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.
Dry Braking
Spread: 8.80 M (23.2%)|Avg: 44.88 M
Dry braking in meters (Lower is better)
Dry Braking: Safety Impact: Best vs Worst Tyre
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.
Dry Handling
Spread: 6.20 Km/H (5.5%)|Avg: 109.05 Km/H
Dry Handling Average Speed (Higher is better)
Reference Summer
113.20 Km/H
Continental WinterContact TS 860
110.80 Km/H
Hankook Winter i cept evo2
109.70 Km/H
Barum Polaris 3
109.60 Km/H
Semperit Speed Grip 3
109.60 Km/H
Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
109.50 Km/H
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
109.40 Km/H
Gislaved EuroFrost 5
109.30 Km/H
Michelin Alpin 5
109.10 Km/H
Sava Eskimo HP2
109.10 Km/H
Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
109.00 Km/H
Yokohama W drive V905
108.90 Km/H
Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen
108.80 Km/H
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
108.70 Km/H
Firestone Winterhawk 3
108.60 Km/H
Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
108.50 Km/H
Nokian WR D4
108.30 Km/H
Uniroyal MS Plus 77
108.30 Km/H
Kumho WinterCraft WP71
107.30 Km/H
Kleber Krisalp HP3
107.30 Km/H
BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
107.00 Km/H
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.
Noise
Spread: 4.40 dB (6.2%)|Avg: 72.87 dB
External noise in dB (Lower is better)
Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
70.90 dB
Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
71.80 dB
Kleber Krisalp HP3
71.90 dB
BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
71.90 dB
Firestone Winterhawk 3
72.20 dB
Michelin Alpin 5
72.20 dB
Kumho WinterCraft WP71
72.20 dB
Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen
72.40 dB
Nokian WR D4
72.70 dB
Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
72.80 dB
Semperit Speed Grip 3
72.80 dB
Continental WinterContact TS 860
73.00 dB
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
73.00 dB
Barum Polaris 3
73.10 dB
Hankook Winter i cept evo2
73.50 dB
Sava Eskimo HP2
73.50 dB
Uniroyal MS Plus 77
73.50 dB
Yokohama W drive V905
73.70 dB
Gislaved EuroFrost 5
73.90 dB
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
74.00 dB
Reference Summer
75.30 dB
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.
Wet Braking
Spread: 5.50 M (17.7%)|Avg: 34.55 M
Wet braking in meters (Lower is better)
Wet Braking: Safety Impact: Best vs Worst Tyre
This time the Pirelli matched its wet braking peformance and finished the best winter tyre during wet handling too.
Wet Handling
Spread: 6.90 Km/H (8.9%)|Avg: 73.14 Km/H
Wet Handling Average Speed (Higher is better)
Reference Summer
77.50 Km/H
Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
75.80 Km/H
Michelin Alpin 5
74.90 Km/H
Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
74.70 Km/H
Continental WinterContact TS 860
74.60 Km/H
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
74.20 Km/H
Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen
74.10 Km/H
Nokian WR D4
73.60 Km/H
Semperit Speed Grip 3
73.60 Km/H
Yokohama W drive V905
73.50 Km/H
Kleber Krisalp HP3
72.80 Km/H
Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
72.60 Km/H
BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
72.30 Km/H
Firestone Winterhawk 3
72.20 Km/H
Kumho WinterCraft WP71
72.10 Km/H
Uniroyal MS Plus 77
71.90 Km/H
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
71.30 Km/H
Gislaved EuroFrost 5
71.30 Km/H
Barum Polaris 3
71.20 Km/H
Sava Eskimo HP2
71.10 Km/H
Hankook Winter i cept evo2
70.60 Km/H
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.
Straight Aqua
Spread: 8.70 Km/H (9.3%)|Avg: 87.85 Km/H
Float Speed in Km/H (Higher is better)
BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
93.30 Km/H
Kleber Krisalp HP3
90.90 Km/H
Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
90.70 Km/H
Reference Summer
90.50 Km/H
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
90.50 Km/H
Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
88.90 Km/H
Michelin Alpin 5
88.70 Km/H
Gislaved EuroFrost 5
88.30 Km/H
Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen
88.10 Km/H
Nokian WR D4
87.80 Km/H
Hankook Winter i cept evo2
87.50 Km/H
Continental WinterContact TS 860
87.50 Km/H
Uniroyal MS Plus 77
87.50 Km/H
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
86.80 Km/H
Semperit Speed Grip 3
86.50 Km/H
Firestone Winterhawk 3
86.10 Km/H
Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
85.50 Km/H
Barum Polaris 3
85.40 Km/H
Sava Eskimo HP2
85.00 Km/H
Kumho WinterCraft WP71
84.80 Km/H
Yokohama W drive V905
84.60 Km/H
Snow
BF Goodrich and Kleber continued their success during the aquaplaning tests to stop the quickest when braking from 50 km/h on snow.
