Tyre Reviews Tyre Tests

The 2021 Auto Motor und Sport winter tyre test tested ten popular central European winter tyres in 195/55 R16. This size is used for vehicles such as the Audi A1, Dacia Sandero, Ford Fiesta, Mazda 2, Peugeot 208 and many more.

The Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 took another convincing test win, proving to be excellent in the wet and dry while still having reasonable snow performance. 

ADAC tyre tests are some of the most influential in the world, and for the 2021 winter season ADAC have chosen to test eighteen 225/50 R17 tyres and sixteen 195/65 R15 winter tyres, across two tests. This article covers the 15" test, to see the 17" test please click here.

It's the start of the 2021 all season and winter tyre test season, and what better way to start than the massive Auto Bild winter tyre shootout.

This year Auto Bild have tested FIFTY 205/55 R16 winter tyres in wet braking, then tested the best thirty five in snow braking. With the wet and snow braking distances combined, the top twenty tyres, from Bridgestone to Nokian, will feature in the full Auto Bild winter tyre test out in a few weeks.

All season VS winter tires is a hotly discussed topic, and while we've done our own test at various temperatures, it sadly didn't include any ice testing, or things like wet handling and rolling resistance testing.

Fortunately, our friends at Vi Bilagare once again have us covered. During their Nordic winter testing in 2020, the magazine included an all season and "european" winter tire alongside their usual selection of Nordic friction and studded winter tires.

As the all-season and European winter tire were being tested from a Nordic perspective, they had a significant testing on ice, which is a rarity for an all-season tire.

The results... well, I’m sure you can guess how each of the four tire types performed on each surface, but it's really cool to see all this data from one source.

Sadly there are very few professional tire tests conducted in North America, however the magazine Consumer Reports does an excellent job of educating the market with a number of huge tire tests every year.

While the public data is limited, you have to be a member to see the full results, we thought it would be important to database the information we have to help our American audience pick the right winter tire.

The 2020 Consumer Reports Winter Tire Test has tested seventeen of the best winter tires on the market in the popular 215/60 R16 size.

For their second winter test of 2020, the excellent Vi Bilagare have tested eight Nordic friction (studless) winter tyres.

As with the studded version, Vi Bilagare have performed a thorough test covering dry, wet, snow and ice, and should be considered one of the benchmarks for extreme winter testing in Europe. 

This test is particularly interesting as it has the new Michelin X-Ice Snow, Bridgestone Blizzak Ice, Pirelli Ice Zero FR and Nexen Winguard Ice Plus WH43 placed up against the established Nordic winter tyres from Continental, Goodyear and Nokian.

For the 2020 Vi Bilägare Winter studded tire test, the Swedish magazine has tested 8 of the most extreme studded winter tyres in 205/60 R16.

As this is a studded winter tyre test, the testers placed much more emphasis on snow and ice performance, so if you're in a region that sees a lot of compacted snow and ice on the road during normal winters, this is a very useful test.

Here are the Tyre Reviews best winter tyres for the 2020 winter tyre season.

As usual, all these tyres have been picked based on data from Tyre Reviews testing, other tests from around the world, and user reviews - think of this as one big meta-analysis of the best winter / snow / studded tyres on the market. This video covers European, Nordic and North American winter tyres / tyres, and covers cars, SUV's and Electric vehicles (EVs.)

The 2020 Auto Zeitung has tested fourteen winter tyres in 205/55 R16, including new winter tyres from Bridgestone, Goodyear and Maxxis, as well as a low cost retreaded tyre.

While all the tyres were tested in the dry, wet and snow, sadly Auto Zeitung didn't include any handling data, instead just providing subjective feel scoring.

If you're planning on undertaking a massive Nordic friction and studded winter tyre test, having the right facilities to conduct the test in is key. Fortunately for Test World, they own one of the best independent arctic testing facilities in the world which is why we're super excited to see this 21 tyre test, covering all the key friction studless and studded winter tyres on the market.

All tyres are in the popular 205/55 R16, and were tested using a VW Golf. There were some interesting new tyres in the test, including the first test of the studless Michelin X-Ice Snow.

For the 2020 Auto Express winter tyre test, Auto Express tested nine 205/55 R16 winter tyres using a VW Golf.

The 2020 ACE / ARBÖ / GTÜ winter tyre test has tested nine winter tyres in the popular 225/50 R17 size using a BMW 3 Series.

The 2020 Auto Bild SUV Tyre test has tested ten crossover SUV / 4x4 winter tyres in the popular 225/55 R17 size, with a summer tyre included as a reference.

Of the ten tyres on test, the top four tyres were given the "Exemplary" award, which included the new Goodyear UltraGrip Performance+, the much improved Bridgestone Blizzak LM005, the new Michelin Alpin 6 and the Vredestein Wintrac Pro.

The test winning Goodyear had a good all round performance, with the testers noting the winter tyre felt precise and dynamic in all conditions. The Bridgestone LM005 performed well in the dry and wet to secure second place, while the joint third Michelin and Vredestein pair performed well in all tests, but either cost more to buy (Michelin) or used more fuel (Vredestein.)

ADAC tyre tests are some of the most influential in the world, and for the 2020 winter season ADAC have chosen to test fifteen 205/55 R16 of the best winter tyres for cars, and thirteen 235/55 R17 winter tyres for SUV / 4x4.

ADAC tyre tests are some of the most influential in the world, and for the 2020 winter season ADAC have chosen to test thirteen 235/55 R17 winter tyres for SUV / 4x4 and fifteen 205/55 R16 of the best winter tyres for cars.

Following on from the 52 winter tyre braking test, the top 20 winter tyres in 245/45 R18 have been put through the usual Auto Bild winter tyre tests, to discover the best performance winter tyre for the 2020 season.

The 2019 Auto Center winter tyre test is both good and bad. The positive is that out of ten 205/55 R16 patterns, it only includes two premium manufacturers. This means we get a much better look at the midrange bracket of winter tyres, which is great for those of us who want to save a little money, and all ten patterns on test have been tested for ice braking and traction which is now usually omitted from central European tyre testing.

Are cheap winter tyres safe? To find out, we travelled to Finland, twice, to do snow, ice, wet and dry testing.

All tests were done using two cars, a VW Golf wearing 205/55 R16 tyres, and a heavier, larger Volvo S90 fitted with 245/45 R18 tyres.

The 2019 Auto Express winter tyre test has tested ten 225/45 R17 winter tyres, and included a summer and all season product as a benchmark.

The newest winter tyre from Goodyear is shaping up to be an excellent winter product. Thanks to a near perfect all round performance, it wins another tyre test, narrowly beating the established king of winter motoring, the Continental WinterContact TS860.

While studded tyres don't have much use in the UK, for parts of the Nordic countries they are essential for safe mobility.

To find out which of the latest studded winter tyres are worth fitting, Swedish magazine Vi Bilagare have tested seven studded winter tyres in 225/50 R17, and included a studless nordic friction winter tyre as a comparison.