Tire Reviews Tire Tests

Below is our database of tire tests split by tire season and vehicle type. To read the tests just click on the test title

Continental WinterContact TS 870

Every year ADAC perform some of the most in depth tire tests in the world, and this years 17 inch winter tire test is no different.

For 2023 ADAC have taken15 of the most popular winter tires in 225/45 R17 and tested them in all the usual tests, such as dry, wet and snow performance, but also put all 15 sets through ice braking, a real world road wear test, and measured particulate matter to tell you which tire is best for the environment. 


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Bridgestone Blizzak LM005

The 2023 AMS SUV winter tire test not only aims to answer what the best winter tire in 255/45 R20 is, but also to find out if swapping from a regular diesel Kia Sorento to a fully electric Kia EV6 will make a difference to the results.


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Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5 SUV

We're going to let the test do the talking for this one. The excellent Swedish testers at ViBilagare have tested eight SUV studless friction winter tires, included the new Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5 SUV and Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V3 using a Volvo V40 wearing 235/55 R18 tires. Fortunately, where the tire patterns match those in the Tire Reviews Nordic Winter Tire Test, the results are very similar!


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Sadly here at Tire Reviews we've not had time to do a studded tire test for 2022, but fortunately the excellent testers at the Nordic publication Vibilagare have tested eight sets of studded winter tires to show us which of the studded tires on the market are the best! While the test size is an SUV size (235/55 R18) and the test vehicle a Volvo XC40, these results should give you an idea of the balance between the tires in all sizes.

As you would hope, the tires have been tested in the dry, wet, snow and ice. Which is of course the reason studded tires exist.

Studded Tire Test

The data is interesting, and in full below, but as we saw in the Tire Reviews Studless Winter Tire Test there is a pretty clear inversion between the tires which priorities wet performance, and the tires which priorities ice performance.


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Bridgestone Blizzak LM005

The 2022 Auto Bild Sports Car UHP Winter Tire Test has tested nine popular performance winter tires in the large 245/40 R19 size using a Cupra Formenta.


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Michelin Alpin 6

Following on from the fifty six winter tire braking shootout, these are the top twenty winter tires in the full Auto Bild Full Winter Tire Test! 

As with the Auto Bild All Season tire test, Auto Bild have performed one of the best winter tire tests of the year, and have even tested wear! Overall the results are going to cause a little confusion, as the Michelin Alpin 6 wins this test overall, after performing relatively poorly in the 2022/23 Tire Reviews Winter Tire Test.

While the test sizes are similar, both 17" wheels, it's important to note that the Tire Reviews test was 225/45 R17 and this test 215/55 R17. This result for the Alpin 6 is far more in line with the norm for the French winter tire, which makes us further believe there was a problem with the tires we tested this year. In short, there's no need to avoid the Michelin Alpin 6!


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Michelin Pilot Alpin 5

The 2022 Auto Bild SUV tire test has tested ten sets of performance suv winter tires in the popular 225/45 R19 size using a BMW X1, and included a reference summer tire so we can compare the differences.


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Snow tires, studless friction tires, extreme winter tires, nordic winter tires. This category of tire goes by many names, and they have one design goal, to be the very best on snow and ice for harsh winter climates, where studded tires aren't appropriate, or for people who don't want studs.

To find out which is the best, Tire Reviews has taken 7 of the most popular tires available to both the North American and Nordic markets, and will be putting them through a full range of tests, including ice, snow, wet and dry testing to find out which is best at what. Also, to help you understand where these tires fit in the market, I'm also including the very best of the central european and studded winter tires, the Continental WinterContact TS870 and the studded Nokian Happapelliita 10.


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Bridgestone Blizzak LM005

Once again the German publication Auto Bild have tested more winter tires than anyone else in 2022! This years Auto Bild Winter Tire Test starts with 56 winter tires in 215/55 R17 which are all put through a wet braking test, with the top 30 also placed in a snow braking test, then the top 20 will be carried over to the full test.


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Continental WinterContact TS 870

For 2022, the excellent German test organisation ADAC have tested 15 winter tires in 185/65 R15 and 15 crossover SUV winter tires in 215/60 R16.

The results below are for the 185/65 R15 test, where we have no real surprises in the overall results. 


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Continental WinterContact TS 870

For 2022, the excellent German test organisation ADAC have tested 15 crossover SUV winter tires in 215/60 R16 and 15 winter tires in 185/65 R15.

