2010 Auto Bild Winter Tire Test
Auto Bild are known for their excellent tire tests, so when they take 14 winter tires, 1 summer tire and 13 different tests you know you're in for a good write up!This year Auto Bild chose the 195/65 R15 tire size and used a fleet of FWD VW Golfs as the test beds. All 6 premium tire manufacturer were represented along with 4 mid range brand tires (Vredestein, Toyo, Kumho and Firestone) and 4 budget brands.
The Summer Tire
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the test was the inclusion of a control summer tire.The summer tire won every aspect of the dry tests, braking 13 feet shorter than the best winter and managing .1km/h faster on the handling course. In the wet the results were more even, with the best winter tire convincingly beating the summer tire in both aquaplaning tests and stopping only 3 feet short from 62mph.
Unsurprisingly the winter tire dominated the snow and ice section of the test stopping a full 36 feet shorter from 25mph and completing a handling with relative ease when the summer tire failed to post a time.
Subjectively Auto Bild found nothing wrong with the winter tires comfort, with the leading winter tire being a fair bit quieter than the summer tire. In the rolling resistance test the summer tire finished 3rd from last, being beaten by 12 of the winter tires proving winter tires won't destroy your fuel economy.
The Results
Please note, the final results were weighted in favor of wet weather and snow performanceDunlop SP Winter Sport 3D
195/65 r15
Exemplary
All discipline results (5)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 7 |
| Wet | 9 |
| Snow | 9 |
| Comfort | 6 |
| Rolling Resistance | 6 |
Total: 37
Continental WinterContact TS830
195/65 r15
Exemplary.
All discipline results (5)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 7 |
| Wet | 9 |
| Snow | 8 |
| Comfort | 6 |
| Rolling Resistance | 7 |
Total: 37
Goodyear UltraGrip 7+
195/65 r15
Exemplary.
All discipline results (5)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 7 |
| Wet | 7 |
| Snow | 9 |
| Comfort | 7 |
| Rolling Resistance | 10 |
Total: 40
Vredestein Snowtrac 3
195/65 r15
Exemplary.
All discipline results (5)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 8 |
| Wet | 8 |
| Snow | 7 |
| Comfort | 6 |
| Rolling Resistance | 8 |
Total: 37
Pirelli SNOWCONTROL Serie II
195/65 r15
Good.
All discipline results (5)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 7 |
| Wet | 7 |
| Snow | 9 |
| Comfort | 8 |
| Rolling Resistance | 10 |
Total: 41
Michelin Alpin A4
195/65 r15
Good.
All discipline results (5)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 7 |
| Wet | 6 |
| Snow | 9 |
| Comfort | 6 |
| Rolling Resistance | 10 |
Total: 38
Sava Eskimo S3
195/65 r15
Good
All discipline results (5)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 6 |
| Wet | 7 |
| Snow | 9 |
| Comfort | 7 |
| Rolling Resistance | 8 |
Total: 37
Bridgestone Blizzak LM32
195/65 r15
Satisfactory.
All discipline results (5)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 6 |
| Wet | 6 |
| Snow | 7 |
| Comfort | 6 |
| Rolling Resistance | 8 |
Total: 33
Toyo SNOWPROX S 942
195/65 r15
Satisfactory.
All discipline results (5)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 6 |
| Wet | 7 |
| Snow | 6 |
| Comfort | 5 |
| Rolling Resistance | 7 |
Total: 31
Fulda Kristall Montero 3
195/65 r15
Satisfactory.
All discipline results (5)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 6 |
| Wet | 6 |
| Snow | 6 |
| Comfort | 7 |
| Rolling Resistance | 9 |
Total: 34
Kumho IZen KW23
195/65 r15
Satisfactory.
All discipline results (5)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 5 |
| Wet | 6 |
| Snow | 6 |
| Comfort | 6 |
| Rolling Resistance | 6 |
Total: 29
Firestone Winterhawk 2 EVO
195/65 r15
Conditionally recommended.
All discipline results (5)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 5 |
| Wet | 7 |
| Snow | 6 |
| Comfort | 6 |
| Rolling Resistance | 7 |
Total: 31
The Duro DW9000 snow fox and Profil WinterMaxx placed 13th and 14th and were the only given the "not recommended" status thanks to dangerous wet weather performance.
drat, I have been running wintermaxx for a year now and just purchased a new set when I have seen these results. How bad are they ?? - I have not noticed much of a problem, and have covered about 25k on the 1st set.
Brill, an all-season test would be very interesting especially if compared to a summer top-performer (like Conti PremiumContact). Maybe these would be better than summer tires for all round use?
Keep a look out :)
Is it possible to see the summer tire results, as a comparisson, like the Auto Express test?
Unfortunately not.
We will be covering an all season tire test in the near future that had both summer and winter tires included so keep an eye on the site for that!