It's hard to understate how much better a winter tyre is on snow than a summer tyre. One tester got a stark reminder this year when driving away from the garage unaware his car had summer tyres fitted, and slid into a snow bank.
Summer tyres offer around a third of the grip, so a routine trip to the frozen lake had to be done at walking pace. If every driver could appreciate the safety benefits and fitted winter tyres, the UK wouldn’t grind to a halt whenever it snows.
One white-knuckle ride lap is all we dared risk in the ContiPremiumContact 2 – our -22.1 per cent braking score shows how far this tyre trailed in the snow. But crucially for UK drivers, it was behind in the wet test tests, too.
The tyre matched our winter winner in wet handling, yet felt much edgier. And this was at warmer temperatures than most British winters. It was also noisier and less efficient. Its only real advantage was in the dry handling and braking tests.
| Rating | |
| Snow braking | -22.1% |
| Snow traction | 42.4% |
| Snow slalom | 35.8% |
| Snow handling | 49.7% |
| Straight aqua | 94.9% |
| Curved aqua | 88.1% |
| Wet braking | 94.7% |
| Wet handling | 100.6% |
| Dry braking | 114.9% |
| Dry handling | 102% |
| Cabin noise | 98.1% |
| Rolling resistance | 86.6% |
| Price | £64.33 |
| Overall | 76.5% |
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To be honest, the UK does not officially have a summer so there is not much benefit in having a 4 season tyre. Have a read of autobild for all season tyres, they normally come last in summer tests and winter tests, so they are all-round mediocre. If you want a tyre for all-year around, just pick one of these winter ones
I agree with the assessment. I live in Vienna, Austria, and drive a BMW 320D. I can really recommend Coninental wintercontact tyres. I have TS810S. They are superb.
I drive to work in Liverpool from Manchseter every day (7am & 4pm). The temp at travel times is below 7degC for at least 6months of the year. The M62 is notorius for heavy surface water; croswinds and being unlit!
I've used Vredestein Quatrac 3 for the past 4 years (been doing journey for more than 16!) and can honestly say they are far better than standard summer tyres both in heavy surface water and slush. Difference in summer with standard tyres is less obvious - but they do wear out faster by about 6 months - I would rather feel safer and be alive rather than worry about the cost.
Went to Tignes (driving our Citroen C4 Picasso) this Feb and on the steep road up to the resort, (they had had 15cm snow in the early morning and there was full pack on the road) everyone was stopped by Gendarmes and made to put on snow chains or checked for winter tyres - mant cars/buses had already ground to a halt on the road. My Quatracs were checked and passed by the Gendarmes and I carries on without any traction/braking problems the next 8 miles right to the end of the 'road' in Val Claret. All-season tyres do work and are worth it.
Note: the 4-wheel drive Cayenne in front of me before the inspection was all over the road - sliding and spinning - clearly summer/motorway tyres.
It should also be noted that few local people have 4-wheel drives or use chains - they seem to get about quite happily on winter tyres