2016 AutoBild Winter Tire Test

Test Summary
Wet Braking	Continental WinterContact TS 860 Vredestein Snowtrac 5 Mabor Winter Jet 2 Fulda Kristall Control HP Hankook Winter i cept RS2 Semperit Speed Grip 2 Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Michelin Alpin 5
Dry Braking	Continental WinterContact TS 860
Wet Handling	Michelin Alpin 5 Dunlop Winter Sport 5 Uniroyal MS Plus 77
Rolling Resistance	Continental WinterContact TS 860 Dunlop Winter Sport 5
Noise	General Altimax Winter Plus
Snow Braking	Continental WinterContact TS 860
Snow Handling	Continental WinterContact TS 860 Michelin Alpin 5 BFGoodrich gForce Winter Falken Eurowinter HS449 Pirelli Cinturato Winter Hankook Winter i cept RS2
Ice Braking	Kleber Krisalp HP2 General Altimax Winter Plus Mabor Winter Jet 2 Falken Eurowinter HS449 Barum Polaris 3

Each year, the German automotive publication Autobild trump all the other European magazines by putting out a huge winter tire test, and this year is no different.

Starting out with fifty tire patterns, Autobild tested all the tires wet braking performance. Once the wet braking order was set, Autobild took the twenty seven patterns which stopped the car within 20% of the best through to snow braking, then the top twenty wet and snow braking results combined to this, the full tire test.

The top twenty tires 205/55 R16 tires were tested over a number of days using a VW Golf, and went through the usual dry, wet, snow, comfort, noise and fuel economy tests. Autobild also tested wear, which means this winter tire test is one of the few yearly tests to give you the complete picture of a winter tires performance.

The Top Three

If you followed the dominance of the TS850, it will come as no surprise that the new Continental WinterContact TS860 aces the test. It's amongst the best, or the best in the dry, wet and snow testing, has a low rolling resistance and a good level of comfort. The real surprise of the test was wear, with the TS860 proving to be the best wearing tire on test, something Continental have historically struggled with. As a premium winter tire, there's no beating the TS860.

The run of good performances for the updated Michelin Alpin A5 continues, with the French manufacturer taking second place overall. The A5 is the strongest tire on snow and ice, has an excellent wet handling and braking performance, and is strong in the dry. The only the initial purchase price drew criticism, Michelins are often the most expensive tires on the market.

Rounding out the top three is the Goodyear UltraGrip 9. It matched the Michelin in the dry and wet, only losing out in a little snow performance when compared to the best on test.

The Full Results

The full results, with comments are below. Autobild weight the overall scores as follow.

Dry - 14%. Wet - 30%, Snow - 30%, Comfort - 3%, Rolling Resistance - 4%, Noise - 3%, Wear - 10%, Price - 6%

