For 2017 the Polish publication AutoCentrum has tested eight studless winter tyres in 185/65 R15. As with the other winter tyre tests we've featured across 2017, AutoCentrum tests the winter tyres in the dry, wet and snow, but also includes ice testing, a first for 2017.

Six of the tyres on test are European winter tyres which are available to the UK market, and two of the tyres (Debica Frigo 2 and Sava Eskimo Ice) are full nordic friction studless winter tyres, so it should give us a good overview of how these two different types of tyres perform, and why Nordic winter tyres aren't suitable for the UK market.

Dry

In the dry testing, the Nokian was supreme, stopping the car in 27.76 meters. The more heavily siped nature of Nordic winter tyres means they struggle in dry testing, with the Debica 3 meters and Sava nearly 4 meters behind the best European winter tyre on test when braking down from 80 km/h.

Dry Braking
Position / Tyre	Result	Gap to best
1Nokian WR D4	27.76 m	Best
2Michelin Alpin A4	28.31 m	+0.55 m
3Goodyear UltraGrip 9	29.13 m	+1.37 m
4Kumho Winter Craft WP51	29.59 m	+1.83 m
5Fulda Kristall Montero 3	30.11 m	+2.35 m
6Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	30.23 m	+2.47 m
7Debica Frigo 2	30.56 m	+2.80 m
8Sava Eskimo Ice	31.31 m	+3.55 m

The difference between best and worst was 12.8% (3.55 m ≈ 0.8 Car Lengths).

Rolling Resistance
Position / Tyre	Result	Gap to best	Extra fuel / year
1Debica Frigo 2	7.99 kg/t	Best	£0
2Nokian WR D4	8.12 kg/t	+0.13 kg/t	£7
3Goodyear UltraGrip 9	8.26 kg/t	+0.27 kg/t	£15
4Fulda Kristall Montero 3	8.29 kg/t	+0.30 kg/t	£17
5Sava Eskimo Ice	8.81 kg/t	+0.82 kg/t	£45
6Kumho Winter Craft WP51	8.87 kg/t	+0.88 kg/t	£49
7Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	8.95 kg/t	+0.96 kg/t	£53
8Michelin Alpin A4	9.07 kg/t	+1.08 kg/t	£60

The difference between best and worst was 13.5% (1.08 kg / t). Over 19,000 km a year at £1.45/L, the Michelin Alpin A4 uses about 41 L (£60) more fuel than the Debica Frigo 2.

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19,000 km

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miles (US gal)

Fuel Price

£1.45/L

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Estimates based on typical driving conditions. Rolling resistance accounts for approximately 20% of IC vehicle fuel consumption and 25% of EV energy consumption. Actual savings vary based on driving style, vehicle weight, road conditions, and tyre age. For comparative purposes only. Lifetime savings based on a 40,000km / 25,000 mile tread life.

Wet

As in the dry testing, the Nordic winter tyres were last by a huge margin. The best European tyre on test stopped the vehicle in under 30 meters when braking from 80 km/h, with the Sava Nordic winter tyre a full 10 meters behind.

Wet Braking
Position / Tyre	Result	Gap to best
1Michelin Alpin A4	29.9 m	Best
2Goodyear UltraGrip 9	30.24 m	+0.34 m
3Nokian WR D4	31.34 m	+1.44 m
4Kumho Winter Craft WP51	32.62 m	+2.72 m
5Fulda Kristall Montero 3	32.67 m	+2.77 m
6Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	32.85 m	+2.95 m
7Debica Frigo 2	37.01 m	+7.11 m
8Sava Eskimo Ice	39.65 m	+9.75 m

The difference between best and worst was 32.6% (9.75 m ≈ 2.2 Car Lengths).

The gap was similar in the wet slalom, with both Nordic winter tyres a long way off the pace and controllability of the European winter tyres.

Wet Handling
Position / Tyre	Result	Gap to best
1Goodyear UltraGrip 9	13.8 s	Best
2Michelin Alpin A4	14 s	+0.20 s
2Nokian WR D4	14 s	+0.20 s
2Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	14 s	+0.20 s
5Fulda Kristall Montero 3	14.1 s	+0.30 s
6Kumho Winter Craft WP51	14.2 s	+0.40 s
7Sava Eskimo Ice	14.8 s	+1.00 s
8Debica Frigo 2	15.1 s	+1.30 s

The difference between best and worst was 9.4% (1.3 s).

Goodyear rounded out an impressive wet performance by winning the aquaplaning test too.

Straight Aqua
Position / Tyre	Result	Gap to best
1Goodyear UltraGrip 9	88.8 km/h	Best
2Michelin Alpin A4	85.1 km/h	-3.70 km/h
3Nokian WR D4	84.9 km/h	-3.90 km/h
4Fulda Kristall Montero 3	84.7 km/h	-4.10 km/h
5Kumho Winter Craft WP51	83.2 km/h	-5.60 km/h
6Debica Frigo 2	79.9 km/h	-8.90 km/h
7Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	77.3 km/h	-11.50 km/h
8Sava Eskimo Ice	75.1 km/h	-13.70 km/h

The difference between best and worst was 15.4% (13.7 Km/H).

Snow

Snow is where the Nordic winter tyre should take the advantage, but during the snow braking test the Goodyear once again won, stopping the car in just 15.79 meters from 40 km/h.

