2012 Auto Express Winter Tire Test

8 Premium Touring Winter tires tested in 205/55 R16 | Published October 25th, 2012 by Jonathan Benson

Usually we summarise an overview of any tire test we publish, but Auto Expresses new website is so good we're just going to send you there for the full details of the test. Full Test

Here's the low down on the results if you don't fancy reading the full test:

Click here to view Results as a single table and adjust the score weighting based on your own driving needs!

1st: Continental WinterContact TS 850
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 1085.4 Dry: 199.7 Wet: 388.4 Snow: 398.6 Noise: 98.7 Strong in every category, winning the wet braking, wet handling, dry braking and snow traction tests. A very special winter tire Higher cabin noise than some of the other leading winter tires Read Reviews
2nd: Goodyear UltraGrip 8
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 1079.4 Dry: 196.7 Wet: 394.7 Snow: 388 Noise: 100 Best aquaplaning result, fastest in the dry, good snow performance and a strong wet lap time Slightly high rolling resistance Read Reviews
3rd: Dunlop SP WinterSport 4D
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 1066.6 Dry: 198.4 Wet: 370.2 Snow: 399.2 Noise: 98.8 Best snow braking and handling, second fastest in dry handling Average noise and aquaplaning resistance scores Read Reviews Buy from £109.48
4th: Michelin Alpin A4
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 1057.1 Dry: 197.4 Wet: 370.1 Snow: 389.6 Noise: 100 Strong snow handling, joint quietest tire on test and good wet and dry braking and handling Poor aquaplaning results and average snow braking Read Reviews
4th: Nokian WR D3
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 1050.3 Dry: 198.8 Wet: 373.9 Snow: 379 Noise: 98.6 Very strong aquaplaning resistance, keen pricing, good dry performance and good wet handling Last in the snow tests by a small margin Read Reviews
6th: Vredestein Snowtrac 3
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 1053.9 Dry: 197.6 Wet: 371.9 Snow: 385.8 Noise: 98.6 Good snow braking, strong resistance to aquaplaning and dynamic in the dry Struggled in snow traction and wet braking and handling. High rolling resistance Read Reviews
7th: Pirelli Winter Snow Control Series 3
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 1030.3 Dry: 196.4 Wet: 352.6 Snow: 382 Noise: 99.3 Nice progressive slide on wet handling, second place in wet braking and good noise and rolling resistance Not quite as strong in the snow as the leaders, weak aquaplaning results Read Reviews
8th: Linglong Winter Hero Radial 650
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 956.5 Dry: 193.1 Wet: 281.9 Snow: 382.5 Noise: 99 Most economical tire Extremely poor performances in every wet and dry test. When the Continental had stopped the car in the wet braking test, you'd still be doing 24mph on the LingLong Read Reviews