2020 Auto Bild Performance Winter Tire Test

Test Summary
Dry Braking	▲Michelin Pilot Alpin 5: 41.9 M ▼Fulda Kristall Control HP2: 46.5 M
Dry Handling	▲Apollo Aspire XP Winter: 110.6 Km/H ▼Cooper Weather Master SA2 Plus: 106.3 Km/H
Wet Braking	▲Bridgestone Blizzak LM005: 47.3 M ▼Fulda Kristall Control HP2: 56.7 M
Wet Handling	▲Michelin Pilot Alpin 5: 74.4 Km/H ▼Fulda Kristall Control HP2: 69.6 Km/H
Straight Aqua	▲Fulda Kristall Control HP2: 91.3 Km/H ▼General Altimax Winter 3: 81.9 Km/H
Snow Braking	▲Michelin Pilot Alpin 5: 24.3 M ▼Cooper Weather Master SA2 Plus: 26.1 M
Snow Traction	▲Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus: 3098 N ▼Kleber Krisalp HP3: 2294 N
Snow Handling	▲Dunlop Winter Sport 5: 61.5 Km/H ▼Cooper Weather Master SA2 Plus: 57.4 Km/H
Noise	▲BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2: 69.7 dB ▼Dunlop Winter Sport 5: 74.8 dB
Wear	▲Michelin Pilot Alpin 5: 47970 Km ▼Cooper Weather Master SA2 Plus: 29930 Km
Value	▲Laufenn I Fit Plus: 10.41 Price/1000 ▼Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3: 16.22 Price/1000
Rolling Resistance	▲Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3: 6.95 kg / t ▼Vredestein Wintrac Pro: 8.85 kg / t

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

As usual there's a summer tire for reference, so scroll down to see all the details of this mega test, and don't forget to check out the Auto Bild website for the full details of this epic winter tire.

Dry

As always the case, the summer tire had a significant advantage in dry braking, as the siped winter tires can't provide enough block stiffness to match the summer tire during an emergency stop.

The best of the winter tires was the Michelin Pilot Alpin 5, nearly two meters ahead of the second placed Vredestein Wintrac Pro.

The summer tire held the advantage in the dry handling testing, with the Apollo Aspire XP Winter moving up to the best of the winter tires on test.

Wet

As winter tire technology progresses, we are starting to see winter tires outperform summer tires in wet conditions, even when warm.

In this test, the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 had an impressive advantage in the wet braking test, with the worst tires taking nearly 10 meters longer to stop the car.

The Michelin, Continental and Semperit were all ahead of the summer tire in the wet handling test.

Interestingly the summer tire had a big advantage in straight aquaplaning, which is unusual for modern top tier summer tires. This could indicate the chosen summer tire was a second tier brand.

Snow

Unsurprisingly the summer tire had no grip in the snow tests, and there was a near 2 meter spread between the best and worst winter tire during snow braking.

The snow traction test was even worse for the summer tire, with around 1/6 the traction performance of the best winter tire.

The sister brands of Dunlop and Goodyear lead the snow handling tests.

Environment

As usual, Michelin had the best projected wear from the tire, with the worst winter tire having almost 50% of the projected mileage.

When you compare price against projected mileage, the well priced, low wear Laufenn tire proved to have the best value.

Even though the Michelin had the best wear on test, it also had the most expensive purchase price making it one of the worst value tires.

Pirelli and Bridgestone had the lowest impact on fuel use on test.

Auto Bild test external drive by noise, not internal cabin noise. In this test, the three Michelin brands proved to be the quietest tires.

