2014 AutoBild 235/35 R19 Winter Tire Test

6 Ultra High Performance Winter tires tested in 235/35 R19 | Published November 6th, 2014 by Jonathan Benson

Test Summary
Wet Braking	Nokian WR A3
Dry Braking	Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
Wet Handling	Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
Rolling Resistance	Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
Noise	Michelin Pilot Alpin 4
Snow Handling	Star Performer SPTS AS

Winter tires can be a problem in the UK. Mainland Europe are very good at putting smaller wheels and tires on, but in the UK where even the most modest town hatchback is being fitted with 17 or 18 inch wheels as standard, and performance car now being fitted with 19 or even 20 inch wheels, finding a test covering larger winter wheel sizes can be difficult.

Fortunately Auto Bild Sportscars is there to offer us some guidance for the 2014 season, and have tested 235/35 R19 winter tires on a BMW M135i. Sadly, they only managed to find six patterns to test, compared to fifty in their 205/55 R16 tests, but it gives us a good indication of what winter tires are like in larger sizes.

The Results

As usual, Auto Bild have weighted snow as the most important performance quality of the winter tire, but for the UK climate this isn't always the case. For example, the fifth place Nokian is the best tire in the dry, excellent wet performance and will still be many times better than any summer tire in the snow, which makes it particularly well suited to the UK. As always, it's best to read the full results, rather than just looking at the overall positions.

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

1st: Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
235/35 R19 3PMSF: no	Total: 41 Dry: 6 Wet: 7 Snow: 9 Comfort: 5 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 6 The winter king with superb handling on snow and wet roads. Precise steering with good feedback. Excellent aquaplaning performance and low rolling resistance None mentioned Exemplary Read Reviews Buy from £240.99
2nd: Michelin Pilot Alpin 4
235/35 R19 3PMSF: no	Total: 39 Dry: 6 Wet: 7 Snow: 8 Comfort: 6 Rolling Resistance: 7 Noise: 5 Sporty winter tire with balance performance and a high level of steering response, good traction and stable cornering on now. Short braking distances in all conditions, good ride comfort, low rolling resistance None mentioned Exemplary Read Reviews
3rd: Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
235/35 R19 3PMSF: no	Total: 38 Dry: 6 Wet: 8 Snow: 6 Comfort: 5 Rolling Resistance: 7 Noise: 6 Impressive winter tire with exemplary performance in the wet. Excellent wet and dry handling with precise steering response and cornering stability. Short braking distances on snow and wet roads. Low rolling resistance None mentioned Exemplary Read Reviews
4th: Vredestein Wintrac xtreme S
235/35 R19 3PMSF: no	Total: 36 Dry: 5 Wet: 6 Snow: 7 Comfort: 5 Rolling Resistance: 7 Noise: 6 Balance safe driving in all weather conditions, good traction and corning on snow, low rolling resistance Long braking distances in the dry, average aquaplaning qualities Good Read Reviews
5th: Nokian WR A3
235/35 R19 3PMSF: no	Total: 34 Dry: 7 Wet: 6 Snow: 4 Comfort: 5 Rolling Resistance: 6 Noise: 6 Dry specialist, with sporty dynamic handing on wet and dry roads. Short dry braking distances Limited winter qualities with understeer and long braking distances on snow Satisfactory Read Reviews
6th: Star Performer SPTS AS
235/35 R19 3PMSF: no	Total: 26 Dry: 4 Wet: 2 Snow: 6 Comfort: 3 Rolling Resistance: 4 Noise: 7 Balance safe driving on snow, quiet High levels of understeer on wet and dry roads, dangerous long wet braking distance, high rolling resistance Not Recommended Read Reviews