The 2017 Auto Bild winter tyre test started with fifty 225/50 R17 winter tyre patterns which Auto Bild tested for wet braking performance, and then dropped the worse twenty tyres from the test.
The next phase was testing the remaining thirty patterns for snow braking, which was then combined with the wet braking distances to allow the ten worst tyres to be dropped. This left twenty winter tyres which Auto Bild regarded as the best winter tyres on the market, and deemed worthy enough to take through to the full testing.
As ever with Auto Bild testing, they undertake all the usual dry, wet and snow testing, but also including important factors such as wear and cost per 1,000 km, which a lot of tests are unable to include.
The results as closer than ever, and you'd be hard pressed to classify any of the top 10 tyres as bad tyres, but three in particular rose to the top.
Dry
In the dry grip testing, no tyre got close the reference summer tyre. During the braking tests, the Pirelli was the closest, but with all twenty winter tyres separated by just 3 meters overall when braking from 100 km/h, the differences between the top ten were small.
- Reference Summer
- Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
- Kumho WinterCraft WP71
- Continental WinterContact TS 860
- Nokian WR D4
- Yokohama W drive V905
- Firestone Winterhawk 3
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen
- Gislaved EuroFrost 5
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5
- Uniroyal MS Plus 77
- Michelin Alpin 5
- Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
- Fulda Kristall Control HP2
- Semperit Speed Grip 3
- Kleber Krisalp HP3
- Hankook Winter i cept evo2
- Barum Polaris 3
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- Sava Eskimo HP2
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
The Continental winter tyre was a step above the rest during dry handling, however it was still a large margin behind the summer reference tyre in another closely contested category.
- Reference Summer
- Continental WinterContact TS 860
- Hankook Winter i cept evo2
- Semperit Speed Grip 3
- Barum Polaris 3
- Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
- Fulda Kristall Control HP2
- Gislaved EuroFrost 5
- Sava Eskimo HP2
- Michelin Alpin 5
- Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
- Yokohama W drive V905
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5
- Firestone Winterhawk 3
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
- Uniroyal MS Plus 77
- Nokian WR D4
- Kumho WinterCraft WP71
- Kleber Krisalp HP3
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
Winter tyres often have a bad reputation for being noisy, but every winter tyre managed to best the summer reference on test, with the Bridgestone winter tyre quietest by some margin.
All tests are the combined results of drive by noise readings at both 50 km/h and 80 km/h.
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
- Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- Kleber Krisalp HP3
- Kumho WinterCraft WP71
- Michelin Alpin 5
- Firestone Winterhawk 3
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen
- Nokian WR D4
- Semperit Speed Grip 3
- Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5
- Continental WinterContact TS 860
- Barum Polaris 3
- Sava Eskimo HP2
- Uniroyal MS Plus 77
- Hankook Winter i cept evo2
- Yokohama W drive V905
- Gislaved EuroFrost 5
- Fulda Kristall Control HP2
- Reference Summer
Wet
The shallow water wet testing results were a little more spread out, but the summer tyre still dominated. Again, the Pirelli was closest in wet braking, but this time there was over 4 meters separating the winter tyres when braking from 80 km/h.
- Reference Summer
- Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
- Michelin Alpin 5
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen
- Continental WinterContact TS 860
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5
- Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
- Semperit Speed Grip 3
- Yokohama W drive V905
- Kumho WinterCraft WP71
- Nokian WR D4
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- Fulda Kristall Control HP2
- Kleber Krisalp HP3
- Barum Polaris 3
- Hankook Winter i cept evo2
- Uniroyal MS Plus 77
- Firestone Winterhawk 3
- Sava Eskimo HP2
- Gislaved EuroFrost 5
This time the Pirelli matched its wet braking peformance and finished the best winter tyre during wet handling too.
- Reference Summer
- Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
- Michelin Alpin 5
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
- Continental WinterContact TS 860
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen
- Nokian WR D4
- Semperit Speed Grip 3
- Yokohama W drive V905
- Kleber Krisalp HP3
- Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- Firestone Winterhawk 3
- Kumho WinterCraft WP71
- Uniroyal MS Plus 77
- Fulda Kristall Control HP2
- Gislaved EuroFrost 5
- Barum Polaris 3
- Sava Eskimo HP2
- Hankook Winter i cept evo2
The summer tyre could only manage fourth place overall in the deep water aquaplaning tests, with the Michelin owned BF Goodrich and Kleber taking the top two places.
