Swapped back to 16" 205/55R16 Continental WinterContact TS830s, from the 17" 225/45R17 Bridgestone Potenzas S001s I run in the summer.

Now the temperature is consistently below 7 degrees C, and often wet, at morning & evening commute times, these Conti's really live up to the reputation they have earned in the independent tests. They feel noticeably more secure on cold damp roads than the wider summer Potenzas, and the taller side-wall of the 16" helps helps with the winter pot holes. Conti's own test video suggests a 7m shorter stopping distance in the wet over an equivilent Conti summer tyre.

Snow, slush and resulting standing water all taken in the tyres' stride which is incredibly reassuring. Given that the Potenza is clearly a "focused" performance tyre, the narrower softer compound winter Conti could be forgiven for feelin "woolly" in comparison... ....but it doesn't at these temperatures.

Highly suited to the Audi A3 in southern UK winter temperatures/conditions. I believe the TS830 has now been superseded by the TS830P and TS850, both of which continue to top independent tests. Swapping to smaller 16" rubber November to March also saves tread wear on the more expensive 17" summer tyres!

Had these tires fitted for just over 1k Miles,
I do a 100 mile a day commute mostly A road and motorway at high speeds.
As soon as the roads begin to get a little moist I have to slow it right down on vends and roundabouts with my Factory fitted Goodyear runflats.
I purchased a new set of Alloys and these tires for a great price as the weather has just started to turn. All I can say is, what a difference to the car, it’s almost as easy to drive the car on the motorway in a storm as it is in the sunshine. The car is stable giving lots of feeling and basically moves the standing water out of the way, it is amazing. The car sticks on roundabouts etc, really really gives me so much confidence, which I never had before with the big Beemer. In the dry when the temps is over 10 degrees ( I have put them on slightly early) the car feels slightly wobbly and less firm, as these are not runflats and are obviously softer.
I can forgive this for the amount of confidence I get in the bad weather.
Actually hope it rains and freezes now when I wake up just to be amazed yet again.
Just as a suggestion, UK drivers, wether you choose these tires or not or are considering winter tires. Don’t delay get them fitted they will literally transform your bad weather driving experience for the better.

Great tyres; have had 205/55/16 before for about 30k miles and now 195/65/15 for last 2 winters (10k miles).

Excellent price to quality ratio - will buy again and recommended to everyone:)

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These tyres have enabled me to drive in conditions that would otherwise have been impossible, excellent in snow and wet (even passable with care on sheet ice). I now look forward to putting them back on each autumn, as they feel better (even in warmer spells in spring and autumn) than the summer tyres ever do.
I am seriously considering keeping them on all year, the car just seems right with these on.

Having had these tyres on my Mondeo Ghia X 2.2Ltr Estate for three winters and two SUMMERS one in southern Italy carrying five large tool boxes in the rear and a heavily laden roof box towing a 1350Kg caravan through the Alps twice a year in WINTER these tyres are SUPERB. Now replaced all four because the front O/S tyre has worn down to legal limit and no longer driving through the Alps. Rear tyres are at 6mm depth and N/S is at 3mm. I have kept the removed tyres will be replacing worn tyres and placing on a set of rims and fitting back on the vehicle come winter time. A SUPERB and SAFE tyre.

The best winter tyre i ever had. Dry and wet grip is amazing (had no problems even at +15C), snow and ice - very good (as for non-arctic tyre). Very comfy and quiet. After 17k miles 5 mm of protector left.
Will not buy again only because want TS850)))
The best tyre for soft winter, imho.

I bought these tyres as I wanted to start driving regularly in the alps to go snowboarding as I now live in France. I admittedly don't drive very fast but these tyres were amazing. I drove several times into the alps even when 50cm of snow had fallen (the 2011/2012 season had huge snow falls in December and January), and had zero problems driving even the tiniest mountain roads at 2000m. I passed several fancy looking cars who had crashed into ditches but with my average car (A Vauxhall Astra SXI) and these tyres, both my girlfriend who is a very nervous driver even in the summer and I were totally confident. I can't wait to put them back on again in December.

I have now had these for 3 winters (admittedly in the south of the UK not really a true winter the last one). After owning a long succession of cars inc 4x4s, I can safely say that changing over to these for the winter was the best thing I did to ensure continued ability to move around in deep snow and ice.

My Audi has 17" low profiles on alloys as standard, but I switched to 15" steels so I could keep these tyres on the rims and just change the lot over for winter/summer.

During the winter of 2010/2011 we travelled some fairly inhospitable roads in the depth of the Cotswolds in minus 10 degrees. These tyres took us only places a tractor could get. We were easily able to ascend hills where residents had all parked their fashionable 4x4s at the bottom. Braking and steering was very confident and I would commend to anyone, forget buying a 4x4 for the winter, just stick a set of these on your regular car and go places those X5s etc can't get to!

Top marks from me.

Great tyre - much quieter than the G'year Efficient Grip they replaced.
Even the wife noticed much better response on cold/wet road!
Looking forward to some snow and ice now!

The best winter tire I ever had! Great on ever surface! Mercedes w210, RWD.

Bought these tyres for an old Passat and a Golf mk6 Estate, I live in the Yorkshire Dales, they did the job, worth the money for the ability to stop alone, my street is untreated in the winter and is a 1:6 gradient, I can now get home without using the shovel, they are a little noisier than the summer tyres, but not uncomfortably so.

We still managed to get 77mpg on a run to London (also used the empty outside lane on the M62 covered in three inches of fresh snow) so they don't effect the rolling resistance to badly either.

I got these tyres fitted to my Polo 1.9TDi at the beginning of Dec 2010. I have to say that they were brilliant in the snow. Starting and stopping on compacted snow and ice was excellent. I felt very safe in the car and could even go where 4x4 drivers thought they had the edge. Going uphill was a cinch even from a standing start. I was sad to see the snow go as I just loved to drive in it with these fitted to my car.
Would thoroughly recommend that people use these tyres in true wintry conditions.
One *slight* issue I found was that occasionally they would not give an even response when accelerating / decelerating on uneven road surfaces in ordinary non-snowy dry / wet conditions.

Great winter tyres. Fitted them to my wife's car and she stopped being nervous of the snow almost overnight...it transformed the handling in freezing, icy and snowy conditions.

Very firm on the road, and still handling well even now the weather has warmed slightly (although due for swapping off next week).

I also tried the Alpin A4, which were very good too, although these had the edge. Very impressed indeed.

Despite this being the first time with winter tyres, I can't see me ever going another winter on normal tyres ever again!

These are extraordinary tyres. I stuck them on my A6 Quattro at the beginning of the snowy weather in Southern England. The change in grip was simply astonishing. I could almost drive completely normally in snowy/icy conditions with virtually no loss of grip. Driving up steep hills covered in snow was not a problem, much to the amazement of other road users who thought I had snow chains on.

As the weather warms up the car is starting to lose its tight grip on the road, but that is to be expected. About to swap for summer tyres (lets hope the snow stays away - you never know).

Bring on next winter - these seem to be able to handle anything the British weather can throw at them - a joy to drive on!

Very good winter tyre, traction they provide in snow is just amazing.
Would buy them again definitely. Also, I recommend them to everyone. They are a bit pricier, but they are worth every penny.