The 2020 Auto Zeitung has tested fourteen winter tires in 205/55 R16, including new winter tires from Bridgestone, Goodyear and Maxxis, as well as a low cost retreaded tire.
While all the tires were tested in the dry, wet and snow, sadly Auto Zeitung didn't include any handling data, instead just providing subjective feel scoring. They do a really good job of talking about how the tires performed in their full article, so we encourage you to head over to AutoZeitung.com and check out the full test where you can also see data such as slalom speeds which we've not included.
Overall, the results confirm the trend we're seeing in 2020, with the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 taking a dominating win, largely thanks to it's incredible wet performance which saw it stopping 3.4 meters ahead of the second best tire in wet braking!
The should-have-been-replaced-by-now Continental WinterContact TS860 finished a solid second, with the Goodyear UltraGrip 9+ taking third, matching the excellent performances of the larger Goodyear UltraGrip Performance+.
Dry
Dry braking was won by Hankook, showing an impressive advantage over the next best Bridgestone.
Dry Braking
Spread: 4.30 M (9.4%)|Avg: 47.96 M
Dry braking in meters (100 - 0 km/h) (Lower is better)
Dry Braking: Safety Impact: Best vs Worst Tire
Subjectively, the testers liked the feel of the Toyo, which was also the fastest tire through the dry slalom.
Subj. Dry Handling
Spread: 7.00 Points (70%)|Avg: 6.29 Points
Subjective Dry Handling Score (Higher is better)
Toyo Snowprox S954
10.00 Points
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
9.00 Points
Hankook Winter i cept RS2
8.00 Points
Falken Eurowinter HS01
8.00 Points
Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
8.00 Points
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
7.00 Points
Continental WinterContact TS 860
6.00 Points
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
6.00 Points
Michelin Alpin 6
5.00 Points
King Meiler Winter Tact WT81
5.00 Points
Nexen Winguard Snow G3
5.00 Points
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
4.00 Points
Pirelli Cinturato Winter
4.00 Points
Goodride SW608
3.00 Points
Wet
The Bridgestone had a huge advantage during wet braking, stopping the test Golf 3.4 meters ahead of the second best Continental. While the Toyo struggled, it was still nearly 7 meters ahead of the retreaded winter tire.
Wet Braking
Spread: 16.40 M (32.2%)|Avg: 57.12 M
Wet braking in meters (100 - 0 km/h) (Lower is better)
Wet Braking: Safety Impact: Best vs Worst Tire
Subjective wet handling had a similar order to wet braking, highlighting the advantage of having grip when driving quickly...
Subj. Wet Handling
Spread: 9.00 Points (90%)|Avg: 4.43 Points
Subjective Wet Handling Score (Higher is better)
Continental WinterContact TS 860
10.00 Points
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
9.00 Points
Michelin Alpin 6
8.00 Points
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
6.00 Points
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
5.00 Points
Hankook Winter i cept RS2
5.00 Points
Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
5.00 Points
Pirelli Cinturato Winter
4.00 Points
Falken Eurowinter HS01
3.00 Points
Goodride SW608
2.00 Points
Nexen Winguard Snow G3
2.00 Points
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
1.00 Points
Toyo Snowprox S954
1.00 Points
King Meiler Winter Tact WT81
1.00 Points
Hankook and Bridgestone scored best during the aquaplaning testing, which is even more impressive when you consider the braking performance of the tires.
Straight Aqua
Spread: 18.10 Km/H (21.2%)|Avg: 77.65 Km/H
Float Speed in Km/H (Higher is better)
Hankook Winter i cept RS2
85.20 Km/H
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
82.80 Km/H
Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
82.30 Km/H
Pirelli Cinturato Winter
82.00 Km/H
Continental WinterContact TS 860
80.20 Km/H
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
79.90 Km/H
Falken Eurowinter HS01
79.30 Km/H
Toyo Snowprox S954
77.20 Km/H
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
76.70 Km/H
Michelin Alpin 6
76.50 Km/H
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
75.00 Km/H
Nexen Winguard Snow G3
71.80 Km/H
Goodride SW608
71.10 Km/H
King Meiler Winter Tact WT81
67.10 Km/H
Snow
While the Fulda tire struggled in the dry and wet, it was impressive during snow braking, finishing joint top with the aging Dunlop WinterSport 5.
Snow Braking
Spread: 1.60 M (6.2%)|Avg: 26.27 M
Snow braking in meters (50 - 0 km/h) (Lower is better)
Snow Braking: Safety Impact: Best vs Worst Tire
Bridgestone rounded out its impressive performance by scoring the best during subjective snow handling.
Subj. Snow Handling
Spread: 9.00 Points (90%)|Avg: 5.36 Points
Subjective Snow Handling Score (Higher is better)
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
10.00 Points
Continental WinterContact TS 860
9.00 Points
Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
9.00 Points
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
8.00 Points
Pirelli Cinturato Winter
8.00 Points
Michelin Alpin 6
7.00 Points
Hankook Winter i cept RS2
6.00 Points
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
5.00 Points
Falken Eurowinter HS01
4.00 Points
Nexen Winguard Snow G3
3.00 Points
Goodride SW608
2.00 Points
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
2.00 Points
Toyo Snowprox S954
1.00 Points
King Meiler Winter Tact WT81
1.00 Points
The snow traction test was won by Goodyear.
Snow Traction
Spread: 154.00 N (7%)|Avg: 2129.64 N
Pulling Force in Newtons (Higher is better)
Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
2193.00 N
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
2175.00 N
Hankook Winter i cept RS2
2171.00 N
Pirelli Cinturato Winter
2170.00 N
Michelin Alpin 6
2152.00 N
Continental WinterContact TS 860
2146.00 N
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
2144.00 N
Nexen Winguard Snow G3
2138.00 N
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
2132.00 N
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
2123.00 N
King Meiler Winter Tact WT81
2087.00 N
Falken Eurowinter HS01
2078.00 N
Toyo Snowprox S954
2067.00 N
Goodride SW608
2039.00 N
Environment
The snow expert Fulda had the lowest rolling resistance on test.