Results

1st: Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
245/45 R18	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 1st 100% Dry Handling 2nd -0.1 Km/H 99.91% Wet Braking 4th +2.6 M 94.79% Wet Handling 1st 100% Straight Aqua 14th -5.2 Km/H 94.3% Snow Braking 1st 100% Snow Traction 5th -93 N 97% Snow Handling 9th -1.3 Km/H 97.89% Noise 3rd +0.4 dB 99.43% Wear 1st 100% Value 19th +4.81 Price/1000 68.4% Rolling Resistance 8th +1.02 kg / t 87.2% Test winner with high levels of grip in the snow, dynamic wet and dry handling, short braking distances, very low wear, low rolling resistance. High price. Read Reviews    Buy from £155.10
2nd: Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
245/45 R18	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 10th +2.5 M 94.37% Dry Handling 5th -0.5 Km/H 99.55% Wet Braking 1st 100% Wet Handling 4th -0.5 Km/H 99.33% Straight Aqua 11th -3.7 Km/H 95.95% Snow Braking 2nd +0.2 M 99.18% Snow Traction 2nd -69 N 97.77% Snow Handling 3rd -0.3 Km/H 99.51% Noise 9th +1.6 dB 97.76% Wear 11th -7790 Km 83.76% Value 15th +4.27 Price/1000 70.91% Rolling Resistance 2nd +0.4 kg / t 94.56% Convincing all round performance, excellent winter properties, good wet and dry handling, low rolling resistance. Average wear. Read Reviews
3rd: Goodyear UltraGrip Performance+
245/45 R18	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 12th +2.8 M 93.74% Dry Handling 3rd -0.2 Km/H 99.82% Wet Braking 9th +6.4 M 88.08% Wet Handling 10th -2.4 Km/H 96.77% Straight Aqua 4th -1.7 Km/H 98.14% Snow Braking 7th +0.5 M 97.98% Snow Traction 1st 100% Snow Handling 2nd -0.2 Km/H 99.67% Noise 13th +3 dB 95.87% Wear 10th -7380 Km 84.62% Value 12th +3.14 Price/1000 76.83% Rolling Resistance 6th +0.88 kg / t 88.76% Excellent in the snow and on dry roads, safe characteristics on wet roads, good aquaplaning resistance. Average comfort. Read Reviews    Buy from £122.10
4th: BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
245/45 R18	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 8th +2.3 M 94.8% Dry Handling 15th -2.4 Km/H 97.83% Wet Braking 7th +6 M 88.74% Wet Handling 8th -1.8 Km/H 97.58% Straight Aqua 6th -2.8 Km/H 96.93% Snow Braking 4th +0.3 M 98.78% Snow Traction 3rd -86 N 97.22% Snow Handling 6th -0.8 Km/H 98.7% Noise 1st 100% Wear 3rd -3690 Km 92.31% Value 10th +2.58 Price/1000 80.14% Rolling Resistance 13th +1.49 kg / t 82.35% Convincing winter tire with good economy, good in the snow, good aquaplaning resistance and low wear. Increased rolling resistance. Read Reviews    Buy from £156.80
4th: Kleber Krisalp HP3
245/45 R18	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 7th +2.2 M 95.01% Dry Handling 14th -2.2 Km/H 98.01% Wet Braking 9th +6.4 M 88.08% Wet Handling 10th -2.4 Km/H 96.77% Straight Aqua 8th -3.2 Km/H 96.5% Snow Braking 4th +0.3 M 98.78% Snow Traction 20th -804 N 74.05% Snow Handling 8th -0.9 Km/H 98.54% Noise 1st 100% Wear 5th -4920 Km 89.74% Value 7th +1.67 Price/1000 86.18% Rolling Resistance 18th +1.72 kg / t 80.16% Well priced with good performance level and safe handling in all weather, low wear. High rolling resistance. Read Reviews    Buy from £142.90
6th: Hankook Winter i cept evo3
245/45 R18	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 4th +2 M 95.44% Dry Handling 6th -0.6 Km/H 99.46% Wet Braking 5th +3.2 M 93.66% Wet Handling 6th -1.2 Km/H 98.39% Straight Aqua 5th -2.7 Km/H 97.04% Snow Braking 11th +0.7 M 97.2% Snow Traction 10th -208 N 93.29% Snow Handling 9th -1.3 Km/H 97.89% Noise 17th +4.5 dB 93.94% Wear 13th -8200 Km 82.91% Value 11th +2.92 Price/1000 78.09% Rolling Resistance 17th +1.64 kg / t 80.91% New winter profile with sporty performance on wet and dry roads, good in the snow, short snow and wet braking distances. High rolling resistance. Read Reviews
7th: Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
