Premium VS Budget Winter Tires

2 Premium Touring Winter tires tested in 205/55 R16 | Published November 9th, 2019 by Jonathan Benson

Test Publication:

Test Size: 205/55 R16

Tires Tested: 2 tires

Test Categories:
3 categories (6 tests)

Test Category	Best Performer	Worst Performer	Difference
Dry (2 tests)
Dry Braking	▲ Tristar SnowPower 2: 28.74 M	▼ Nokian WR Snowproof: 28.87 M	0.1 M (0.5%)
Dry Handling	▲ Nokian WR Snowproof: 51.27 s	▼ Tristar SnowPower 2: 51.57 s	0.3 s (0.6%)
Wet (2 tests)
Wet Braking	▲ Nokian WR Snowproof: 31.76 M	▼ Tristar SnowPower 2: 35.27 M	3.5 M (10.0%)
Wet Handling	▲ Nokian WR Snowproof: 37.6 s	▼ Tristar SnowPower 2: 38.2 s	0.6 s (1.6%)
Snow (2 tests)
Snow Braking	▲ Nokian WR Snowproof: 36 M	▼ Tristar SnowPower 2: 43.9 M	7.9 M (18.0%)
Snow Handling	▲ Nokian WR Snowproof: 97.2 s	▼ Tristar SnowPower 2: 104.5 s	7.3 s (7.0%)

Are cheap winter tires safe? To find out, we travelled to Finland, twice, to do snow, ice, wet and dry testing.

All tests were done using two cars, a VW Golf wearing 205/55 R16 tires, and a heavier, larger Volvo S90 fitted with 245/45 R18 tires.

To see how the testing went, watch the video below!

Dry

Test	#	Result	Best	Difference	%
Dry Braking	2nd	28.87 M	28.74 M	+0.13 M	99.55%
Dry Handling	1st	51.27 s			100%
Wet Braking	1st	31.76 M			100%
Wet Handling	1st	37.6 s			100%
Snow Braking	1st	36 M			100%
Snow Handling	1st	97.2 s			100%

Test	#	Result	Best	Difference	%
Dry Braking	1st	28.74 M			100%
Dry Handling	2nd	51.57 s	51.27 s	+0.3 s	99.42%
Wet Braking	2nd	35.27 M	31.76 M	+3.51 M	90.05%
Wet Handling	2nd	38.2 s	37.6 s	+0.6 s	98.43%
Snow Braking	2nd	43.9 M	36 M	+7.9 M	82%
Snow Handling	2nd	104.5 s	97.2 s	+7.3 s	93.01%