Great tires, the "fat" passat goes easily through the snow and ice. A few times these tires have saved me from crash (panic braking on -10 degrees, slippery surface) so I believe it was a good investment.

Awesome Tire.

Excellent tire, I bought them at the end of this winter season, right after I purchased my new X1 (F48) 25D Xdrive. Tire in dry, wet and snow. Have not tested on ice. Very smooth, progressive with a good road feedback, and extremely comfortable and quite. Highly recommend this tire for winter, of the very few existing in this dimension and of this car.

Very good tires. The car is very stable on the road. I recommend them.

I have now fitted these tires for the third winter season and they're wearing well, especially as they're fitted to a heavy FWD automatic car. Having spent three weeks in the European Alps I can honestly say I was astounded how much grip they gave my car. On hard packed snow, fresh snow or just polished ice, they gripped far beyond my expectations and I didn't need to use chains once, even in deep snow. They also covered over 2,000 miles of motorway in three weeks and are quiet and comfortable. No need for 4WD!

the best winter tires i've ever had. really like the performance and handling on all kind of surfaces and weather, especially on snow.

Have used a variety of winter tires since 1995, ranging from some phenomenal Scandinavian made Gislaved NordFrost to no-brand budget tires. The hard braking performance of the Continental on ice and compacted snow is excellent, which for me is where performance is most important in the conditions the tires are bought for. Road noise is low (very low for a winter tire). Very stable through standing water. Wear is good for a tire of this type (3.5mm of wear over 13,000 miles). Traction breaks on hard acceleration through tight corners in the dry more than on my summer tires, but that is only to be expected - likewise with lack of feedback, as One usuallu mounts narrower winter tires on smaller rims with a higher aspect ratio compared with summer tires.

Awesome

I fitted these in the winter of 2011/2012 for 6 months because of a crash I had the winter previously, which was very expensive and inconvenient. I decided after that crash that I'd never drive in the winter again without proper tires.

So, I stuck them on around December and I noticed a big change straight away. They felt softer, and the ride quality definitely felt much smoother, as if I was driving on silk. I guess those massive tread blocks and softer compound was absorbing a lot of the bumps. The temperature was about 7C when I put them on, so I was looking forward to trying them in colder conditions.

The best thing I found about these tires was when I had to drive home (600 mile trip) in 0C conditions and it was raining very hard. I remember driving up the motorway at 70mph through enormous amounts of surface water and not feeling so much as a twitch. The car felt solid, planted, stable and most definitely better than those conditions in summer tires. I was very impressed, it made that long trip a lot less stressful.

As it got colder, I got a chance to try them on frosty roads in -4C conditions. The car felt totally secure with bags of grip and it was very noticeably better than with summer tires, when in these conditions my car used to feel very skittish and heavy. I remember taking roundabouts with confidence and never loosing traction, and braking was superb. Once again, I was impressed.

Finally, as the winter progressed there was unfortunately not a lot of snow to test them with. There was a 3 day period where we got around a foot of snow, and I took the car out on unploughed and ungritted roads. It was very good, surprising amounts of grip, cornering power and I actually felt like the brake pedal might stop the car, instead of the previous winter where it often did nothing at all. I remember being amazed at how I could corner on flattened compacted snow easily, and I tried some steep inclines which I was able to go up with no problem. There were only 2 hills which I wasn't able to go up, and it was both times because they were covered in fresh, untouched snow. because my tires are fat, 225/45/r17, I was coming up against too much resistance and the wheels just spun.

The greatest test I did was going down an untreated farm track. It was a singletrack with no passing places. It was going downhill and I remember thinking "This will be fun to try and go up on the way back!". It started going down steeper and steeper and I started to panic.. I was in the middle of nowhere and I didn't think I could get up. I went down further and tried to find a place to turn, which I eventually did. I started going up the hill and as it got steeper, to my surprise, the car didn't struggle at all. It just went straight up, no wheelspin. I was pretty sure I wouldn't make it.

