Winter Tyres

[FROSTYBALLS]

Which? magazine have just published their test on winter tyres . One of the sizes they tested was 205/55 16 - which is the size fitted to my Auris 1.33TR. The test included: wet and dry handling and braking; braking on, traction on, and cornering on snow; barking and cornering on ice; fuel economy; wear.

The three 'best buys' are: Continental Wintercontact TS830 (score 72%); Goodyear Ultragrip 7+ (69%); and Michelin Primacy Alpin PA3 (68%). The Maloya Davos and the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D scored just below a best buy at 66%, and the Vredstein Snowtrac 3 scored 64%.

14 tyres were tested in this size. The worst scoring tyre was the Kenda Polar Trax KR19, which scored just 11%

[Mistermena]

Which? magazine have just published their test on winter tyres . One of the sizes they tested was 205/55 16 - which is the size fitted to my Auris 1.33TR. The test included: wet and dry handling and braking; braking on, traction on, and cornering on snow; barking and cornering on ice; fuel economy; wear.

The three 'best buys' are: Continental Wintercontact TS830 (score 72%); Goodyear Ultragrip 7+ (69%); and Michelin Primacy Alpin PA3 (68%). The Maloya Davos and the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D scored just below a best buy at 66%, and the Vredstein Snowtrac 3 scored 64%.

14 tyres were tested in this size. The worst scoring tyre was the Kenda Polar Trax KR19, which scored just 11%

Good post

Funny why they didn't test the Goodyear UltraGrip 8 that replaced the 7+.I've got a set of the 8's on my Polo. Looking good so far

[FROSTYBALLS]

Goodyear still list both the Ultragrip 7+ and the Ultragrip 8 on their website.

[Mistermena]

Goodyear still list both the Ultragrip 7+ and the Ultragrip 8 on their website.

Yep I know... Just wondering thats all

[T Sport 1978]

I had a set of Nankang Snow SV-2.

Absolutely awesome and cheap, got me out of tight spots during the worst of it all and they stayed on all through the summer (despite advice against) and they were still fine the following winter.

Personally highly recommended.

[Uncle Buck]

Quite surprised to hear that as Evo magazine also did a winter tyre test & Nankang came 2nd last I believe. But obviously they'll behave differently on other cars, so fair play if you find they work for you :)

[T Sport 1978]

I think there is an element of the magazine siding with the bigger brands, but i am just speculating.

I can honestly say that the Nankangs are brilliant, and comparing the cost of them against the bigger brands they have amazing value.

I have a set of these on my Accord right now and I know i am prepared for whatever the weather

[Uncle Buck]

Yeah, the cost of a set of brand new Continentals is outrageous ! I was quoted just under £800 for 4 Winter Conti's . . . . Needless to say I didn't buy them. I wanted Hankooks as they were brilliant last year, but ended up with Kleber Quadraxers (made by Michelin) for a lot less than Contis or Michelins.

[T Sport 1978]

I got the Nankangs at £60 per tyre via mytyres.co.uk early, at the time 1 week later (when the real bad snow came) they went to £120 per tyre! I was lucky with that one... Supply and demand I suppose, but 100% hike in 1 week is ridiculous.

[Roker]

Normal Nakangs have a terrible reputation with the tyre retailers where I live, they call them hedge clippers because so many slipped off the road in the wet. My car had a set on when I bought it and I did not feel confident until I got rid of them

[FROSTYBALLS]

I think there is an element of the magazine siding with the bigger brands, but i am just speculating.

As with any tyre test, only a cross section of tyres can be tested. With the 205/55 16's, the brands below the best buys were (in descending order): Maloya Davos; Dunlop SP Winter Sport; Vredstein Sontrak 3; Yokohama W Drive; Uniroyal MS plus 66; Nokian WR G2; Kumho I'Zen KW 23; Pirelli Winter 210 Sottozero 2; Avon Ice Touring ST; Firestone Winterhawk; and lastly the Kenda Polar Trax KR19.

They also tested the following tyres in 175/60 14 size (again in descending order): Continental Wintercontact TS800; Michelin Alpin A4; Dunlop SP Winter Response; Maloya Davos; Vredestein Snowtrak 3; Uniroyal MS plus 6; Sava Eskimo S3+; Semperit Master-Grip; Pirelli Winter 190 Snowcontrol 2; Firestone Winterhawk 2 Evo; Falken Eurowinter HS439.

[don21]

Winter tyres are yet another marketing ploy to get mugs to part with their hard earned.

Yes they can produce loads of statistics to tell you how much better the stopping distances are.

Truth is if it snows heavily then chains are the only thing that will really help.

I know all you guys that have splashed out hundreds will by default strongly disagree.

Fact is we get so little bad weather compared to other countries they are a waste of money.

Your money guys your choice but mines staying in the bank.

[T Sport 1978]

Are you winding people up or just pure ignorant?

It was a difference of getting stuck and not getting stuck, not theoretical differences, but they made actual differences. If being a mug meant not getting stuck, i choose to be a mug.

I am not even giving an opinion, it is a fact that these tyres kept me mobile whilst normal tyres meant i had to abandon my car.

Its your choice at the end of the day, but your opinion does and cannot refute facts that i and many others have experienced.

You go ahead and keep that money in your bank and i wish you luck...while you are at it why don't you turn off all the heating and hot water in your house, you are a mug you know as you could just wear more clothes and rub your hands together to warm up.

[Uncle Buck]

Well said 'T Sport' I know for a fact that in last years snow, I wouldn't have been able to reach several destinations w/out them. After 3 weeks of snow on the road, it finally cleared but came back again later for another 2 weeks. While other cars on 'normal' tyres were sliding backwards down hills or failing to get any traction, I was able to carry on & reach my destination no problem. Yes it took longer than normal, but I got there ! So as long as I can afford to fit winter tyres, I will continue to do so.

[Goldreef]

I've had Nankang SV-2 winter tyres fitted to my car this year as a precautionary measure should we receive weather like that of last year. I got my standard tyre size of 225/45/17. Although we've not seen any snow as yet, at times where the dashboard has been reading 0 degrees outside and it's been slippy underfoot, the car hasn't had any issues with traction. Nor have I had any issues with performance in the wet (with sensible driving). I know that Nankang SV-2 winter tyres have received mixed reviews, however I was looking for a brand I'd heard of at a price I could afford and so far I'm happy with them. However even with winter tyres, you still have to employ common sense and only drive where you feel it's safe to do so.

[colesa.ru]

Which? magazine have just published their test on winter tyres . One of the sizes they tested was 205/55 16 - which is the size fitted to my Auris 1.33TR. The test included: wet and dry handling and braking; braking on, traction on, and cornering on snow; barking and cornering on ice; fuel economy; wear.

The three 'best buys' are: Continental Wintercontact TS830 (score 72%); Goodyear Ultragrip 7+ (69%); and Michelin Primacy Alpin PA3 (68%). The Maloya Davos and the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D scored just below a best buy at 66%, and the Vredstein Snowtrac 3 scored 64%.

14 tyres were tested in this size. The worst scoring tyre was the Kenda Polar Trax KR19, which scored just 11%

Hallo

I’m editor-on-chief of Russian tyre portal Colesa.ru, and I have a little request about results of the latest tyre test by magazine Which? Unfortunately, they don’t allow online registration from Russia, so we have no possibility to tell our readers about result of that test. It seems that in all Internet you have most information about the test, so please, could you send us results or at least ‘%’ of all tyres. Whole Russia will thank you))) Winter tyres are especially important for us as you may know…

Thank you

Denis Berintsev