| Test Summary | |
| Wet Braking |
Nokian WR D3 |
| Dry Braking |
Continental WinterContact TS 850 |
| Wet Handling |
Continental WinterContact TS 850 |
| Rolling Resistance |
Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 |
| Noise |
Continental WinterContact TS 850 Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 Dunlop SP WinterSport 4D Goodyear UltraGrip 8 Performance Michelin Alpin A4 |
| Snow Handling |
Dunlop SP WinterSport 4D Goodyear UltraGrip 8 Performance Fulda Kristall Control HP |
In the wet the gap opened a little more, with Continental winning both wet braking and wet handling. This time, the worst tyre (Toyo) stopped 6 metres behind the Continental, and the slowest tyre around the wet handling circuit (Fulda) was 5.3 seconds slower.
In the dry the Nokian reigned supreme, convincingly winning dry braking and handling. The Fulda again showed a comparative weakness, losing both the dry tests, stopping 3.9 metres further than the Nokian and taking 1.9 long to do the dry handling lap.
The Results
While the Continental only won three of the eleven tests, it rarely finished out of the top three places to take another convincing win. Pirelli placed a strong second thanks to an excellent wet showing (other than aquaplaning), and Dunlop rounded out the top three with a comfortable quiet tyre which worked well in all conditions.
Short braking distances on snow and wet surfaces, very high wet grip, very balanced ride quality
Relatively weak results for the dry
Particularly recommended
Very good grip on snow, high level of safety and neutral behavior, low rolling resistance, short braking distances on wet surfaces
Relatively weak resistance to aquaplaning
Particularly recommended
High level of comfort, low noise, high lateral grip on the snow, short braking distances on wet surfaces
Handling on wet surfaces
Particularly recommended
The shortest braking distances and best handling on dry surfaces, confident behavior in the snow, although with a tendency to understeer
Relatively weak performance in the wet
Particularly recommended
Good grip and handling on wet surfaces, and especially in the snow
Relatively poor braking performance, high rolling resistance
Recommended
Short braking distances and good handling on snow, high level of comfort
Relatively long braking distances on wet surfaces, low resistance to aquaplaning
Recommended
The shortest braking distances and excellent handling on snow
Weak results in the wet
Recommended
High resistance to aquaplaning, good handling on dry surfaces
Low brake performance, high rolling resistance , poor handling on snow and wet surfaces
Conditionally recommended
There's only 3 sport winter tires in this "sport" winter tires test (WinterSport 4D; UltraGrip 8 Performance & Sottozero 3)! The other (TS850; Alpin 4; WRD3...) are standard winter tires!
I totally agree. Performance winter tires can not compete with daily tires. There is no TS850 for 18" wheels for example. But there is 17" Ultragrip 8 (not Performance) and it's the competitor for TS850. Ultragrip 8 Performance competitor from Continental is TS830P. "P" indicates performance here.
This test is not objective!