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

1st: Continental WinterContact TS 860
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 59 Dry: 6 Wet: 8 Snow: 7 Comfort: 6 Rolling Resistance: 9 Noise: 7 Wear: 10 Cost: 6 A class leading winter tire with no real negative points. Dynamic handling in all weather, precise steering with good feedback and best economy None mentioned Read Reviews
2nd: Michelin Alpin 5
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 51 Dry: 6 Wet: 7 Snow: 8 Comfort: 6 Rolling Resistance: 7 Noise: 7 Wear: 6 Cost: 4 Winter specialist with the best snow results. Stable wet and dry handling with short wet braking distances. Low noise Quite expensive Read Reviews
3rd: Goodyear UltraGrip 9
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 47 Dry: 6 Wet: 7 Snow: 7 Comfort: 5 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 6 Wear: 4 Cost: 4 Excellent performance on snow and in the wet, excellent aquaplaning resistance, low noise Quite expensive Read Reviews Buy from £89.45
4th: Dunlop Winter Sport 5
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 53 Dry: 5 Wet: 7 Snow: 8 Comfort: 7 Rolling Resistance: 9 Noise: 6 Wear: 6 Cost: 5 Top performance on snow and in the wet, low rolling resistance. Average performance in the dry Read Reviews Buy from £89.40
5th: Pirelli Cinturato Winter
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 52 Dry: 5 Wet: 7 Snow: 6 Comfort: 7 Rolling Resistance: 7 Noise: 7 Wear: 8 Cost: 5 Dynamic handling in the snow and wet roads, low wear Average performance in the dry Read Reviews
6th: Semperit Speed Grip 2
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 50 Dry: 6 Wet: 6 Snow: 6 Comfort: 6 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 6 Wear: 6 Cost: 6 Good wet handling and short wet braking distances Weak handling on snow Read Reviews
7th: Nokian WR D4
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 42 Dry: 5 Wet: 6 Snow: 7 Comfort: 3 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 5 Wear: 4 Cost: 4 Excellent snow performance, low rolling resistance Average performance in the dry, high wear Read Reviews
8th: Hankook Winter i cept RS2
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 48 Dry: 6 Wet: 5 Snow: 6 Comfort: 6 Rolling Resistance: 5 Noise: 7 Wear: 6 Cost: 7 Excellent aquaplaning resistance, good dry handling, well priced Average wet grip, long wet braking Read Reviews
9th: Bridgestone Blizzak LM001
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 50 Dry: 4 Wet: 6 Snow: 7 Comfort: 5 Rolling Resistance: 6 Noise: 6 Wear: 9 Cost: 7 Excellent in the snow, high aquaplaning resistance, very good fuel economy Poor dry handling, long dry braking distances Read Reviews
10th: Barum Polaris 3
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 50 Dry: 4 Wet: 6 Snow: 7 Comfort: 4 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 6 Wear: 6 Cost: 9 Strong in the snow, stable wet handling, good value for money Low dry grip Read Reviews
11th: Kleber Krisalp HP2
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 52 Dry: 5 Wet: 4 Snow: 7 Comfort: 7 Rolling Resistance: 7 Noise: 5 Wear: 8 Cost: 9 Excellent snow performance, low rolling resistance Average wet grip, low aquaplaning resistance Read Reviews
12th: Uniroyal MS+ 77
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 47 Dry: 3 Wet: 5 Snow: 8 Comfort: 5 Rolling Resistance: 6 Noise: 6 Wear: 7 Cost: 7 Strong winter performance, good comfort, good value Average grip in wet and dry Read Reviews
13th: General Altimax Winter+
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 50 Dry: 4 Wet: 4 Snow: 7 Comfort: 8 Rolling Resistance: 6 Noise: 6 Wear: 6 Cost: 9 Good winter performance, good comfort, low price Average wet grip, long dry braking Read Reviews
14th: Mabor Winter Jet 2
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 47 Dry: 6 Wet: 4 Snow: 6 Comfort: 6 Rolling Resistance: 3 Noise: 6 Wear: 7 Cost: 9 Good snow handling, good in the dry, good value for money Average wet grip, high rolling resistance Read Reviews
15th: Sava eskimo hp
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 47 Dry: 5 Wet: 3 Snow: 7 Comfort: 6 Rolling Resistance: 7 Noise: 6 Wear: 6 Cost: 7 Good traction and short braking distances on snow. Cheap to buy Long wet braking Read Reviews
16th: Cooper Weather Master SA2+
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 38 Dry: 4 Wet: 6 Snow: 6 Comfort: 5 Rolling Resistance: 5 Noise: 6 Wear: 2 Cost: 4 Ok performance on snow and on wet roads Long dry braking, poor wear Read Reviews
17th: Falken Eurowinter HS449
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 44 Dry: 4 Wet: 5 Snow: 5 Comfort: 4 Rolling Resistance: 5 Noise: 7 Wear: 5 Cost: 9 Good value, ok in the snow Low aquaplaning resistance, poor dry performance Read Reviews
18th: Vredestein Snowtrac 5
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 40 Dry: 6 Wet: 4 Snow: 5 Comfort: 5 Rolling Resistance: 6 Noise: 5 Wear: 4 Cost: 5 Good dry handling Average snow, poor aquaplaning resistance, long wet braking Read Reviews
19th: BFGoodrich gForce Winter
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 50 Dry: 4 Wet: 3 Snow: 6 Comfort: 7 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 7 Wear: 8 Cost: 7 Very good fuel economy Average aquaplaning resistance, poor wet handling, long wet and dry braking Read Reviews
20th: Fulda Kristall Control HP
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 45 Dry: 6 Wet: 3 Snow: 6 Comfort: 7 Rolling Resistance: 7 Noise: 6 Wear: 5 Cost: 5 Safe snow performance Poor wet grip Read Reviews