Test Publication:
Auto Motor Und Sport
195/55 R16
10 tires
5 categories
Test Size:
195/55 R16
Tires Tested:
10 tires
Auto Motor Und Sport is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, Tire Reviews. This is independent editorial coverage of their published test.
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.
- Michelin Alpin 6
- Vredestein Wintrac
- GT Radial WinterPro2
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
- Toyo Observe S 944
- Pirelli Cinturato Winter
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- Continental WinterContact TS 870
- Falken Eurowinter HS01
- Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
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.
- Toyo Observe S 944
- GT Radial WinterPro2
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
- Continental WinterContact TS 870
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- Michelin Alpin 6
- Falken Eurowinter HS01
- Vredestein Wintrac
- Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
- Pirelli Cinturato Winter
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.
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
- Falken Eurowinter HS01
- Vredestein Wintrac
- GT Radial WinterPro2
- Continental WinterContact TS 870
- Michelin Alpin 6
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- Toyo Observe S 944
- Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
- Pirelli Cinturato Winter
Vredestein and Bridgestone also performed well during wet handling.
- Vredestein Wintrac
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
- Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
- Toyo Observe S 944
- Michelin Alpin 6
- Falken Eurowinter HS01
- Continental WinterContact TS 870
- Pirelli Cinturato Winter
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- GT Radial WinterPro2
Pirelli had a significant advantage during straight aquaplaning. Curved aquaplaning results can be found at the bottom of the page.
- Pirelli Cinturato Winter
- Falken Eurowinter HS01
- Continental WinterContact TS 870
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
- Michelin Alpin 6
- Toyo Observe S 944
- Vredestein Wintrac
- GT Radial WinterPro2
Snow
The important snow braking test was led by Vredestein, with BFGoodrich and Bridgestone close behind.
- Vredestein Wintrac
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
- Pirelli Cinturato Winter
- Falken Eurowinter HS01
- GT Radial WinterPro2
- Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
- Continental WinterContact TS 870
- Michelin Alpin 6
- Toyo Observe S 944
BFGoodrich again performed well in snow traction.
- Pirelli Cinturato Winter
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
- Continental WinterContact TS 870
- Vredestein Wintrac
- Michelin Alpin 6
- GT Radial WinterPro2
- Falken Eurowinter HS01
- Toyo Observe S 944
Confirming the BFGoodrich is the best overall in snow, it was also fastest around the snow handling lap.
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- Continental WinterContact TS 870
- Falken Eurowinter HS01
- Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
- Pirelli Cinturato Winter
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
- Michelin Alpin 6
- Vredestein Wintrac
- GT Radial WinterPro2
- Toyo Observe S 944
Environment
The Falken and Continental tires had the lowest external noise.
- Falken Eurowinter HS01
- Continental WinterContact TS 870
- Michelin Alpin 6
- Vredestein Wintrac
- Pirelli Cinturato Winter
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- Toyo Observe S 944
- GT Radial WinterPro2
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
- Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
Continental also had the lowest fuel use on test.
- Continental WinterContact TS 870
- Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
- GT Radial WinterPro2
- Vredestein Wintrac
- Pirelli Cinturato Winter
- Toyo Observe S 944
- Michelin Alpin 6
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- Falken Eurowinter HS01
The magazine provided pricing had Pirelli even more expensive than the Michelin, with the Vredestein looking great value considering its overall result.
- Falken Eurowinter HS01
- GT Radial WinterPro2
- Vredestein Wintrac
- Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- Toyo Observe S 944
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
- Continental WinterContact TS 870
- Michelin Alpin 6
- Pirelli Cinturato Winter
Results
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.
| Test |
# |
% |
| Dry Braking |
4th |
95.75% |
| Dry Handling |
2nd |
99.56% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Wet Braking |
1st |
100% |
| Wet Handling |
2nd |
99.86% |
| Straight Aqua |
4th |
95.1% |
| Curved Aquaplaning |
3rd |
97.26% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Snow Braking |
2nd |
99.69% |
| Snow Traction |
4th |
98.94% |
| Snow Handling |
6th |
95.77% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Noise |
9th |
98.47% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Price |
7th |
72.82% |
| Rolling Resistance |
3rd |
94.12% |
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.
| Test |
# |
% |
| Dry Braking |
8th |
94.9% |
| Dry Handling |
4th |
99.48% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Wet Braking |
4th |
91.28% |
| Wet Handling |
7th |
97.5% |
| Straight Aqua |
2nd |
95.67% |
| Curved Aquaplaning |
1st |
100% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Snow Braking |
6th |
98.49% |
| Snow Traction |
4th |
98.94% |
| Snow Handling |
2nd |
98.16% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Noise |
2nd |
99.72% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Price |
7th |
72.82% |
| Rolling Resistance |
1st |
100% |
Good snow braking, dynamic wet handling, short dry braking with precise cornering.
