Winter tyre test 205/55 R16 - Auto Express 2026

Winter

2026

Year

11

Tyres

VW Golf

Winner

Continental WinterContact TS 870

Test Vehicle

VW Golf

Tested tyres

11

article

Auto Express winter tyre test 2026: Continental narrowly beats Pirelli

Auto Express tested 11 winter tyres in 205/55 R16. Continental WinterContact TS 870 wins with 100%, followed by Pirelli Cinturato Winter 3 (99.8%) and Hankook W462 Winter i*cept RS3 (99.4%). Bridgestone and Michelin share fourth place.

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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

1

Continental WinterContact TS 870

Rating: -

£93

91 T

mytyres.co.uk

+3 More sizes →

91H · £93 94H · £110 94V · £127

Wet

Wet Braking#1/11

Wet Circle Cornering#1/11

Wet Handling#1/11

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#4/11

Aquaplaning Cross#5/11

Dry

Dry Braking#4/11

Dry Handling#4/11

Comfort

Noise Interior#1/11

Economy

Rolling Resistance#3/11

Snow

Snow Handling#4/11

Snow Braking#5/11

Snow Traction#9/11

Summary

Overall winner on 100%; first in wet braking and wet cornering, and joint first in wet handling.
Strong wet grip; lowest cabin noise
Ninth in snow traction

2

Pirelli Cinturato Winter 3

Rating: -

£103

94 H

mytyres.co.uk

+1 More sizes →

94H

Wet

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#1/11

Wet Handling#1/11

Aquaplaning Cross#2/11

Wet Circle Cornering#2/11

Wet Braking#3/11

Dry

Dry Braking#2/11

Dry Handling#8/11

Comfort

Noise Interior#5/11

Economy

Rolling Resistance#4/11

Snow

Snow Handling#2/11

Snow Traction#5/11

Snow Braking#7/11

Summary

Second overall on 99.8%, only 0.2 percentage points behind Continental.
Best straight aquaplaning; joint best wet handling
Seventh in snow braking

3

Hankook W462 Winter i*cept RS3

Rating: -

£69

91 T

mytyres.co.uk

+5 More sizes →

91H · £73 91H · £72 91H · £91 +2

Wet

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#2/11

Wet Braking#2/11

Aquaplaning Cross#3/11

Wet Circle Cornering#7/11

Wet Handling#7/11

Dry

Dry Handling#3/11

Dry Braking#5/11

Comfort

Noise Interior#11/11

Economy

Rolling Resistance#7/11

Snow

Snow Braking#1/11

Snow Handling#2/11

Snow Traction#2/11

Summary

Third overall on 99.4%, with strong snow results and second place in wet braking.
Best snow braking; second in snow traction
Last in cabin-noise score

4

Bridgestone Blizzak 6

Rating: -

£80

91 T

mytyres.co.uk

+3 More sizes →

91H · £80 94H · £100 94V · £114

Wet

Aquaplaning Cross#4/11

Wet Circle Cornering#4/11

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#6/11

Wet Braking#6/11

Wet Handling#6/11

Dry

Dry Handling#1/11

Dry Braking#11/11

Comfort

Noise Interior#2/11

Economy

Rolling Resistance#2/11

Snow

Snow Braking#2/11

Snow Traction#6/11

Snow Handling#7/11

Summary

Shared fourth place on 99.3%; second in snow braking and joint second in cabin noise.
Joint best dry handling; second in rolling resistance
Last in dry braking

4

Michelin ALPIN 7

Rating: -

£98

91 T

mytyres.co.uk

+2 More sizes →

91H · £98 94H · £123

Wet

Wet Braking#4/11

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#5/11

Wet Circle Cornering#5/11

Wet Handling#5/11

Aquaplaning Cross#7/11

Dry

Dry Braking#6/11

Dry Handling#9/11

Comfort

Noise Interior#10/11

Economy

Rolling Resistance#1/11

Snow

Snow Traction#3/11

Snow Braking#4/11

Snow Handling#5/11

Summary

Shared fourth place on 99.3%; fourth in both snow and wet braking.
Lowest rolling resistance; third in snow traction
Tenth in cabin-noise score

6

GoodYear UltraGrip Performance 3

Rating: -

£81

91 T

mytyres.co.uk

+3 More sizes →

91H · £82 94H · £98 94V · £121

Wet

Aquaplaning Cross#1/11

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#3/11

Wet Circle Cornering#3/11

Wet Handling#4/11

Wet Braking#7/11

Dry

Dry Braking#7/11

Dry Handling#11/11

Comfort

Noise Interior#5/11

Economy

Rolling Resistance#8/11

Snow

Snow Handling#1/11

Snow Traction#4/11

Snow Braking#6/11

Summary

Sixth overall on 98.9%, combining category wins on snow and in deep water.
Best snow handling and curved aquaplaning
Last in dry handling

