The ADAC experts tested 16 winter tires, two of which ended up being rated as «Good», and two were not up to the set tasks, and received a «not recommended» stamp.
List of models tested:
- Avon WT7 Snow
- Barum Polaris 5
- BFGoodrich g-Force Winter 2
- Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
- Continental WinterContact TS 870
- Dunlop Winter Response 2
- Firestone Winterhawk 4
- Fulda Kristall Montero 3
- Goodyear UltraGrip 9+
- Imperial SnowDragon HP
- Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
- Michelin Alpin 6
- Nexen WinGuard Snow’G3 WH21
- Semperit Speed-Grip 5
- Vredestein Wintrac
- Wanli SW611 Winter-Max U1
In the first «winter» ADAC test of this year, the experts compared 16 spot-on tire models in size 185/65 R15 with a speed index of T (up to 190 km/h), designed for such compact cars as Opel Corsa, Kia Rio, Toyota Yaris, Fiat Panda, as well as Volkswagen Polo, which was used as the test car.
The top four tires were the Continental WinterContact TS 870, Goodyear Ultragrip 9+, Semperit Speed-Grip 5, and Michelin Alpin 6, each one of which demonstrated a well-balanced performance and was recommended without any reservations (you need to keep in mind, though, that all the tires were designed for a mild winter). The first place was shared by three tires, including the Continental model, and the ADAC experts noted that the designers of TS 870 addressed the issues of the previous-generation model — TS 860 — and improved its dry performance, which ultimately earned this tire the first place in the test. At the same time, the Goodyear model was particularly impressive on wet pavement, the Semperit model distinguished itself with impressive snow traction, and the Michelin tire, which lost only 0.1 points to the leaders, turned out to be extremely durable.
Snow Braking
- Dunlop
- BFGoodrich
- Bridgestone
- Continental
- Semperit
- Barum
- Fulda
- Goodyear
- Firestone
- Wanli
- Michelin
- Maxxis
- Vredestein
- Nexen
- Avon
- Imperial
Info! Points: Exemplary (0.6 - 1.5), Very Good (1.6 - 2.5), Good (2.6 - 3.5), Satisfactory (3.6 - 4.5), Unsatisfactory (4.6 - 5.5).
Ice Braking
- Nexen
- Semperit
- Goodyear
- Firestone
- Vredestein
- Wanli
- Dunlop
- BFGoodrich
- Bridgestone
- Continental
- Fulda
- Michelin
- Maxxis
- Avon
- Imperial
- Barum
Info! Points: Exemplary (0.6 - 1.5), Very Good (1.6 - 2.5), Good (2.6 - 3.5), Satisfactory (3.6 - 4.5), Unsatisfactory (4.6 - 5.5).
Seven more tires were rated as recommended with minor reservations, and all of them have strong sides and (minor) weaknesses. For example, the BFGoodrich model was relatively poor on tarmac, yet very impressive on snow, and the Vredestein tire, conversely, will be a better option for those who drive on cleared roads in winter. For example, the BFGoodrich model was relatively poor on tarmac, yet very impressive on snow, and the Vredestein tire, conversely, will be a better option for those who drive on cleared roads in winter. In addition, if you rarely use your car in the wintertime, the Bridgestone and Maxxis tires will be a viable choice (although both tires demonstrated low resistance to wear).
Three tires — Dunlop, Fulda, and Barum — received an «Average» rating this time around, all of them losing points because of less-than-perfect dry performance. The ADAC experts noted that, when driven at highway speeds, these tires cannot provide enough feedback through the steering wheel, their road holding ability also could have been better, and during lane switching it is hard to figure out what steering angle you need because the tires behave in a less than predictable way. According to the experts, although such characteristics of tires do not directly compromise driving safety, during long trips they will create discomfort and get the driver tired. In addition, and more importantly, these tires turned out to be prone to oversteer during emergency maneuvers.
Dry Braking
- Imperial
- Vredestein
- Maxxis
- Nexen
- Avon
- Dunlop
- Continental
- Goodyear
- Semperit
- Michelin
- BFGoodrich
- Bridgestone
- Barum
- Wanli
- Firestone
- Fulda
Info! Points: Exemplary (0.6 - 1.5), Very Good (1.6 - 2.5), Good (2.6 - 3.5), Satisfactory (3.6 - 4.5), Unsatisfactory (4.6 - 5.5).
