The 2020 Auto Bild SUV Tyre test has tested ten crossover SUV / 4x4 winter tyres in the popular 225/55 R17 size, with a summer tyre included as a reference.
Of the ten tyres on test, the top four tyres were given the "Exemplary" award, which included the new Goodyear UltraGrip Performance+, the much improved Bridgestone Blizzak LM005, the new Michelin Alpin 6 and the Vredestein Wintrac Pro.
The test winning Goodyear had a good all round performance, with the testers noting the winter tyre felt precise and dynamic in all conditions. The Bridgestone LM005 performed well in the dry and wet to secure second place, while the joint third Michelin and Vredestein pair performed well in all tests, but either cost more to buy (Michelin) or used more fuel (Vredestein.)
Dunlop and Toyo finished fifth and sixth place overall, both being awarded the label "Good". The Dunlop was the strongest tyre in the snow on test, but was let down by the worst dry braking, while the Toyo struggled in the wet.
The final four tyres on test all struggled more in the wet than the best on test.
Dry
The reference summer tyre had a significant advantage in the dry tests, with the gap a huge 5.3 meters. While summer tyres always out performed all season and winter tyres in dry braking, it's rare we see a gap this big, which is probably lengthened by the extra weight and higher centre of gravity of the BMW X1 used for testing.
Dry Braking
Spread: 9.30 M (24.5%)|Avg: 44.99 M
Dry braking in meters (Lower is better)
Reference Summer
37.90 M
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
44.20 M
Michelin Alpin 6
44.70 M
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
45.30 M
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
45.40 M
Toyo Observe S 944
45.70 M
Syron Everest 1 plus
45.70 M
Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plu
45.90 M
Duraturn Mozzo Winter
46.10 M
Uniroyal MS Plus 77
46.80 M
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
47.20 M
Dry handling kept the summer tyres advantage, with the Bridgestone performing extremely well from the winter tyres.
Dry Handling
Spread: 4.80 Km/H (4.8%)|Avg: 95.91 Km/H
Dry Handling Average Speed (Higher is better)
Reference Summer
99.30 Km/H
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
97.50 Km/H
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
96.20 Km/H
Toyo Observe S 944
96.00 Km/H
Michelin Alpin 6
95.60 Km/H
Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plu
95.40 Km/H
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
95.30 Km/H
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
95.30 Km/H
Uniroyal MS Plus 77
95.20 Km/H
Syron Everest 1 plus
94.70 Km/H
Duraturn Mozzo Winter
94.50 Km/H
Wet
The Bridgestone took the top stop during the wet braking testing, with the gap between the summer tyre and the best winter tyre closing to 2.5 meters.
Wet Braking
Spread: 17.60 M (43%)|Avg: 47.30 M
Wet braking in meters (Lower is better)
Reference Summer
40.90 M
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
43.40 M
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
44.70 M
Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plu
45.60 M
Michelin Alpin 6
45.90 M
Toyo Observe S 944
46.90 M
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
47.20 M
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
48.30 M
Uniroyal MS Plus 77
49.00 M
Syron Everest 1 plus
49.90 M
Duraturn Mozzo Winter
58.50 M
Vredestein proved to be the best winter tyre during wet handling, with the Duraturn again struggling to perform.
Wet Handling
Spread: 9.60 Km/H (10.8%)|Avg: 85.57 Km/H
Wet Handling Average Speed (Higher is better)
Reference Summer
89.30 Km/H
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
87.60 Km/H
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
87.10 Km/H
Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plu
87.00 Km/H
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
86.80 Km/H
Michelin Alpin 6
85.90 Km/H
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
85.20 Km/H
Toyo Observe S 944
84.60 Km/H
Uniroyal MS Plus 77
84.50 Km/H
Syron Everest 1 plus
83.60 Km/H
Duraturn Mozzo Winter
79.70 Km/H
Budget tyres often perform well in aquaplaning testing, however the Duraturn struggled again, floating the X1 significantly earlier than the best on test by Maxxis.
