2019 Auto Express Winter Tire Test

Test Summary
Wet Braking	Continental Premium Contact 6
Dry Braking	Continental Premium Contact 6
Wet Handling	Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus
Wear	Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus
Rolling Resistance	Nokian WR Snowproof
Snow Handling	Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus

The 2019 Auto Express winter tire test has tested ten 225/45 R17 winter tires, and included a summer and all season product as a benchmark.

The newest winter tire from Goodyear is shaping up to be an excellent winter product. Thanks to a near perfect all round performance, it wins another tire test, narrowly beating the established king of winter motoring, the Continental WinterContact TS860.

Michelin will be happy with a third place overall, as they're the only manufacturer publicly designing their tires to work as they wear, with tread blocks that open up as the miles go on. This means the Michelin Alpin 6 might be the best tire at 50% tread wear, it's something we will try and test in the future.

Vredestein again look to be a good option for a southern UK climate, with the Wintrac Pro performing well the dry and wet, but a little weaker in the snow, while the winter specialists at Nokian might be a little disappointed with seventh overall, seemingly trading the best fuel use on test for lower wet grip.

As for the summer and all season benchmark tires, there's no huge surprises. The summer tire had a huge dry and wet braking advantage, stopping the car seven meters shorter than the best winter tire and ten meters shorter than the worst tire in the dry, with a similar gap in the wet. The all season tire placed third overall in this winter test, with its bias slightly more towards dry and wet running, but it still had acceptable snow performance when compared to the summer tire.

We've said it before, and we'll say it again. A good all season tire is a better option for the most of the UK than a full winter tire.

Results

Sadly Auto Express don't provide any raw data, instead scoring the best in each test one hundred percent, and working down from there. You can check out the full test on the Auto Express website here.

The new benchmark for a winter tire. Best in snow testing, excellent in the wet, sport handling in all conditions. Quietest tire on test.

Only seventh in the dry, however the margins are very close.

Total: 1372.7

Dry 194.5

Wet 489.2

Snow 400

Rolling Resistance 89

Noise 100

Overall 100

Best in dry handling, excellent in the wet, best wet braking, good in snow, low fuel use.

Average dry braking.

Total: 1357.4

Dry 195

Wet 488.9

Snow 390

Rolling Resistance 91

Noise 93

Overall 99.5

Strong in the wet and dry.

Average snow performance, high noise.

Total: 1335.4

Dry 196.1

Wet 483.2

Snow 384.1

Rolling Resistance 86

Noise 87.6

Overall 98.4

Very strong in the wet and dry.

Weaker than the full winter tires in snow.

Total: 1340

Dry 198.3

Wet 482.2

Snow 372.7

Rolling Resistance 94

Noise 94.3

Overall 98.5

Good snow performance, well balanced during snow handling. Low rolling resistance and very quiet.

Average in the wet and a poor dry grip.

Total: 1353.1

Dry 192.9

Wet 479.8

Snow 393.9

Rolling Resistance 92

Noise 96.2

Overall 98.3

Strong in the dry and wet.

Poor snow performance, high rolling resistance, high noise.

Total: 1319.9

Dry 197.9

Wet 478.3

Snow 377.6

Rolling Resistance 76

Noise 92.4

Overall 97.7

Best aquaplaning resistance on test, good wet braking result, low noise.

Poor snow performance, low wet grip during the handling test, high rolling resistance.

Total: 1311.6

Dry 193.4

Wet 487.5

Snow 373.8

Rolling Resistance 63

Noise 96.2

Overall 97.7

Huge lead in rolling resistance, excellent dry braking result.

Poor wet grip.

Total: 1346.6

Dry 199.3

Wet 467.3

Snow 387.2

Rolling Resistance 100

Noise 95.2

Overall 97.6

Sporty feeling.

Poor snow grip, average wet performance.

Total: 1323.6

Dry 196.4

Wet 473.4

Snow 375.2

Rolling Resistance 88

Noise 93.3

Overall 97.3

Good in snow handling.

Poor in the dry and particularly the wet. Last in both aquaplaning tests and wet braking. High noise.

Total: 1304.4

Dry 195.3

Wet 458.4

Snow 386.2

Rolling Resistance 80

Noise 88.6

Overall 95.9

Second in dry braking and dry handling testing.

Very weak in the snow and in wet conditions.

Total: 1285

Dry 199.5

Wet 461.4

Snow 355.5

Rolling Resistance 80

Noise 93.3

Overall 95.3

The summer tire had a huge advantage in the dry and wet braking tests.

Extremely poor snow performance.

Total: 1206.6

Dry 221.3

Wet 500.1

Snow 205.8

Rolling Resistance 93

Noise 92.4

Overall 94

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Results

Goodyear UltraGrip Performance+

Continental WinterContact TS 860

Michelin Alpin 6

Continental AllSeasonContact

Dunlop Winter Sport 5

Vredestein Wintrac Pro

Falken Eurowinter HS01

Nokian WR Snowproof

Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3

Hankook Winter i cept RS2

Toyo Snowprox S954

Continental Premium Contact 6

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