High noise when cornering.
| Test |
# |
% |
| Dry Braking |
2nd |
99.53% |
| Dry Handling |
7th |
98.43% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Wet Braking |
3rd |
92.43% |
| Wet Handling |
1st |
100% |
| Straight Aqua |
9th |
90.31% |
| Curved Aquaplaning |
10th |
81.16% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Snow Braking |
1st |
100% |
| Snow Traction |
6th |
97.88% |
| Snow Handling |
8th |
93.57% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Noise |
3rd |
99.58% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Price |
3rd |
81.52% |
| Rolling Resistance |
4th |
90.91% |
Outstanding snow properties.
Weak results in the wet.
| Test |
# |
% |
| Dry Braking |
7th |
95.11% |
| Dry Handling |
5th |
99.3% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Wet Braking |
7th |
89.88% |
| Wet Handling |
8th |
96.25% |
| Straight Aqua |
5th |
94.75% |
| Curved Aquaplaning |
6th |
86.32% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Snow Braking |
2nd |
99.69% |
| Snow Traction |
1st |
100% |
| Snow Handling |
1st |
100% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Noise |
5th |
99.44% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Price |
5th |
76.53% |
| Rolling Resistance |
9th |
82.47% |
Best in the dry with good dry handling and good cornering grip in the wet.
Average snow performance.
| Test |
# |
% |
| Dry Braking |
1st |
100% |
| Dry Handling |
6th |
99.21% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Wet Braking |
6th |
90.99% |
| Wet Handling |
5th |
98.33% |
| Straight Aqua |
7th |
93.5% |
| Curved Aquaplaning |
6th |
86.32% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Snow Braking |
9th |
98.19% |
| Snow Traction |
7th |
96.83% |
| Snow Handling |
7th |
94.85% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Noise |
3rd |
99.58% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Price |
9th |
60.98% |
| Rolling Resistance |
8th |
87.91% |
Good cornering grip and handling in snow. Good wet cornering.
Average braking in all conditions, relatively loud external noise.
| Test |
# |
% |
| Dry Braking |
10th |
91.85% |
| Dry Handling |
9th |
98.34% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Wet Braking |
9th |
86.94% |
| Wet Handling |
3rd |
99.31% |
| Straight Aqua |
6th |
94.3% |
| Curved Aquaplaning |
4th |
95.74% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Snow Braking |
6th |
98.49% |
| Snow Traction |
1st |
100% |
| Snow Handling |
4th |
96.69% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Noise |
10th |
96.71% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Price |
4th |
77.32% |
| Rolling Resistance |
2nd |
96.39% |
Short braking distances and good traction on snow.
Long wet braking, poor dry handling.
| Test |
# |
% |
| Dry Braking |
6th |
95.54% |
| Dry Handling |
10th |
97.03% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Wet Braking |
10th |
84.2% |
| Wet Handling |
8th |
96.25% |
| Straight Aqua |
1st |
100% |
| Curved Aquaplaning |
2nd |
98.78% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Snow Braking |
4th |
99.39% |
| Snow Traction |
1st |
100% |
| Snow Handling |
5th |
96.32% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Noise |
5th |
99.44% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Price |
10th |
59.06% |
| Rolling Resistance |
6th |
89.89% |
Acceptable snow and wet performance, good ride comfort.
Not very precise steering, average dry grip.
| Test |
# |
% |
| Dry Braking |
9th |
94.07% |
| Dry Handling |
7th |
98.43% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Wet Braking |
2nd |
94.21% |
| Wet Handling |
6th |
98.19% |
| Straight Aqua |
2nd |
95.67% |
| Curved Aquaplaning |
5th |
86.63% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Snow Braking |
5th |
99.09% |
| Snow Traction |
9th |
94.18% |
| Snow Handling |
3rd |
97.06% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Price |
1st |
100% |
| Rolling Resistance |
10th |
76.19% |
Very good dry performance, good wet grip, comfortable.
Poor performance on snow.
| Test |
# |
% |
| Dry Braking |
3rd |
96.4% |
| Dry Handling |
2nd |
99.56% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Wet Braking |
4th |
91.28% |
| Wet Handling |
8th |
96.25% |
| Straight Aqua |
10th |
88.03% |
| Curved Aquaplaning |
8th |
85.11% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Snow Braking |
6th |
98.49% |
| Snow Traction |
8th |
95.24% |
| Snow Handling |
9th |
92.83% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Price |
2nd |
82.42% |
| Rolling Resistance |
4th |
90.91% |
Very good dry handling with safe understeer.
Long wet braking, very low snow performance.
| Test |
# |
% |
| Dry Braking |
4th |
95.75% |
| Dry Handling |
1st |
100% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Wet Braking |
8th |
89.33% |
| Wet Handling |
4th |
99.03% |
| Straight Aqua |
8th |
92.36% |
| Curved Aquaplaning |
8th |
85.11% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Snow Braking |
10th |
96.45% |
| Snow Traction |
10th |
92.06% |
| Snow Handling |
10th |
90.81% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Noise |
5th |
99.44% |
| Test |
# |
% |
| Price |
5th |
76.53% |
| Rolling Resistance |
7th |
88.89% |
Discussion