7

Falken EuroWinter HS02

Rating: -

£78

91 H

mytyres.co.uk

+3 More sizes →

91H · £78 91H · £79 94V · £80

Wet

Wet Handling#3/11

Wet Braking#5/11

Wet Circle Cornering#6/11

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#7/11

Aquaplaning Cross#9/11

Dry

Dry Braking#1/11

Dry Handling#5/11

Comfort

Noise Interior#2/11

Economy

Rolling Resistance#6/11

Snow

Snow Braking#10/11

Snow Handling#10/11

Snow Traction#10/11

Summary

Seventh overall on 98.6%, with stronger wet and dry scores than snow performance.
Best dry braking; third in wet handling
Tenth in all three snow categories

8

Dunlop Winter

Rating: -

£67

91 H

mytyres.co.uk

+1 More sizes →

94V · £86

Wet

Aquaplaning Cross#6/11

Wet Circle Cornering#8/11

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#9/11

Wet Braking#9/11

Wet Handling#9/11

Dry

Dry Braking#7/11

Dry Handling#10/11

Comfort

Noise Interior#8/11

Economy

Rolling Resistance#5/11

Snow

Snow Traction#1/11

Snow Braking#3/11

Snow Handling#9/11

Summary

Eighth overall on 97.3%; its snow traction result was stronger than its wet performance.
Best snow traction; third in snow braking
Ninth in wet braking and wet handling

9

Linglong Sport Master Winter

Rating: -

Wet

Wet Braking#7/11

Wet Handling#8/11

Aquaplaning Cross#10/11

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#10/11

Wet Circle Cornering#10/11

Dry

Dry Handling#6/11

Dry Braking#9/11

Comfort

Noise Interior#2/11

Economy

Rolling Resistance#11/11

Snow

Snow Handling#6/11

Snow Traction#7/11

Snow Braking#9/11

Summary

Ninth overall on 96.7%. Auto Express names this tyre Sport Master Winter HP.
Joint second in cabin-noise score
Last in rolling resistance; tenth in both aquaplaning tests

10

Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6

Rating: -

£57

0 H

mytyres.co.uk

+1 More sizes →

0V · £57

Wet

Aquaplaning Cross#8/11

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#8/11

Wet Circle Cornering#9/11

Wet Braking#10/11

Wet Handling#10/11

Dry

Dry Handling#7/11

Dry Braking#10/11

Comfort

Noise Interior#9/11

Economy

Rolling Resistance#10/11

Snow

Snow Braking#8/11

Snow Handling#8/11

Snow Traction#8/11

Summary

Tenth overall on 96.6%, with eighth place in each snow category in the published ranking.
Lowest published purchase price
Tenth in wet braking and rolling resistance

11

Minerva Frostrack HP

Rating: -

£77

91 H

tyres-pneus-online.co.uk

+1 More sizes →

91V · £78

Wet

Aquaplaning Cross#11/11

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#11/11

Wet Braking#11/11

Wet Circle Cornering#11/11

Wet Handling#11/11

Dry

Dry Handling#1/11

Dry Braking#3/11

Comfort

Noise Interior#5/11

Economy

Rolling Resistance#9/11

Snow

Snow Braking#11/11

Snow Handling#11/11

Snow Traction#11/11

Summary

Eleventh overall on 93.0%; curved aquaplaning scored only 52.6% of the category leader.
Joint best dry handling; third in dry braking
Last in all wet and snow categories

Detailed results

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 GoodYear UltraGrip Performance+ 90%	90%	Premium
2	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-005 90%	90%	Premium	£114 91 T +4 More
3	Premium Continental WinterContact TS 860 90%	90%	Premium
4	Premium Pirelli Cinturato Winter 2 89%	89%	Premium	£118 91 T +2 More
5	Premium Michelin ALPIN 6 89%	89%	Premium
6	Premium GoodYear UltraGrip 9 89%	89%	Premium
7	Upper-middle Kleber KRISALP HP3 89%	89%	Upper-middle	£91 91 T +3 More
8	Premium Michelin ALPIN 5 89%	89%	Premium	£123 91 T +7 More

9	Premium Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen-1 89%	89%	Premium	£88 91 H +1 More
10	Premium Dunlop Winter Sport 5 89%	89%	Premium	£88 91 T +7 More
11	Upper-middle BFGoodrich G-FORCE WINTER 2 87%	87%	Upper-middle	£83 91 T +3 More
12	Premium GoodYear UltraGrip 9+ 86%	86%	Premium
13	Budget Semperit Speed-Grip 2 86%	86%	Budget
14	Premium Michelin ALPIN A4 86%	86%	Premium
15	Premium Pirelli WINTER SOTTOZERO Serie III 86%	86%	Premium	£131 91 H +3 More
16	Upper-middle Nokian WR D4 86%	86%	Upper-middle

