2021 AMS Winter Tire Test

Dry BrakingMichelin Alpin 6: 42.8 MGoodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus: 46.6 M
Dry HandlingToyo Observe S 944: 114.6 Km/HPirelli Cinturato Winter: 111.2 Km/H
Wet BrakingBridgestone Blizzak LM005: 29.3 MPirelli Cinturato Winter: 34.8 M
Wet HandlingVredestein Wintrac: 72.0 Km/HBFGoodrich gForce Winter 2: 69.3 Km/H
Straight AquaPirelli Cinturato Winter: 87.7 Km/HGT-Radial WinterPro2: 77.2 Km/H
Curved AquaplaningContinental WinterContact TS 870: 3.29 m/sec2Vredestein Wintrac: 2.67 m/sec2
Snow BrakingVredestein Wintrac: 32.6 MToyo Observe S 944: 33.8 M
Snow TractionBFGoodrich gForce Winter 2: 1.89 NToyo Observe S 944: 1.74 N
Snow HandlingBFGoodrich gForce Winter 2: 54.4 Km/HToyo Observe S 944: 49.4 Km/H
NoiseFalken Eurowinter HS01: 70.6 dBGoodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus: 73.0 dB
PriceFalken Eurowinter HS01: 075 Pirelli Cinturato Winter: 127
Rolling ResistanceContinental WinterContact TS 870: 08.0 kg / tFalken Eurowinter HS01: 10.5 kg / t
The 2021 Auto Motor und Sport winter tire test tested ten popular central European winter tires 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. 

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

View Results as a single table and adjust the score weighting

1st: Bridgestone Blizzak LM005

Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
  • 195/55 R16 87H
  • EU Label: C/A/71
  • Weight: 7.97kgs
  • Tread: 8.2mm
Test#Difference%
Dry Braking4th+1.9 M95.75%
Dry Handling2nd-0.5 Km/H99.56%
Wet Braking1st100%
Wet Handling2nd-0.1 Km/H99.86%
Straight Aqua4th-4.3 Km/H95.1%
Curved Aquaplaning3rd-0.09 m/sec297.26%
Snow Braking2nd+0.1 M99.69%
Snow Traction4th-0.02 N98.94%
Snow Handling6th-2.3 Km/H95.77%
Noise9th+1.1 dB98.47%
Price7th+28 72.82%
Rolling Resistance3rd+0.5 kg / t94.12%
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.

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2nd: Continental WinterContact TS 870

Continental WinterContact TS 870
  • 195/55 R16 87H
  • EU Label: C/B/70
  • Weight: 7.58kgs
  • Tread: 8.6mm
Test#Difference%
Dry Braking8th+2.3 M94.9%
Dry Handling4th-0.6 Km/H99.48%
Wet Braking4th+2.8 M91.28%
Wet Handling7th-1.8 Km/H97.5%
Straight Aqua2nd-3.8 Km/H95.67%
Curved Aquaplaning1st100%
Snow Braking6th+0.5 M98.49%
Snow Traction4th-0.02 N98.94%
Snow Handling2nd-1 Km/H98.16%
Noise2nd+0.2 dB99.72%
Price7th+28 72.82%
Rolling Resistance1st100%
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.

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3rd: Vredestein Wintrac

Vredestein Wintrac
  • 195/55 R16 87H
  • EU Label: C/B/70
  • Weight: 7.61kgs
  • Tread: 8.15mm
Test#Difference%
Dry Braking2nd+0.2 M99.53%
Dry Handling7th-1.8 Km/H98.43%
Wet Braking3rd+2.4 M92.43%
Wet Handling1st100%
Straight Aqua9th-8.5 Km/H90.31%
Curved Aquaplaning10th-0.62 m/sec281.16%
Snow Braking1st100%
Snow Traction6th-0.04 N97.88%
Snow Handling8th-3.5 Km/H93.57%
Noise3rd+0.3 dB99.58%
Price3rd+17 81.52%
Rolling Resistance4th+0.8 kg / t90.91%
Good snow braking, dynamic wet handling, short dry braking with precise cornering.
High noise when cornering.

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4th: BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2

BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
  • 195/55 R16 91H
  • EU Label: D/B/69
  • Weight: 8.36kgs
  • Tread: 7.9mm
Test#Difference%
Dry Braking7th+2.2 M95.11%
Dry Handling5th-0.8 Km/H99.3%
Wet Braking7th+3.3 M89.88%
Wet Handling8th-2.7 Km/H96.25%
Straight Aqua5th-4.6 Km/H94.75%
Curved Aquaplaning6th-0.45 m/sec286.32%
Snow Braking2nd+0.1 M99.69%
Snow Traction1st100%
Snow Handling1st100%
Noise5th+0.4 dB99.44%
Price5th+23 76.53%
Rolling Resistance9th+1.7 kg / t82.47%
Outstanding snow properties.
Weak results in the wet.

