The Viking Wintech is an economy winter touring tire that tends to impress owners with its reassuring snow and ice traction, comfortable ride and strong value for money. However, professional testing repeatedly highlights clear limitations in wet performance, especially aquaplaning resistance and braking. Taken together, it suits budget-focused drivers who mainly need winter capability at sensible speeds rather than class-leading wet safety margins.
The quick answer
Owners say78%from 16 owner reviews73% would buy againRead the reviews
Strengths & weaknessesValue, ComfortSnow, IceRelative to its rivals across every test we hold
Built from every independent test result and vetted owner review we hold for this tire - the evidence is all further down the page. Data updated January 2025.
The Viking WinTech receives a satisfactory rating for driving safety, with weaknesses on dry roads limiting its overall performance. It lacks precision and feedback on dry surfaces, requiring frequent steering corrections and exhibiting a tendency to oversteer. While it offers satisfactory performance on wet and snowy roads, its handling is less precise, and it has a lower threshold for understeer and oversteer. However, it has strong environmental credentials, with a very long lifespan, low abrasion, and excellent fuel efficiency.
In 225/45 R18, the Viking Wintech is projected to cost €26.38 per 1,000 miles to buy and run - about €659 over 25,000 miles - based on the price, wear and rolling resistance measured in the 2023 Auto Bild Winter Tire Test.
Tire purchase + fittingExtra fuel vs the most efficient tirecost per 1,000 miles
Assumes a typical car doing 29 mpg (rolling resistance causing 20% of fuel use), fuel at €6.25 per gallon and €70 fitting per set of four. Purchase prices are from the time of the 2023 test; financing costs are excluded.
Across the 5 wet-braking tests it has featured in, the Viking Wintech stops 7.3% longer than premium rivals, 2.5% longer than mid-range rivals and 5.3% shorter than budget rivals. It has a Tire Reviews wet score of 46/100, and owners rate it 7.5/10 in the wet from 16 reviews.
How good is the Viking Wintech in the dry?
Across the 2 dry-braking tests it has featured in, the Viking Wintech stops 4.2% longer than premium rivals, 1.5% longer than mid-range rivals and 2.9% longer than budget rivals. It has a Tire Reviews dry score of 46/100, and owners rate it 8.3/10 in the dry from 16 reviews.
How good is the Viking Wintech in the snow?
Across the 4 snow-braking tests it has featured in, the Viking Wintech stops 3.4% longer than premium rivals, 2% longer than mid-range rivals and 3.7% shorter than budget rivals. Across the 2 snow-traction tests, it is 1.9% worse than premium rivals, 0.5% better than mid-range rivals and 10.6% better than budget rivals. It has a Tire Reviews snow score of 40/100, and owners rate it 8.5/10 in the snow from 16 reviews.
How good is the Viking Wintech on ice?
Across the 1 ice-braking test it has featured in, the Viking Wintech stops 4% longer than premium rivals, 1.6% longer than mid-range rivals and 13.1% shorter than budget rivals. It has a Tire Reviews ice score of 21/100, and owners rate it 7.8/10 on ice from 16 reviews.
How fuel efficient is the Viking Wintech?
Across the 1 test measuring rolling resistance, the Viking Wintech's rolling resistance is 1.7% lower than premium rivals, 1.7% lower than mid-range rivals and 5.3% lower than budget rivals.
More questions about the Viking Wintech(8)
How many miles does the Viking Wintech last?
Based on test and owner data, the Viking Wintech is expected to last around 28,225 miles (45,424 km).
What do owners say about the Viking Wintech?
Across 16 owner ratings the Viking Wintech averages 78%. Owners rate Snow Grip highest at 8.5 out of 10 and Handling lowest at 7.4. 4 of those reviews come from owners past 10,000 miles. 79% of owners score it 70% or better.
How much does the Viking Wintech cost to run?
In 225/45 R18, the Viking Wintech is projected to cost €26.38 per 1,000 miles to buy and run - about €659 over 25,000 miles - based on the price, wear and rolling resistance measured in the 2023 Auto Bild Winter Tire Test. Of the tires compared in that test, that makes it the cheapest to run.
What is the Viking Wintech's EU tire label rating?
Across its range, the Viking Wintech most commonly carries EU label ratings of D for fuel efficiency, C for wet grip and 72 dB for noise.
How comfortable and quiet are the Viking Wintech?
Owners rate the Viking Wintech 7.9 out of 10 for comfort and noise across 14 reviews.
How well do the Viking Wintech wear, according to owners?
Owners rate the Viking Wintech 7.8 out of 10 for wear across 14 reviews. 4 of those reviews come from owners past 10,000 miles, and the typical review covers 5,500 miles.
Would owners buy the Viking Wintech again?
73% of owners say they would buy the Viking Wintech again, based on the 15 owner reviews that answered the question. 27% of them gave it the highest possible answer.
What sizes does the Viking Wintech come in?
