Winter Premium Touring Tire Tests

Autobild are back at it again, this year testing a massive 55 winter tires in wet braking, then taking the top 33 to a snow braking test, all to find out the safest 20 winter tires in the wet and snow to put through to their full test!

The extreme winter specialists at Vi Bilagare are back at it testing the latest and greatest studless friction winter tires. This year they not only tested seven of the most popular studless friction nordic compounds in the popular 225/45 R17 tire size, they also included an older tire to see the effects of aging. The older tire is am 8 year old, lightly used (6mm remaining) Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2, which has its work cut out as its "two-generation-newer" brother, the Hakkapeliitta R5 is also included in this test!

Sadly Tire Reviews won't be conducting a studded tire test this year, but thankfully the excellent testers at the Swedish magazine Vi Bilagare have, and as they're some of the best Nordic drivers in the world, you can be assured this is the best studded tire test you'll see this year.

As always for a studded tire test, the tires were all tested in the dry, wet, snow and importantly ice, which is where studs really make a difference. To add another element to the testing this year Vi Bilagare bought a "joker" tire, a lightly used Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8 (the current version is the Hakkapeliitta 10) which was manufactured in 2015, making the tire both old technology AND 8 years old. The testers noted that the tire still had around 7mm of tread depth (compared to 9.1mm of the new Hakka 10) and that some studs had fallen out, and those which hadn't were somewhat blunted compared to new.

The 2023 TESTIRENKAAT Snow Tire Test tested eight tires designed for extreme winters in the popular 205/55 R16 size.

Interestingly the four premium tires are studless friction tires, and the four budget tires are studded, so it gives us an interesting data point to compare the best of the new studless friction soft compound tires against the cheaper end of the studded market.

Noteworthy performers from the 2023 16" ADAC winter tire test included the Falken EUROWINTER HS02 with good dry braking, Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 showcasing remarkable wet braking, and the Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus excelling in snow and ice braking. On the flip side, the Austone SP 901 displayed weaknesses in wet conditions and aquaplaning scenarios. The Fulda Kristall Control HP2 emerged as a durable option with the longest wear, while the Barum Polaris 5 stood out for fuel efficiency. 

The biggest surprise is probably the winner. The  now aging Dunlop Winter Sport 5 emerged as the overall victor in the 2023 ADAC 16 Inch Tire Test, exhibiting a balanced performance across various testing categories. Its well-rounded performance underscores its reliability and suitability for diverse road conditions, making it a commendable choice for motorists seeking a harmonized blend of safety, comfort, and efficiency

We're going to let the test do the talking for this one. The excellent Swedish testers at ViBilagare have tested eight SUV studless friction winter tires, included the new Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5 SUV and Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V3 using a Volvo V40 wearing 235/55 R18 tires. Fortunately, where the tire patterns match those in the Tire Reviews Nordic Winter Tire Test, the results are very similar!

Sadly here at Tire Reviews we've not had time to do a studded tire test for 2022, but fortunately the excellent testers at the Nordic publication Vibilagare have tested eight sets of studded winter tires to show us which of the studded tires on the market are the best! While the test size is an SUV size (235/55 R18) and the test vehicle a Volvo XC40, these results should give you an idea of the balance between the tires in all sizes.

As you would hope, the tires have been tested in the dry, wet, snow and ice. Which is of course the reason studded tires exist.

The data is interesting, and in full below, but as we saw in the Tire Reviews Studless Winter Tire Test there is a pretty clear inversion between the tires which priorities wet performance, and the tires which priorities ice performance.

Snow tires, studless friction tires, extreme winter tires, nordic winter tires. This category of tire goes by many names, and they have one design goal, to be the very best on snow and ice for harsh winter climates, where studded tires aren't appropriate, or for people who don't want studs.

To find out which is the best, Tire Reviews has taken 7 of the most popular tires available to both the North American and Nordic markets, and will be putting them through a full range of tests, including ice, snow, wet and dry testing to find out which is best at what. Also, to help you understand where these tires fit in the market, I'm also including the very best of the central european and studded winter tires, the Continental WinterContact TS870 and the studded Nokian Happapelliita 10.

For 2022, the excellent German test organisation ADAC have tested 15 winter tires in 185/65 R15 and 15 crossover SUV winter tires in 215/60 R16.

The results below are for the 185/65 R15 test, where we have no real surprises in the overall results. 

