For 2017 the Polish publication AutoCentrum has tested eight studless winter tires in 185/65 R15. As with the other winter tire tests we've featured across 2017, AutoCentrum tests the winter tires in the dry, wet and snow, but also includes ice testing, a first for 2017.

Six of the tires on test are European winter tires which are available to the UK market, and two of the tires (Debica Frigo 2 and Sava Eskimo Ice) are full nordic friction studless winter tires, so it should give us a good overview of how these two different types of tires perform, and why Nordic winter tires aren't suitable for the UK market.

Dry

In the dry testing, the Nokian was supreme, stopping the car in 91 feet. The more heavily siped nature of Nordic winter tires means they struggle in dry testing, with the Debica 10 feet and Sava nearly 13 feet behind the best European winter tire on test when braking down from 50 mph.

Dry Braking
Position / Tire	Result	Gap to best
1Nokian WR D4	91 ft	Best
2Michelin Alpin A4	93 ft	+2 ft
3Goodyear UltraGrip 9	96 ft	+5 ft
4Kumho Winter Craft WP51	97 ft	+6 ft
5Fulda Kristall Montero 3	99 ft	+8 ft
6Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	99 ft	+8 ft
7Debica Frigo 2	100 ft	+9 ft
8Sava Eskimo Ice	103 ft	+12 ft

The difference between best and worst was 12.8% (12 ft ≈ 0.8 Car Lengths).

Rolling Resistance
Position / Tire	Result	Gap to best	Extra fuel / year
1Debica Frigo 2	7.99 kg/t	Best	$0
2Nokian WR D4	8.12 kg/t	+0.13 kg/t	$5
3Goodyear UltraGrip 9	8.26 kg/t	+0.27 kg/t	$10
4Fulda Kristall Montero 3	8.29 kg/t	+0.30 kg/t	$11
5Sava Eskimo Ice	8.81 kg/t	+0.82 kg/t	$30
6Kumho Winter Craft WP51	8.87 kg/t	+0.88 kg/t	$32
7Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	8.95 kg/t	+0.96 kg/t	$35
8Michelin Alpin A4	9.07 kg/t	+1.08 kg/t	$40

The difference between best and worst was 13.5% (1.08 kg / t). Over 12,000 miles a year at $3.60/gal, the Michelin Alpin A4 uses about 11 gal ($40) more fuel than the Debica Frigo 2.

Adjust the assumptions

Calculated estimates, not additional measurements. Use the controls to explore the assumptions.

Gas/Diesel Electric

Annual Mileage

12,000 mi

km (L)

miles (US gal)

Fuel Price

$3.60/gal

GBP (£)

EUR (€)

USD ($)

Set my vehicle consumption

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.

Wet

As in the dry testing, the Nordic winter tires were last by a huge margin. The best European tire on test stopped the vehicle in under 98 feet when braking from 50 mph, with the Sava Nordic winter tire a full 33 feet behind.

Wet Braking
Position / Tire	Result	Gap to best
1Michelin Alpin A4	98 ft	Best
2Goodyear UltraGrip 9	99 ft	+1 ft
3Nokian WR D4	103 ft	+5 ft
4Kumho Winter Craft WP51	107 ft	+9 ft
5Fulda Kristall Montero 3	107 ft	+9 ft
6Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	108 ft	+10 ft
7Debica Frigo 2	121 ft	+23 ft
8Sava Eskimo Ice	130 ft	+32 ft

The difference between best and worst was 32.6% (32 ft ≈ 2.2 Car Lengths).

The gap was similar in the wet slalom, with both Nordic winter tires a long way off the pace and controllability of the European winter tires.

Wet Handling
Position / Tire	Result	Gap to best
1Goodyear UltraGrip 9	13.8 s	Best
2Michelin Alpin A4	14 s	+0.20 s
2Nokian WR D4	14 s	+0.20 s
2Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	14 s	+0.20 s
5Fulda Kristall Montero 3	14.1 s	+0.30 s
6Kumho Winter Craft WP51	14.2 s	+0.40 s
7Sava Eskimo Ice	14.8 s	+1.00 s
8Debica Frigo 2	15.1 s	+1.30 s

The difference between best and worst was 9.4% (1.3 s).

Goodyear rounded out an impressive wet performance by winning the aquaplaning test too.

Straight Aqua
Position / Tire	Result	Gap to best
1Goodyear UltraGrip 9	55.2 mph	Best
2Michelin Alpin A4	52.9 mph	-2.3 mph
3Nokian WR D4	52.8 mph	-2.4 mph
4Fulda Kristall Montero 3	52.6 mph	-2.6 mph
5Kumho Winter Craft WP51	51.7 mph	-3.5 mph
6Debica Frigo 2	49.6 mph	-5.6 mph
7Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	48.0 mph	-7.2 mph
8Sava Eskimo Ice	46.7 mph	-8.5 mph

The difference between best and worst was 15.4% (8.5 mph).

Snow

Snow is where the Nordic winter tire should take the advantage, but during the snow braking test the Goodyear once again won, stopping the car in just 52 feet from 25 mph.

Snow Braking
Position / Tire	Result	Gap to best
1Goodyear UltraGrip 9	52 ft	Best
2Debica Frigo 2	53 ft	+1 ft
3Michelin Alpin A4	53 ft	+1 ft
4Sava Eskimo Ice	53 ft	+1 ft
5Nokian WR D4	54 ft	+2 ft
6Fulda Kristall Montero 3	54 ft	+2 ft
7Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	55 ft	+3 ft
8Kumho Winter Craft WP51	56 ft	+4 ft

The difference between best and worst was 7.5% (4 ft).

