Winter tyre test 225/45 R17 - Autoexpress 2025

Winter Snow testing at Goodyear’s Arctic Center, Saariselkä (Finland) in −7 to −4°C; wet and dry testing at Continental’s Contidrom near Hannover (Germany) in ~4°C early-morning conditions.

2025

Year

8

Tyres

Winner

Continental WinterContact TS 870

Best Value

LingLong Sport Master Winter

Test Vehicle

VW Golf

Tested tyres

8

article

Auto Express Winter Tyre Test 2025 (225/45 R17)

Autoexpress i back with it's test for this season - this time in size 225/45 R17 — the rubber most Golfs, Octavias and A3s actually run. Snow might be rare in many towns, but when winter turns ugly these tyres are night-and-day better than summers in cold, wet conditions. After back-to-back wins in this size, Continental’s WinterContact TS 870 returned hunting a hat-trick. Facing it: Bridgestone’s new Blizzak 6, Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 3, Michelin Alpin 7, Vredestein Wintrac Pro+, Falken Eurowinter HS02PRO, debutant LingLong Sport Master Winter, and a randomly chosen budget set, Triangle WinterX TW401.

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Price vs Quality

See how tyre price relates to test performance at a glance

Results

Agenda:

Best value in test

Better than average value

Worse than average value

Worst value in test

Wet braking was performed on a guided rail from 80 km/h to 0 to ensure identical asphalt and eliminate driver/surface variability.

1

Continental WinterContact TS 870

Rating: Test winner

£128

91 H

mytyres.co.uk

94H · £128 94V · £156

2

Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 3

Rating: -

£122

91 H

mytyres.co.uk

94H · £122 94V

Aquaplaning: straight-line in 9 mm water at a 15% slip threshold; curved in 5 mm water at 60–90 km/h with results expressed as average residual lateral acceleration.

3

Bridgestone Blizzak 6

Rating: -

£118

94 V

mytyres.co.uk

Course geometry: 0.8 km snow handling loop with elevation change and rapid transitions; wet cornering on a 57.5 m circle; lap times on ~1.77 km wet and ~1.61 km dry handling sections.

4

Michelin Alpin 7

Rating: -

£130

91 H

mytyres.co.uk

94V · £138

Continental WinterContact TS 870 won overall (third consecutive), leading wet handling/cornering and dry braking, with the quietest cabin noise and competitive rolling resistance.

5

LingLong Sport Master Winter

Rating: -

Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 3 dominated snow braking/traction and both aquaplaning tests, topped five tests, but narrowly finished second overall.

6

Vredestein Wintrac Pro+

Rating: -

£103

91 H

mytyres.co.uk

94V · £107

7

Falken Eurowinter HS02PRO

Rating: -

Non-obvious: Continental was last in snow braking yet won snow handling; LingLong set the fastest dry handling lap but had the highest rolling resistance; Triangle was acceptable in snow/dry but last in every wet test.

8

Triangle WinterX TW401

Rating: -

Same size tyres not featured in the test

Tests usually don't cover the whole market - here is our selection what not to miss when shopping for tyres in this size.

#	Name	Our rating	Segment	Price
1	Premium Continental WinterContact TS 860 90%	90%	Premium
2	Premium GoodYear UltraGrip Performance+ 90%	90%	Premium
3	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-005 90%	90%	Premium	£188 91 H +2 More
4	Premium Michelin ALPIN 6 89%	89%	Premium	£179 91 H +3 More
5	Premium Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen-1 89%	89%	Premium	£175 91 H +3 More
6	Premium Michelin ALPIN 5 89%	89%	Premium	£203 91 H +3 More
7	Premium Dunlop Winter Sport 5 89%	89%	Premium	£118 91 H +7 More
8	Upper-middle Kleber KRISALP HP3 89%	89%	Upper-middle	£98 91 H +3 More

9	Premium Pirelli Cinturato Winter 2 89%	89%	Premium	£137 91 H +1 More
10	Upper-middle BFGoodrich G-FORCE WINTER 2 87%	87%	Upper-middle	£119 94 H +1 More
11	Upper-middle Hankook W462 Winter i*cept RS3 87%	87%	Upper-middle	£89 91 H +2 More
12	Premium Pirelli WINTER SOTTOZERO Serie III 86%	86%	Premium	£153 91 H +6 More
13	Upper-middle Nokian WR D4 86%	86%	Upper-middle
14	Upper-middle Hankook Winter i*cept RS2 W452 85%	85%	Upper-middle
15	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-001 84%	84%	Premium	£152 91 H +1 More
16	Upper-middle Firestone Winterhawk 4 84%	84%	Upper-middle	£80 91 H +1 More

17	Upper-middle Hankook Winter i*cept evo2 W320 84%	84%	Upper-middle
18	Budget Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6 82%	82%	Budget	£96 0 V
19	Budget Semperit Speed-Grip 3 81%	81%	Budget
20	Budget Semperit Speed-Grip 5 81%	81%	Budget	£89 91 H +1 More
21	Upper-middle Falken EuroWinter HS01 80%	80%	Upper-middle	£114 91 H +4 More
22	Budget Fulda Kristall Control HP2 80%	80%	Budget	£91 91 H +1 More
23	Upper-middle Toyo Observe S944 79%	79%	Upper-middle	£121 94 V +2 More
24	Upper-middle Nokian WR Snowproof P 79%	79%	Upper-middle	£102 91 H +1 More

25	Upper-middle Nokian WR Snowproof 79%	79%	Upper-middle
26	Upper-middle Toyo Snowprox S954 78%	78%	Upper-middle
27	Premium Continental WinterContact TS 860S 76%	76%	Premium
28	Budget Sava Eskimo HP2 75%	75%	Budget	£79 91 H +1 More
29	Upper-middle Kumho WinterCraft WP71 75%	75%	Upper-middle
30	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-001 EVO 75%	75%	Premium
31	Upper-middle Uniroyal MS Plus 77 74%	74%	Upper-middle
32	Budget Giti GitiWinter W1 74%	74%	Budget

33	Upper-middle Yokohama BluEarth-Winter V906 72%	72%	Upper-middle	£75 91 H +1 More
34	Budget Nexen WinGuard Sport 2 WU7 69%	69%	Budget	£82 94 H +2 More
35	Budget Debica Frigo HP2 66%	66%	Budget	£81 91 H +1 More
36	Upper-middle Nokian WR D3 66%	66%	Upper-middle
37	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-32 66%	66%	Premium
38	Upper-middle Uniroyal WinterExpert 65%	65%	Upper-middle	£93 91 H +1 More
39	Budget Barum Polaris 5 64%	64%	Budget	£122 91 H +1 More
40	Upper-middle Falken EUROWINTER HS449 63%	63%	Upper-middle

41	Upper-middle Nokian WR A4 63%	63%	Upper-middle
42	Upper-middle Yokohama BluEarth winter V905 62%	62%	Upper-middle	£88 91 H +10 More
43	Upper-middle Firestone Winterhawk 3 61%	61%	Upper-middle
44	Budget Matador MP93 Nordicca 56%	56%	Budget
45	Budget Kormoran SNOW 40%	40%	Budget
46	Budget Fortune Fsr901 40%	40%	Budget
47	Budget Matador MP92 Sibir Snow 36%	36%	Budget
48	Budget Imperial SnowDragon UHP 25%	25%	Budget

49	Budget Kormoran SNOWPRO B2 1%	1%	Budget
50	Budget Imperial SnowDragon 3 1%	1%	Budget