2016 AutoBild 4x4 Winter Tire Test

8 Premium Touring Winter tires tested in 255/55 R18 | Published November 2nd, 2016 by Jonathan Benson

Test Summary
Wet Braking	Goodyear UltraGrip Performance SUV Gen 1 Continental Winter Contact TS 850 P SUV Dunlop Winter Sport 5 SUV Pirelli Scorpion Winter Hankook Winter i cept evo2 SUV
Dry Braking	Goodyear UltraGrip Performance SUV Gen 1
Wet Handling	Continental Winter Contact TS 850 P SUV Dunlop Winter Sport 5 SUV Pirelli Scorpion Winter Michelin Latitude Alpin 2
Rolling Resistance	Goodyear UltraGrip Performance SUV Gen 1 Nokian WR SUV 3
Noise	Goodyear UltraGrip Performance SUV Gen 1 Continental Winter Contact TS 850 P SUV
Snow Handling	Michelin Latitude Alpin 2

While the four wheel drive systems and extra weight of large SUVs can give you a traction advantage in snow and ice over "normal" cars, you have roughly the same braking and turning ability as any other car on the road, which makes winter tires a sensible option for anyone with an SUV requiring safe, year round motoring.

This year, Auto Bild have tested eight winter tire patterns in 255/55 R18 using a BMW X5 in Northern Finland, across the usual array of dry, wet and snow tests, all while looking at the tires comfort, rolling resistance and noise levels.

Results

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

1st: Goodyear UltraGrip Performance SUV Gen 1
255/55 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 43 Dry: 6 Wet: 9 Snow: 6 Comfort: 8 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 6 Good in the snow, excellent wet traction, short braking distances in the wet and dry, good comfort, low rolling resistance. Expensive, average snow braking Read Reviews
2nd: Continental Winter Contact TS 850 P SUV
255/55 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 41 Dry: 6 Wet: 7 Snow: 7 Comfort: 8 Rolling Resistance: 7 Noise: 6 Very good on snow, excellent wet grip, good dry handling, good comfort High Price, longer dry braking when compared to the best Read Reviews
3rd: Dunlop Winter Sport 5 SUV
255/55 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 40 Dry: 6 Wet: 7 Snow: 7 Comfort: 7 Rolling Resistance: 7 Noise: 6 Very good on snow, excellent wet grip with short wet braking, low rolling resistance Expensive, average aquaplaning scores Read Reviews Buy from £156.67
4th: Pirelli Scorpion Winter
255/55 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 40 Dry: 6 Wet: 6 Snow: 7 Comfort: 7 Rolling Resistance: 7 Noise: 7 Good in the snow, good comfort, low rolling resistance, low noise Poor aquaplaning results Read Reviews Buy from £224.78
5th: Michelin Latitude Alpin 2
255/55 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 36 Dry: 5 Wet: 6 Snow: 7 Comfort: 6 Rolling Resistance: 4 Noise: 8 Very good in the snow, quiet, good aquaplaning result High rolling resistance, average wet grip, long stopping distances, expensive Read Reviews
6th: Hankook Winter i cept evo2 SUV
255/55 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 33 Dry: 6 Wet: 6 Snow: 6 Comfort: 5 Rolling Resistance: 4 Noise: 6 Good on snow, very good aquaplaning resistance results, low price High rolling resistance, high levels of noise, poor ride quality Read Reviews
7th: Nokian WR SUV 3
255/55 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 36 Dry: 5 Wet: 6 Snow: 4 Comfort: 7 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 6 Low rolling resistance, good levels of comfort, short braking distances on dry roads, good aquaplaning results Average grip in snow, average cornering grip in the wet and dry Read Reviews
8th: Gripmax Stature MS
255/55 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 26 Dry: 5 Wet: 1 Snow: 5 Comfort: 4 Rolling Resistance: 6 Noise: 5 Very low price, excellent snow traction Average cornering in the dry, very low wet grip, extremely long wet braking distances, low aquaplaning resistance, high noise Read Reviews