Winter tires

AUTO BILD tyre test 2026: 225/55 R18 — Hankook Winter i*cept evo 4

Jiri Zelinka Author Jiri Zelinka
4 min read

AUTO BILD compared 10 tyres in size 225/55 R18.

winter tyres · BMW X1 · 225/55 R18 · 102V · 2026

Ivalo (Hankook Technotrac) · Papenburg (ATP) · Pferdsfeld (Triwo)

Overall grades: lower is better. Shared positions follow AUTO BILD.

Pirelli’s aquaplaning results are incomplete: the straight-line value is missing and the cornering value has an invalid unit. These two results are omitted. The source gives no complete category grades or numerical rolling-resistance results.

Results

1. Hankook Winter i*cept evo 4 1.3 Very good
2. Pirelli Cinturato Winter 3 1.4 Very good
2. Michelin PILOT ALPIN 5 (★100) 1.4 Very good
4. GoodYear UltraGrip Performance 3 (★92) 1.5 Good
5. Bridgestone Blizzak 6 1.7 Good
6. Falken EuroWinter HS02 Pro (★62) 2.6 Satisfactory
7. Linglong Sport Master Winter 2.7 Satisfactory
7. Matador MP93 Nordicca 2.7 Satisfactory
9. Prinx Winter Excelia 3.1 Satisfactory
10. Zeetex WH1000 SUV 4.5 Poor

Hankook Winter i*cept evo 4

+ Balanced performance; affordable

Snow traction (N) 3672
Snow braking (50→0 km/h · m) 28.4
Snow handling – objective (km/h) 42.2
Snow cornering (m/s²) 4.08
Longitudinal aquaplaning (km/h) 83
Cornering aquaplaning (m/s²) 3.6
Wet handling – objective (km/h) 84.3
Wet circle cornering (s) 16.35
Wet braking (100→0 km/h · m) 45.2
Dry handling – objective (km/h) 114.1
Dry braking (100→0 km/h · m) 42.14
Exterior noise (50 / 80 km/h · dB(A)) 67.4 / 70.9

Pirelli Cinturato Winter 3

+ Very quiet; strong wet handling and braking

− Minor dry-road weaknesses

Snow traction (N) 3744
Snow braking (50→0 km/h · m) 29
Snow handling – objective (km/h) 41.9
Snow cornering (m/s²) 4.11
Longitudinal aquaplaning (km/h) —
Cornering aquaplaning (m/s²) —
Wet handling – objective (km/h) 85.3
Wet circle cornering (s) 16.11
Wet braking (100→0 km/h · m) 44.4
Dry handling – objective (km/h) 111.5
Dry braking (100→0 km/h · m) 42.32
Exterior noise (50 / 80 km/h · dB(A)) 66.7 / 71.1

Michelin PILOT ALPIN 5 (★100)

+ Excellent winter performance; confident on dry roads

− Slightly weaker in the wet

Snow traction (N) 3781
Snow braking (50→0 km/h · m) 27.7
Snow handling – objective (km/h) 42.5
Snow cornering (m/s²) 4.17
Longitudinal aquaplaning (km/h) 80.7
Cornering aquaplaning (m/s²) 3.1
Wet handling – objective (km/h) 83.7
Wet circle cornering (s) 16.36
Wet braking (100→0 km/h · m) 47.1
Dry handling – objective (km/h) 112.6
Dry braking (100→0 km/h · m) 41.8
Exterior noise (50 / 80 km/h · dB(A)) 67.8 / 71.2

GoodYear UltraGrip Performance 3 (★92)

+ Shortest dry braking distance; strong on snow

− Minor wet-road weaknesses

Snow traction (N) 3781
Snow braking (50→0 km/h · m) 28.1
Snow handling – objective (km/h) 42.5
Snow cornering (m/s²) 4.22
Longitudinal aquaplaning (km/h) 78.1
Cornering aquaplaning (m/s²) 2.8
Wet handling – objective (km/h) 84
Wet circle cornering (s) 16.34
Wet braking (100→0 km/h · m) 48.1
Dry handling – objective (km/h) 112.7
Dry braking (100→0 km/h · m) 41.31
Exterior noise (50 / 80 km/h · dB(A)) 67.9 / 71.8

