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Winter tyre reviews: results by category

It’s a hat-trick of wins for Continental, but this is the breakdown of each test’s results

Our budget tyre, the Goodride, was well off the pace in almost every category. As you’d hope, it would be better than a summer tyre in the snow, but that’s all. 

The sixth-placed Falken is a better tyre, scoring reasonably in the dry but needing to deliver more in the wet and the snow. Same goes for the Vredestein, which has improved in the snow, but at the expense of wet and dry performance. Pirelli finished fourth, as it did last time out, but it was also one of the least economical tyres in this year’s test. 

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The top three were all outstanding; the third-placed Hankook’s strongest suit was snow, with good wet and average dry performance. 

However, the Goodyear scored highly and consistently in all conditions, and was frugal and quiet, making it an excellent winter tyre. Mind you, the Continental was even stronger and takes its third win on the trot. It’s an exceptional tyre.

Winner

Continental WinterContact TS 870

 Continental WinterContact TS 870

Topping the table in tests in all conditions – snow, wet and dry – the WinterContact TS 870 wins for the second time. It handles securely on all surfaces and is refined and reasonably economical too, all of which adds up to an exceptional winter tyre. 

Results

Overall

1stContinental100%
2ndGoodyear99.6%
3rdHankook99.2%
4thPirelli98.6%
5thVredestein97.8%
6thFalken97.5%
7thGoodride95%
ASGoodyear100.2%
SUMContinental95.3%

Price

1stGoodride£76
2ndHankook£109
3rdGoodyear£111
4thFalken£115
5thVredestein£123
6thPirelli£125
7thContinental£129
ASGoodyear£101
SUMContinental£119

Snow braking

1stContinental100%
2ndHankook99.2%
3rdGoodyear98.9%
4thVredestein96.3%
5thPirelli94.8%
6thGoodride92.4%
7thFalken90.1%
ASGoodyear95.2%
SUMContinental37.0%

Snow traction

1stContinental100%
2ndGoodyear99.1%
3rdHankook98.0%
4thVredestein97.4%
5thPirelli96.3%
6thGoodride94.4%
7thFalken92.3%
ASGoodyear94.1%
SUMContinental29.9%

Snow handling

1stHankook100%
2ndGoodyear99.9%
3rdContinental99.7%
4thPirelli99.5%
5thVredestein99.2%
6thFalken96.5%
7thGoodride96.2%
ASGoodyear97.9%
SUMContinental68.3%

Straight aquaplaning

1stHankook100%
2ndContinental92.0%
3rdGoodyear89.1%
4thPirelli87.4%
5thVredestein87.0%
6thFalken86.8%
7thGoodride82.8%
ASGoodyear85.9%
SUMContinental86.6%

Curved aquaplaning

1stHankook100%
2ndGoodyear99.9%
3rdContinental99.7%
4thPirelli99.5%
5thVredestein99.2%
6thFalken96.5%
7thGoodride96.2%
ASGoodyear97.9%
SUMContinental68.3%

Wet braking

1stContinental100%
2ndGoodyear98.4%
3rdPirelli98.1%
4thHankook96.9%
=5thVredestein96.3%
=5thFalken96.3%
7thGoodride88.6%
ASGoodyear105.0%
SUMContinental116.9%

Wet handling

1stContinental100%
2ndPirelli99.5%
3rdGoodyear99.3%
4thHankook98.5%
=5thVredestein98.2%
=5thFalken98.2%
7thGoodride95.8%
ASGoodyear101.0%
SUMContinental102.8%

Wet circle

1stContinental100%
2ndGoodyear97.8%
3rdHankook97.7%
4thFalken97.5%
=5thPirelli97.3%
=5thVredestein97.3%
7thGoodride94.7%
ASGoodyear99.4%
SUMContinental104.2%

Dry braking

1stFalken100%
2ndGoodyear97.7%
3rdContinental97.1%
=4thPirelli96.8%
=4thVredestein96.8%
6thHankook94.7%
7thGoodride93.7%
ASGoodyear100.2%
SUMContinental121.5%

Dry handling

1stContinental100%
=2ndGoodyear99.6%
=2ndPirelli99.6%
4thFalken99.3%
5thHankook99.1%
=6thVredestein95.2%
=6thGoodride95.2%
ASGoodyear100.5%
SUMContinental102.6%

Cabin noise

1stGoodyear100%
2ndContinental99.3%
3rdPirelli99.1%
>4thFalken99.0%
>4thHankook99.0%
>4thGoodride99.0%
7thVredestein98.5%
ASGoodyear99.3%
SUMContinental98.4%

Rolling resistance

1stGoodyear100%
2ndHankook98.3%
3rdVredestein97.9%
4thContinental97.8%
5thGoodride93.9%
6thPirelli92.4%
7thFalken91.6%
ASGoodyear97.4%
SUMContinental95.9%
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