Minerva Frostrack HP review
The Minerva is cheap to buy, but there's a reason for this
We include a randomly chosen budget offering to show what level of performance you get if you plump for an unfamiliar brand with a low price.
This year it was the Minerva Frostrack HP, and the results were predictably disappointing: it was dead last in all the snow tests and all the wet tests. In short, in all the most important tests of a winter tyre it was the worst.
The fact that it was joint quickest in dry handling shows its priorities are wrong. It was more competent on snow than the summer tyre we included for contrast – but that’s a low bar.
Even more concerning was the Minerva’s wet performance, which is one of the worst we’ve seen. In the key straight- line wet-braking test, the Minerva took 39.5m to stop – 6.5m more than the best – while around the wet circuit it was almost eight seconds a lap slower and felt terrible. Worse, its aquaplaning was extremely poor.
The Minerva was one of the least economical contenders, too, but the real kicker is that it’s not the cheapest; the Maxxis is less expensive, and the Linglong is almost the same price. Both deliver
Blackcircles.com says…
“The worst-performing tyre in all the most important tests of a winter product. Pay a little more and get real value for money.”
| Minerva Frostrack HP | ||
| Overall | 93% | |
| Price | £89 | |
| Snow braking | 93.3% | 11th |
| Snow traction | 88.9% | 11th |
| Snow handling | 93.5% | 11th |
| Straight aquaplaning | 78.5% | 11th |
| Curved aquaplaning | 52.6% | 11th |
| Wet braking | 83.5% | 11th |
| Wet handling | 91.6% | 11th |
| Wet circle | 92.9% | 11th |
| Dry braking | 97.7% | 3rd |
| Dry handling | 100 | =1st |
| Cabin noise | 99.7% | =5th |
| Rolling resistance | 83.5% | 9th |
