Winter tyre test 215/55 R17 - AutoMotorSport 2025

Winter Testing was conducted using both compact SUV Audi Q2 and high-performance SQ2 models at specialized automotive test facilities, involving dry asphalt, wet asphalt (with artificial watering), and packed snow; ambient conditions reflect typical Central European winter scenarios.

2025

Year

10

Tyres

Primary vehicles were Audi Q2 and SQ2 compact SUVs equipped with Dezent TO 7.5 x 17-inch lightweight alloy wheels, with up to 755 kg load rating and compatible with a wide range of mid-size cars, wagons, and hybrids.

Winner

Continental WinterContact TS 870 P

Best Value

Hankook W462 Winter i*cept RS3

Test Vehicle

Audi Q2

Tested tyres

10

article

Deep Dive: Automotorsport’s Latest Winter Tyre Test for 2025 Reveals Surprises, Dangers, and Inconsistencies

Every year, the search for the perfect winter tyre begins. With vehicle running costs on everyone's mind, the temptation to save a few hundred euros on a set of budget tyres is strong. But what do you sacrifice in safety and performance? To get to the bottom of this, the respected German magazine Automotorsport conducted an in-depth test on the common 215/55 R 17 size. Their lineup was designed to find the truth, comparing top-tier offerings from Continental and Michelin against value-focused brands and even a super-cheap Linglong tyre, to see which ones truly deliver when conditions get tough.

read the full article

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

Best dry braking from 100 km/h: Continental (43.6 m), followed closely by Linglong (44.5 m) and Goodyear (44.6 m); worst: Profil with 50.1 m.

1

Continental WinterContact TS 870 P

Rating: Outstanding

£146

94 H

mytyres.co.uk

+3 More sizes →

94H · £168 98H · £161 98V · £150

Points total9.1

Wet9.8

Dry8.9

Snow8.2

Enviromental impact9.0

Wet

Aquaplaning Cross#1/9

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#1/9

Wet Braking#1/9

Wet Handling#1/9

Wet Side Guide#1/9

Dry

Dry Braking#1/9

Dry Handling#1/9

Dry Lane Change#1/9

Dry Steering Reaction#1/9

Comfort

Ride Comfort#1/9

Snow

Snow Braking#1/9

Snow Handling#1/9

Snow Side Guide#1/9

Snow Traction#1/9

Best wet braking from 80 km/h: Continental (31.2 m), Michelin (31.4 m), Vredestein (31.9 m); Linglong: 32.2 m; Profil (retread) proves extremely poor at 52.5 m.