The Goodyear was also strongest in snow traction, who's results mirrored snow braking closely.

Snow Traction
Position / Tire	Result	Gap to best
1Goodyear UltraGrip 9	4.82 s	Best
2Debica Frigo 2	4.86 s	+0.04 s
3Sava Eskimo Ice	4.95 s	+0.13 s
4Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	4.96 s	+0.14 s
5Nokian WR D4	5.04 s	+0.22 s
6Michelin Alpin A4	5.06 s	+0.24 s
7Fulda Kristall Montero 3	5.18 s	+0.36 s
8Kumho Winter Craft WP51	5.43 s	+0.61 s

The difference between best and worst was 12.7% (0.61 s).

Ice

Ice braking is finally where the Nordic winter tires won a test, with the Debica Frigo having a big advantage when braking down from just 16 mph.

Ice Braking
Position / Tire	Result	Gap to best
1Debica Frigo 2	64 ft	Best
2Nokian WR D4	70 ft	+6 ft
3Goodyear UltraGrip 9	71 ft	+7 ft
4Kumho Winter Craft WP51	72 ft	+8 ft
5Sava Eskimo Ice	74 ft	+10 ft
6Fulda Kristall Montero 3	74 ft	+10 ft
7Michelin Alpin A4	75 ft	+11 ft
8Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	78 ft	+14 ft

The difference between best and worst was 21.8% (14 ft ≈ 0.9 Car Lengths).

As with snow traction, the results were broadly similar to ice braking, with the Nordic winter tires having a strong advantage.

Ice Traction
Position / Tire	Result	Gap to best
1Debica Frigo 2	6.49 s	Best
2Sava Eskimo Ice	6.57 s	+0.08 s
3Kumho Winter Craft WP51	7.02 s	+0.53 s
4Nokian WR D4	7.03 s	+0.54 s
5Goodyear UltraGrip 9	7.12 s	+0.63 s
6Michelin Alpin A4	7.32 s	+0.83 s
7Fulda Kristall Montero 3	7.33 s	+0.84 s
8Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	8.23 s	+1.74 s

The difference between best and worst was 26.8% (1.74 s).

The ice slalom was again won by the Nordic winter tires.

Ice Handling
Position / Tire	Result	Gap to best
1Sava Eskimo Ice	25.8 s	Best
2Debica Frigo 2	27.4 s	+1.60 s
3Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	28.2 s	+2.40 s
4Goodyear UltraGrip 9	29.8 s	+4.00 s
4Nokian WR D4	29.8 s	+4.00 s
6Michelin Alpin A4	30 s	+4.20 s
7Fulda Kristall Montero 3	30.1 s	+4.30 s
8Kumho Winter Craft WP51	30.2 s	+4.40 s

The difference between best and worst was 17.1% (4.4 s).

Results

The overall results are below. If you've ever wondered why we don't get the more extreme Nordic winter tires in the UK, this is your answer, with both Nordic tires on test struggling in the dry and wet when compared to our European winter tires.

All discipline results (7)

Test	Result
Dry	19
Wet	35
Snow	23
Ice	31
Subjective	35
Rolling Resistance	9
Overall	8.5

Total: 160.5

All discipline results (7)

Test	Result
Dry	15
Wet	39
Snow	25
Ice	29
Subjective	31
Rolling Resistance	8
Overall	8.3

Total: 155.3

All discipline results (7)

Test	Result
Dry	17
Wet	35
Snow	22
Ice	28
Subjective	31
Rolling Resistance	6
Overall	7.9

Total: 146.9

All discipline results (7)

Test	Result
Dry	13
Wet	31
Snow	19
Ice	26
Subjective	23
Rolling Resistance	8
Overall	6.9

Total: 126.9

All discipline results (7)

Test	Result
Dry	11
Wet	18
Snow	26
Ice	37
Subjective	26
Rolling Resistance	10
Overall	6.7

Total: 134.7

All discipline results (7)

Test	Result
Dry	12
Wet	29
Snow	19
Ice	27
Subjective	24
Rolling Resistance	6
Overall	6.6

Total: 123.6

All discipline results (7)

Test	Result
Dry	11
Wet	28
Snow	16
Ice	27
Subjective	17
Rolling Resistance	6
Overall	6.5

Total: 111.5

All discipline results (7)

Test	Result
Dry	10
Wet	17
Snow	26
Ice	37
Subjective	29
Rolling Resistance	6
Overall	6.2

Total: 131.2

Discussion

2 comments

Dorin Oct 25, 2017 archived

Good to see such a test. Here, in Romania, Debica Frigo 2 is frequently equipping cars as European winter tire, but no one knows it is a nordic winter tire. Maybe considering it belongs to a different category could explain its weaknesses in dry and wet.

#2956
Andy Holmes Oct 24, 2017 archived

I have to say that budget tires performing poorly against premium tires does nothing to portray the differences between euro and Nordic winter tires!
It is representitive of the differences yeah but not particularly credible...

#2955

Tire	Nokian WR D4	Goodyear UltraGrip 9	Michelin Alpin A4	Fulda Kristall Montero 3	Debica Frigo 2	Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	Kumho Winter Craft WP51	Sava Eskimo Ice
Position	1^st	2^nd	3^rd	4^th	5^th	6^th	7^th	8^th
Keep researching	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results

Menu

Tire shortlist

The evidence behind the verdict

Dry

Wet

Snow

Ice

Results

Cross-check this test