Rolling Resistance
Spread: 1.36 kg / t (16.9%)|Avg: 8.76 kg / t
Rolling resistance in kg t (Lower is better)
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
8.06 kg / t
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
8.17 kg / t
Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
8.26 kg / t
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
8.40 kg / t
Continental WinterContact TS 860
8.47 kg / t
Michelin Alpin 6
8.48 kg / t
Goodride SW608
8.74 kg / t
Nexen Winguard Snow G3
8.81 kg / t
Pirelli Cinturato Winter
8.88 kg / t
Hankook Winter i cept RS2
9.12 kg / t
Falken Eurowinter HS01
9.21 kg / t
King Meiler Winter Tact WT81
9.22 kg / t
Toyo Snowprox S954
9.41 kg / t
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
9.42 kg / t
19,000 km
£1.45/L
8.0 L/100km
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Annual Difference
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Lifetime Savings
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Extra Fuel/Energy
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Extra CO2
Estimates based on typical driving conditions. Rolling resistance accounts for approximately 20% of IC vehicle fuel consumption and 25% of EV energy consumption. Actual savings vary based on driving style, vehicle weight, road conditions, and tire age. For comparative purposes only. Lifetime savings based on a 40,000km / 25,000 mile tread life.
The best tires on test overall are also some of the best during subjective comfort testing.
I´m a bit confused to see the non-tested Goodride SW608 in the tabs ;) . Isn´t it the Trazano?
Again a victory of the LM005. But after some bad experiences with the last Bridgestone summer and winter tires prevent me from recommending Bridgestone-tires since years. And the predecessor LM001 Evo shows the worst performance by far in the TÜV-test (commissioned by Michelin) with 2mm tread. After my experience with the Yokohama V905 which was extreme dangerous with over 5mm tread I take care with buying winter tires.
Sorry, I should have noted I swapped the SW608 to Goodride as we don't list Trazano. As you well know, it's the same tire ;)
I'd love to see some wear data on the LM005 (and other winter tires) but as it stands, with the information we have from tests, the LM005 is exceptional
ADAC and AutoBild lists wear data, maybe I get you wrong?
The problem with the LM001 Evo was not the overall wear but the big lost of snow-performance with less tread. Reminds me of my Yokohama V905 which was good in the beginning but had an awful snow-performance with over 5mm tread. It was so bad that I decided to buy new winter tires in mid of december.
And the LM32 was on wet in the 3rd season also awful, experiences like that keep me away from Bridgestone winter tires.
Hope next year some new tires like Conti TS870 and Pirelli P Zero Winter will show up in the tests.
I´m not sure whether it is worth the effort. It´s not only the low tread, there are some other factors which happen, like sunbeam, kind of storage which affects the grip on tires
Good to see that Bridgestone (loved my RE720s on my old 90s Micra but absolutely hated the OEM ER30s fitted to my Mazda3 that replaced in back in 2006) now seemingly consistently back on form. A good result for Hankook too, especially with the lower price in their favour.
If both keep doing well, I'll certainly give them consideration when changing my A/S CC+s next time (admitedly that won't be for a good few years yet unless I change cars again)
I´m a bit confused to see the non-tested Goodride SW608 in the tabs ;) . Isn´t it the Trazano?
Again a victory of the LM005. But after some bad experiences with the last Bridgestone summer and winter tires prevent me from recommending Bridgestone-tires since years. And the predecessor LM001 Evo shows the worst performance by far in the TÜV-test (commissioned by Michelin) with 2mm tread. After my experience with the Yokohama V905 which was extreme dangerous with over 5mm tread I take care with buying winter tires.
And Autozeitung.com don´t exist if I´m not wrong.
Sorry, I should have noted I swapped the SW608 to Goodride as we don't list Trazano. As you well know, it's the same tire ;)
I'd love to see some wear data on the LM005 (and other winter tires) but as it stands, with the information we have from tests, the LM005 is exceptional
ADAC and AutoBild lists wear data, maybe I get you wrong?
The problem with the LM001 Evo was not the overall wear but the big lost of snow-performance with less tread. Reminds me of my Yokohama V905 which was good in the beginning but had an awful snow-performance with over 5mm tread. It was so bad that I decided to buy new winter tires in mid of december.
And the LM32 was on wet in the 3rd season also awful, experiences like that keep me away from Bridgestone winter tires.
Hope next year some new tires like Conti TS870 and Pirelli P Zero Winter will show up in the tests.
You're right they do, but they don't test them once worn. I'm trying to arrange this.
I´m not sure whether it is worth the effort. It´s not only the low tread, there are some other factors which happen, like sunbeam, kind of storage which affects the grip on tires
You are correct, which is why it's so expensive and difficult to test, as you need to factor in tire wear and aging
With 2 mm tread left should each tire be dumped and recycled, no need to test.
Yep, that´t what I do ealier. But after my V905 I know there´s a big difference on snowgrip long before the tread is down to 2mm
Good to see that Bridgestone (loved my RE720s on my old 90s Micra but absolutely hated the OEM ER30s fitted to my Mazda3 that replaced in back in 2006) now seemingly consistently back on form. A good result for Hankook too, especially with the lower price in their favour.
If both keep doing well, I'll certainly give them consideration when changing my A/S CC+s next time (admitedly that won't be for a good few years yet unless I change cars again)
Bridgestone are storming it this winter, they'll be my number one recommendation in the "top winter tires for 2020" video (if I ever make it)