2020 ADAC Winter Tire Test 205/55 R16 - Tire reviews and ratings

Test Summary
Wet Braking	Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
Dry Braking	Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
Wet Handling	Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus Pirelli Cinturato Winter
Wear	Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
Rolling Resistance	Dunlop Winter Sport 5
Noise	Semperit Speed Grip 3 Pirelli Cinturato Winter Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6 Toyo Observe S 944 Continental WinterContact TS 860
Straight Aqua	Toyo Observe S 944
Snow Braking	King Meiler Winter Tact WT81

ADAC tire tests are some of the most influential in the world, and for the 2020 winter season ADAC have chosen to test fifteen 205/55 R16 of the best winter tires for cars, and thirteen 235/55 R17 winter tires for SUV / 4x4.

All testing was conducted using a MK7 VW Golf, with the top five tires on test taking the "highly recommended" award from the German testing body.

The unique aspect of this 16" test was that they included a retreaded winter tire by the German company King Meiler. This retreaded tire performed well in wear testing, but had low grip in the dry, and particularly the wet. It ended up being one of three bottom tires to be categorised as "not recommended."

For this test, ADAC hasn't provided any data, just a scoring per category and a few comments about the tires performance.

Results

The overall results were weighted 15% dry, 30% wet, 20% snow, 10% ice, 5% noise, 10% fuel consumption and 10% rolling resistance.

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

1st: Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 61.4 Dry: 7.8 Wet: 9.4 Snow: 7.8 Ice: 7.2 Comfort: 6.2 Rolling Resistance: 8 Wear: 7 Overall: 8 Very balanced with top marks when wet, especially good on dry roads, good on snow too. None mentioned. Read Reviews Buy from £108.06
2nd: Michelin Alpin 6
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 61.8 Dry: 7 Wet: 8 Snow: 7.8 Ice: 7.6 Comfort: 6.8 Rolling Resistance: 7.8 Wear: 9 Overall: 7.8 Very balanced, good on dry, wet and snow-covered roads, low wear. None mentioned. Read Reviews
3rd: Dunlop Winter Sport 5
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 60.8 Dry: 7 Wet: 7.4 Snow: 8 Ice: 7.4 Comfort: 6 Rolling Resistance: 8.4 Wear: 9 Overall: 7.6 Very balanced, good on dry, wet and snow-covered roads, low fuel consumption and wear. None mentioned. Read Reviews Buy from £89.40
4th: Hankook Winter i cept RS2
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 59.4 Dry: 7 Wet: 8 Snow: 7.8 Ice: 7.2 Comfort: 5.6 Rolling Resistance: 8.2 Wear: 8 Overall: 7.6 Very balanced, good on dry, wet and snow-covered roads, low fuel consumption. None mentioned. Read Reviews
5th: Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 58.6 Dry: 8 Wet: 7.4 Snow: 7 Ice: 7.4 Comfort: 7 Rolling Resistance: 7.6 Wear: 7 Overall: 7.2 Very balanced with top marks on dry roads, also good in the wet. None mentioned. Read Reviews
6th: Falken Eurowinter HS01
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 54.8 Dry: 6.2 Wet: 7.4 Snow: 6.6 Ice: 7.2 Comfort: 6 Rolling Resistance: 7.2 Wear: 8 Overall: 6.2 Good in the wet. Slight weakness on dry and snow covered roads, average fuel consumption. Read Reviews Buy from £100.00
7th: Continental WinterContact TS 860
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 57.6 Dry: 6 Wet: 8.4 Snow: 8 Ice: 7.6 Comfort: 7 Rolling Resistance: 7.6 Wear: 7 Overall: 6 Very good in the wet, good on snow too. Weakness in the dry. Read Reviews
8th: Goodyear UltraGrip 9+
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 57 Dry: 6 Wet: 8 Snow: 8.4 Ice: 7 Comfort: 6.4 Rolling Resistance: 8.2 Wear: 7 Overall: 6 Top marks on snow, good in the wet, good fuel consumption. Weakness on dry roads. Read Reviews
9th: Sava Eskimo HP2
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 54 Dry: 5.8 Wet: 5.8 Snow: 7 Ice: 7.4 Comfort: 6 Rolling Resistance: 8.2 Wear: 8 Overall: 5.8 Low fuel consumption. Weakness on dry roads. Read Reviews
10th: Toyo Observe S 944
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 55.6 Dry: 5.6 Wet: 7 Snow: 7.4 Ice: 7.8 Comfort: 7 Rolling Resistance: 8.2 Wear: 7 Overall: 5.6 Top marks on ice, low fuel consumption. Weakness on dry roads. Read Reviews
11th: Pirelli Cinturato Winter
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 56 Dry: 5.4 Wet: 7.6 Snow: 8.4 Ice: 7.6 Comfort: 7 Rolling Resistance: 7.6 Wear: 7 Overall: 5.4 Top marks in snow, also good in the wet. Weak on dry roads. Read Reviews
12th: Giti GitiWinterW1
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 53 Dry: 5.2 Wet: 5.4 Snow: 8 Ice: 7.4 Comfort: 6 Rolling Resistance: 7.8 Wear: 8 Overall: 5.2 Good on snow. Weakness on dry and wet roads. Read Reviews
13th: Semperit Speed Grip 3
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 54.4 Dry: 4.6 Wet: 7.8 Snow: 8.2 Ice: 7.2 Comfort: 7 Rolling Resistance: 8 Wear: 7 Overall: 4.6 Especially good on snow. Weak on dry roads. Read Reviews
14th: King Meiler Winter Tact WT81
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 43.2 Dry: 4.6 Wet: 1.2 Snow: 6.2 Ice: 7 Comfort: 5.2 Rolling Resistance: 7.8 Wear: 10 Overall: 1.2 Retreaded tire with top marks for wear. Very weak when wet, weak even on dry roads, relatively loud. Read Reviews
15th: Tristar Snowpower HP
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 41.2 Dry: 7.6 Wet: 1 Snow: 3.4 Ice: 7 Comfort: 6.2 Rolling Resistance: 8 Wear: 7 Overall: 1 Especially good on dry roads. Very weak on wet and snow. Read Reviews