Dry Braking | ▲Michelin Alpin 6: 42.8 M | ▼Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus: 46.6 M |
Dry Handling | ▲Toyo Observe S 944: 114.6 Km/H | ▼Pirelli Cinturato Winter: 111.2 Km/H |
Wet Braking | ▲Bridgestone Blizzak LM005: 29.3 M | ▼Pirelli Cinturato Winter: 34.8 M |
Wet Handling | ▲Vredestein Wintrac: 72 Km/H | ▼BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2: 69.3 Km/H |
Straight Aqua | ▲Pirelli Cinturato Winter: 87.7 Km/H | ▼GT-Radial WinterPro2: 77.2 Km/H |
Curved Aquaplaning | ▲Continental WinterContact TS 870: 3.29 m/sec2 | ▼Vredestein Wintrac: 2.67 m/sec2 |
Snow Braking | ▲Vredestein Wintrac: 32.6 M | ▼Toyo Observe S 944: 33.8 M |
Snow Traction | ▲Pirelli Cinturato Winter: 1.89 N | ▼Toyo Observe S 944: 1.74 N |
Snow Handling | ▲BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2: 54.4 Km/H | ▼Toyo Observe S 944: 49.4 Km/H |
Noise | ▲Falken Eurowinter HS01: 70.6 dB | ▼Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus: 73 dB |
Price | ▲Falken Eurowinter HS01: 75 | ▼Pirelli Cinturato Winter: 127 |
Rolling Resistance | ▲Continental WinterContact TS 870: 8 kg / t | ▼Falken Eurowinter HS01: 10.5 kg / t |
The Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 took another convincing test win, proving to be excellent in the wet and dry while still having reasonable snow performance.
The new Continental WinterContact TS870 also performed well with the lowest rolling resistance on test, excellent snow handling and low noise, it was however a little weaker in dry braking than the best on test.
The new Vredestein Wintrac rounded out the top three places, and like the new Vredestein Quatrac this tire excelled in wet handling, it was excellent in all braking tests and regarded as one of the sportiest feeling tires on test.
The other interesting result was BFGoodrich beating Michelin with a very strong snow performance, which is unusual for a second brand to beat the primary brand. The magazine recommended the BFGoodrich for climates which see a lot of snow.
Dry
The Michelin Alpin 6 had the shortest dry braking distances, narrowly beating the Vredestein Wintrac. Both these tires had a significant lead to the third place GT Radial. The Goodyear UltraGrip 9+ unusually struggled in the dry braking test.
Dry handling mixed up the order with the Toyo Observe S944 leading the pack and the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 placing second. GT Radial retained its third position.
Wet
The Bridgestone LM005 is known as a wet braking specialist, and once again it dominated the test stopping the test Seat Ibiza nearly 2 meters shorter than the second placed Falken Eurowinter HS01 with the Wintrac in third.
Vredestein and Bridgestone also performed well during wet handling.
Pirelli had a significant advantage during straight aquaplaning. Curved aquaplaning results can be found at the bottom of the page.
Snow
The important snow braking test was led by Vredestein, with BFGoodrich and Bridgestone close behind.
BFGoodrich again performed well in snow traction.
Confirming the BFGoodrich is the best overall in snow, it was also fastest around the snow handling lap.
Environment
The Falken and Continental tires had the lowest external noise.
Continental also had the lowest fuel use on test.
The magazine provided pricing had Pirelli even more expensive than the Michelin, with the Vredestein looking great value considering its overall result.
Results
1st: Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Safe braking and good handling on snow, outstanding wet grip with very short braking distances and safe cornering. Slightly longer braking distances in the dry. Read Reviews Buy from £122.63 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2nd: Continental WinterContact TS 870 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Excellent winter performance with high cornering safety in the snow and safe, good handling in the dry and wet, fuel efficient. Small weakness in dry braking. Read Reviews Buy from £125.82 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3rd: Vredestein Wintrac | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Good snow braking, dynamic wet handling, short dry braking with precise cornering. High noise when cornering. Read Reviews | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4th: BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Outstanding snow properties. Weak results in the wet. Read Reviews | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5th: Michelin Alpin 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Best in the dry with good dry handling and good cornering grip in the wet. Average snow performance. Read Reviews | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6th: Pirelli Cinturato Winter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Short braking distances and good traction on snow. Long wet braking, poor dry handling. Read Reviews | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6th: Goodyear UltraGrip 9+ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Good cornering grip and handling in snow. Good wet cornering. Average braking in all conditions, relatively loud external noise. Read Reviews | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
8th: Falken Eurowinter HS01 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Acceptable snow and wet performance, good ride comfort. Not very precise steering, average dry grip. Read Reviews | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9th: GT Radial WinterPro2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Very good dry performance, good wet grip, comfortable. Poor performance on snow. Read Reviews | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10th: Toyo Observe S 944 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Very good dry handling with safe understeer. Long wet braking, very low snow performance. Read Reviews |