245/40 R18 - Best winter tyres 2026 - market overview, tests, reviews

A typical premium tyre - very well balanced, great on all surfaces with low rolling resistance. Proven by many tests.

Hankook sneaked in between the traditional premium tyres again with its Icept Evo3. It excels in aquaplaning resistance, which is crucial for european winters.

A great winter tyre with balanced handling characteristics. Great in the wet, but slightly less durable than newer models.

Blizzak has always been a winter tire focused on wet conditions, but with its sixth model, Bridgestone has promised improved snow performance and reduced rolling resistance. Early tests suggest they have delivered on these promises—Blizzak 6 is unmatched in wet conditions and excels on snow, making it ideal not just for city climates.

While being somehow dated as it was introduced back in 2015, it received some midlife updates and still holds up with the current models, at least in smaller dimensions. At the right price, it could be a great choice.

G-Force Winter 2 is our favorite budget winter tyre. It's great on snow and offers good safety on all surfaces, which is no surprise as BFGoodrich is a part of the Michelin group.

Michelin has unveiled the ALPIN 7 winter tyre, featuring an advanced tread design with additional sipes and an evolving tread pattern to maintain traction as the tyre wears. The new model aims to enhance braking and acceleration on snowy and wet roads while improving overall efficiency for a variety of vehicles. Unlike the Alpin 6, which was considered a bit overpriced for its performance, the Alpin 7 is expected to offer better value and address concerns in upcoming winter tests.

The Kumho WinterCraft WP52+ is a winter tyre from the established South Korean manufacturer, designed for use on passenger cars during cold weather conditions. Serving as an updated successor to the standard WinterCraft WP52, this model is engineered for winter driving. Its main focus is delivering traction on cold, snowy, and icy roads, though specific technical modifications over its predecessor are not detailed.

Barum unveils the Polaris 6, a budget-friendly winter tyre from the Czech Republic that adopts design elements from Continental’s TS series, including a V-shaped tread for better snow performance. The Polaris 6 improves on the Polaris 5 with enhanced durability, reduced rolling resistance, and quieter operation, while maintaining solid wet and dry performance. Priced about 20% higher, it leverages Continental’s technology to offer greater value and reliable winter traction for cost-conscious drivers.

Old but gold, that is how we can pretty much describe the Krisalp HP3. It's a winter tyre that is great on snow for a good price, which is what the average driver is looking for. It's not a premium tyre, but you get a lot of bang for your buck.

We really like the new Speed-Grip 5 - it's not expensive, it's very good on snow and on top of that, it's got very low rolling resistance. What it lacks compared to the premium tyres is better wet performance, but given it's price it's definitely recommendable.

Very good traction on snow for a nice price in a wide range of dimensions. Could use shorter braking distance on dry and better traction on the wet.

Kristall Control HP2 is an affordable snow specialist with some compromises in the wet and dry handling and braking.

A cheap tyre from European manufacturer that is very snow-focused, while sacrificing performance on both dry and wet. It could be recommended as a cheap option for extreme climates with a lot of snow.

The Winterhawk 4 is a tyre with mixed ratings as there are tests where the tyre was not recommended. Common criticisms include longer braking distances and significant understeer

EuroWinter HS02 is very good and quite sporty on dry and wet, but lacks some performance on the snow which is the reason for the not so good test results. Weaknesses in aquaplaning and rolling resistance doesn't help either.