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- Kleber Krisalp HP3
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
- Reference Summer
- Fulda Kristall Control HP2
- Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
- Michelin Alpin 5
- Gislaved EuroFrost 5
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen
- Nokian WR D4
- Continental WinterContact TS 860
- Hankook Winter i cept evo2
- Uniroyal MS Plus 77
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5
- Semperit Speed Grip 3
- Firestone Winterhawk 3
- Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
- Barum Polaris 3
- Sava Eskimo HP2
- Kumho WinterCraft WP71
- Yokohama W drive V905
Snow
BF Goodrich and Kleber continued their success during the aquaplaning tests to stop the quickest when braking from 50 km/h on snow.
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- Kleber Krisalp HP3
- Sava Eskimo HP2
- Semperit Speed Grip 3
- Continental WinterContact TS 860
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5
- Barum Polaris 3
- Nokian WR D4
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen
- Firestone Winterhawk 3
- Gislaved EuroFrost 5
- Uniroyal MS Plus 77
- Fulda Kristall Control HP2
- Yokohama W drive V905
- Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
- Hankook Winter i cept evo2
- Michelin Alpin 5
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
- Kumho WinterCraft WP71
- Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
- Reference Summer
Barum took a surprise win during snow handling, with BF Goodrich a close second place. The reference summer tyre couldn't even manage a lap of the snow handling course.
- Barum Polaris 3
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- Fulda Kristall Control HP2
- Continental WinterContact TS 860
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen
- Sava Eskimo HP2
- Kleber Krisalp HP3
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5
- Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
- Michelin Alpin 5
- Semperit Speed Grip 3
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
- Gislaved EuroFrost 5
- Nokian WR D4
- Kumho WinterCraft WP71
- Yokohama W drive V905
- Firestone Winterhawk 3
- Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
- Hankook Winter i cept evo2
- Uniroyal MS Plus 77
Cost
Difference between value and wear is an important distinction. Wear simply shows the projected mileage of the tyre, based on Auto Bild's testing. Value looks at the projected mileage divided by the price Auto Bild paid for the set, giving you a "euro per 1,000 km" figure. While Michelin offered the best value of the premium tyres on test, Nexen scored best in value thanks to excellent wear and a low purchase price.
- Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
- Sava Eskimo HP2
- Fulda Kristall Control HP2
- Kumho WinterCraft WP71
- Barum Polaris 3
- Gislaved EuroFrost 5
- Uniroyal MS Plus 77
- Kleber Krisalp HP3
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- Michelin Alpin 5
- Hankook Winter i cept evo2
- Firestone Winterhawk 3
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
- Yokohama W drive V905
- Semperit Speed Grip 3
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5
- Continental WinterContact TS 860
- Nokian WR D4
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen
- Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
- Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
- Fulda Kristall Control HP2
- Sava Eskimo HP2
- Michelin Alpin 5
- Kumho WinterCraft WP71
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- Barum Polaris 3
- Gislaved EuroFrost 5
- Uniroyal MS Plus 77
- Kleber Krisalp HP3
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5
- Hankook Winter i cept evo2
- Firestone Winterhawk 3
- Continental WinterContact TS 860
- Semperit Speed Grip 3
- Yokohama W drive V905
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen
- Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
- Nokian WR D4
While none of the winter tyres could beat the summer tyre during the rolling resistance testing, a number of tyres were close. Ironically, the best value tyre on test had the worst rolling resistance, which will offset some of the savings made over the tyres tread life.
- Reference Summer
- Uniroyal MS Plus 77
- Barum Polaris 3
- Gislaved EuroFrost 5
- Sava Eskimo HP2
- Semperit Speed Grip 3
- Kumho WinterCraft WP71
- Fulda Kristall Control HP2
- Continental WinterContact TS 860
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen
- BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
- Nokian WR D4
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
- Hankook Winter i cept evo2
- Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
- Kleber Krisalp HP3
- Michelin Alpin 5
- Yokohama W drive V905
- Firestone Winterhawk 3
- Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
Results
The full results are below, and have Auto Bild's usual confusing weighting attached to each of the criteria. For more information, be sure to check out the Auto Bild website (German).
Test winner. Excellent performance in all weather conditions, direct steering response and strong handling in the snow and on dry roads.
Average mileage.
Exemplary.
Total: 48
Dry
7
Wet
7
Snow
7
Comfort
6
Rolling Resistance
6
Noise
6
Wear
5
Cost
4
Winter specialist with very good wet grip and low wear. Balance handling in the snow and dry, good aquaplaning resistance.
Slightly high rolling resistance.
Exemplary.
Total: 51
Dry
6
Wet
7
Snow
6
Comfort
7
Rolling Resistance
4
Noise
7
Wear
8
Cost
6
Premium winter tyre with balanced performance, good handling in the snow and wet, short wet braking distances.
Average mileage.
Exemplary.
