The victory is apparent: IceContact 3 was spotted in all the five tests of the season, each time scoring the top lines, and winning gold three times, all in size 225/50 R17. This is an extremely successful start of a tire’s career in the tests. All the more so, because Continental’s new model was able to dethrone the last year’s test winner — Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9.

The «toothy» Michelin X–Ice North 4 falls just a tad short of Continental IceContact 3 in the final standings, but in size 205/55 it definitely prevails, boasting the leadership in Auto Review and Test World, where it outdid 21 rivals.One way or another, Michelin X–Ice North 4, which missed in the 2018/2019 season the zenith of its fame, is still a great option for the harshest of winter conditions.

Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9, which still last year proudly wore the champion title, has not quite been able to stand its ground under the onslaught of the new models coming this season. Perhaps, by 2020 somebody will again teach Nokian how to make the best spiked tires in the world, but for now it has to settle for only three prize-winning places in five tests, and zero gold medals (against three in 2018).

The spiked tires Goodyear UltraGrip Ice Arctic have been taking part in comparative tests since 2015. At the «outset», virtually in every test, these tires would score bronze, but now they are gradually quitting the scene, leaving room for new developments. However, it’s a natural process, and there’s nothing you can do about it. What is important is the fact that this tire is still something that its manufacturer can be proud about, especially considering the fact that this model only has 130 spikes. Which is pathetic by today’s standards.

Gislaved were able to win two silver medals in the tests 2019, even though they tried their hardest to keep up with the stronger rivals. This may come as a surprise but the Goodyear spiked winter tires were not covered by the Russian magazines in any way, while the Gislaved product was featured by both Za Rulem and Auto Review. In the latter, the Nord*Frost 200 model shared the second line of the final ranking with the ex-champion, Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9.

As for Hankook Winter i'Pike RS2 W429, which made a stunning debut in 2018, collecting a collection of medals of various values, this year it sort of slowed down and settled for a modest third place in the Test World competition. However, considering the sheer number of tires involved in this test, this third place is also quite a result. According to experts, the main downside of Hankook tires in general is their behavior on asphalt; there are no questions to their grip on winter surfaces.

Yokohama IceGuard iG65 is a newcomer from the bottom part of the list of models that claim the name of the best winter tire of the year. In spite of its rather serious drawback — poor handling response on slippery winter surfaces — it was still able to score the fifth line of the final tournament bracket of «Za Rulem» magazine, and score the sixth place in the Test World test, stepping on the heels of Goodyear UG Ice Arctic.

Nokian Nordman 7 is probably the only model out of last year’s ranking that demonstrated a well-balanced performance. What is remarkable is that this time around it was caught in the spotlight of attention of the experts from Finland’s Test World and Sweden’sTeknikens Värld magazine, whose opinion ultimately coincided with the feedback from the Russian publications: this model is nothing special compared to the season’s best tires, but it does ensure a high level of safety both on snow and ice.

Following a surge in its results in the tests of 2018, Bridgestone Noranza 001 again backslid to the level of 2017. And this is strange, particularly in view of the fact that in size 225/50 R17 it has 196 spikes, meaning, it has all the tools for improving its performance. But alas! Thus, it turns out that even Noranza 001 will not be able in any way to shake the consumers’ historically formed opinion about the high quality of Bridgestone product, which in fact occupies the middle lines of the tournament brackets, but mostly, stays at the bottom of the bill.