245/45 R18	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 19th +4.2 M 90.89% Dry Handling 3rd -0.2 Km/H 99.82% Wet Braking 3rd +2.4 M 95.17% Wet Handling 1st 100% Straight Aqua 12th -3.8 Km/H 95.84% Snow Braking 14th +0.9 M 96.43% Snow Traction 8th -172 N 94.45% Snow Handling 4th -0.7 Km/H 98.86% Noise 8th +1.5 dB 97.89% Wear 4th -4510 Km 90.6% Value 17th +4.32 Price/1000 70.67% Rolling Resistance 11th +1.31 kg / t 84.14% Wet specialist with sporty dynamic handling in all weather conditions, precise steering, very low wear. Long dry braking distances, high price. Read Reviews    Buy from £141.20
8th: Dunlop Winter Sport 5
245/45 R18	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 16th +3.7 M 91.89% Dry Handling 10th -1.1 Km/H 99.01% Wet Braking 14th +7.7 M 86% Wet Handling 12th -2.7 Km/H 96.37% Straight Aqua 3rd -1.6 Km/H 98.25% Snow Braking 11th +0.7 M 97.2% Snow Traction 9th -189 N 93.9% Snow Handling 1st 100% Noise 20th +5.1 dB 93.18% Wear 7th -5330 Km 88.89% Value 18th +4.36 Price/1000 70.48% Rolling Resistance 4th +0.64 kg / t 91.57% Balanced winter tires with excellent grip in the snow, high aquaplaning resistance, good comfort. Extended wet braking, high price. Read Reviews    Buy from £124.90
9th: Apollo Aspire XP Winter
245/45 R18	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 4th +2 M 95.44% Dry Handling 1st 100% Wet Braking 13th +7.6 M 86.16% Wet Handling 7th -1.6 Km/H 97.85% Straight Aqua 6th -2.8 Km/H 96.93% Snow Braking 15th +1 M 96.05% Snow Traction 12th -222 N 92.83% Snow Handling 12th -1.6 Km/H 97.4% Noise 19th +5 dB 93.31% Wear 15th -8610 Km 82.05% Value 9th +2.42 Price/1000 81.14% Rolling Resistance 7th +1 kg / t 87.42% Good traction and short braking distances, good aquaplaning resistance, dynamic dry handling. Extended wet braking. Read Reviews    Buy from £155.70
9th: Semperit Speed Grip 3
245/45 R18	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 9th +2.4 M 94.58% Dry Handling 9th -1 Km/H 99.1% Wet Braking 2nd +0.8 M 98.34% Wet Handling 3rd -0.1 Km/H 99.87% Straight Aqua 19th -8.3 Km/H 90.91% Snow Braking 19th +1.7 M 93.46% Snow Traction 15th -244 N 92.12% Snow Handling 17th -1.9 Km/H 96.91% Noise 15th +3.1 dB 95.74% Wear 5th -4920 Km 89.74% Value 7th +1.67 Price/1000 86.18% Rolling Resistance 9th +1.23 kg / t 84.96% Short braking distances and dynamic behavior in the wet, high mileage, good value. Low aquaplaning resistance. Read Reviews    Buy from £110.20
11th: Fulda Kristall Control HP2
245/45 R18	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 20th +4.6 M 90.11% Dry Handling 19th -4.1 Km/H 96.29% Wet Braking 20th +9.4 M 83.42% Wet Handling 20th -4.8 Km/H 93.55% Straight Aqua 1st 100% Snow Braking 2nd +0.2 M 99.18% Snow Traction 7th -156 N 94.96% Snow Handling 4th -0.7 Km/H 98.86% Noise 17th +4.5 dB 93.94% Wear 8th -5740 Km 88.03% Value 4th +1.19 Price/1000 89.74% Rolling Resistance 5th +0.72 kg / t 90.61% Good snow grip, good aquaplaning resistance, good levels of comfort, low wear. Understeer in the wet and dry, extended wet braking. Read Reviews    Buy from £103.60
12th: Vredestein Wintrac Pro
245/45 R18	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 2nd +1.8 M 95.88% Dry Handling 7th -0.7 Km/H 99.37% Wet Braking 6th +4.6 M 91.14% Wet Handling 5th -0.7 Km/H 99.06% Straight Aqua 9th -3.6 Km/H 96.06% Snow Braking 9th +0.6 M 97.59% Snow Traction 14th -229 N 92.61% Snow Handling 14th -1.7 Km/H 97.24% Noise 13th +3 dB 95.87% Wear 11th -7790 Km 83.76% Value 14th +4.15 Price/1000 71.5% Rolling Resistance 20th +1.9 kg / t 78.53% Balanced in all weather conditions, short snow braking distances, dynamic wet handling. Average value, increased rolling resistance. Read Reviews    Buy from £119.50
13th: Giti GitiWinterW1
245/45 R18	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 15th +3.4 M 92.49% Dry Handling 16th -2.6 Km/H 97.65% Wet Braking 14th +7.7 M 86% Wet Handling 8th -1.8 Km/H 97.58% Straight Aqua 17th -7.3 Km/H 92% Snow Braking 16th +1.1 M 95.67% Snow Traction 13th -224 N 92.77% Snow Handling 18th -2 Km/H 96.75% Noise 12th +2.4 dB 96.67% Wear 9th -6150 Km 87.18% Value 2nd +0.71 Price/1000 93.62% Rolling Resistance 12th +1.39 kg / t 83.33% Short braking distances and good traction on snow, dynamic wet handling, low wear, low price. Average aquaplaning resistance, long wet braking. Read Reviews
14th: Uniroyal MS+ 77