Wet Braking
- Nexen
- Vredestein
- Dunlop
- Goodyear
- Michelin
- Firestone
- BFGoodrich
- Bridgestone
- Avon
- Continental
- Maxxis
- Semperit
- Barum
- Imperial
- Fulda
- Wanli
Info! Points: Exemplary (0.6 - 1.5), Very Good (1.6 - 2.5), Good (2.6 - 3.5), Satisfactory (3.6 - 4.5), Unsatisfactory (4.6 - 5.5).
And there were two tires that ended up with a «Not recommended» verdict — the Imperial Snowdragon HP (produced by a brand privately owned by the Belgian company Deldo) and Wanli SW611 (produced in China by Wanli Tires), which, among other things, took forever to stop the car on wet pavement. While the 80 km/h stopping distance demonstrated by the Bridgestone was 36.2 m, the Imperial tire needed nine, and Wanli even eleven meters more. Thus, the remaining speed of a car driving on Wanli tires will be 39 km/h, and ADAC highly recommends refraining from buying these tires.
1st place: Continental / WinterContact TS 870
Quick Take
Continental WinterContact TS 870
- Well-balanced performance, no prominent issues found
- Invariably good results in any conditions
- Low fuel consumption
- Low wear
- Good
1st place: Goodyear / UltraGrip 9+
Quick Take
Goodyear UltraGrip 9+
- Well-balanced performance, no prominent issues found
- Invariably good results in any conditions
- Particularly good results on wet pavement
- Low fuel consumption
- Good
1st place: Semperit / Speed-Grip 5
Quick Take
Semperit Speed-Grip 5
- Well-balanced performance, no prominent issues found
- Invariably good results in any conditions
- Very low fuel consumption
- Low wear
- Good
4th place: Michelin / Alpin 6
Quick Take
Michelin Alpin 6
- Well-balanced performance, no prominent issues found
- Invariably good results in any conditions
- Low fuel consumption
- Very low wear
- Good
5th place: BFGoodrich / g-Force Winter 2
Quick Take
BFGoodrich g-Force Winter 2
- Good snow and ice performance
- Low wear
- Relatively weak results on wet and dry pavement
- Satisfactory
5th place: Vredestein / Wintrac
Quick Take
Vredestein Wintrac
- Very good results on dry and wet pavement
- Good ice performance
- Relatively weak snow performance
- Satisfactory
7th place: Bridgestone / Blizzak LM005
Quick Take
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
- Very good results on wet pavement
- Good results on snow and dry pavement and snow
- Low fuel consumption
- High wear
- Satisfactory
7th place: Maxxis / Premitra Snow WP6
Quick Take
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
- Very good results on dry pavement
- Good results on wet pavement
- Relatively weak snow and ice performance
- High fuel consumption
- High wear
- Satisfactory
9th place: Firestone / Winterhawk 4
Quick Take
Firestone Winterhawk 4
- Good results on wet pavement, snow, and ice
- Very low fuel consumption
- Poor dry performance
- Satisfactory
10th place: Nexen / Winguard Snow G 3
Quick Take
Nexen Winguard Snow G 3
- Good results on wet pavement and ice
- Poor results on dry pavement and snow
- Satisfactory
11th place: Avon / WT7
Quick Take
Avon WT7
- Good results on wet pavement and ice
- Poor results on dry pavement and snow
- High wear
- Satisfactory
12th place: Dunlop / Winter Response 2
Quick Take
Dunlop Winter Response 2
- Good results on wet pavement, snow, and ice
- Low fuel consumption
- Extremely poor dry performance
- Average
13th place: Fulda / Kristall Montero 3
Quick Take
Fulda Kristall Montero 3
- Very low wear
- Low fuel consumption
- Good performance on snow and ice
- Poor wet and dry performance
- Average
14th place: Barum / Polaris 5
Quick Take
Barum Polaris 5
- Good results on snow
- Low fuel consumption
- Low wear
- Poor performance on wet and dry pavement, as well as on snow
- Average
15th place: Imperial / Snowdragon HP
Quick Take
Imperial Snowdragon HP
- Very low wear
- Good results on dry pavement and ice
- Very poor performance on wet pavement and snow
- Unsatisfactory
16th place: Wanli SW611 Winter-Max U1
- Good results on ice
- Low fuel consumption
- Insufficient handling response in the dry and on snow
- Very poor results on wet pavement
- Unsatisfactory
