The 2020 Auto Zeitung has tested fourteen winter tyres in 205/55 R16, including new winter tyres from Bridgestone, Goodyear and Maxxis, as well as a low cost retreaded tyre.
While all the tyres were tested in the dry, wet and snow, sadly Auto Zeitung didn't include any handling data, instead just providing subjective feel scoring. They do a really good job of talking about how the tyres performed in their full article, so we encourage you to head over to AutoZeitung.com and check out the full test where you can also see data such as slalom speeds which we've not included.
Overall, the results confirm the trend we're seeing in 2020, with the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 taking a dominating win, largely thanks to it's incredible wet performance which saw it stopping 3.4 meters ahead of the second best tyre in wet braking!
The should-have-been-replaced-by-now Continental WinterContact TS860 finished a solid second, with the Goodyear UltraGrip 9+ taking third, matching the excellent performances of the larger Goodyear UltraGrip Performance+.
Dry
Dry braking was won by Hankook, showing an impressive advantage over the next best Bridgestone.
Dry Braking
Dry braking in meters (100 - 0 km/h) (Lower is better)
Hankook Winter i cept RS2
45.80 M
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
46.50 M
Nexen Winguard Snow G3
46.70 M
Falken Eurowinter HS01
47.20 M
Michelin Alpin 6
47.50 M
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
47.70 M
Toyo Snowprox S954
47.80 M
Goodride SW608
47.80 M
Pirelli Cinturato Winter
48.30 M
Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
48.40 M
Continental WinterContact TS 860
48.70 M
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
48.80 M
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
50.10 M
King Meiler Winter Tact WT81
50.10 M
Subjectively, the testers liked the feel of the Toyo, which was also the fastest tyre through the dry slalom.
Subj. Dry Handling
Subjective Dry Handling Score (Higher is better)
Toyo Snowprox S954
10.00 Points
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
9.00 Points
Hankook Winter i cept RS2
8.00 Points
Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
8.00 Points
Falken Eurowinter HS01
8.00 Points
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
7.00 Points
Continental WinterContact TS 860
6.00 Points
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
6.00 Points
King Meiler Winter Tact WT81
5.00 Points
Michelin Alpin 6
5.00 Points
Nexen Winguard Snow G3
5.00 Points
Pirelli Cinturato Winter
4.00 Points
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
4.00 Points
Goodride SW608
3.00 Points
Wet
The Bridgestone had a huge advantage during wet braking, stopping the test Golf 3.4 meters ahead of the second best Continental. While the Toyo struggled, it was still nearly 7 meters ahead of the retreaded winter tyre.
Wet Braking
Wet braking in meters (100 - 0 km/h) (Lower is better)
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
50.90 M
Continental WinterContact TS 860
54.30 M
Michelin Alpin 6
54.40 M
Hankook Winter i cept RS2
55.10 M
Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
55.40 M
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
55.40 M
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
55.50 M
Pirelli Cinturato Winter
56.90 M
Falken Eurowinter HS01
57.10 M
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
58.20 M
Goodride SW608
58.60 M
Nexen Winguard Snow G3
59.10 M
Toyo Snowprox S954
61.50 M
King Meiler Winter Tact WT81
67.30 M
Subjective wet handling had a similar order to wet braking, highlighting the advantage of having grip when driving quickly...
Subj. Wet Handling
Subjective Wet Handling Score (Higher is better)
Continental WinterContact TS 860
10.00 Points
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
9.00 Points
Michelin Alpin 6
8.00 Points
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
6.00 Points
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
5.00 Points
Hankook Winter i cept RS2
5.00 Points
Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
5.00 Points
Pirelli Cinturato Winter
4.00 Points
Falken Eurowinter HS01
3.00 Points
Goodride SW608
2.00 Points
Nexen Winguard Snow G3
2.00 Points
King Meiler Winter Tact WT81
1.00 Points
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
1.00 Points
Toyo Snowprox S954
1.00 Points
Hankook and Bridgestone scored best during the aquaplaning testing, which is even more impressive when you consider the braking performance of the tyres.
