The new test conducted by Tyre Reviews involved several new winter tires of the European type.
The next test by Tyre Reviews included European-type winter tires from nine brands, which were traditionally tested on snow and wet and dry pavement; the founder of the portal Jonathan Benson also evaluated their noise emission, ride comfort, and rolling resistance — a factor that directly affects the fuel consumption by the vehicle. There was yet another tire that participated in the test — the new Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 3 — but it was eventually decided not to record its results because the company rescheduled its release for 2023.
Snow
The best snow braking performance was demonstrated by the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 and Kleber Krisalp HP3, and the last place was scored by the Michelin Alpin 6, which is quite an unexpected result for a tire of this French brand.
The Kleber model also demonstrated the best traction on test, sharing the first place in this discipline with Turkey’s Petlas. The Michelin tire again demonstrated a less-than-perfect result, but the Semperit and Vredestein models performed even worse.
Snow Braking
- Bridgestone
- Kleber
- Continental
- Petlas
- Semperit
- Vredestein
- Pirelli
- Hankook
- Michelin
Info! Lap time, sec.
In the snow handling test, a real surprise was made by the budget Petlas model — the least expensive one on test — which quite unexpectedly demonstrated the best lap time and received very good subjective feedback from the pilots (the only minor gripe was the fact that the grip could go relatively abruptly). At the same time, this is quite a common thing — cheap tires can indeed impress you with excellent results in this or that performance area, but what they usually cannot offer is well-balanced performance.
Snow Traction
- Kleber
- Petlas
- Hankook
- Bridgestone
- Continental
- Michelin
- Pirelli
- Semperit
- Vredestein
Info! Acceleration time from 5 to 40 km/h, sec.
Great results on snow were also demonstrated by the Kleber tire, followed by Hankook, which, thanks to outstanding traction, was able to surpass the Pirelli tire, which, in turn, was commended for excellent handling response. Then came the Michelin, which fell behind the leader by less than 3%, and whose lap time was increased because of strong understeer; still lower down the order were the Bridgestone, Continental, and Semperit. The tires of the first two brands usually demonstrate excellent results in snow tests, and this time was no exception — it’s just that some of the competitors, including the newer models, turned out to be stronger. In this trio, the best-balanced performance was shown by the Bridgestone tire, but on the whole, the differences in the tires’ performance were almost negligible. The last line was scored by the Vredestein tire, which behaved in a consistent way and provided good handling response, but slightly lacked traction.
Snow Handling
- Petlas
- Kleber
- Hankook
- Pirelli
- Michelin
- Bridgestone
- Continental
- Semperit
- Vredestein
Info! Lap time, sec.
Wet
Predictably, on wet pavement the Petlas tire could not repeat the success it achieved in the snow tests, and its braking distance turned out to be longer than that of any of the contestants, and the last-but-one place was scored by the Kleber, which, we will remind you, had also demonstrated impressive snow performance. The quickest to stop the car were the Bridgestone, Continental and Hankook models.
In the handling test, the leading trio did not change, and, although the Continental model did show excellent results, the first place was nevertheless scored by the Bridgestone, which ensures very strong grip both when slowing down, and when cornering. The Hankook model fell slightly behind the leaders, the reason being that «when exiting a corner you needed to be more careful with the gas pedal».
Wet Braking
- Bridgestone
- Continental
- Hankook
- Vredestein
- Pirelli
- Michelin
- Semperit
- Kleber
- Petlas
Info! Braking in the range of 80–5 km/h, m.
Wet Handling
- Bridgestone
- Continental
- Hankook
- Pirelli
- Vredestein
- Michelin
- Semperit
- Kleber
- Petlas
Info! Lap time, sec.
Pirelli and Vredestein, who shared the fourth line in the tournament bracket, were commended for fast steering response and good feedback; they were followed by the Michelin model, which behaved in a very predictable way, but was prone to understeer in mid-corner, which affected the lap time. The Semperit and Kleber, on the other hand, were slightly prone to oversteer, and their wet traction had room for improvement, while the Petlas tire «behaved in a totally unpredictable way», easily going into a skid, and because of that the testers cut down the number of laps from four to two — just not to fly off the track and damage the car.
Straight Hydroplaning
- Kleber
- Continental
- Hankook
- Semperit
- Bridgestone
- Michelin
- Pirelli
- Vredestein
- Petlas
Info! Float speed, km/h.
Lateral Hydroplaning
- Continental
- Semperit
- Michelin
- Bridgestone
- Hankook
- Kleber
- Pirelli
- Vredestein
- Petlas
Info! Lateral acceleration, m/s2.
The Petlas tire was also the worst in the hydroplaning resistance test, while the highest scores in this part of the test were received by Continental.
Dry
On dry pavement, the Michelin tire surpassed all the competition in terms of braking performance, and the worst tire in this discipline again was Petlas.
Almost all the tires received high scores for handling performance, and Bridgestone turned out to be the best with a small lead over the Semperit and Vredestein. The last place with a clear lag from the other contestants was occupied by Petlas.
Dry Braking
- Michelin
- Vredestein
- Semperit
- Pirelli
- Hankook
- Kleber
- Continental
- Bridgestone
- Petlas
Info! Braking in the range of 100–5 km/h, m.
Dry Handling
- Bridgestone
- Semperit
- Vredestein
- Continental
- Hankook
- Pirelli
- Kleber
- Michelin
- Petlas
Info! Lap time, sec.