2

Goodyear UltraGrip Performance+

Rating: Outstanding

Points total9.0

Wet9.2

Dry9.1

Snow9.0

Enviromental impact8.6

3

Michelin Alpin 7

Rating: Very good

£151

94 V

mytyres.co.uk

+1 More sizes →

98V · £151

Points total8.5

Wet8.9

Dry8.2

Snow8.4

Enviromental impact8.4

Wet

Aquaplaning Cross#1/9

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#1/9

Wet Handling#1/9

Wet Side Guide#1/9

Wet Braking#4/9

Dry

Dry Handling#2/9

Dry Steering Reaction#3/9

Dry Braking#4/9

Dry Lane Change#4/9

Comfort

Ride Comfort#1/9

Snow

Snow Handling#1/9

Snow Side Guide#1/9

Snow Braking#2/9

Snow Traction#3/9

4

Hankook W462 Winter i*cept RS3

Rating: Very good

£130

98 V

mytyres.co.uk

Points total8.3

Wet8.6

Dry8.4

Snow8.5

Enviromental impact7.3

Wet

Aquaplaning Cross#1/9

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#1/9

Wet Side Guide#1/9

Wet Braking#4/9

Wet Handling#5/9

Dry

Dry Steering Reaction#1/9

Dry Handling#2/9

Dry Lane Change#2/9

Dry Braking#4/9

Comfort

Ride Comfort#5/9

Snow

Snow Side Guide#1/9

Snow Braking#2/9

Snow Traction#3/9

Snow Handling#6/9

5

Vredestein Wintrac Pro+

Rating: Very good

£130

94 H

mytyres.co.uk

Points total8.3

Wet9.4

Dry8.0

Snow7.6

Enviromental impact7.0

Wet

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#1/9

Wet Handling#1/9

Wet Braking#3/9

Aquaplaning Cross#4/9

Wet Side Guide#5/9

Dry

Dry Handling#2/9

Dry Braking#7/9

Dry Lane Change#7/9

Dry Steering Reaction#7/9

Comfort

Ride Comfort#4/9

Snow

Snow Traction#3/9

Snow Handling#4/9

Snow Side Guide#5/9

Snow Braking#6/9

6

Bridgestone Blizzak 6

Rating: Very good

£144

98 V

mytyres.co.uk

Points total8.1

Wet7.5

Dry8.4

Snow9.1

Enviromental impact7.7

Wet

Aquaplaning Cross#5/9

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#5/9

Wet Side Guide#5/9

Wet Handling#6/9

Wet Braking#8/9

Dry

Dry Braking#2/9

Dry Lane Change#2/9

Dry Steering Reaction#3/9

Dry Handling#6/9

Comfort

Ride Comfort#3/9

Snow

Snow Side Guide#1/9

Snow Braking#2/9

Snow Handling#3/9

Snow Traction#6/9

7

Pirelli Cinturato Winter 2

Rating: Good

£141

98 H

mytyres.co.uk

+1 More sizes →

98V · £141

Points total7.9

Wet8.7

Dry8.2

Snow7.0

Enviromental impact6.7

Wet

Wet Braking#4/9

Wet Handling#6/9

Wet Side Guide#7/9

Aquaplaning Cross#8/9

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#8/9

Dry

Dry Braking#4/9

Dry Handling#7/9

Dry Lane Change#7/9

Dry Steering Reaction#8/9

Comfort

Ride Comfort#8/9

Snow

Snow Braking#6/9

Snow Traction#6/9

Snow Handling#8/9

Snow Side Guide#8/9

8

Linglong Sport Master Winter

Rating: Good

Points total7.5

Wet7.5

Dry7.9

Snow7.2

Enviromental impact7.0

Wet

Wet Braking#4/9

Aquaplaning Cross#8/9

Wet Handling#8/9

Wet Side Guide#8/9

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#9/9

Dry

Dry Braking#7/9

Dry Steering Reaction#8/9

Dry Handling#9/9

Dry Lane Change#9/9

Comfort

Ride Comfort#8/9

Snow

Snow Side Guide#5/9

Snow Braking#6/9

Snow Handling#6/9

Snow Traction#6/9

9

Falken Eurowinter HS02

Rating: Satisfactory

£113

98 V

mytyres.co.uk

Points total7.2

Wet7.1

Dry7.6

Snow6.2

Enviromental impact8.0

Wet

Aquaplaning Cross#5/9

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#5/9

Wet Braking#8/9

Wet Handling#8/9

Wet Side Guide#8/9

Dry

Dry Steering Reaction#3/9

Dry Lane Change#4/9

Dry Braking#7/9

Dry Handling#7/9

Comfort

Ride Comfort#5/9

Snow

Snow Traction#6/9

Snow Handling#8/9

Snow Braking#9/9

Snow Side Guide#9/9

10

Profil Winter Maxx

Rating: Poor

Points total3.1

Wet1.7

Dry4.4

Snow8.9

Enviromental impact9.7

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 ContiWinterContact TS 850P 91%	91%	Premium
2	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-005 90%	90%	Premium	£168 98 H +1 More
3	Premium Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen-1 89%	89%	Premium
4	Upper-middle Kleber KRISALP HP3 89%	89%	Upper-middle	£132 94 H +2 More
5	Premium Dunlop Winter Sport 5 89%	89%	Premium	£132 98 V +1 More
6	Premium Michelin ALPIN 6 89%	89%	Premium
7	Premium Michelin ALPIN 5 89%	89%	Premium	£173 94 H +4 More
8	Premium Bridgestone Turanza T005 88%	88%	Premium	£109 94 V +7 More

9	Upper-middle BFGoodrich G-FORCE WINTER 2 87%	87%	Upper-middle	£129 94 H +2 More
10	Upper-middle Nokian WR D4 86%	86%	Upper-middle
11	Premium Pirelli WINTER SOTTOZERO Serie III 86%	86%	Premium	£176 94 H +3 More
12	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-001 84%	84%	Premium	£160 94 V +2 More
13	Upper-middle Hankook Winter i*cept evo2 W320 84%	84%	Upper-middle	£134 98 V +2 More
14	Upper-middle Firestone Winterhawk 4 84%	84%	Upper-middle	£99 98 V
15	Premium Pirelli CINTURATO WINTER 84%	84%	Premium
16	Budget Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6 82%	82%	Budget	£94 98 V

17	Budget Semperit Speed-Grip 3 81%	81%	Budget
18	Budget Semperit Speed-Grip 5 81%	81%	Budget	£124 98 V
19	Budget Fulda Kristall Control HP2 80%	80%	Budget	£111 98 V
20	Upper-middle Falken EuroWinter HS01 80%	80%	Upper-middle	£137 94 V +1 More
21	Upper-middle Nokian WR Snowproof 79%	79%	Upper-middle	£137 98 H +1 More
22	Upper-middle Nokian WR Snowproof P 79%	79%	Upper-middle
23	Upper-middle Toyo Observe S944 79%	79%	Upper-middle	£118 98 V +1 More
24	Upper-middle Toyo Snowprox S954 78%	78%	Upper-middle

25	Premium Hankook Iw01a Ion Icept Suv 77%	77%	Premium	£171 98 V
26	Upper-middle Kumho WinterCraft WP71 75%	75%	Upper-middle
27	Budget Sava Eskimo HP2 75%	75%	Budget	£92 98 V
28	Upper-middle Uniroyal MS Plus 77 74%	74%	Upper-middle
29	Budget Giti GitiWinter W1 74%	74%	Budget
30	Premium Hankook Ventus Prime 4 73%	73%	Premium	£102 94 +14 More
31	Budget Nexen WinGuard Sport 2 WU7 69%	69%	Budget	£96 98 V +1 More
32	Budget Nexen WinGuard Sport 66%	66%	Budget

33	Budget Debica Frigo HP2 66%	66%	Budget	£89 98 V
34	Upper-middle Uniroyal WinterExpert 65%	65%	Upper-middle	£112 98 V
35	Budget Barum Polaris 5 64%	64%	Budget
36	Upper-middle Nokian WR A4 63%	63%	Upper-middle
37	Upper-middle Yokohama BluEarth winter V905 62%	62%	Upper-middle	£134 94 H +3 More
38	Upper-middle Firestone Winterhawk 3 61%	61%	Upper-middle
39	Budget Matador MP93 Nordicca 56%	56%	Budget
40	Budget Fortune Fsr901 40%	40%	Budget

41	Budget Kormoran SNOW 40%	40%	Budget
42	Budget Imperial SnowDragon UHP 25%	25%	Budget
43	Budget Kormoran SNOWPRO B2 1%	1%	Budget
44	Budget Imperial SnowDragon 3 1%	1%	Budget