245/45 R18	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 13th +3.3 M 92.7% Dry Handling 13th -1.9 Km/H 98.28% Wet Braking 8th +6.1 M 88.58% Wet Handling 12th -2.7 Km/H 96.37% Straight Aqua 9th -3.6 Km/H 96.06% Snow Braking 11th +0.7 M 97.2% Snow Traction 6th -108 N 96.51% Snow Handling 6th -0.8 Km/H 98.7% Noise 10th +1.7 dB 97.62% Wear 19th -14350 Km 70.09% Value 16th +4.31 Price/1000 70.72% Rolling Resistance 10th +1.28 kg / t 84.45% Good in the snow, high aquaplaning resistance, good levels of comfort. Average wet grip, high wear. Read Reviews    Buy from £112.10
15th: Barum Polaris 5
245/45 R18	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 13th +3.3 M 92.7% Dry Handling 12th -1.3 Km/H 98.82% Wet Braking 14th +7.7 M 86% Wet Handling 15th -3.1 Km/H 95.83% Straight Aqua 13th -4.1 Km/H 95.51% Snow Braking 9th +0.6 M 97.59% Snow Traction 16th -264 N 91.48% Snow Handling 11th -1.5 Km/H 97.56% Noise 6th +1.4 dB 98.03% Wear 18th -12710 Km 73.5% Value 6th +1.36 Price/1000 88.45% Rolling Resistance 16th +1.58 kg / t 81.48% Good in the snow and on dry roads, good aquaplaning reserves. Long wet braking, average wear, high rolling resistance. Read Reviews    Buy from £99.60
16th: Nokian WR A4
245/45 R18	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 10th +2.5 M 94.37% Dry Handling 8th -0.9 Km/H 99.19% Wet Braking 11th +6.7 M 87.59% Wet Handling 14th -3 Km/H 95.97% Straight Aqua 18th -7.5 Km/H 91.79% Snow Braking 17th +1.2 M 95.29% Snow Traction 11th -215 N 93.06% Snow Handling 19th -2.2 Km/H 96.42% Noise 6th +1.4 dB 98.03% Wear 17th -10660 Km 77.78% Value 13th +3.39 Price/1000 75.43% Rolling Resistance 3rd +0.47 kg / t 93.67% Good snow qualities, good value. Low levels of grip in the wet. Read Reviews
16th: Laufenn I Fit+
245/45 R18	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 4th +2 M 95.44% Dry Handling 18th -3.8 Km/H 96.56% Wet Braking 19th +9.3 M 83.57% Wet Handling 19th -4.4 Km/H 94.09% Straight Aqua 16th -6.2 Km/H 93.21% Snow Braking 7th +0.5 M 97.98% Snow Traction 17th -271 N 91.25% Snow Handling 14th -1.7 Km/H 97.24% Noise 4th +0.9 dB 98.73% Wear 2nd -3280 Km 93.16% Value 1st 100% Rolling Resistance 15th +1.57 kg / t 81.57% Balance performance in the dry, low noise, low rolling resistance. Understeer in the snow, average aquaplaning resistance. Read Reviews
18th: General Altimax Winter 3
245/45 R18	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 17th +3.8 M 91.68% Dry Handling 17th -3.6 Km/H 96.75% Wet Braking 18th +8.9 M 84.16% Wet Handling 18th -4.3 Km/H 94.22% Straight Aqua 20th -9.4 Km/H 89.7% Snow Braking 6th +0.4 M 98.38% Snow Traction 4th -92 N 97.03% Snow Handling 16th -1.8 Km/H 97.07% Noise 5th +1 dB 98.59% Wear 15th -8610 Km 82.05% Value 3rd +0.77 Price/1000 93.11% Rolling Resistance 14th +1.55 kg / t 81.76% Well priced with good snow performance, low noise. Understeer in the wet and dry, average aquaplaning resistance. Read Reviews    Buy from £139.00
19th: Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
245/45 R18	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 2nd +1.8 M 95.88% Dry Handling 10th -1.1 Km/H 99.01% Wet Braking 14th +7.7 M 86% Wet Handling 17th -3.9 Km/H 94.76% Straight Aqua 15th -5.3 Km/H 94.19% Snow Braking 18th +1.5 M 94.19% Snow Traction 18th -273 N 91.19% Snow Handling 12th -1.6 Km/H 97.4% Noise 11th +2 dB 97.21% Wear 13th -8200 Km 82.91% Value 20th +5.81 Price/1000 64.18% Rolling Resistance 1st 100% Good in the snow and dry, low fuel use. Average wet grip, high price, high wear. Read Reviews    Buy from £128.00
20th: Cooper Weather Master SA2+
245/45 R18	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 18th +4 M 91.29% Dry Handling 20th -4.3 Km/H 96.11% Wet Braking 11th +6.7 M 87.59% Wet Handling 15th -3.1 Km/H 95.83% Straight Aqua 2nd -1.5 Km/H 98.36% Snow Braking 20th +1.8 M 93.1% Snow Traction 19th -321 N 89.64% Snow Handling 20th -4.1 Km/H 93.33% Noise 15th +3.1 dB 95.74% Wear 20th -18040 Km 62.39% Value 5th +1.28 Price/1000 89.05% Rolling Resistance 19th +1.74 kg / t 79.98% Good aquaplaning resistance, low noise, low price. Average grip in the snow, understeer in the dry, high wear. Read Reviews    Buy from £119.80