Snow Braking
Spread: 34.80 M (134.4%)|Avg: 29.51 M
Snow braking in meters (Lower is better)
Snow Braking: Safety Impact: Best vs Worst Tyre
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.
Snow Handling
Spread: 2.90 Km/H (5.5%)|Avg: 51.23 Km/H
Snow handling average speed (Higher is better)
Barum Polaris 3
52.60 Km/H
BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
52.30 Km/H
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
52.20 Km/H
Continental WinterContact TS 860
52.20 Km/H
Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen
52.00 Km/H
Sava Eskimo HP2
51.90 Km/H
Kleber Krisalp HP3
51.70 Km/H
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
51.60 Km/H
Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
51.40 Km/H
Michelin Alpin 5
51.20 Km/H
Semperit Speed Grip 3
51.10 Km/H
Gislaved EuroFrost 5
50.90 Km/H
Nokian WR D4
50.90 Km/H
Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
50.90 Km/H
Kumho WinterCraft WP71
50.70 Km/H
Yokohama W drive V905
50.60 Km/H
Firestone Winterhawk 3
50.40 Km/H
Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
50.20 Km/H
Hankook Winter i cept evo2
50.00 Km/H
Uniroyal MS Plus 77
49.70 Km/H
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.
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.
Rolling Resistance
Spread: 1.97 kg / t (27.7%)|Avg: 8.06 kg / t
Rolling resistance in kg t (Lower is better)
Reference Summer
7.10 kg / t
Uniroyal MS Plus 77
7.23 kg / t
Barum Polaris 3
7.53 kg / t
Gislaved EuroFrost 5
7.78 kg / t
Sava Eskimo HP2
7.83 kg / t
Semperit Speed Grip 3
7.88 kg / t
Kumho WinterCraft WP71
7.91 kg / t
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
7.95 kg / t
Continental WinterContact TS 860
7.96 kg / t
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
8.03 kg / t
Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen
8.05 kg / t
BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
8.15 kg / t
Nokian WR D4
8.17 kg / t
Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
8.20 kg / t
Hankook Winter i cept evo2
8.21 kg / t
Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
8.25 kg / t
Kleber Krisalp HP3
8.30 kg / t
Michelin Alpin 5
8.52 kg / t
Yokohama W drive V905
8.57 kg / t
Firestone Winterhawk 3
8.62 kg / t
Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
9.07 kg / t
19,000 km
£1.45/L
8.0 L/100km
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Annual Difference
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Lifetime Savings
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Extra Fuel/Energy
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Extra CO2
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.
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).
If you ditch the handling tests because the difference in speed is close to irrelevant, you can see that there is no way that Continental can be the best, mainly because high price and poor wear. Be sure on what surface you drive the most, it may be snowing but if the road is clear it is wet surface etc. I would suggest that you redo the results of the tes without the speed tests because they don't matter, safety comes first on winter tyres !
But the speed measurement is a direct metric on how safe the tyre is. For example the higher the aquaplaning speed is the safer it is to drive in a wet condition if the speed is below that measurement.
Hi Jonathan, I cannot understand the meaning of Dry and Wet Braking for Reference Summer. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Shouldn't summer tires stop after winter tires during the bad season? Thanks for the clarification.
Do you mean in the dry and wet? A good summer tyre will always beat a winter tyre in the dry, and the wet braking can be very close between the best summer and winter tyres.
The summer tyre behaves as you would expect in the snow!
So what is the utility of winter tires if the summer ones stop first in the wet??? I am talking about my climate, very rainy but almost never snowy in Fall/Winter...
Anyway, one morning of the last week my Goodyear Ultragrip Performance Gen-1 saved me from a crash. It was cold and it was raining, so they did their job very well...
Unable to find Nokian WRD4 on their website. Is this an old model ? Also cannot find anywhere in this test a statement as to whether any of these tires are studded or non-studded. Best current studded tire I know of is Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9
The Bridgestone Blizzak LM 001 has class C for wet braking How is possible in your test to be no 3 before Continental, Michelin, etc, which has B class?
As with the Nokian question below, it might be this test used an newer version of the tyre with better label scores, or that the Bridgestone tyre is more sensitive to this braking test scenario - things such as temperature, vehicle used and Mu of the road surface all make a difference.