For 2022, the excellent German test organisation ADAC have tested 15 crossover SUV winter tires in 215/60 R16 and 15 winter tires in 185/65 R15.

The results below are for the 215/60 R16 test, where we have a few interesting quirks in the overall results. 

For this year's Tire Reviews winter tire test, we've got nine sets of the most popular winter tires, half of which are brand new tires for this year!

As always I'll be testing in the snow, wet and dry, and looking at rolling resistance, noise and comfort, to ensure you get the best overview of all the new winter tires!

We're a little late posting this so there won't be much commentary, but hopefully someone will find it useful in 2022! In 2021, Moottori performed an excellent studded tire test, and included 8 of the best studded winter tires, including the new Nokian Hakkapeliitta 10 which goes on to win the test, with the Michelin X-Ice North 4 also performing really well. 

For the 2021 Auto Express winter tire test, Auto Express tested eight 225/45 R17 winter tires using a VW Golf.

As usual we'll keep commentary to a minimum, instead encouraging you to head over to the Auto Express website to check out the full test.

The tires included were very similar to the 2020 Auto Express winter tire test, with Bridgestone winning the test again, with the new Continental second.

The 2021 Auto Zeitung SUV winter tire test has tested ten suv winter tires in 235/55 R18 size using a VW Tiguan crossover SUV.

As this is a smaller test when compared to other winter tire tests we'll keep the introduction short. All ten sets of tires were placed through the usual blend of dry, wet and snow testing, plus rolling resistance and noise.

If you live in a part of the world that sees an extreme winter such as the Northern USA, Canada, and the Northern parts of Europe, you'll know that regular central European winter tires just don't cut it. 

Winters which see snow on the roads for many months and lots of ice need extreme winter tires, and there are two types to choose from. The original is the studded winter tire, a tire which has studs (pieces of metal) inserted into the soft winter compound allowing the tire to really bite into the snow and ice below. 

Sadly, as great as studs are, they're damaging to the roads which is why tire companies invented a category of winter tire called studless friction winter tires. While these don't have studs, they do have a vastly improved ability on snow and ice when compared to a "normal" winter tire, and with advances in compounding technology they are quickly becoming an excellent alternative for all but the most extreme climates.

The 2022 Auto Bild Allrad SUV tire test tested ten SUV / 4x4 winter tires in the popular 235/55 R18 size, and included a reference summer tire.

As in the Tire Reviews winter tire test, there was a tie for first place with the Goodyear UltraGrip Performance+ SUV and Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 SUV tying for the win.

Both tires had slightly different approaches to grip, the Goodyear the more balanced tire, only winning the wet handling test but scoring well in nearly all other tests, where as the Michelin won every snow test but performed relatively poorly in the wet testing.

The Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 performed well again, it's a tire that seems to perform well in all tests with its only real weakness the worst dry braking on test, and the Vredestein Wintrac Pro placed fourth with an excellent wet braking and snow grip result.

The 2021 Auto Bild winter tire test started its life as a fifty tire wet and snow braking test, with the best performing twenty tires proceeding to this test. This means the twenty tires in this test are some of the best winter tires for 2021 on the market!

Additionally Auto Bild have included the usual reference summer tire, but also a budget winter tire. It wasn't clear from the article how this tire was chosen, but I imagine it was one of the worst tires from the fifty tire braking test intended to highlight just how bad cheap tires can be. The results confirm the theory, with the cheap winter tire performing well below average in nearly all tests.

The results, as always, were close at the top, with the new Continental WinterContact TS870 narrowly beating the Michelin Alpin 6. The new German tire had a very consistent test, performing well in nearly all categories, and having the best wear on 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. 

ADAC tire tests are some of the most influential in the world, and for the 2021 winter season ADAC have chosen to test eighteen 225/50 R17 tires and sixteen 195/65 R15 winter tires, across two tests. This article covers the 15" test, to see the 17" test please click here.

It's the start of the 2021 all season and winter tire test season, and what better way to start than the massive Auto Bild winter tire shootout.

This year Auto Bild have tested FIFTY 205/55 R16 winter tires in wet braking, then tested the best thirty five in snow braking. With the wet and snow braking distances combined, the top twenty tires, from Bridgestone to Nokian, will feature in the full Auto Bild winter tire test out in a few weeks.