2015 Winter Tyre Market Overview

The 2015 winter tyre test season is here, and as usual the German magazine Auto Bild have done an excellent job of giving us an overview of this years contenders.

Data analyzed and reviewed byJonathan Benson

September 24, 2015 19 min read Updated January 8, 2025

The 2015 winter tyre test season is here, and as usual the German magazine Auto Bild have done an excellent job of giving us an overview of this years contenders.

Testing 51 tyres in 185/60R15, Auto Bild put each tyre through a wet braking test, then took the top 28 tyres through to the snow braking test. Once the snow braking results were in, the magazine combined the wet and snow distances to give an over all result, taking the top 15 tyres through to their full 2015 Winter Tyre Test.

The Results

While there's no huge surprises in the top ten, the Pirelli All Season in eleventh place has once against blured the line between winter and all season tyres. In theory, the all season tyre should be weaker in the snow, and stronger in the wet than any full winter tyre, however the Pirelli All Season was only tenth best in the wet, and beat a number of winter tyres in the snow test!

Nokian narrowly missed out on the top 15 for the for the first time ever, finishing seventeenth with the outgoing WR D3, and Bridgestone were the only premium brand not to get through to the final test but placed comparatively strongly in eigthenth.

As usual, the budget winter tyres prove themselves to be a liability in the wet, with the worst tyre on test stopping a full 16.4 meters further than the best tyre on test from just 50mph, which is around four car lengths and actually larger than the total gap in 2012 and 2014 (14.8 meters.)

Similar patterns

One other point of interest from this test is that the tyres finishing in 45th, 48th, 49th, 50th and 51st all have identical tread patterns. Sadly they weren't tested for snow performance as the wet performance was so poor, but it goes to show that pattern isn't everything in the wet, as 45th to 51st had a 3.4 meter spread.

The full list

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	36.8
Snow	28.3

Total: 65.1

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	36.9
Snow	28.6

Total: 65.5

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	39.5
Snow	27.7

Total: 67.2

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	39.7
Snow	27.9

Total: 67.6

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	39.6
Snow	28.4

Total: 68

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	40.7
Snow	28

Total: 68.7

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	40.6
Snow	28.2

Total: 68.8

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	40.2
Snow	28.7

Total: 68.9

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	40.8
Snow	28.6

Total: 69.4

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	41.6
Snow	28.5

Total: 70.1

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	41
Snow	29.3

Total: 70.3

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	41.7
Snow	28.6

Total: 70.3

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	42.8
Snow	27.7

Total: 70.5

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	41.7
Snow	29

Total: 70.7

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	42.2
Snow	28.5

Total: 70.7

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	41.9
Snow	28.9

Total: 70.8

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	42.7
Snow	28.2

Total: 70.9

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	43.4
Snow	28.1

Total: 71.5

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	42.9
Snow	28.7

Total: 71.6

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	42.9
Snow	28.8

Total: 71.7

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	43
Snow	28.7

Total: 71.7

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	42.9
Snow	28.9

Total: 71.8

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	43.1
Snow	28.9

Total: 72

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	42.6
Snow	29.4

Total: 72

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	43
Snow	29.1

Total: 72.1

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	42.5
Snow	30.2

Total: 72.7

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	43.9
Snow	28.9

Total: 72.8

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	44.3
Snow	30

Total: 74.3

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	44.4
Snow	0.1

Total: 44.5

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	44.8
Snow	0.1

Total: 44.9

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	45.6
Snow	0.1

Total: 45.7

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	45.7
Snow	0.1

Total: 45.8

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	46.5
Snow	0.1

Total: 46.6

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	46.6
Snow	0.1

Total: 46.7

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	47
Snow	0.1

Total: 47.1

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	47.2
Snow	0.1

Total: 47.3

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	47.4
Snow	0.1

Total: 47.5

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	47.6
Snow	0.1

Total: 47.7

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	47.9
Snow	0.1

Total: 48

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	48.4
Snow	0.1

Total: 48.5

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	48.5
Snow	0.1

Total: 48.6

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	48.6
Snow	0.1

Total: 48.7

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	48.8
Snow	0.1

Total: 48.9

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	49.2
Snow	0.1

Total: 49.3

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	49.8
Snow	0.1

Total: 49.9

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	50.1
Snow	0.1

Total: 50.2

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	50.5
Snow	0.1

Total: 50.6

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	50.6
Snow	0.1

Total: 50.7

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	51.3
Snow	0.1

Total: 51.4

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	51.6
Snow	0.1

Total: 51.7

All discipline results (2)

Test	Result
Wet	53.2
Snow	0.1

Total: 53.3

Tyre	Dunlop Winter Response 2	Goodyear UltraGrip 9	Continental WinterContact TS 850	Michelin Alpin A4	Semperit Speed Grip 2	Pirelli Winter Snow Control Series 3	Falken Eurowinter HS449	Apollo Alnac Winter	Barum Polaris 3	Hankook Winter i cept RS2	Pirelli Cinturato AllSeason	Uniroyal MS Plus 77	Fulda Kristall Montero 3	Gislaved EuroFrost 5	Viking Snow Tech II	Firestone Winterhawk 3	Nokian WR D3	Bridgestone Blizzak LM001	Kleber Krisalp HP2	BFGoodrich gForce Winter	Sava Eskimo S3+	Torque TQ022	Matador MP 92 Sibir Snow	Yokohama W drive V905	Sportiva Snow Winter	Kumho Winter Craft WP51	Ovation W 586	Goodyear Vector 4Seasons	Hifly Win Turi	Vredestein Snowtrac 5	Nexen Winguard Sport	Toyo Snowprox S943	Nordexx Nivius Snow	Cooper WM SA2	Achilles Winter 101	Tigar Winter 1	Marshal i Zen MW15	Taurus Winter 601	Avon Ice Touring	Sailun Ice Blazer WSL 2	Linglong Winter Hero Radial 650	Kormoran Snowpro B2	Zeetex ICE 1000	Aeolus SNOWACE AW02	Rotalla S110 Ice Plus	Nankang SV2	Maxxis MA PW Presa Snow	Imperial Snowdragon 2	Tracmax IcePlus S110	Tristar Ice Plus S110 SnowPower	Minerva Ice Plus S 110
Position	1^st	2^nd	3^rd	4^th	5^th	6^th	7^th	8^th	9^th	10^th	11^th	12^th	13^th	14^th	15^th	16^th	17^th	18^th	19^th	20^th	21^st	22^nd	23^rd	24^th	25^th	26^th	27^th	28^th	29^th	30^th	31^st	32^nd	33^rd	34^th	35^th	36^th	37^th	38^th	39^th	40^th	41^st	42^nd	43^rd	44^th	45^th	46^th	47^th	48^th	49^th	50^th	51^st
Keep researching	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results	Read owner reviews Test Results

Menu

Tyre shortlist

The evidence behind the verdict

The Results

Similar patterns

The full list

Cross-check this test