The 2018 Auto Bild SUV / 4x4 winter tyre test has used an Audi Q5 to test ten 235/60 R18 winter tyres, with the Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen-1 SUV proving to be the best tyre on test thanks to a balanced all-round performance.
Surprisingly Pirelli edged out Continental to second place, with a brilliant result for the Pirelli Scorpion Winter. This tyre has been on the market a number of years now, and historically hasn't tested as well as Goodyear or Continental, so there must have been and update for the 2018 winter season. The Continental Winter Contact TS850P SUV rounded out the top three, with its only real weakness appearing during the dry braking tests.
The other notable result was the new Achilles W101X. Budget tyres like this Achilles historically perform excellently in snow testing, but end up with dangerously long wet and dry braking distances, but in this test the Achilles held its own, finishing second during dry braking and beating the established names of Toyo and Firestone during wet braking. Impressive when you consider a set is nearly half the price of the most expensive tyre on test...
Dry
The Pirelli winter tyre proved to be the master of dry testing, but still lagged significantly behind the reference summer tyre again highlighting the dry penalty siped winter tyres bring.
- Reference Summer
- Pirelli Scorpion Winter
- Achilles Winter 101 X
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance SUV
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5 SUV
- Fulda Kristall Control SUV
- Toyo Snowprox S954 SUV
- Nokian WR SUV 4
- Continental Winter Contact TS 850
- Michelin Latitude Alpin 2
- Firestone Destination Winter SUV
- Reference Summer
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance SUV
- Pirelli Scorpion Winter
- Fulda Kristall Control SUV
- Toyo Snowprox S954 SUV
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5 SUV
- Nokian WR SUV 4
- Continental Winter Contact TS 850
- Achilles Winter 101 X
- Michelin Latitude Alpin 2
- Firestone Destination Winter SUV
Wet
The summer tyres advantage continued in the wet, albeit the gap was smaller. The top three tyres overall were all stars of the wet testing, showing how important wet performance is to winter tyre testing.
- Reference Summer
- Continental Winter Contact TS 850
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5 SUV
- Pirelli Scorpion Winter
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance SUV
- Fulda Kristall Control SUV
- Michelin Latitude Alpin 2
- Nokian WR SUV 4
- Achilles Winter 101 X
- Toyo Snowprox S954 SUV
- Firestone Destination Winter SUV
- Reference Summer
- Pirelli Scorpion Winter
- Continental Winter Contact TS 850
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance SUV
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5 SUV
- Fulda Kristall Control SUV
- Michelin Latitude Alpin 2
- Toyo Snowprox S954 SUV
- Nokian WR SUV 4
- Achilles Winter 101 X
- Firestone Destination Winter SUV
- Reference Summer
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5 SUV
- Fulda Kristall Control SUV
- Michelin Latitude Alpin 2
- Nokian WR SUV 4
- Toyo Snowprox S954 SUV
- Firestone Destination Winter SUV
- Pirelli Scorpion Winter
- Achilles Winter 101 X
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance SUV
- Continental Winter Contact TS 850
Snow
Unsurprisingly the summer tyre was at a huge disadvantage in the snow testing. Continental proved to have the best snow braking, where Nokian was the fastest around the snow handling lap.
- Continental Winter Contact TS 850
- Nokian WR SUV 4
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance SUV
- Michelin Latitude Alpin 2
- Fulda Kristall Control SUV
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5 SUV
- Firestone Destination Winter SUV
- Achilles Winter 101 X
- Pirelli Scorpion Winter
- Toyo Snowprox S954 SUV
- Reference Summer
- Nokian WR SUV 4
- Michelin Latitude Alpin 2
- Continental Winter Contact TS 850
- Pirelli Scorpion Winter
- Firestone Destination Winter SUV
- Achilles Winter 101 X
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance SUV
- Fulda Kristall Control SUV
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5 SUV
- Toyo Snowprox S954 SUV
- Reference Summer
Environment
The Pirelli bended an excellent dry and wet performance with the lowest rolling resistance on test, an impressive feat!
- Pirelli Scorpion Winter
- Continental Winter Contact TS 850
- Reference Summer
- Nokian WR SUV 4
- Fulda Kristall Control SUV
- Toyo Snowprox S954 SUV
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance SUV
- Firestone Destination Winter SUV
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5 SUV
- Michelin Latitude Alpin 2
- Achilles Winter 101 X
Unusually the summer tyre was the quietest on test.
- Reference Summer
- Michelin Latitude Alpin 2
- Achilles Winter 101 X
- Firestone Destination Winter SUV
- Pirelli Scorpion Winter
- Nokian WR SUV 4
- Continental Winter Contact TS 850
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance SUV
- Fulda Kristall Control SUV
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5 SUV
- Toyo Snowprox S954 SUV
The budget Achilles was by far the cheapest set of tyres on test, with the Michelin the most expensive. Sadly Auto Bild didn't include any wear testing, so we can't judge which tyre is best value overall.
- Achilles Winter 101 X
- Toyo Snowprox S954 SUV
- Firestone Destination Winter SUV
- Fulda Kristall Control SUV
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance SUV
- Continental Winter Contact TS 850
- Pirelli Scorpion Winter
- Nokian WR SUV 4
- Dunlop Winter Sport 5 SUV
- Michelin Latitude Alpin 2
Results
Excellent handling behavior in all weather conditions, good steering, short braking distances, average price.
Slightly noisy.
Total: 68
Dry
11
Wet
13
Snow
12
Comfort
12
Rolling Resistance
10
Noise
10
Balanced performance, dynamic handling, excellent steering, low rolling resistance.
High price.
Total: 71
Dry
12
Wet
13
Snow
11
Comfort
10
Rolling Resistance
14
Noise
11
Winter specialist with excellent snow performance, dynamic sporty wet handling and low rolling resistance.
Slightly long dry braking.
Total: 69
Dry
10
Wet
12
Snow
13
Comfort
10
Rolling Resistance
14
Noise
10
Well-priced winter tyres with well balanced a balanced performance, very good snow traction, high aquaplaning safety.
Understeer in snow.
Total: 66
Dry
11
Wet
12
Snow
12
Comfort
9
Rolling Resistance
12
Noise
10
Dynamic sporty wet handling, short braking distances in the wet, high aquaplaning safety.
Average snow cornering, high price.
Total: 66
Dry
11
Wet
13
Snow
11
Comfort
11
Rolling Resistance
10
Noise
10
Winter king with excellent driving on snow and ice, low rolling resistance.
Long dry braking distances.
Total: 67
Dry
10
Wet
10
Snow
14
Comfort
9
Rolling Resistance
13
Noise
11
Good in the snow and wet, good steering response.
Long dry braking, high rolling resistance, expensive.
Total: 65
Dry
8
Wet
11
Snow
14
Comfort
12
Rolling Resistance
8
Noise
12
Very good in the snow, low purchase price.
Understeer and long braking distances in the dry and wet, average comfort.
Total: 60
Dry
8
Wet
9
Snow
13
Comfort
8
Rolling Resistance
10
Noise
12
Balance performance, very well priced.
Understeer in the wet, slow steering, high rolling resistance.
Total: 61
Dry
11
Wet
10
Snow
11
Comfort
9
Rolling Resistance
8
Noise
12
Balanced in the wet, low price.
Poor snow grip, long dry braking.
Total: 59
Dry
10
Wet
10
Snow
9
Comfort
11
Rolling Resistance
10
Noise
9