The Viking Wintech is available in 59 sizes, ranging from 145-275/40-80 R13-20.
Drivers generally find the Viking Wintech a strong budget winter tire with very good snow/ice performance, decent wet/dry grip for normal driving, and solid wear. Comfort is praised, though several note higher road noise and softer/less precise handling. A few long-term users report the compound hardening and reduced wet/snow grip after multiple seasons, but most high-scoring reviews remain positive overall.
What owners mention most counted across 14 reviews
Tap one to read only the reviews that mention it.
Owner ratings averaged from 16 ratings
Owner score78%
Snow Grip85%
Dry Grip83%
Comfort79%
Wear78%
Ice Grip78%
Road Feedback76%
Wet Grip75%
Handling74%
Featured reviews
Most helpful 100%
“I was about to buy all-season tires on this car too but if i go to the mountains i don-t know if that is the best choice. I have on my golf 2017 GTD 225 40 18 all-season Hankook, they are very good in the dry and wet...”
“After 3 seasons of using them, these tires are showing a lot of problems in areas that they were excellent at before. Although the wear of the tires is excellent, they are seriously lacking performance in wet and snow...”
“Back again, year is 2023, the wear is not an issue, stil not at the winter wear mark, doing a good job in the winter months even without the snow, mostly dry tarmac during the winter and the Viking holds on. Fitted 4...”
I was about to buy all-season tires on this car too but if i go to the mountains i don-t know if that is the best choice. I have on my golf 2017 GTD 225 40 18 all-season Hankook, they are very good in the dry and wet but never tested it on hard snow to make me buy it again. This new tire from Viking is best for you, cheep and its good, for me it has excellent grip in all conditions and it is quiet at 100km/h. Ok you don-t buy winter tires to go fast and do laps in the cold but they are good for normal driving conditions. I did not mark the wear because the tires are new and i don-t know how they will perform in time.
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Usually I buy midrange tires, but this time I didn't want to spend too much on an old car. Also wanted to see if I can tell the difference between budget and more expensive tires. So it turns out yes I do - while handling is quite good and predictable, there is a noticably longer cold wet braking distance. Snow and dry is ok.
Back again, year is 2023, the wear is not an issue, stil not at the winter wear mark, doing a good job in the winter months even without the snow, mostly dry tarmac during the winter and the Viking holds on.
Fitted 4 more on my wife's Mondeo estate.
Hope the Continental will improve them and keep them available, it is a tire I do not want to see replaced by some shittier quality new one.
Bought them for the 2017 winter , rotated them only in the last 2 years, 100% they will be on next winter as well.
After 3 seasons of using them, these tires are showing a lot of problems in areas that they were excellent at before.
Although the wear of the tires is excellent, they are seriously lacking performance in wet and snow after 3 years of using them (only using them over winter months). Tires are hard as a rock now even though they have about 5.5mm depth still on the threads.
Still, they never failed me so far unlike other brands that I used before, so for a budget tire, I am giving them huge thumbs up
Very nice rolling and low noice, overall high comfort. Soft Overall feel when driving fast but predictable, not the sharpest steering. Only had very short time on snow with new tires and the grip was very good. Average behavior in the wet.
I had to buy winter tires on a buget and Viking Wintech fit it best. They proved to be ok until one day. This year on the 24 of January.
Imagine exiting a village, road just wet, raining but not a lot and in front of me just 100 maybe meters away cars half on the road, half in the ditch on both side of the road. ICE. Hit the brakes, car slows down, slid a little and stopped. On ICE. It was incredible. There was no other choice, I had too much speed to try to stop in any other way, to change the direction of the car was not a choice on that ICE. Then I drive 30km on this icy road, first gear, raining, strong wind from side mostly because this road is on the open field. I made it home in one piece and the car too.
They have proven to be good on dry and wet and crazy good on ice.
This size is also comfortable on bad roads.
Fuel consumption is an extra 0.5 l compared to my summer Michelin Primacy 3.(so the car computer shows)
Wear is ok, I have used them for 2 winters, this is the third and they look good.
Vectra C Caravan /wagon is a heavy car, 1,6t without passengers and luggage. The tires are not affected by the weight of the 2.0 DTI engine, I kept the same 2 tires on the front wheels with no problems.
When they will be worn out, maybe by 2022, I will buy a new set.
We put these tires on our second car,Opel Corsa C 2006y 1.0 Z10xep in 2017. Very good budget tires,best quality in this mid-range class,exceptional for smaller cars,in everyday use - for kids to school and on regional roads city-village and back. Wear is very good,good grip in wet and dry,very good in snow. But,this is only for normal driving. Only thing that I can say that they were very nice and soft in first season of use,now they are a little bit harder but this is not a problem, they are same as Barum and Matador in this case. In this dimension they are made in Romania,other dimensions are from Puchov Slovakia We didn't push them to the limit and never will...drive carefully.