17	Upper-middle Hankook Winter i*cept RS2 W452 85%	85%	Upper-middle
18	Upper-middle Firestone Winterhawk 4 84%	84%	Upper-middle	£67 91 T +3 More
19	Upper-middle Hankook Winter i*cept evo2 W320 84%	84%	Upper-middle
20	Premium Pirelli CINTURATO WINTER 84%	84%	Premium	£92 +5 More
21	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-001 84%	84%	Premium	£99 91 H +5 More
22	Budget Semperit Speed-Grip 3 81%	81%	Budget
23	Budget Semperit Speed-Grip 5 81%	81%	Budget	£70 91 T +3 More
24	Budget Fulda Kristall Control HP2 80%	80%	Budget	£76 91 H +1 More

25	Upper-middle Falken EuroWinter HS01 80%	80%	Upper-middle	£166 91 T +8 More
26	Upper-middle Toyo Observe S944 79%	79%	Upper-middle	£77 91 H +2 More
27	Upper-middle Nokian WR Snowproof 79%	79%	Upper-middle
28	Upper-middle Toyo Snowprox S954 78%	78%	Upper-middle
29	Premium Vredestein Snowtrac 5 77%	77%	Premium	£91 91 T +4 More
30	Premium Continental WinterContact TS 860S 76%	76%	Premium	£108 91 H +1 More
31	Budget Debica Frigo 2 75%	75%	Budget	£62 91 T +1 More
32	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-001 EVO 75%	75%	Premium

33	Upper-middle Kumho WinterCraft WP71 75%	75%	Upper-middle
34	Budget Sava Eskimo HP2 75%	75%	Budget	£73 91 H +2 More
35	Upper-middle Uniroyal MS Plus 77 74%	74%	Upper-middle
36	Budget Giti GitiWinter W1 74%	74%	Budget
37	Budget Sava ESKIMO S3+ 73%	73%	Budget	£71 91 T +2 More
38	Upper-middle Yokohama Bluearth Winter V906 72%	72%	Upper-middle	£69 91 T +3 More
39	Upper-middle Kumho WinterCraft WP51 68%	68%	Upper-middle
40	Budget Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2 67%	67%	Budget	£77 91 T +2 More

41	Budget Nexen Winguard Snow G3 WH21 67%	67%	Budget	£65 91 T +3 More
42	Upper-middle Nokian WR D3 66%	66%	Upper-middle
43	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-32 66%	66%	Premium
44	Budget Nexen WinGuard Sport 66%	66%	Budget
45	Budget Debica Frigo HP2 66%	66%	Budget	£67 91 H +1 More
46	Upper-middle Uniroyal WinterExpert 65%	65%	Upper-middle	£75 91 T +3 More
47	Budget Barum Polaris 5 64%	64%	Budget
48	Upper-middle Falken EUROWINTER HS449 63%	63%	Upper-middle

49	Upper-middle Nokian WR A4 63%	63%	Upper-middle
50	Upper-middle Yokohama BluEarth winter V905 62%	62%	Upper-middle	£106 91 T +9 More
51	Budget Fulda KRISTALL MONTERO 3 62%	62%	Budget
52	Upper-middle Firestone Winterhawk 3 61%	61%	Upper-middle
53	Apollo Alnac 4G Winter 60%	60%
54	Budget Giti Gitiwinter W2 59%	59%	Budget
55	Budget Matador MP93 Nordicca 56%	56%	Budget
56	Budget Sportiva Snow Win 3 49%	49%	Budget

57	Upper-middle Yokohama BluEarth-Winter V906 40%	40%	Upper-middle	£77 91 H +1 More
58	Budget Kormoran SNOW 40%	40%	Budget
59	Upper-middle Toyo SnowProx S943 38%	38%	Upper-middle
60	Budget Matador MP92 Sibir Snow 36%	36%	Budget
61	Budget Platin RP70 Winter 34%	34%	Budget
62	Budget Imperial SnowDragon UHP 25%	25%	Budget
63	Budget Radar Dimax Winter 9%	9%	Budget
64	Budget Infinity Ecozen 7%	7%	Budget

65	Budget Duraturn Mozzo Winter 1%	1%	Budget
66	Budget Imperial SnowDragon 3 1%	1%	Budget
67	Budget Syron Everest 1 plus 1%	1%	Budget