Straight Aqua
Spread: 8.00 Km/H (10.2%)|Avg: 75.49 Km/H
Float Speed in Km/H (Higher is better)
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
78.50 Km/H
Uniroyal MS Plus 77
77.40 Km/H
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
76.80 Km/H
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
76.40 Km/H
Reference Summer
75.60 Km/H
Michelin Alpin 6
75.60 Km/H
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
75.30 Km/H
Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plu
75.20 Km/H
Syron Everest 1 plus
74.80 Km/H
Toyo Observe S 944
74.30 Km/H
Duraturn Mozzo Winter
70.50 Km/H
Snow
The snow braking group was very close, with the Dunlop edging out the Uniroyal and Goodyear tyres.
Snow Braking
Spread: 33.50 M (128.4%)|Avg: 29.95 M
Snow braking in meters (Lower is better)
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
26.10 M
Uniroyal MS Plus 77
26.20 M
Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plu
26.40 M
Syron Everest 1 plus
26.60 M
Duraturn Mozzo Winter
26.70 M
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
26.90 M
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
27.60 M
Toyo Observe S 944
27.60 M
Michelin Alpin 6
27.80 M
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
27.90 M
Reference Summer
59.60 M
Snow traction again had the Dunlop at the top of the test.
Snow Traction
Spread: 1435.00 N (60.2%)|Avg: 2209.09 N
Pulling Force in Newtons (Higher is better)
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
2385.00 N
Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plu
2380.00 N
Syron Everest 1 plus
2355.00 N
Toyo Observe S 944
2350.00 N
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
2345.00 N
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
2330.00 N
Michelin Alpin 6
2325.00 N
Duraturn Mozzo Winter
2325.00 N
Uniroyal MS Plus 77
2325.00 N
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
2230.00 N
Reference Summer
950.00 N
Dunlop rounded out the snow testing with a triple win, performing best in snow handling.
Snow Handling
Spread: 1.90 Km/H (3.3%)|Avg: 57.59 Km/H
Snow handling average speed (Higher is better)
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
58.40 Km/H
Duraturn Mozzo Winter
58.30 Km/H
Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plu
58.20 Km/H
Uniroyal MS Plus 77
58.10 Km/H
Syron Everest 1 plus
57.90 Km/H
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
57.20 Km/H
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
57.20 Km/H
Michelin Alpin 6
57.10 Km/H
Toyo Observe S 944
57.00 Km/H
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
56.50 Km/H
Environment
The Michelin was strangely noisy in this test, something we've not seen before for this tyre.
Noise
Spread: 3.80 dB (5.4%)|Avg: 71.28 dB
External noise in dB (Lower is better)
Syron Everest 1 plus
69.90 dB
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
70.20 dB
Duraturn Mozzo Winter
70.40 dB
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
70.60 dB
Uniroyal MS Plus 77
71.10 dB
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
71.30 dB
Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plu
71.40 dB
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
71.70 dB
Reference Summer
71.90 dB
Toyo Observe S 944
71.90 dB
Michelin Alpin 6
73.70 dB
The summer tyre used the least fuel on test, with the Uniroyal a surprise best of the winter tyres.
Rolling Resistance
Spread: 2.95 kg / t (43.6%)|Avg: 8.14 kg / t
Rolling resistance in kg t (Lower is better)
Reference Summer
6.77 kg / t
Uniroyal MS Plus 77
7.61 kg / t
Duraturn Mozzo Winter
7.67 kg / t
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
7.68 kg / t
Michelin Alpin 6
7.86 kg / t
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
8.12 kg / t
Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plu
8.13 kg / t
Toyo Observe S 944
8.13 kg / t
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
8.85 kg / t
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
8.95 kg / t
Syron Everest 1 plus
9.72 kg / t
Results
Be sure to check out the Auto Bild website for the full results.
Exemplary premium tyres with the best snow quality, high steering precision and dynamic handling properties in all weather conditions, short snow / wet braking distances, good comfort, fair price.