As U.K. tire suppliers, distributors and fleets show increasing interest in stocking and promoting winter tires, consumer magazine Auto Express has published a winter tire test showing that the season-specific products offer three times more grip than standard “summer” products. The winter tire test, full details of which are published in the latest issue of the magazine, saw Auto Express test six current winter tires (205/55 R16) against all-season and summer tire control products.
Goodyear’s Ultra-Grip 7+ topped the test, with Continental’s ContiWinterContact TS830 less than 1% behind the lead with a score of 99.7. According to the tire testers, there was very little between the top two. Better performance in the snow is said to have allowed the Ultra-Grip 7+ to claim victory. Despite coming second overall, the ContiWinterContact TS830 is said to have narrowly outperformed the test winner in the cold and wet test category.
Dunlop’s Winter SP 3D claimed third place, followed by Vredestein’s Snowtrac 3. At the bottom of the table Pirelli’s SottoZero 210 Serie II was just ahead of the Nokian WRG2 in last place with 96.7. The Vredestein Quatrac 3 all-season tire result (95.1) suggested there may be some benefit in a product that straddles both the winter and summer category definitions. None of the tires reached as much as 5% overall difference from the leader. None, that is, except for the summer tire comparison product (recent winner of the magazine’s general tire test – Continental’s Premium Contact 3) which scored just 76.4. When you consider the earlier tire tests purporting to show up budget tires found them just 5 points off the mark, the 23.6 point difference is enormous.
“It’s a no-brainer,” lead tire tester Kim Adams told Tyres & Accessories, commenting on the performance improvements winter tires offer in cold conditions. His assessment is that the tires specifically designed for winter offer three times more grip and twice the cornering ability of the summer tires British motorists tend to drive on whatever the whether. (Tyres & Accessories)