Noise
The cabin noise was evaluated, Pirelli being the quietest, Petlas and Michelin the noisiest. The tire from the Turkish brand was also characterized by the roughest ride, while the best tires to absorb vibrations were the Bridgestone, Michelin, and Pirelli.
Noise
- Pirelli
- Bridgestone
- Kleber
- Vredestein
- Semperit
- Continental
- Hankook
- Michelin
- Petlas
Info! Internal noise, dB.
Rolling Resistance
The final test was rolling resistance, and this time the Petlas tire confidently came first with a big lead over the competition. The highest rolling resistance was demonstrated by the Michelin and Vredestein.
Rolling Resistance
- Petlas
- Bridgestone
- Semperit
- Contienental
- Hankook
- Kleber
- Pirelli
- Michelin
- Vredestein
Info! Rolling resistance, kg/t.
Verdict
The test was ultimately won by the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005, which, just like it did in the previous TR tests, fell behind the competitors in terms or dry braking and snow handling, but these were the only two weaknesses — the tire from this Japanese brand is very effective on wet pavement, and it also ensures excellent straight traction on snow-covered surfaces. In addition, this Bridgestone model was very quiet and a good fuel saver, which also helped it to score the victory.
Silver was won by the Continental WinterContact TS 870, which also demonstrated excellent wet performance, and received the highest scores for hydroplaning resistance. On snow, the tire’s longitudinal grip was better than the lateral one; it ensured good dry handling performance, but it stayed a little bit behind in terms of braking performance. In addition, this Continental model had a relatively low rolling resistance.
Third-placed was the new Hankook Winter i*cept RS 3, whose only weakness was poor snow braking performance. On dry and wet pavement, the Hankook model received very good scores, and its high hydroplaning resistance in combination with its predictable behavior and excellent snow traction helped this tire to land a «Highly Recommended» verdict.
Regarding the Pirelli Cinturato Winter 2 в TR, the TR experts noted that this tire is a joy to drive in any conditions, and, for all intents and purposes, its designers predominantly focused on lateral grip. Because of this, the snow braking distance was relatively long (the tire also has issues with hydroplaning resistance), but there were no complaints about its handling performance on any type of surface.
Fifth-placed was the Semperit Speed-Grip 5, which effectively combats the hydroplaning effect and has a low rolling resistance, and was prevented from scoring a place higher up the order by its less-than-perfect wet grip.
The sixth line in the tournament bracket was occupied by the Vredestein Wintrac Pro, which was characterized by good wet handling response and low noise emission. At the same time, the Vredestein model demonstrated a clearly poor snow performance; it also has low hydroplaning resistance and high rolling resistance. Thus, this tire can only be recommended for regions where you rarely have to drive on snow-covered roads.
Only seventh place was scored by the Michelin Alpin 6, which on snow and wet pavement performed not up to the standards you might expect from this brand, and it also had a very high rolling resistance.
The Kleber Krisalp HP3 tire (came eighth) demonstrated good snow performance, and good straight hydroplaning resistance, and, although its wet grip was not as bad as that of Petals, this tire was clearly inferior to the competition, particularly in terms of braking performance.
The last place in the final standings was occupied by the budget Petlas SnowMaster W651, which was one of the best on snow, but was much worse on dry pavement, and on wet pavement could not ensure acceptable driving safety because of downright poor grip and unpredictable behavior.
1 Place Highly recommended Bridgestone / Blizzak LM005
Quick Take
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
An excellent tire with strong wet grip, good snow braking performance, as well as low noise emission and low rolling resistance.
2 Place Highly recommended Continental / WinterContact TS 870
Quick Take
Continental WinterContact TS 870
This Continental tire is very good on wet pavement, has a very high hydroplaning resistance, and is characterized by low rolling resistance. At the same time, it has a relatively long dry braking distance.
3 Place Highly recommended Hankook / Winter i*cept RS3 W462
Quick Take
Hankook Winter i*cept RS3 W462
This new tire from Hankook has a very well balanced performance on all types of surfaces. On the downside, this tire is noisy and has strong rolling resistance.
4 Place Recommended Pirelli / Cinturato Winter 2
Quick Take
Pirelli Cinturato Winter 2
This Pirelli model ensures good handling response in any weather conditions. Its disadvantages are low hydroplaning resistance, increased rolling resistance, and a relatively long snow braking distance.
5 Place Semperit / Speed-Grip 5
Quick Take
Semperit Speed-Grip 5
This Semperit model is Ok on dry pavement and is a good fuel saver, but its wet traction still has room for improvement.
6 Place Vredestein / Wintrac Pro
Quick Take
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
This tire will be OK for regions where you don’t get to drive on snow-covered roads much because its snow traction leaves much to be desired. In addition, the Wintrac Pro has a strong rolling resistance.
7 Place Michelin / Alpin 6
Quick Take
Michelin Alpin 6
This Michelin tire quickly stopped the car on dry pavement but it demonstrated poor snow and wet grip, which came as quite a surprise for a tire of this reputed brand.
8 Place Kleber / Krisalp HP3
Quick Take
Kleber Krisalp HP3
This tire will be great on snow-covered roads but it has a long wet braking distance.
9 Place Petlas / Snow Master W651
Quick Take
Petlas Snow Master W651
A budget tire that is great on snow but incapable of ensuring acceptable handling response on wet pavement.
