The 2022 Auto Bild Sports Car UHP Winter Tyre Test has tested nine popular performance winter tyres in the large 245/40 R19 size using a Cupra Formenta.
As usual, the reference summer tyre was the best in the dry, however it seems that in these larger tyre sizes the summer tyre has a bigger than usual lead, stopping the car nearly 5 meters shorter than the best winter tyre, which was budget Minerva IcePlus S210. There was a 2.1 meter spread between the best and the worst winter tyre.
Dry Braking
Spread: 7.00 M (18.7%)|Avg: 42.92 M
Dry braking in meters (100 - 0 km/h) (Lower is better)
Reference Summer
37.50 M
Minerva IcePlus S210
42.40 M
Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
42.60 M
Falken Eurowinter HS01
42.90 M
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
43.50 M
Hankook Winter i cept evo3
43.70 M
Continental WinterContact TS 870 P
43.70 M
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
44.00 M
Cooper Discoverer Winter
44.40 M
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
44.50 M
The summer tyre kept the advantage during the dry handling test, with the Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 being the best of the winter tyres.
Dry Handling
Spread: 3.00 Km/H (2.8%)|Avg: 106.28 Km/H
Dry Handling Average Speed (Higher is better)
Reference Summer
108.10 Km/H
Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
107.10 Km/H
Hankook Winter i cept evo3
106.80 Km/H
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
106.80 Km/H
Minerva IcePlus S210
106.30 Km/H
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
106.10 Km/H
Falken Eurowinter HS01
105.80 Km/H
Continental WinterContact TS 870 P
105.40 Km/H
Cooper Discoverer Winter
105.30 Km/H
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
105.10 Km/H
Wet
The summer tyres advantage remained during the wet braking test, leading the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 by 3.1 meters.
Wet Braking
Spread: 15.80 M (38.3%)|Avg: 47.08 M
Wet braking in meters (100 - 0 km/h) (Lower is better)
Reference Summer
41.30 M
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
44.40 M
Falken Eurowinter HS01
44.80 M
Hankook Winter i cept evo3
45.20 M
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
45.90 M
Continental WinterContact TS 870 P
46.40 M
Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
48.30 M
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
48.50 M
Cooper Discoverer Winter
48.90 M
Minerva IcePlus S210
57.10 M
Wet handing was led by the Vredestein Wintrac Pro, which is a tyre which usually does well during the wet handling tests.
Wet Handling
Spread: 7.80 Km/H (9%)|Avg: 85.11 Km/H
Wet Handling Average Speed (Higher is better)
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
86.90 Km/H
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
86.70 Km/H
Hankook Winter i cept evo3
86.50 Km/H
Reference Summer
86.00 Km/H
Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
85.80 Km/H
Continental WinterContact TS 870 P
85.70 Km/H
Falken Eurowinter HS01
85.00 Km/H
Cooper Discoverer Winter
84.80 Km/H
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
84.60 Km/H
Minerva IcePlus S210
79.10 Km/H
Aquaplaning was again led by the summer tyre.
Straight Aqua
Spread: 10.70 Km/H (12.4%)|Avg: 81.37 Km/H
Float Speed in Km/H (Higher is better)
Reference Summer
86.10 Km/H
Falken Eurowinter HS01
84.90 Km/H
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
84.80 Km/H
Hankook Winter i cept evo3
81.80 Km/H
Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
80.70 Km/H
Cooper Discoverer Winter
80.50 Km/H
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
80.30 Km/H
Continental WinterContact TS 870 P
79.70 Km/H
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
79.50 Km/H
Minerva IcePlus S210
75.40 Km/H
Snow
Naturally the summer tyre had no ability in any of the snow tests. The Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 led the way in snow braking, closely followed by the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005.
Snow Braking
Spread: 35.40 M (145.1%)|Avg: 29.26 M
Snow braking in meters (50 - 0 km/h) (Lower is better)
Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
24.40 M
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
24.60 M
Hankook Winter i cept evo3
24.70 M
Continental WinterContact TS 870 P
24.90 M
Cooper Discoverer Winter
25.10 M
Falken Eurowinter HS01
25.50 M
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
25.60 M
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
25.60 M
Minerva IcePlus S210
32.40 M
Reference Summer
59.80 M
The snow traction testing was also led by Michelin.
Snow Traction
Spread: 2205.00 N (75.6%)|Avg: 2545.40 N
Pulling Force in Newtons (Higher is better)
Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
2915.00 N
Continental WinterContact TS 870 P
2857.00 N
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
2850.00 N
Cooper Discoverer Winter
2845.00 N
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
2838.00 N
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
2811.00 N
Hankook Winter i cept evo3
2800.00 N
Falken Eurowinter HS01
2710.00 N
Minerva IcePlus S210
2118.00 N
Reference Summer
710.00 N
Rounding out the "best in snow" performance, the Pilot Alpin 5 was also the fastest around snow handling.
Snow Handling
Spread: 6.70 Km/H (13.7%)|Avg: 46.80 Km/H
Snow handling average speed (Higher is better)
Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
48.90 Km/H
Continental WinterContact TS 870 P
48.00 Km/H
Hankook Winter i cept evo3
47.70 Km/H
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
47.50 Km/H
Falken Eurowinter HS01
47.00 Km/H
Cooper Discoverer Winter
46.80 Km/H
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
46.60 Km/H
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
46.50 Km/H
Minerva IcePlus S210
42.20 Km/H
Environment
The Cooper Discoverer Winter had the lowest external noise on test.
Noise
Spread: 2.50 dB (3.5%)|Avg: 73.15 dB
External noise in dB (Lower is better)
Cooper Discoverer Winter
72.00 dB
Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
72.20 dB
Minerva IcePlus S210
72.30 dB
Falken Eurowinter HS01
72.60 dB
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
72.70 dB
Continental WinterContact TS 870 P
73.50 dB
Reference Summer
73.50 dB
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
74.00 dB
Hankook Winter i cept evo3
74.20 dB
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
74.50 dB
The Continental WinterContact TS870P had the lowest rolling resistance.
Rolling Resistance
Spread: 2.02 kg / t (27.6%)|Avg: 8.53 kg / t
Rolling resistance in kg t (Lower is better)
Continental WinterContact TS 870 P
7.31 kg / t
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
7.61 kg / t
Hankook Winter i cept evo3
8.19 kg / t
Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
8.23 kg / t
Reference Summer
8.60 kg / t
Minerva IcePlus S210
8.80 kg / t
Cooper Discoverer Winter
8.90 kg / t
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
9.13 kg / t
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
9.21 kg / t
Falken Eurowinter HS01
9.33 kg / t
As we've come to expect, the Michelin and Continental were the most expensive tyres on test.
Exemplary premium tires with very good snow qualities, high steering precision, dynamic wet and dry handling, short snow and wet braking distances, good levels of comfort, fuel-saving rolling resistance.
Convincing all-round talent with balanced performance potential, precise steering behavior, short snow and wet braking distances, dynamic handling properties in all weather conditions, fair price.
Premium tires with stable driving quality in all weather conditions, very good winter properties with short braking distances and sporty, dynamic handling, quiet road noise, fuel-saving rolling resistance.
The snow king with the best driving performance on ice and snow, precise steering behavior and dynamic driving characteristics on dry slopes, low noise.
High traction and short braking distances on ice and snow, sporty, dynamic handling and precise steering behavior on wet roads, safe dry handling, fair price.
Understeering handling on snow, high rolling resistance.