Well-balanced tyres top motoring organisations’ winter test

This year, German motoring organsiation the ADAC got together with its Austrian and Swiss counterparts, the ÖAMTC and TCS, to produce its winter tyre test. Two sizes – 185/60 R15 T and 225/45 R17 H – were tested, and in both size categories Continental and Michelin received a “good” recommendation with their ContiWinterContact TS 850 and Alpin A4. Four products were rated “inadequate” by the testers.

In the smaller size, the ADAC tested 17 products, and seven of these were rated as “good”. Particular praise went to the Continental tyre: “The ContiWinterContact TS 850 proved itself to be the best of the good, it achieved the best grades in the key wet, snow and ice criteria and thus is seen to be particularly well-balanced. Furthermore, it stands out for its low fuel consumption.” Describing the other ‘good’ rated tyres, the ADAC stated: “Along with other good and well-balanced properties the Michelin A4 – as has already been seen in the past – showed itself to be very wear-resistant. This is also the case for the Firestone Winterhawk 3, which shined on dry and wet roads. A particular strength for the Nokian WR D3 is its performance on dry surfaces. The Goodyear UltraGrip 8 and Semperit SpeedGrip 2 round off the group of good winter tyres. They have no predominant strength but also no weaknesses.” 

From the total of 15 size 225/45 R17 H winter tyres were tested, only four were rated as “good”. These tyres won the testers over with their all-round performance; the ContiWinterContact TS 850 received the highest rating in the snow, the Bridgestone Blizzak LM-32S in the wet and the Michelin Alpin A4 for having the lowest wear. While the new Uniroyal MS plus 77 was not rated the best in any category, it also showed no weaknesses and was therefore included in amongst the “good“ rated tyres.