The results below are for the 215/60 R16 test, where we have a few interesting quirks in the overall results. 


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For this year's Tire Reviews winter tire test, we've got nine sets of the most popular winter tires, half of which are brand new tires for this year!

As always I'll be testing in the snow, wet and dry, and looking at rolling resistance, noise and comfort, to ensure you get the best overview of all the new winter tires!


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Continental WinterContact TS 870

The 2022 Auto Zeitung performance winter tire test has tested eight popular winter tires in 225/45 R17.

Continental, Bridgestone and Michelin all perform well, with the Continental WinterContact TS870 taking another win in 2022 winter tire tests thanks to a well balanced performance in all conditions, the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 performing extremely well in the dry and wet, and the Michelin Alpin 6 offering good grip in all conditions.


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Michelin Pilot Alpin 5

The first winter tire test for 2022 is here, and it's the Auto Motor Und Sport UHP winter tire test! This year AMS tested eight patterns in 245/45 R19 using an Audi A6 test vehicle.

There's almost nothing surprising about this test, it's nice when a test makes sense. At the front we have the Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 and Continental WinterContact TS870P (two of Tire Reviews favorite UHP Winter tires), with the wet masters Vredestein and Bridgestone following them up in third and fourth places overall.


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Nokian Hakkapeliitta 10

We're a little late posting this so there won't be much commentary, but hopefully someone will find it useful in 2022! In 2021, Moottori performed an excellent studded tire test, and included 8 of the best studded winter tires, including the new Nokian Hakkapeliitta 10 which goes on to win the test, with the Michelin X-Ice North 4 also performing really well. 


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Hankook Winter i cept evo3

The 2021 Auto Bild Sportscars winter tire test has tested twelve of the best winter tires in 245/40 R18 size using a Mercedes C Class, AND have included a summer and all season tire as reference.

This is exceptionally useful for those of us wondering whether to fit winter or all season tires for the bigger while size, and for a change Auto Bild named the all season tire used, it's the Vredestein Quatrac Pro. 

There are however some drawbacks to the single reference tire. The Quatrac Pro is an older patter now, and certainly not the best all season tire on the market anymore. This means while it was good in the dry, it didn't beat all the winter tires as you'd expect (the Michelin CrossClimate 2 certainly would have), it struggled in the wet, and if you'd expected it to come last in a group of winter tires in the snow tests, you're also in for a surprise.


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Bridgestone Blizzak LM005

For the 2021 Auto Express winter tire test, Auto Express tested eight 225/45 R17 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.

The tires included were very similar to the 2020 Auto Express winter tire test, with Bridgestone winning the test again, with the new Continental second.


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Bridgestone Blizzak LM005

The 2021 Auto Zeitung SUV winter tire test has tested ten suv winter tires in 235/55 R18 size using a VW Tiguan crossover SUV.

As this is a smaller test when compared to other winter tire tests we'll keep the introduction short. All ten sets of tires were placed through the usual blend of dry, wet and snow testing, plus rolling resistance and noise.


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Nokian Hakkapeliitta 10

If you live in a part of the world that sees an extreme winter such as the Northern USA, Canada, and the Northern parts of Europe, you'll know that regular central European winter tires just don't cut it. 

Winters which see snow on the roads for many months and lots of ice need extreme winter tires, and there are two types to choose from. The original is the studded winter tire, a tire which has studs (pieces of metal) inserted into the soft winter compound allowing the tire to really bite into the snow and ice below. 

Sadly, as great as studs are, they're damaging to the roads which is why tire companies invented a category of winter tire called studless friction winter tires. While these don't have studs, they do have a vastly improved ability on snow and ice when compared to a "normal" winter tire, and with advances in compounding technology they are quickly becoming an excellent alternative for all but the most extreme climates.


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Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus SUV

The 2022 Auto Bild Allrad SUV tire test tested ten SUV / 4x4 winter tires in the popular 235/55 R18 size, and included a reference summer tire.

As in the Tire Reviews winter tire test, there was a tie for first place with the Goodyear UltraGrip Performance+ SUV and Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 SUV tying for the win.

Both tires had slightly different approaches to grip, the Goodyear the more balanced tire, only winning the wet handling test but scoring well in nearly all other tests, where as the Michelin won every snow test but performed relatively poorly in the wet testing.

The Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 performed well again, it's a tire that seems to perform well in all tests with its only real weakness the worst dry braking on test, and the Vredestein Wintrac Pro placed fourth with an excellent wet braking and snow grip result.


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