Tire Reviews Tire Tests

In this tire test we take nine of the best performance winter tires in the popular 225/40 R18 size and test them in the dry, wet and of course snow to see what the best winter tire is for the 2021/22 autumn and winter.

All season VS winter tires is a hotly discussed topic, and while we've done our own test at various temperatures, it sadly didn't include any ice testing, or things like wet handling and rolling resistance testing.

Fortunately, our friends at Vi Bilagare once again have us covered. During their Nordic winter testing in 2020, the magazine included an all season and "european" winter tire alongside their usual selection of Nordic friction and studded winter tires.

As the all-season and European winter tire were being tested from a Nordic perspective, they had a significant testing on ice, which is a rarity for an all-season tire.

The results... well, I’m sure you can guess how each of the four tire types performed on each surface, but it's really cool to see all this data from one source.

Sadly there are very few professional tire tests conducted in North America, however the magazine Consumer Reports does an excellent job of educating the market with a number of huge tire tests every year.

While the public data is limited, you have to be a member to see the full results, we thought it would be important to database the information we have to help our American audience pick the right winter tire.

The 2020 Consumer Reports Winter Tire Test has tested seventeen of the best winter tires on the market in the popular 215/60 R16 size.

For their second winter test of 2020, the excellent Vi Bilagare have tested eight Nordic friction (studless) winter tires.

As with the studded version, Vi Bilagare have performed a thorough test covering dry, wet, snow and ice, and should be considered one of the benchmarks for extreme winter testing in Europe. 

This test is particularly interesting as it has the new Michelin X-Ice Snow, Bridgestone Blizzak Ice, Pirelli Ice Zero FR and Nexen Winguard Ice Plus WH43 placed up against the established Nordic winter tires from Continental, Goodyear and Nokian.

For the 2020 Vi Bilägare Winter studded tire test, the Swedish magazine has tested 8 of the most extreme studded winter tires in 205/60 R16.

As this is a studded winter tire test, the testers placed much more emphasis on snow and ice performance, so if you're in a region that sees a lot of compacted snow and ice on the road during normal winters, this is a very useful test.

Here are the Tire Reviews best winter tires for the 2020 winter tire season.

As usual, all these tires have been picked based on data from Tire Reviews testing, other tests from around the world, and user reviews - think of this as one big meta-analysis of the best winter / snow / studded tires on the market. This video covers European, Nordic and North American winter tires / tires, and covers cars, SUV's and Electric vehicles (EVs.)

The 2020 Auto Zeitung has tested fourteen winter tires in 205/55 R16, including new winter tires from Bridgestone, Goodyear and Maxxis, as well as a low cost retreaded tire.

While all the tires were tested in the dry, wet and snow, sadly Auto Zeitung didn't include any handling data, instead just providing subjective feel scoring.

If you're planning on undertaking a massive Nordic friction and studded winter tire test, having the right facilities to conduct the test in is key. Fortunately for Test World, they own one of the best independent arctic testing facilities in the world which is why we're super excited to see this 21 tire test, covering all the key friction studless and studded winter tires on the market.

All tires are in the popular 205/55 R16, and were tested using a VW Golf. There were some interesting new tires in the test, including the first test of the studless Michelin X-Ice Snow.

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

The 2020 ACE / ARBÖ / GTÜ winter tire test has tested nine winter tires in the popular 225/50 R17 size using a BMW 3 Series.

The 2020 Auto Bild SUV Tire test has tested ten crossover SUV / 4x4 winter tires in the popular 225/55 R17 size, with a summer tire included as a reference.

Of the ten tires on test, the top four tires were given the "Exemplary" award, which included the new Goodyear UltraGrip Performance+, the much improved Bridgestone Blizzak LM005, the new Michelin Alpin 6 and the Vredestein Wintrac Pro.

The test winning Goodyear had a good all round performance, with the testers noting the winter tire felt precise and dynamic in all conditions. The Bridgestone LM005 performed well in the dry and wet to secure second place, while the joint third Michelin and Vredestein pair performed well in all tests, but either cost more to buy (Michelin) or used more fuel (Vredestein.)

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.

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

Following on from the 52 winter tire braking test, the top 20 winter tires in 245/45 R18 have been put through the usual Auto Bild winter tire tests, to discover the best performance winter tire for the 2020 season.

Every year, the German publication Auto Bild selects a tire size, finds as many winter tires as possible in that size, and tests them all in wet braking. The top thirty tires proceed to snow braking, then the top twenty overall to the full winter tire test.

For the 2020 winter tire test, Auto Bild rounded up fifty one winter tires in the rather huge 245/45 R18 size, and a summer tire as reference.

The 2019 Auto Center winter tire test is both good and bad. The positive is that out of ten 205/55 R16 patterns, it only includes two premium manufacturers. This means we get a much better look at the midrange bracket of winter tires, which is great for those of us who want to save a little money, and all ten patterns on test have been tested for ice braking and traction which is now usually omitted from central European tire testing.

For their third winter tire test of 2019, Auto Bild have stepped up the fun and fitted an Audi S5 with eleven sets of 255/35 R19 ultra high performance winter tires, and included the usual set of reference summer tires!

Following on from a win in Auto Express, the new Goodyear UltraGrip Performance+ takes its second win of 2019, once again proving to have a near flawless blend of qualities. Vredestein have also continued their run of good results with a very strong second place for the Wintrac Pro. This tire is significantly cheaper than the premium winter tires in the UK, so is probably the best choice if you need to save a few pounds.

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.

The 2019 Auto Express winter tire test has tested ten 225/45 R17 winter tires, and included a summer and all season product as a benchmark.

The newest winter tire from Goodyear is shaping up to be an excellent winter product. Thanks to a near perfect all round performance, it wins another tire test, narrowly beating the established king of winter motoring, the Continental WinterContact TS860.

While studded tires don't have much use in the UK, for parts of the Nordic countries they are essential for safe mobility.

To find out which of the latest studded winter tires are worth fitting, Swedish magazine Vi Bilagare have tested seven studded winter tires in 225/50 R17, and included a studless nordic friction winter tire as a comparison.