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5th: Michelin Alpin 6

Michelin Alpin 6
  • 195/55 R16 87H
  • EU Label: D/B/69
  • Weight: 8.31kgs
  • Tread: 7.45mm
Test#Difference%
Dry Braking1st100%
Dry Handling6th-0.9 Km/H99.21%
Wet Braking6th+2.9 M90.99%
Wet Handling5th-1.2 Km/H98.33%
Straight Aqua7th-5.7 Km/H93.5%
Curved Aquaplaning6th-0.45 m/sec286.32%
Snow Braking9th+0.6 M98.19%
Snow Traction7th-0.06 N96.83%
Snow Handling7th-2.8 Km/H94.85%
Noise3rd+0.3 dB99.58%
Price9th+48 60.98%
Rolling Resistance8th+1.1 kg / t87.91%
Best in the dry with good dry handling and good cornering grip in the wet.
Average snow performance.

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6th: Pirelli Cinturato Winter

Pirelli Cinturato Winter
  • 195/55 R16 91H
  • EU Label: C/B/67
  • Weight: 7.39kgs
  • Tread: 8.9mm
Test#Difference%
Dry Braking6th+2 M95.54%
Dry Handling10th-3.4 Km/H97.03%
Wet Braking10th+5.5 M84.2%
Wet Handling8th-2.7 Km/H96.25%
Straight Aqua1st100%
Curved Aquaplaning2nd-0.04 m/sec298.78%
Snow Braking4th+0.2 M99.39%
Snow Traction1st100%
Snow Handling5th-2 Km/H96.32%
Noise5th+0.4 dB99.44%
Price10th+52 59.06%
Rolling Resistance6th+0.9 kg / t89.89%
Short braking distances and good traction on snow.
Long wet braking, poor dry handling.

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6th: Goodyear UltraGrip 9+

Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
  • 195/55 R16 87H
  • EU Label: C/B/72
  • Weight: 8.2kgs
  • Tread: 8.6mm
Test#Difference%
Dry Braking10th+3.8 M91.85%
Dry Handling9th-1.9 Km/H98.34%
Wet Braking9th+4.4 M86.94%
Wet Handling3rd-0.5 Km/H99.31%
Straight Aqua6th-5 Km/H94.3%
Curved Aquaplaning4th-0.14 m/sec295.74%
Snow Braking6th+0.5 M98.49%
Snow Traction1st100%
Snow Handling4th-1.8 Km/H96.69%
Noise10th+2.4 dB96.71%
Price4th+22 77.32%
Rolling Resistance2nd+0.3 kg / t96.39%
Good cornering grip and handling in snow. Good wet cornering.
Average braking in all conditions, relatively loud external noise.

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8th: Falken Eurowinter HS01

Falken Eurowinter HS01
  • 195/55 R16 87H
  • EU Label: D/B/70
  • Weight: 8.91kgs
  • Tread: 8.7mm
Test#Difference%
Dry Braking9th+2.7 M94.07%
Dry Handling7th-1.8 Km/H98.43%
Wet Braking2nd+1.8 M94.21%
Wet Handling6th-1.3 Km/H98.19%
Straight Aqua2nd-3.8 Km/H95.67%
Curved Aquaplaning5th-0.44 m/sec286.63%
Snow Braking5th+0.3 M99.09%
Snow Traction9th-0.11 N94.18%
Snow Handling3rd-1.6 Km/H97.06%
Noise1st100%
Price1st100%
Rolling Resistance10th+2.5 kg / t76.19%
Acceptable snow and wet performance, good ride comfort.
Not very precise steering, average dry grip.

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9th: GT Radial WinterPro2

GT-Radial WinterPro2
  • 195/55 R16 91H
  • EU Label: D/B/70
  • Weight: 7.98kgs
  • Tread: 8.4mm
Test#Difference%
Dry Braking3rd+1.6 M96.4%
Dry Handling2nd-0.5 Km/H99.56%
Wet Braking4th+2.8 M91.28%
Wet Handling8th-2.7 Km/H96.25%
Straight Aqua10th-10.5 Km/H88.03%
Curved Aquaplaning8th-0.49 m/sec285.11%
Snow Braking6th+0.5 M98.49%
Snow Traction8th-0.09 N95.24%
Snow Handling9th-3.9 Km/H92.83%
Noise8th+0.5 dB99.3%
Price2nd+16 82.42%
Rolling Resistance4th+0.8 kg / t90.91%
Very good dry performance, good wet grip, comfortable.
Poor performance on snow.

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10th: Toyo Observe S 944

Toyo Observe S 944
  • 195/55 R16 91H
  • EU Label: D/B/71
  • Weight: 8.2kgs
  • Tread: 8.8mm
Test#Difference%
Dry Braking4th+1.9 M95.75%
Dry Handling1st100%
Wet Braking8th+3.5 M89.33%
Wet Handling4th-0.7 Km/H99.03%
Straight Aqua8th-6.7 Km/H92.36%
Curved Aquaplaning8th-0.49 m/sec285.11%
Snow Braking10th+1.2 M96.45%
Snow Traction10th-0.15 N92.06%
Snow Handling10th-5 Km/H90.81%
Noise5th+0.4 dB99.44%
Price5th+23 76.53%
Rolling Resistance7th+1 kg / t88.89%
Very good dry handling with safe understeer.
Long wet braking, very low snow performance.

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