The Continental tire, although on a par with Nokian on ice surfaces, performs slightly poorer on snow during acceleration and braking, while its handling on snow did not raise any comment. The safe and predictable behavior of Continental IceContact 2 on snow coupled with effective braking performance on dry and wet surfaces brought this German tire the title of the best spiked tires 2018/2019 according to Vi Bilägare.

The silver medal of the test was won by the spiked tire Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9. Then, of course, the question arises, why wasn’t it awarded the first prize. When it was engineered, the Finnish developers were more focused on achieving a higher level of ice and snow traction, sacrificing the braking performance on dry and wet pavements. And it was this shifting of priorities that was crucial in summing up the results.

Due to the fact that it only had 130 spikes in its arsenal, it could not compete with «toothier» leaders of the test when it came to snowy and icy roads. However, its wet braking performance was a highlight.

It has well-balanced performance on various types of pavement. At the same time, as the testers stressed, this tire lacks handling stability in the dry. Having only 130 spikes, this model, produced by one of Continental subsidiaries, was one of the best in the «snow» disciplines, which allowed it to score a rather high chart position.

These tires has 190 spikes, just as the Continental and Nokian models. However, its traction on ice and snow is slightly weaker than that of the mentioned premium models. Such a low position of Bridgestone Noranza 001 in the tournament bracket is explained by its rather low scores on wet and dry pavement.

The directional tread pattern of this model and its 172 spikes were meant to enhance the tire’s winter performance but, as it turned out, this was achieved at the expense of sacrificing the tire’s lateral stability on ice and snow. At the same time, the lateral performance of this tire on wet pavement does not raise any questions.

As the test results show, studless tires rule on snow, losing out on ice to their studded rivals. On wet pavement, the studless tires were also no match for their rivals but on dry pavement they were among the leaders in terms of the stability of handling response. The unquestionable advantages of friction winter tires are their riding comfort and eco friendliness. They have the lowest rolling resistance and the lowest noise level in the car cabin.

The tire that simply disappointed the test team. In spite of its 190 spikes, this tire scored in the final standings fewer points than even the model that did not have a single spike in it. This tire was failed by its weak traction and grip on ice and snow. The only strong point of this tire that the test team was still able to detect was its low noise emission.