Total: 47
Dry
6
Wet
7
Snow
6
Comfort
6
Rolling Resistance
6
Noise
6
Wear
5
Cost
5
Premium tyres with excellent performance in all weather conditions. Precise steering and good feedback, short braking distances.
High price, high wear.
Good.
Total: 46
Dry
6
Wet
7
Snow
7
Comfort
6
Rolling Resistance
6
Noise
7
Wear
4
Cost
3
Convincing all rounder with good winter characteristics and good handling in the dry. Good comfort.
Average mileage.
Good.
Total: 48
Dry
6
Wet
6
Snow
7
Comfort
7
Rolling Resistance
6
Noise
7
Wear
4
Cost
5
The winter kings, winning the snow tests, excellent aquaplaning results, good ride comfort.
Slow steering, understeer in the dry.
Good.
Total: 53
Dry
5
Wet
6
Snow
9
Comfort
7
Rolling Resistance
6
Noise
8
Wear
6
Cost
6
Low price, very good in the winter, excellent aquaplaning result, good ride comfort.
Slow steering, understeer in the wet.
Good.
Total: 53
Dry
6
Wet
6
Snow
7
Comfort
6
Rolling Resistance
6
Noise
5
Wear
9
Cost
8
A well balanced tyre with excellent handling in the wet, low noise.
Average snow handling, long dry braking.
Good.
Total: 51
Dry
5
Wet
8
Snow
6
Comfort
4
Rolling Resistance
6
Noise
9
Wear
7
Cost
6
Excellent in the snow, good price / performance ratio, good aquaplaning resistance, low noise.
Poor dry grip and handling.
Good.
Total: 51
Dry
5
Wet
6
Snow
8
Comfort
6
Rolling Resistance
5
Noise
8
Wear
6
Cost
7
A good value winter tyre with balanced handling in the snow and on dry roads. Short wet braking distances.
Limited aquaplaning resistance, high rolling resistance.
Good.
Total: 51
Dry
6
Wet
5
Snow
6
Comfort
5
Rolling Resistance
3
Noise
8
Wear
9
Cost
9
Stable handling on snow and dry roads, good aquaplaning resistance.
Limited grip in the wet with understeer.
Average.
Total: 47
Dry
6
Wet
5
Snow
6
Comfort
5
Rolling Resistance
6
Noise
5
Wear
6
Cost
8
Good snow traction, short wet and dry braking distances, good value.
Average handling with delayed turn-in, low comfort.
Average.
Total: 48
Dry
5
Wet
5
Snow
6
Comfort
4
Rolling Resistance
6
Noise
7
Wear
7
Cost
8
Good traction and braking in the snow, good aquaplaning resistance.
Slow steering response and poor cornering in the wet and dry.
Average.
Total: 49
Dry
5
Wet
5
Snow
6
Comfort
6
Rolling Resistance
8
Noise
6
Wear
6
Cost
7
Good performance in the wet and snow.
Understeer in the dry, high wear.
Average.
Total: 42
Dry
5
Wet
6
Snow
6
Comfort
5
Rolling Resistance
6
Noise
7
Wear
3
Cost
4
Good traction and short braking in the snow, stable wet handling.
Poor snow handling, low aquaplaning resistance, poor comfort, high rolling resistance.
Average.
Total: 40
Dry
5
Wet
5
Snow
6
Comfort
4
Rolling Resistance
4
Noise
6
Wear
4
Cost
6
Low price, stable snow performance.
Poor wet braking and handling, average aquaplaning reserves.
Average.
Total: 50
Dry
6
Wet
4
Snow
8
Comfort
5
Rolling Resistance
7
Noise
6
Wear
6
Cost
8
Best price / wear ratio, good in the snow.
Poor wet handling, long wet and dry braking distances. Low comfort.
Average.
Total: 47
Dry
5
Wet
4
Snow
6
Comfort
3
Rolling Resistance
6
Noise
6
Wear
8
Cost
9
Short wet and dry braking distances, dynamic wet handling.
Average winter performance, low snow traction, long snow braking, high wear.
Average.
Total: 39
Dry
6
Wet
8
Snow
4
Comfort
4
Rolling Resistance
5
Noise
6
Wear
3
Cost
3
Good snow traction, low noise.
Poor snow and wet handling, long wet braking, high rolling resistance.
Average.
Total: 43
Dry
6
Wet
4
Snow
6
Comfort
5
Rolling Resistance
4
Noise
7
Wear
5
Cost
6
Good dry handling, low rolling resistance.
Poor handling in the snow and wet. Average comfort.
Average.
Total: 41
Dry
6
Wet
5
Snow
4
Comfort
3
Rolling Resistance
6
Noise
6
Wear
5
Cost
6