These tires are great. For the 5 months I had them on, I always felt safe and felt like I had a ton of grip wherever I was. They are superb on motorways covered in water due to the very deep tread pattern, superb in frosty conditions, and great on snow. I would never drive again in the winter without winter tires.

People in the UK really should buy winter tires, they make a massive difference. I'll be putting these on again in around a month's time.

I leave you with this thought:

You wouldn't walk through snow wearing sandles would you? So, why leave your summer sandle tires on your car during the winter? It then potentially becomes a several ton potentially unstoppable deathtrap. For the small outset of cost, it's worth it for around 5 years of safe winter driving.

Car:
2008 VW Golf V GT Sport 2.0 TDI 170HP

Purchased a set of four in October 2011, in advance of what was set to be another harsh Winter. The unseasonably warm weather which followed, resulted in me never having the opportunity to test these on the snow or ice. Shame!
I can however report back on what they were like to live with in normal conditions.

Generally speaking, they were totally acceptable in all conditions. My experience of them would mirror other people's general experience of Winter tires, in that they really are at their best when it it is cold ( up to 7 degrees, but ideally lower. Preferable sub zero.). Unfortunately, most of my experience with them was above these temperatures, and it is that experience which I will describe below.

Above ten degrees you can really feel the effect of the taller, and softer blocks of rubber. They replaced a mix of Continental Sport Contact 2 and 3, and while they may have even improved the ride slightly, the driving experience was definitely blunted.

This car develops 145bhp (which is not a huge amount), and any attempt to deploy a chunk of that power would result in the tires squirming noticeably. Once rolling there was never any break of traction, but if you tried to pull away from a turnout with any sort of gusto, you were always quickly reminded of what was underneath.

The CSC3 generally gets great reviews, so perhaps the comparison is an extreme one, but I don't feel as if I drive very aggressively, and I was a little disappointed that the steering accuracy I had come to know was now being muted. In normal weather conditions, I was always more cautious about turn in speed. Having said that, if you do adopt a style which factors in the slight turn in delay, then they are easy to live with.

The were only fitted in December, and wear over that time was decent,but not so good that I would ever consider leaving them on all year round. Separate to the handling impact, I can only imagine what a hot summer would do to these in time.

Overall though, I am happy with them. I purchased them in advance of their good reviews in last year's EVO and Auto Express tests, so was very pleased that they performed well in them. I just hope to get some real life benefit next Winter!

Also, on a side note - just before I ordered them from the Internet, I checked with my local garage who quoted me 35 euro less per tire, than I could get on the net. And their price included fitting/balancing. Worth checking out your local tire shop for comparisons anyway - especially up to Sept/Oct.

Fitted these on my Saab 9-3 TTID 2 weeks ago, I just had to write a review as today (16/12/11) we had a dump of snow in the North West. Took the car out for a spin and what a transformation. These tires had amazing grip in the snow, my car didnt wheel spin once when driving up inclines and hills, granted the ABS came on when braking but that was probably down to my harsh braking but as soon as I learned to ease on the brake pedal the ABS didnt kick in at all.

All I can say is if you are in the market for Winter Tires then you will not go wrong with these at all.

And driving on Motorways in the wet also gave amazing handling and the braking felt so secure from high speeds. The handling was also fantastic and not once have I felt that I am running on winter tires when even comparing them to my Summer PS2's.

Buy these and put a big grin on your face in the snow - 5 star!

I fitted these last november after the previous winter. despite selective 4 wheel drive I was very surprised with the lack of grip on frosty roads with the summer tires.

What a transformation on the winter tires. The car felt very planted and even on icy roads I had complete control when other cars were sliding off the road. On a frosted over empty car park where I really pushed the adhesion they performed amazing,I floored the accelerator and after a second or two with the traction control light showing the car surged forward as if it was on a dry road. They have there linits as expected when the air temp got up to about 15 deg the dry grip was significantly less than the summer tires when pushed. I would definately recommend these tires. In fact I was so impressed with Continental tires that I am fitting the car with Continental sport contact 3 tires for summer use.