Snow Braking
Position / Tyre	Result	Gap to best
1Goodyear UltraGrip 9	15.79 m	Best
2Debica Frigo 2	16.06 m	+0.27 m
3Michelin Alpin A4	16.16 m	+0.37 m
4Sava Eskimo Ice	16.25 m	+0.46 m
5Nokian WR D4	16.33 m	+0.54 m
6Fulda Kristall Montero 3	16.34 m	+0.55 m
7Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	16.81 m	+1.02 m
8Kumho Winter Craft WP51	16.97 m	+1.18 m

The difference between best and worst was 7.5% (1.18 m).

The Goodyear was also strongest in snow traction, who's results mirrored snow braking closely.

Snow Traction
Position / Tyre	Result	Gap to best
1Goodyear UltraGrip 9	4.82 s	Best
2Debica Frigo 2	4.86 s	+0.04 s
3Sava Eskimo Ice	4.95 s	+0.13 s
4Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	4.96 s	+0.14 s
5Nokian WR D4	5.04 s	+0.22 s
6Michelin Alpin A4	5.06 s	+0.24 s
7Fulda Kristall Montero 3	5.18 s	+0.36 s
8Kumho Winter Craft WP51	5.43 s	+0.61 s

The difference between best and worst was 12.7% (0.61 s).

Ice

Ice braking is finally where the Nordic winter tyres won a test, with the Debica Frigo having a big advantage when braking down from just 25 km/h.

Ice Braking
Position / Tyre	Result	Gap to best
1Debica Frigo 2	19.51 m	Best
2Nokian WR D4	21.23 m	+1.72 m
3Goodyear UltraGrip 9	21.6 m	+2.09 m
4Kumho Winter Craft WP51	21.81 m	+2.30 m
5Sava Eskimo Ice	22.44 m	+2.93 m
6Fulda Kristall Montero 3	22.47 m	+2.96 m
7Michelin Alpin A4	22.85 m	+3.34 m
8Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	23.76 m	+4.25 m

The difference between best and worst was 21.8% (4.25 m ≈ 0.9 Car Lengths).

As with snow traction, the results were broadly similar to ice braking, with the Nordic winter tyres having a strong advantage.

Ice Traction
Position / Tyre	Result	Gap to best
1Debica Frigo 2	6.49 s	Best
2Sava Eskimo Ice	6.57 s	+0.08 s
3Kumho Winter Craft WP51	7.02 s	+0.53 s
4Nokian WR D4	7.03 s	+0.54 s
5Goodyear UltraGrip 9	7.12 s	+0.63 s
6Michelin Alpin A4	7.32 s	+0.83 s
7Fulda Kristall Montero 3	7.33 s	+0.84 s
8Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	8.23 s	+1.74 s

The difference between best and worst was 26.8% (1.74 s).

The ice slalom was again won by the Nordic winter tyres.

Ice Handling
Position / Tyre	Result	Gap to best
1Sava Eskimo Ice	25.8 s	Best
2Debica Frigo 2	27.4 s	+1.60 s
3Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	28.2 s	+2.40 s
4Goodyear UltraGrip 9	29.8 s	+4.00 s
4Nokian WR D4	29.8 s	+4.00 s
6Michelin Alpin A4	30 s	+4.20 s
7Fulda Kristall Montero 3	30.1 s	+4.30 s
8Kumho Winter Craft WP51	30.2 s	+4.40 s

The difference between best and worst was 17.1% (4.4 s).

Results

The overall results are below. If you've ever wondered why we don't get the more extreme Nordic winter tyres in the UK, this is your answer, with both Nordic tyres on test struggling in the dry and wet when compared to our European winter tyres.

All discipline results (7)

Test	Result
Dry	19
Wet	35
Snow	23
Ice	31
Subjective	35
Rolling Resistance	9
Overall	8.5

Total: 160.5

All discipline results (7)

Test	Result
Dry	15
Wet	39
Snow	25
Ice	29
Subjective	31
Rolling Resistance	8
Overall	8.3

Total: 155.3

All discipline results (7)

Test	Result
Dry	17
Wet	35
Snow	22
Ice	28
Subjective	31
Rolling Resistance	6
Overall	7.9

Total: 146.9

All discipline results (7)

Test	Result
Dry	13
Wet	31
Snow	19
Ice	26
Subjective	23
Rolling Resistance	8
Overall	6.9

Total: 126.9

All discipline results (7)

Test	Result
Dry	11
Wet	18
Snow	26
Ice	37
Subjective	26
Rolling Resistance	10
Overall	6.7

Total: 134.7

All discipline results (7)

Test	Result
Dry	12
Wet	29
Snow	19
Ice	27
Subjective	24
Rolling Resistance	6
Overall	6.6

Total: 123.6

All discipline results (7)

Test	Result
Dry	11
Wet	28
Snow	16
Ice	27
Subjective	17
Rolling Resistance	6
Overall	6.5

Total: 111.5

All discipline results (7)

Test	Result
Dry	10
Wet	17
Snow	26
Ice	37
Subjective	29
Rolling Resistance	6
Overall	6.2

Total: 131.2

Discussion

2 comments

Dorin Oct 25, 2017 archived

Good to see such a test. Here, in Romania, Debica Frigo 2 is frequently equipping cars as European winter tire, but no one knows it is a nordic winter tire. Maybe considering it belongs to a different category could explain its weaknesses in dry and wet.

#2956
Andy Holmes Oct 24, 2017 archived

I have to say that budget tyres performing poorly against premium tyres does nothing to portray the differences between euro and Nordic winter tyres!
It is representitive of the differences yeah but not particularly credible...

#2955

Tyre	Nokian WR D4	Goodyear UltraGrip 9	Michelin Alpin A4	Fulda Kristall Montero 3	Debica Frigo 2	Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2	Kumho Winter Craft WP51	Sava Eskimo Ice
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