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.

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

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

£126

91 H

mytyres.co.uk

+2 More sizes →

94H · £126 94V · £150

2

Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 3

Rating: -

£130

91 H

mytyres.co.uk

+2 More sizes →

94H · £137 94V · £135

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: -

£126

91 H

mytyres.co.uk

+1 More sizes →

94V · £126

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: -

£133

91 H

mytyres.co.uk

+1 More sizes →

94V · £139

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: -

£106

91 H

mytyres.co.uk

+1 More sizes →

94V · £106

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 GoodYear UltraGrip Performance+ 90%	90%	Premium
2	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-005 90%	90%	Premium	£132 91 H +2 More
3	Premium Continental WinterContact TS 860 90%	90%	Premium
4	Premium Michelin ALPIN 6 89%	89%	Premium
5	Premium Pirelli Cinturato Winter 2 89%	89%	Premium	£117 91 H +1 More
6	Premium Michelin ALPIN 5 89%	89%	Premium	£183 91 H +4 More
7	Premium Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen-1 89%	89%	Premium	£130 91 H +3 More
8	Upper-middle Kleber KRISALP HP3 89%	89%	Upper-middle	£93 91 H +3 More

9	Upper-middle Hankook W462 Winter i*cept RS3 87%	87%	Upper-middle	£89 91 H +4 More
10	Upper-middle BFGoodrich G-FORCE WINTER 2 87%	87%	Upper-middle	£99 91 H +2 More
11	Upper-middle Nokian WR D4 86%	86%	Upper-middle
12	Premium Pirelli WINTER SOTTOZERO Serie III 86%	86%	Premium	£178 91 H +6 More
13	Upper-middle Hankook Winter i*cept RS2 W452 85%	85%	Upper-middle
14	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-001 84%	84%	Premium	£152 91 H +2 More
15	Upper-middle Hankook Winter i*cept evo2 W320 84%	84%	Upper-middle
16	Upper-middle Firestone Winterhawk 4 84%	84%	Upper-middle	£80 91 H +1 More

17	Budget Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6 82%	82%	Budget	£68 0 V
18	Budget Semperit Speed-Grip 3 81%	81%	Budget
19	Budget Semperit Speed-Grip 5 81%	81%	Budget	£88 91 H +1 More
20	Budget Fulda Kristall Control HP2 80%	80%	Budget	£90 91 H +1 More
21	Upper-middle Falken EuroWinter HS01 80%	80%	Upper-middle	£110 91 H +4 More
22	Upper-middle Nokian WR Snowproof P 79%	79%	Upper-middle	£103 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 79%	79%	Upper-middle

25	Upper-middle Toyo Snowprox S954 78%	78%	Upper-middle
26	Premium Continental WinterContact TS 860S 76%	76%	Premium	£169 91 H +1 More
27	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-001 EVO 75%	75%	Premium
28	Budget Sava Eskimo HP2 75%	75%	Budget	£77 91 H +2 More
29	Upper-middle Kumho WinterCraft WP71 75%	75%	Upper-middle
30	Budget Giti GitiWinter W1 74%	74%	Budget
31	Upper-middle Uniroyal MS Plus 77 74%	74%	Upper-middle
32	Upper-middle Yokohama Bluearth Winter V906 72%	72%	Upper-middle	£90 91 H +1 More

33	Budget Nexen WinGuard Sport 2 WU7 69%	69%	Budget	£83 94 H +2 More
34	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-32 66%	66%	Premium
35	Budget Debica Frigo HP2 66%	66%	Budget	£77 91 H +3 More
36	Upper-middle Nokian WR D3 66%	66%	Upper-middle
37	Upper-middle Uniroyal WinterExpert 65%	65%	Upper-middle	£93 91 H +1 More
38	Budget Barum Polaris 5 64%	64%	Budget	£127 91 H +1 More
39	Upper-middle Nokian WR A4 63%	63%	Upper-middle
40	Upper-middle Falken EUROWINTER HS449 63%	63%	Upper-middle

41	Upper-middle Yokohama BluEarth winter V905 62%	62%	Upper-middle	£95 91 H +9 More
42	Upper-middle Firestone Winterhawk 3 61%	61%	Upper-middle
43	Budget Giti Gitiwinter W2 59%	59%	Budget
44	Budget Matador MP93 Nordicca 56%	56%	Budget
45	GT Radial WinterPro2 Sport 51%	51%
46	Budget Sportiva Snow Win 3 49%	49%	Budget	£109 94 V
47	Budget Kormoran SNOW 40%	40%	Budget
48	Budget Fortune Fsr901 40%	40%	Budget

49	Budget Matador MP92 Sibir Snow 36%	36%	Budget
50	Budget Platin RP70 Winter 34%	34%	Budget
51	Sailun Iceblazer Alpine Evo 1 29%	29%
52	Budget Imperial SnowDragon UHP 25%	25%	Budget
53	Budget Radar Dimax Winter 9%	9%	Budget
54	Budget Kormoran SNOWPRO B2 1%	1%	Budget
55	Budget Imperial SnowDragon 3 1%	1%	Budget
56	Premium Dunlop Winter Sport 5 1%	1%	Premium	£104 91 H +8 More