivers, and both have been featured in independent tyre tests.
Independent comparison tyre tests are the best source of data to get tyre information from, and the good news is there have been two tests which compare both tyres directly!
Out of these two tests:
The Continental VikingContact 8 and Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 have an equal number of test wins. However, tyres are very complicated objects which means where one tyre is better than the other can be more important in real world use.
Let's look at how the two tyres compare across multiple tyre test categories.
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Continental VikingContact 8 was better during one dry braking tests. On average the Continental VikingContact 8 stopped the vehicle in 2.8% less distance than the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3.
Best In Dry Braking: Continental VikingContact 8
See how the Dry Braking winner was calculated >>
2024 Nordic Friction Winter Tyre Test 225/45 R17 |
✓ Continental VikingContact 8:31.2M | Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3: 32.1M |
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Continental VikingContact 8 was better during zero subj. dry handling tests. On average the Continental VikingContact 8 scored 20% more points than the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3.
Best In Subj. Dry Handling: Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3
See how the Subj. Dry Handling winner was calculated >>
2024 Nordic Friction Winter Tyre Test 225/45 R17 |
Continental VikingContact 8:4 Points | ✓ Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3: 5 Points |
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 was better during one wet braking tests. On average the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 stopped the vehicle in 6.36% less distance than the Continental VikingContact 8.
Best In Wet Braking: Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3
See how the Wet Braking winner was calculated >>
2024 Nordic Friction Winter Tyre Test 225/45 R17 |
Continental VikingContact 8:40.1M | ✓ Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3: 37.55M |
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 was better during one wet handling [s] tests. On average the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 was 1.46% faster around a wet lap than the Continental VikingContact 8.
Best In Wet Handling [s]: Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3
See how the Wet Handling winner was calculated >>
2024 Nordic Friction Winter Tyre Test 225/45 R17 |
Continental VikingContact 8:41.2s | ✓ Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3: 40.6s |
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Continental VikingContact 8 was better during zero straight aqua tests. On average the Continental VikingContact 8 floated at a 12.7% higher speed than the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3.
Best In Straight Aqua: Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3
See how the Straight Aqua winner was calculated >>
2024 Nordic Friction Winter Tyre Test 225/45 R17 |
Continental VikingContact 8:59.8Km/H | ✓ Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3: 68.5Km/H |
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 was better during one snow braking tests. On average the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 stopped the vehicle in 2.28% less distance than the Continental VikingContact 8.
Best In Snow Braking: Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3
See how the Snow Braking winner was calculated >>
2024 Nordic Friction Winter Tyre Test 225/45 R17 |
Continental VikingContact 8:12.72M | ✓ Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3: 12.43M |
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 was better during one snow traction tests. On average the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 accelerated 3.58% faster than the Continental VikingContact 8.
Best In Snow Traction: Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3
See how the Snow Traction winner was calculated >>
2024 Nordic Friction Winter Tyre Test 225/45 R17 |
Continental VikingContact 8:4.19s | ✓ Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3: 4.04s |
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 was better during one snow handling [s] tests. On average the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 was 0.13% faster around a lap than the Continental VikingContact 8.
Best In Snow Handling [s]: Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3
See how the Snow Handling winner was calculated >>
2024 Nordic Friction Winter Tyre Test 225/45 R17 |
Continental VikingContact 8:79.7s | ✓ Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3: 79.6s |
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Continental VikingContact 8 was better during one ice braking tests. On average the Continental VikingContact 8 stopped the vehicle 6.12% shorter than the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3.
Best In Ice Braking: Continental VikingContact 8
See how the Ice Braking winner was calculated >>
2024 Nordic Friction Winter Tyre Test 225/45 R17 |
✓ Continental VikingContact 8:11.97M | Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3: 12.75M |
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Continental VikingContact 8 was better during one ice traction tests. On average the Continental VikingContact 8 accelerated 6.12% faster than the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3.
Best In Ice Traction: Continental VikingContact 8
See how the Ice Traction winner was calculated >>
2024 Nordic Friction Winter Tyre Test 225/45 R17 |
✓ Continental VikingContact 8:8.44s | Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3: 8.99s |
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Continental VikingContact 8 was better during one ice handling [s] tests. On average the Continental VikingContact 8 was 2.71% faster around a lap than the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3.
Best In Ice Handling [s]: Continental VikingContact 8
See how the Ice Handling winner was calculated >>
2024 Nordic Friction Winter Tyre Test 225/45 R17 |
✓ Continental VikingContact 8:64.6s | Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3: 66.4s |
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 was better during one noise tests. On average the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 measured 0.42% quieter than the Continental VikingContact 8.
Best In Noise: Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3
See how the Noise winner was calculated >>
2024 Nordic Friction Winter Tyre Test 225/45 R17 |
Continental VikingContact 8:71.8dB | ✓ Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3: 71.5dB |
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 was better during one fuel consumption tests. On average the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 used 0.94% less fuel than the Continental VikingContact 8.
Best In Fuel Consumption: Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3
See how the Fuel Consumption winner was calculated >>
2024 Nordic Friction Winter Tyre Test 225/45 R17 |
Continental VikingContact 8:5.3l/100km | ✓ Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3: 5.25l/100km |
Tyre Reviews also collects real world driver reviews for the Continental VikingContact 8 and Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3.
In total the Continental VikingContact 8 has been reviewed times and drivers have given the tyre 0% overall.
The Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 has been reviewed times and drivers have given the tyre 0% overall.
This means in real world driving, people prefer the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3.
In conclusion the Continental VikingContact 8 performed better in dry braking, ice braking, ice traction and ice handling [s], while the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 performed better in subj. dry handling, wet braking, wet handling [s], straight aqua, snow braking, snow traction, snow handling [s], noise and fuel consumption.
Which tyre is best for you depends a lot on your driving style and situation, plus what you want from the tyre. Comparing all the data in the tyre reviews database, on balance Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 seems to be the best tyre overall.
However, it's important to note that both tyres have their strengths.
Remember, the best tyre for you might depend on which of these factors are most important for your specific driving needs and conditions.
Overall Winner: Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3
This page has been developed using tyre industry testing best practices. This means we are only comparing tests which have had both tyres in the same test.
Why is this important? Tyre testing is heavily affected by things like surface grip levels and surface temperature, which means you can only compare values from the same day. During a tyre test external condition changes are calculated into the overall results, but it is not possible to calculate this between tyre tests performed on different days or at different locations.
As a result you will see other tests on Tyre Reviews which feature both the %s and %s, but as they weren't conducted on the same day, the results are not comparable.
Lots of other websites do this sort of tyre comparison, Tyre Reviews doesn't.