Bridgestone Blizzak 6

+ Low rolling resistance; strong on snow

− Minor wet and dry weaknesses

Snow traction (N) 3678
Snow braking (50→0 km/h · m) 28.5
Snow handling – objective (km/h) 41.7
Snow cornering (m/s²) 4.09
Longitudinal aquaplaning (km/h) 78.9
Cornering aquaplaning (m/s²) 3.1
Wet handling – objective (km/h) 84.9
Wet circle cornering (s) 16.35
Wet braking (100→0 km/h · m) 48.1
Dry handling – objective (km/h) 112.8
Dry braking (100→0 km/h · m) 43.09
Exterior noise (50 / 80 km/h · dB(A)) 69.6 / 72.6

Falken EuroWinter HS02 Pro (★62)

+ Decent on snow; quiet

− Weaker aquaplaning resistance

Snow traction (N) 3597
Snow braking (50→0 km/h · m) 29.4
Snow handling – objective (km/h) 41.6
Snow cornering (m/s²) 3.88
Longitudinal aquaplaning (km/h) 77.3
Cornering aquaplaning (m/s²) 2.7
Wet handling – objective (km/h) 83.2
Wet circle cornering (s) 16.33
Wet braking (100→0 km/h · m) 48.2
Dry handling – objective (km/h) 111.9
Dry braking (100→0 km/h · m) 43.61
Exterior noise (50 / 80 km/h · dB(A)) 67.7 / 72

Linglong Sport Master Winter

+ Excellent snow handling; confident on dry roads; inexpensive

− Wet weaknesses led to a downgrade

Snow traction (N) 3525
Snow braking (50→0 km/h · m) 28.2
Snow handling – objective (km/h) 43
Snow cornering (m/s²) 4.16
Longitudinal aquaplaning (km/h) 75.9
Cornering aquaplaning (m/s²) 2.6
Wet handling – objective (km/h) 80.3
Wet circle cornering (s) 16.69
Wet braking (100→0 km/h · m) 48.8
Dry handling – objective (km/h) 111.9
Dry braking (100→0 km/h · m) 42.32
Exterior noise (50 / 80 km/h · dB(A)) 69.7 / 73.7

Matador MP93 Nordicca

+ Quiet; strong on snow

− Wet-road weaknesses

Snow traction (N) 3493
Snow braking (50→0 km/h · m) 29
Snow handling – objective (km/h) 42.3
Snow cornering (m/s²) 4.04
Longitudinal aquaplaning (km/h) 77
Cornering aquaplaning (m/s²) 3
Wet handling – objective (km/h) 81.6
Wet circle cornering (s) 16.81
Wet braking (100→0 km/h · m) 48.8
Dry handling – objective (km/h) 111
Dry braking (100→0 km/h · m) 43.45
Exterior noise (50 / 80 km/h · dB(A)) 68.4 / 71.9

Prinx Winter Excelia

+ Good on snow

− Weak wet lateral grip; high price

Snow traction (N) 3591
Snow braking (50→0 km/h · m) 28.9
Snow handling – objective (km/h) 41.1
Snow cornering (m/s²) 4.09
Longitudinal aquaplaning (km/h) 78.6
Cornering aquaplaning (m/s²) 3.3
Wet handling – objective (km/h) 78.4
Wet circle cornering (s) 17.18
Wet braking (100→0 km/h · m) 50.5
Dry handling – objective (km/h) 110.4
Dry braking (100→0 km/h · m) 43.55
Exterior noise (50 / 80 km/h · dB(A)) 67.4 / 71.1

Zeetex WH1000 SUV

+ Very inexpensive

− Unacceptable wet braking; poor wet lateral grip

Snow traction (N) 3169
Snow braking (50→0 km/h · m) 31.8
Snow handling – objective (km/h) 38.9
Snow cornering (m/s²) 3.73
Longitudinal aquaplaning (km/h) 73.9
Cornering aquaplaning (m/s²) 2.4
Wet handling – objective (km/h) 77.3
Wet circle cornering (s) 17.29
Wet braking (100→0 km/h · m) 57.5
Dry handling – objective (km/h) 110.8
Dry braking (100→0 km/h · m) 43.42
Exterior noise (50 / 80 km/h · dB(A)) 68 / 72.5

Original test

Tom Salt/AUTO BILD