Straight Aqua
Float Speed in Km/H (Higher is better)
Hankook Winter i cept RS2
85.20 Km/H
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
82.80 Km/H
Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
82.30 Km/H
Pirelli Cinturato Winter
82.00 Km/H
Continental WinterContact TS 860
80.20 Km/H
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
79.90 Km/H
Falken Eurowinter HS01
79.30 Km/H
Toyo Snowprox S954
77.20 Km/H
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
76.70 Km/H
Michelin Alpin 6
76.50 Km/H
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
75.00 Km/H
Nexen Winguard Snow G3
71.80 Km/H
Goodride SW608
71.10 Km/H
King Meiler Winter Tact WT81
67.10 Km/H
Snow
While the Fulda tyre struggled in the dry and wet, it was impressive during snow braking, finishing joint top with the aging Dunlop WinterSport 5.
Snow Braking
Snow braking in meters (50 - 0 km/h) (Lower is better)
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
25.70 M
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
25.70 M
Continental WinterContact TS 860
25.90 M
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
26.00 M
Hankook Winter i cept RS2
26.00 M
Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
26.10 M
Goodride SW608
26.10 M
Michelin Alpin 6
26.20 M
Pirelli Cinturato Winter
26.30 M
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
26.50 M
Nexen Winguard Snow G3
26.50 M
Falken Eurowinter HS01
26.50 M
King Meiler Winter Tact WT81
27.00 M
Toyo Snowprox S954
27.30 M
Bridgestone rounded out its impressive performance by scoring the best during subjective snow handling.
Subj. Snow Handling
Subjective Snow Handling Score (Higher is better)
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
10.00 Points
Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
9.00 Points
Continental WinterContact TS 860
9.00 Points
Pirelli Cinturato Winter
8.00 Points
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
8.00 Points
Michelin Alpin 6
7.00 Points
Hankook Winter i cept RS2
6.00 Points
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
5.00 Points
Falken Eurowinter HS01
4.00 Points
Nexen Winguard Snow G3
3.00 Points
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
2.00 Points
Goodride SW608
2.00 Points
King Meiler Winter Tact WT81
1.00 Points
Toyo Snowprox S954
1.00 Points
The snow traction test was won by Goodyear.
Snow Traction
Pulling Force in Newtons (Higher is better)
Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
2193.00 N
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
2175.00 N
Hankook Winter i cept RS2
2171.00 N
Pirelli Cinturato Winter
2170.00 N
Michelin Alpin 6
2152.00 N
Continental WinterContact TS 860
2146.00 N
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
2144.00 N
Nexen Winguard Snow G3
2138.00 N
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
2132.00 N
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
2123.00 N
King Meiler Winter Tact WT81
2087.00 N
Falken Eurowinter HS01
2078.00 N
Toyo Snowprox S954
2067.00 N
Goodride SW608
2039.00 N
Environment
The snow expert Fulda had the lowest rolling resistance on test.
Rolling Resistance
Rolling resistance in kg t (Lower is better)
Fulda Kristall Control HP2
8.06 kg / t
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
8.17 kg / t
Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus
8.26 kg / t
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
8.40 kg / t
Continental WinterContact TS 860
8.47 kg / t
Michelin Alpin 6
8.48 kg / t
Goodride SW608
8.74 kg / t
Nexen Winguard Snow G3
8.81 kg / t
Pirelli Cinturato Winter
8.88 kg / t
Hankook Winter i cept RS2
9.12 kg / t
Falken Eurowinter HS01
9.21 kg / t
King Meiler Winter Tact WT81
9.22 kg / t
Toyo Snowprox S954
9.41 kg / t
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
9.42 kg / t
The best tyres on test overall are also some of the best during subjective comfort testing.