The Winter Tyres thread

Their honestly not too bad as long as your not out hooning around roads in rain and ice etc. On wet trackdays ad08r are really quite good considering.

Just found the results of a pretty large winter tyre test - thought it might be useful, especially as it was done on 195/65/15 tyres, rather than these 30-profile 19s that even Fiestas seem to be running noawadays!

All 51 tyres - all Wet Braking tested, the top 30 also being Snow Braking tested:
www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2018-51-Winter-Tyre-Shootout.htm

The top 20 that went on to a full Auto Bild test:
www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2018-Auto-Bild-Winter-Tyre-Test.htm

The graphs are quite interesting!


Results turned out as follows (copied here because I never trust things not to disappear...). Personally I'm not quite sure why the 2nd place tyre isn't 1st - it seems that 'noise' and 'wear rate' and 'price' have swayed the scoring, whereas personally I would rather pay out for a tyre that is the best in how it performs, which seems to be the WinterContact TS 860!


1st: Dunlop Winter Sport 5
Total: 49 / Dry: 6 / Wet: 7 / Snow: 7 / Comfort: 7 / Rolling Resistance: 7 / Noise: 7 / Wear: 8
Positive: The best tyre on test, with no drawbacks. Stable handling in all conditions, precise steering behavior and good feedback.
Negative: None mentioned.

2nd: Continental WinterContact TS 860
Total: 50 / Dry: 6 / Wet: 8 / Snow: 7 / Comfort: 9 / Rolling Resistance: 7 / Noise: 7 / Wear: 6
Positive: Excellent all rounder with excellent winter performance. High steering precision and dynamic handling on snow and in the wet, good comfort, low rolling resistance.
Negative: None mentioned.

3rd: Kleber Krisalp HP3
Total: 46 / Dry: 6 / Wet: 6 / Snow: 9 / Comfort: 5 / Rolling Resistance: 7 / Noise: 8 / Wear: 5
Positive: Inexpensive winter tyre with excellent snow performance. Short braking distances in all conditions, low noise, good price to performance ratio.
Negative: None mentioned.

4th: Fulda Kristall Control HP2
Total: 43 / Dry: 5 / Wet: 7 / Snow: 7 / Comfort: 5 / Rolling Resistance: 7 / Noise: 7 / Wear: 5
Positive: Winter specialist with a balanced performance in the dry and wet. High aquaplaning safety, quiet, low fuel use.
Negative: None mentioned.

5th: Hankook Winter i cept RS2
Total: 45 / Dry: 6 / Wet: 7 / Snow: 8 / Comfort: 6 / Rolling Resistance: 4 / Noise: 5 / Wear: 9
Positive: Premium tyres with excellent handling qualities in all weather conditions. Low wear, good price / performance ratio.
Negative: Slightly high rolling resistance.

6th: Goodyear UltraGrip 9
Total: 48 / Dry: 5 / Wet: 7 / Snow: 9 / Comfort: 6 / Rolling Resistance: 8 / Noise: 6 / Wear: 7
Positive: Good steering precision on snow covered and wet roads, safe aquaplaning properties, high mileage, low rolling resistance.
Negative: Extended dry braking distances.

7th: Debica Frigo HP2
Total: 39 / Dry: 6 / Wet: 5 / Snow: 6 / Comfort: 5 / Rolling Resistance: 6 / Noise: 6 / Wear: 5
Positive: Good value winter tyres with balance driving on snow and dry roads. Short braking distances in all weather conditions.
Negative: Average handling in the wet.

8th: Falken Eurowinter HS01
Total: 40 / Dry: 6 / Wet: 6 / Snow: 5 / Comfort: 7 / Rolling Resistance: 4 / Noise: 7 / Wear: 5
Positive: Balanced winter tyres with a good ability on on snow and dry roads. Best aquaplaning performance.
Negative: Average wet cornering.

9th: Nokian WR D4
Total: 46 / Dry: 5 / Wet: 4 / Snow: 9 / Comfort: 5 / Rolling Resistance: 10 / Noise: 7 / Wear: 6
Positive: Best tyre for snow covered roads, good price / performance ratio with low rolling resistance.
Negative: Average wet performance.

10th: Uniroyal MS+ 77
Total: 40 / Dry: 4 / Wet: 7 / Snow: 7 / Comfort: 7 / Rolling Resistance: 5 / Noise: 5 / Wear: 5
Positive: Excellent in the wet, good aquaplaning resistance, comfortable, well priced.
Negative: Long dry braking and poor dry handling.

