Should you be thinking about fitting winter tyres? Absolutely. Although there was little in the way of snow last year, the improved performance they offer in typical British winter temperatures makes them hard to ignore.
Winter tyres use a softer rubber compound than summer tyres, and as a result more of the tyre's surface tends to be in contact with the road at any one time. They also have more intricate tread patterns and deeper grooves, helping disperse water, snow and slush.
Met Office figures for last winter show that minimum temperatures for much of the UK from November to March were well below the seven degrees Celsius where winter tyres are the safest option.
And manufacturers have never been in a better position to meet demand, with new tyres and stocks arriving in the UK, plus tyre hotels to store your unused tyres. So which is the one for you this winter?
We put eight winter tyres in the big-selling 205/55R16 size to the test to find out. We didn’t include all season tyres, as these don’t offer the same comprehensive safety benefits as winter tyres, but a summer tyre was tested alongside the winter designs to show just how much it struggles in cold conditions.
All tests were conducted by Auto Express drivers or road tester John Barker from our sister magazine evo, apart from those that required specialist equipment or skills.
To ensure the test is as real-world as possible, we braved the sub-zero temperatures at Continental’s frozen lake and snow handling Skanska track in Arvidsjaur, Sweden, before taking our tyres to the Contidrom near Hanover, Germany, for the wet and dry road assessments.
Drivers all want different things from a tyre, so we try to ensure each test counts the same towards the overall result. We add up the percentage scores from each one, then weight them according to the performance gap. So a test like aquaplaning, where the difference between best and worst can be 40 per cent, has the same impact as one with close results (dry handling or cabin noise). The exception is price, which plays a small role in the final order.
To make things simple, the winner of each test is scored at 100 per cent. We then rank the other tyres relative to this, so each tyre gets a percentage score of its own.
| Tyre | Ratings |
| Continental ContiWinterContact TS 850 | (FE) C, (WG) C, (N) 72 |
| Dunlop SP Winter Sport 4D | (FE) E, (WG) C, (N) 68 |
| Goodyear UltraGrip 8 | (FE) E, (WG) C, (N) 69 |
| Linglong Winter-Hero Radial 650 | (FE) E, (WG) E, (N) 71 |
| Michelin Alpin A4 | (FE) E, (WG) C, (N) 70 |
| Nokian WR D3 | (FE) C, (WG) C, (N) 72 |
| Pirelli Snowcontrol Serie 3 W210 | (FE) E, (WG) B, (N) 72 |
| Vredestein Snowtrac 3 | (FE) E, (WG) E, (N) 68 |
| Continental ContiPremiumContact 2 (Summer) | (FE) E, (WG) B, (N) 71 |
All the winter tyres are H speed rated (up to 130mph). The summer is V rated (up to 150mph). Label ratings measure fuel efficiency (FE), wet grip (WG) – rated from A (best) to G (worst) – and pass-by noise (N) in decibels (the lower the better).
To find out how we tested each tyre, click to page two.
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Wow what a surprise - Continental tyres win a test performed on two Continental test grounds, not exactly 'real-world never mind independent.
Simon, if you read other tyre tests you will see Conti do not always come top when they have provided the test venue. Further, the scores are pretty close and Conti are not clear winners. As to actual experience, I have two sets of winter tyres, both Conti Winter Contact. In snow they proved themselves to be incredibly effective. But it is on wet, cold, muddy and un-gritted lanes that they, and I should think other winter tyre brands, really score. If you live in rural Britain where cuts see gritting restricted to bus routes and major roads, winter tyres are really worth considering. You still have to drive sensibly, but I know my Contis have stopped me sliding into a ditch at least once. Some summer tyres are quite good in winter, but the H rated Michelin Energy tyres on my Golf just let go once too often in 2009/10 for me to ever trust them in poor conditions.
I put a set of Goodyear UltraGrip on my BMW 330D last year, and it felt like I was driving on a normal road when it was snowing and icy. It's the first time I have purposely driven in to fresh snow :-)
I tried to post a comment about why all of a sudden aren't 'All Season' tyres worth testing, when last years review was saying how great they were. It didn't get past the moderators.
Now after researching I can see that Continental don't manufacture an all season tyre. So it looks like this 'journalism' is far from being objective.
There are plenty of proper tyre tests that show that the Vredestein and Hankook perform better than many of the all season tyres in cold dry and wet conditions and still acceptable in the snow. So why would you choose a winter tyre that is only better in the 1% or 2% of days every year that actually has snow on the ground?
Hi Andy, Your previous comment got stuck in our filter (it's not a huge fan of links in comments, so will occasionally throw a bit of a wobbly). But it has been approved and on the site for a couple of hours.
Your page could have cached, which means you might not see it for a while, but it is here: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/w...
Thanks,Auto Express
why did they use the nokian wr d3 which a all season tyre and not the wr a3 which is a winter tyre ????
The choice of summer tyre for comparison seems a bit strange. I found this Conti tyre won the 2009 tyre test. Surely tyre designs have progressed significantly since then and especially for this year with the rating system prompting manufacturers to resdesign when they were lacking. Perhaps this years summer tyre test winner would have been a better reference than a 'best seller'.
You say your test focuses on what drivers are most concerned about – interior noise, of which I feel no other consideration matters, and that you say this is not to be confused by the tyre Db rating on the label.
Something I too have read on tyre makers web sites.
However it's interesting, having checked out your top 3 best tyres' makers web sites, that your tests cabin noise ratings collate exactly with the tyre label info for noise:
Goodyear Ultragrip 8 69db
Michelin Alpin A4 70db
Pirelli Snowcontrol Serie 3 72db
So this seems to confirm that drive by noise level does indicate interior noise level. Maybe AE could do a summer tyre test taking this into consideration.
Also as the human ear can only detect a difference of 3db+ then the Goodyear would be the clear winner over the Pirelli, for example, if one is looking for the quietest winter tyre.
I've got Nokian WR A3 on my '06 C-Class - they have performed faultlssly in cold, wet, snow, slush and warmer dry & wet conditions, especially braking.
However, upon receipt, I noted the sidewalls are marked "All-Season Plus" - will leave them on now and see how they fare!
The only reason we are being advised to purchase winter tyres is that it offers the tyre industry an opportunity to increase their profits by 100%. It's in their interest to convince us all that we need two sets of tyres, rather than one. I'm a driving instructor, have 30 years experience, and live in Scotland. I have never encountered a situation which made me wish I had winter tyres fitted. Instead of wasting money on winter tyres, just drive according to the weather conditions, and you'll have no problems.
Putting winter tyres on hasn't increased my costs much, just the cost of swapping them over. The upfront purchase of an extra set is recouped in the second year, as tyre wear is spread out over all 8 tyres.
I've had them fitted for the last 3 years, and I've never regretted it. Low temperature performance is noticeably improved, and the car handles more predictably in snow, slush, and water on main roads, pulls away better, and stops quicker.
I fitted a set of Conti Winter Contacts, and whist they were pretty good at braking in the snow, I noticed a distinct reduction in wet road grip, both traction, and cornering, (wheelspin, and understeer), fortunately I haven't had to try wet braking yet, and I'm not looking foward to it !