2020 Auto Express Winter Tire Test

Test Summary
Wet Braking	Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
Dry Braking	Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
Wet Handling	Continental WinterContact TS 870
Wear	Continental WinterContact TS 870
Rolling Resistance	Continental WinterContact TS 870
Snow Handling	Continental WinterContact TS 870

For the 2020 Auto Express winter tire test, Auto Express tested nine 205/55 R16 winter tires using a VW Golf.

As usual we'll keep commentary to a minimum, instead encouraging you to head over to the Auto Express website to check out the full test, however there is one important caveat to note.

The new Continental WinterContact TS870 was included in this test, but as the tire launch has been delayed until winter 2021 instead of 2020, Auto Express didn't rank it in their final results.

If Auto Express had included it, the new Continental TS870 would have won the test overall, narrowly beating the excellent Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 thanks to a near flawless performance.

2021 might be another Continental year, but for winter 2020, it looks like the Bridgestone is still the tire to have for the UK winters, thanks to an excellent dry and wet performance.

Results

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: 1172.6 Dry: 100 Wet: 499.4 Snow: 285.8 Rolling Resistance: 87.6 Noise: 99.8 Overall: 100 Best in wet in the wet braking and handling, best in dry braking, low rolling resistance. Worst snow performance, but still within 5% of best. An excellent tire for English winters where you're likely to see more wet weather than snow. Read Reviews Buy from £108.06
1st: Continental WinterContact TS 870
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 1187.1 Dry: 93.8 Wet: 490 Snow: 299.9 Rolling Resistance: 101.1 Noise: 100.7 Overall: 101.6 Best in snow and wet handling, excellent low rolling resistance, low noise. Average dry braking. When the new TS870 goes on sale in 2021 it could be the new benchmark. Read Reviews Buy from £124.49
2nd: Hankook Winter i cept RS2
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 1162.6 Dry: 96.2 Wet: 495 Snow: 294.4 Rolling Resistance: 79.6 Noise: 98.1 Overall: 99.3 Excellent wet grip, high aquaplaning resistance, good in the snw. High rolling resistance, increased noise. A return to form for the I*Cept RS2, largely thanks to a strong wet performance. Read Reviews
3rd: Michelin Alpin 6
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 1154.5 Dry: 96.2 Wet: 481.5 Snow: 291.9 Rolling Resistance: 87.6 Noise: 98.9 Overall: 98.4 Good wet performance, good snow braking. Average snow handling. Read Reviews
4th: Pirelli Cinturato Winter
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 1143.5 Dry: 94.9 Wet: 473.6 Snow: 299.1 Rolling Resistance: 78 Noise: 99.7 Overall: 98.2 Best in snow handling and a good snow performance overall. Average wet performance, high rolling resistance. Read Reviews
5th: Goodyear UltraGrip Performance+
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 1164.2 Dry: 93.7 Wet: 486.7 Snow: 298.5 Rolling Resistance: 87.5 Noise: 99.7 Overall: 98.1 Excellent in snow, best curved aquaplaning resistance, low noise. Average in the wet and dry. Read Reviews Buy from £149.28
6th: Falken Eurowinter HS01
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 1137.3 Dry: 98.9 Wet: 471.7 Snow: 286.4 Rolling Resistance: 82.6 Noise: 99.7 Overall: 98 Good dry braking, low noise. Poor performance in the snow. Read Reviews Buy from £97.96
7th: Dunlop Winter Sport 5
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 1141.1 Dry: 92.6 Wet: 465.9 Snow: 297.2 Rolling Resistance: 88 Noise: 100 Overall: 97.4 Good in the snow, quietest tire on test, low rolling resistance. Long dry and wet braking, poor wet handling. Read Reviews Buy from £89.40
8th: Nokian WR Snowproof
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 1132.2 Dry: 96.4 Wet: 450.2 Snow: 290.8 Rolling Resistance: 100 Noise: 97.6 Overall: 97.2 Lowest fuel use on test by some margin, good dry braking. Poor performance in all wet tests, highest levels of cabin noise. Read Reviews