11th: Michelin Alpin 5
Total: 37 / Dry: 6 / Wet: 6 / Snow: 4 / Comfort: 2 / Rolling Resistance: 4 / Noise: 5 / Wear: 10
Positive: Even as one of the most expensive tyres on test it finished as the best value tyre due to extremely low wear. Good in the wet and dry.
Negative: Average snow performance, high rolling resistance.

12th: Semperit Master Grip 2
Total: 43 / Dry: 4 / Wet: 6 / Snow: 7 / Comfort: 6 / Rolling Resistance: 6 / Noise: 8 / Wear: 6
Positive: Good in the snow and wet, low noise.
Negative: Long dry braking, average dry handling.

13th: Pirelli Cinturato Winter
Total: 42 / Dry: 5 / Wet: 7 / Snow: 8 / Comfort: 7 / Rolling Resistance: 5 / Noise: 8 / Wear: 2
Positive: Dynamic sporty handling in the snow and wet, good steering precision.
Negative: Poor wear, low value, average dry grip.

14th: Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
Total: 45 / Dry: 5 / Wet: 7 / Snow: 4 / Comfort: 9 / Rolling Resistance: 7 / Noise: 8 / Wear: 5
Positive: Wet specialist with short braking distances and good aquaplaning properties, good value.
Negative: Poor snow performance.

15th: Yokohama BluEarth Winter V905
Total: 43 / Dry: 7 / Wet: 6 / Snow: 4 / Comfort: 8 / Rolling Resistance: 6 / Noise: 7 / Wear: 5
Positive: Dry specialist with short braking distances and good handling in the dry. Good comfort.
Negative: Average snow performance.

16th: Barum Polaris 3
Total: 36 / Dry: 5 / Wet: 4 / Snow: 7 / Comfort: 4 / Rolling Resistance: 7 / Noise: 5 / Wear: 4
Positive: Good snow performance, short wet braking distances, low price.
Negative: Understeer in the wet, long dry braking, poor wear.

17th: Vredestein Snowtrac 5
Total: 35 / Dry: 6 / Wet: 4 / Snow: 6 / Comfort: 5 / Rolling Resistance: 6 / Noise: 5 / Wear: 3
Positive: Balance performance in the snow and dry, low rolling resistance.
Negative: Low grip in the wet, poor wear.

18th: Matador MP 92 Sibir Snow
Total: 37 / Dry: 5 / Wet: 4 / Snow: 5 / Comfort: 7 / Rolling Resistance: 6 / Noise: 7 / Wear: 3
Positive: Good snow handling, good comfort, low priced.
Negative: Poor wet performance, long dry braking, high wear.

19th: Firestone Winterhawk 3
Total: 36 / Dry: 5 / Wet: 4 / Snow: 5 / Comfort: 4 / Rolling Resistance: 6 / Noise: 6 / Wear: 6
Positive: Low price, ok in snow.
Negative: Low grip and slow steering in the wet, long wet and dry braking, low comfort.

20th: Gislaved Euro Frost 6
Total: 37 / Dry: 5 / Wet: 4 / Snow: 6 / Comfort: 6 / Rolling Resistance: 6 / Noise: 6 / Wear: 4
Positive: Balanced snow performance.
Negative: Poor wet grip, slow wet steering, low aquaplaning resistance, long dry braking distances.

I am finally getting round to looking at Winter tyre options for the missus' car and you know what? I think you're right.

They don't rank the All Season tyre in the summary list (and don't name them, although they guess they are Michelin CrossClimate or Continental AllSeasonContact), but they really are not that far off the top performing dedicated Winter tyres while also being decent in the dry.

I'd still prefer a dedicated Summer tyre for when it warms up for summer, but the All Season would probably be more suitable for the wide-ranging temperatures and precipitation levels we get in the UK between October and, what, March?? I wonder if they work properly under 7degrees C - the test doesn't state what the outside temperatures were.


I shall have to add them to my spreadsheet of options, I think lol

My ad08r had been recently coming to the end of their useful winter life. Plently of tread on them for a few track days but thats it.. so i went and bought so.e part worn r888 🙄 Then realised what a semi slick really was!.

So now i am running part worn michelin alpin 4 now.. not sure how part worn tyres do? They were 90ish quid delivered. Quite a bit of tread left on them. They are rubbing on the arch a bit as i went up a profile to 65 without raising suspension. So far theyve been great..well 100 times better than summer tyres. I dont flinch when i hit a big puddle or worry about cornering at a over hesistant speed.