2017 Sport Auto Winter Tyre Test

For this test, Sport Auto magazine fitted the GT86 with ten different patterns of 225/40 R18 sports winter tyres, and put the tyres through the normal dry, wet and snow testing.

Snow

Looking at the snow braking and snow handling tests, no tyre dominated. The Hankook Winter I*Cept Evo 2 won the snow braking test but could only manage fifth in snow handling, while the Michelin Pilot Alpin 4 won the snow handling tests but could only manage sixth during snow braking testing! The Continental WinterContact TS850 P, which has now been replaced buy the WinterContact TS860 S, had the best overall result finishing in the top three in both tests. The Nankang SV2 proved to be the weakest in both snow tests.

Wet

During wet testing, the Continental once again proved to be amongst the best along with the Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen-1 and Michelin Pilot Alpin 4 dominating the top three. The Toyo Snowprox S954 had an extremely poor result, finishing in last place by quite a margin.

Dry

As with the snow testing, the best dry braking tyre didn't do well during the dry handling test, and the best dry handling tyre was the worst dry braking tyre! While this is unusual for dry testing and might highlight the difference between FWD and RWD for winter tyres, there were two brands which managed to score consistently - the Nokian WR A4 and Toyo Snowprox S954 finished top three for both tests.

Results

The limited coverage of the full results are below, please see the Sport Auto article for the full test data.

1^st

Continental WinterContact TS 850 P

225/40 R18

• 3PMSF: no

Excellent grip and stable behavior on snow and dry surfaces. low rolling resistance, very low noise level

Relatively weak resistance to aquaplaning, relatively long braking distances on dry surfaces

Highly recommended

Total: 71.8

Dry 8

Wet 9.4

Snow 9.4

Subjective 8

Comfort 8

Rolling Resistance 10

Noise 10

Overall 9

Read Reviews Test Results Results Table Test Charts

1^st

Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen 1

225/40 R18

• 3PMSF: no

Excellent grip and very good handling on wet surfaces, balanced and reliable behavior in the snow, balanced handling on dry roads

Slow steering response in the dry

Cost: Highly recommended

Total: 69.2

Dry 8.2

Wet 9.9

Snow 9.1

Subjective 8

Comfort 8

Rolling Resistance 8

Noise 9

Overall 9

Read Reviews Test Results Results Table Test Charts

3^rd

Michelin Pilot Alpin 4

225/40 R18

• 3PMSF: no

Good results in the wet, good handling in the dry

Relatively weak resistance to aquaplaning, long dry braking distances

Recommended

Total: 66.4

Dry 7.8

Wet 9.6

Snow 8.5

Subjective 8

Comfort 7

Rolling Resistance 8

Noise 9

Overall 8.5

Read Reviews Test Results Results Table Test Charts

4^th

Hankook Winter i cept evo2

225/40 R18

• 3PMSF: no

Strong in the snow, good dry handling

Average wet performance, long braking distances in the dry and wet

Conditionally recommended

Total: 63

Dry 8

Wet 6.7

Snow 9.4

Subjective 10

Comfort 7

Rolling Resistance 6

Noise 8

Overall 7.9

Read Reviews Test Results Results Table Test Charts

5^th

Yokohama W drive V905

225/40 R18

• 3PMSF: no

Good snow braking, good wet handling

Slow steering reactions in the dry, relatively noisy

Conditionally recommended

Total: 57.8

Dry 7.6

Wet 7.9

Snow 8.5

Subjective 6

Comfort 6

Rolling Resistance 6

Noise 8

Overall 7.8

Read Reviews Test Results Results Table Test Charts

6^th

Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3

225/40 R18

• 3PMSF: no

Good handling and grip in the wet

Slow steering reactions in the dry, relatively noisy

Conditionally recommended

Total: 59.9

Dry 7.3

Wet 8.4

Snow 7.5

Subjective 7

Comfort 7

Rolling Resistance 7

Noise 8

Overall 7.7

Read Reviews Test Results Results Table Test Charts

7^th

Nokian WR A4

225/40 R18

• 3PMSF: no

Very good in the dry with good grip and precise steering, short braking distances in the snow, low noise level

Unstable in the wet with high levels of oversteer

Conditionally recommended

Total: 66

Dry 9

Wet 6.6

Snow 6.8

Subjective 9

Comfort 9

Rolling Resistance 9

Noise 9

Overall 7.6

Read Reviews Test Results Results Table Test Charts

8^th

Cooper Weather Master SA2+

225/40 R18

• 3PMSF: no

Good on wet surfaces, high levels of comfort

Poor steering and grip in the dry, low grip on snow

Conditionally recommended

Total: 61

Dry 7.4

Wet 8.6

Snow 6.6

Subjective 7

Comfort 9

Rolling Resistance 6

Noise 9

Overall 7.4

Read Reviews Test Results Results Table Test Charts

9^th

Nankang SV2

225/40 R18

• 3PMSF: no

Very short braking distances and quick reactions to steering on dry surfaces, good resistance to aquaplaning

Very poor in the snow, noisy

Conditionally recommended

Total: 57.5

Dry 8.6

Wet 6.8

Snow 5.2

Subjective 8

Comfort 7

Rolling Resistance 6

Noise 9

Overall 6.9

Read Reviews Test Results Results Table Test Charts

9^th

Toyo Snowprox S954

225/40 R18

• 3PMSF: no

Quick and accurate reactions to steering on dry roads

Poor on snow and in the wet

Recommended with caution

Total: 60.2

Dry 8.7

Wet 5.9

Snow 5.7

Subjective 10

Comfort 7

Rolling Resistance 8

Noise 8

Overall 6.9

Read Reviews Test Results Results Table Test Charts