If you look at the EU label, Nokian has A grade wet braking performance; however, in this test, it sits behind the tyres who has B grade wet braking performance in EU label. How is this possible? Which one is wrong: EU label or the test :) Another question: 205/55 R17 95V Goodyear winter tire tyre has C grade wet braking performace in its EU label, while same tyre has B grade performance in 215/55 R17 98V. Is it normal to have that difference? To be honest, I would expact better performance in 205 than 215, since width is smaller (only in wet and snow, in dry roads it's vice versa)
It's normal to have a difference between sizes in the brands, you can even sometimes find the same tyre / size on sale with different label scores if a more recent manufacturer date has had a compound update to improve the label score.
As for the Nokian being an A, there's no way a company like Nokian would lie on the EU label test. It might be this test used an older version of the tyre with worse label scores, or that the Nokian tyre was more sensitive to this braking test scenario - things such as temperature, vehicle used and Mu of the road surface all make a difference.
It certainly wouldn't be that low in a UK based test, though if you're more concerned about dry and wet performance (which is good for the UK) I'd suggest something like the Michelin CrossClimate.
Good suggestion,but in my size(205/50 r17) they are prohibitively expensive. And the all-season test only confirm that there isn't much else to choose from.So I guess my old(2010) wintersport 3d will have to hold on for a one more winter trough.
If you ditch the handling tests because the difference in speed is close to irrelevant, you can see that there is no way that Continental can be the best, mainly because high price and poor wear. Be sure on what surface you drive the most, it may be snowing but if the road is clear it is wet surface etc. I would suggest that you redo the results of the tes without the speed tests because they don't matter, safety comes first on winter tyres !
But the speed measurement is a direct metric on how safe the tyre is. For example the higher the aquaplaning speed is the safer it is to drive in a wet condition if the speed is below that measurement.
Hi Jonathan, I cannot understand the meaning of Dry and Wet Braking for Reference Summer. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Shouldn't summer tires stop after winter tires during the bad season? Thanks for the clarification.
Do you mean in the dry and wet? A good summer tyre will always beat a winter tyre in the dry, and the wet braking can be very close between the best summer and winter tyres.
The summer tyre behaves as you would expect in the snow!
So what is the utility of winter tires if the summer ones stop first in the wet???
I am talking about my climate, very rainy but almost never snowy in Fall/Winter...
The winter tyre works in lower / freezing temperatures, and obviously works on snow and ice. But I agree, a winter tyre isn't always the best choice.
https://www.youtube.com/wat...
Anyway, one morning of the last week my Goodyear Ultragrip Performance Gen-1 saved me from a crash. It was cold and it was raining, so they did their job very well...
Unable to find Nokian WRD4 on their website. Is this an old model ?
Also cannot find anywhere in this test a statement as to whether any of these tires are studded or non-studded.
Best current studded tire I know of is Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9
The Nokian WRD4 is a European winter, which are studless by default. It's their current leading central european product:
https://www.nokiantyres.com...
The Bridgestone Blizzak LM 001 has class C for wet braking
How is possible in your test to be no 3 before Continental, Michelin, etc, which has B class?
Thank you for your answer
As with the Nokian question below, it might be this test used an newer version of the tyre with better label scores, or that the Bridgestone tyre is more sensitive to this braking test scenario - things such as temperature, vehicle used and Mu of the road surface all make a difference.
Thank you for answer.
May you recommend me a tire model for a weather more wet than snow ?
Also ice from time to time.
Thank you
The winner of this test would be a good place to start your research :)
If you look at the EU label, Nokian has A grade wet braking performance; however, in this test, it sits behind the tyres who has B grade wet braking performance in EU label.
How is this possible? Which one is wrong: EU label or the test :)
Another question: 205/55 R17 95V Goodyear winter tire tyre has C grade wet braking performace in its EU label, while same tyre has B grade performance in 215/55 R17 98V. Is it normal to have that difference? To be honest, I would expact better performance in 205 than 215, since width is smaller (only in wet and snow, in dry roads it's vice versa)
It's normal to have a difference between sizes in the brands, you can even sometimes find the same tyre / size on sale with different label scores if a more recent manufacturer date has had a compound update to improve the label score.
As for the Nokian being an A, there's no way a company like Nokian would lie on the EU label test. It might be this test used an older version of the tyre with worse label scores, or that the Nokian tyre was more sensitive to this braking test scenario - things such as temperature, vehicle used and Mu of the road surface all make a difference.
So basically the almost last tire in this test(am looking at you Pirelli),is actually the best "winter" tire for our mild(less snowy) winters?
It certainly wouldn't be that low in a UK based test, though if you're more concerned about dry and wet performance (which is good for the UK) I'd suggest something like the Michelin CrossClimate.
Good suggestion,but in my size(205/50 r17) they are prohibitively expensive.
And the all-season test only confirm that there isn't much else to choose from.So I guess my old(2010) wintersport 3d will have to hold on for a one more winter trough.