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.

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

1

Continental WinterContact TS 870

Rating: -

£88

91 T

mytyres.co.uk

+3 More sizes →

91H · £90 94H · £108 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

2

Pirelli Cinturato Winter 3

Rating: -

£105

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

3

Hankook W462 Winter i*cept RS3

Rating: -

£69

91 T

mytyres.co.uk

+5 More sizes →

91H · £73 91H · £73 91H · £90 +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

4

Bridgestone Blizzak 6

Rating: -

£85

91 T

mytyres.co.uk

+3 More sizes →

91H · £85 94H · £109 94V · £115

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

4

Michelin ALPIN 7

Rating: -

£97

91 T

mytyres.co.uk

+2 More sizes →

91H · £99 94H · £108

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

6

GoodYear UltraGrip Performance 3

Rating: -

£83

91 T

mytyres.co.uk

+3 More sizes →

91H · £84 94H · £102 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

7

Falken EuroWinter HS02

Rating: -

£77

91 H

mytyres.co.uk

+3 More sizes →

91H · £77 91H · £81 94V · £79

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

8

Dunlop Winter

Rating: -

£69

91 H

mytyres.co.uk

+1 More sizes →

94V · £87

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

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

10

Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6

Rating: -

£58

0 H

mytyres.co.uk

+1 More sizes →

0V · £60

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

11

Minerva Frostrack HP

Rating: -

£74

91 H

tyres-pneus-online.co.uk

+1 More sizes →

91V · £75

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

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	£98 91 T +4 More
3	Premium Continental WinterContact TS 860 90%	90%	Premium
4	Premium GoodYear UltraGrip 9 89%	89%	Premium
5	Upper-middle Kleber KRISALP HP3 89%	89%	Upper-middle	£84 91 T +3 More
6	Premium Michelin ALPIN 5 89%	89%	Premium	£127 91 T +7 More
7	Premium Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen-1 89%	89%	Premium	£91 91 H +1 More
8	Premium Dunlop Winter Sport 5 89%	89%	Premium	£90 91 T +7 More

9	Premium Pirelli Cinturato Winter 2 89%	89%	Premium	£106 91 T +2 More
10	Premium Michelin ALPIN 6 89%	89%	Premium
11	Upper-middle BFGoodrich G-FORCE WINTER 2 87%	87%	Upper-middle	£85 91 T +3 More
12	Budget Semperit Speed-Grip 2 86%	86%	Budget
13	Premium Michelin ALPIN A4 86%	86%	Premium
14	Premium Pirelli WINTER SOTTOZERO Serie III 86%	86%	Premium
15	Upper-middle Nokian WR D4 86%	86%	Upper-middle
16	Premium GoodYear UltraGrip 9+ 86%	86%	Premium

17	Upper-middle Hankook Winter i*cept RS2 W452 85%	85%	Upper-middle
18	Premium Pirelli CINTURATO WINTER 84%	84%	Premium	£91 +5 More
19	Upper-middle Hankook Winter i*cept evo2 W320 84%	84%	Upper-middle	£90 91 H +2 More
20	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-001 84%	84%	Premium	£102 91 H +5 More
21	Upper-middle Firestone Winterhawk 4 84%	84%	Upper-middle	£66 91 T +3 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	Upper-middle Falken EuroWinter HS01 80%	80%	Upper-middle	£170 91 T +8 More

25	Budget Fulda Kristall Control HP2 80%	80%	Budget	£69 91 H +1 More
26	Upper-middle Nokian WR Snowproof 79%	79%	Upper-middle
27	Upper-middle Toyo Observe S944 79%	79%	Upper-middle	£77 91 H +2 More
28	Upper-middle Toyo Snowprox S954 78%	78%	Upper-middle
29	Premium Vredestein Snowtrac 5 77%	77%	Premium	£87 91 T +4 More
30	Premium Continental WinterContact TS 860S 76%	76%	Premium	£123 91 H +1 More
31	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-001 EVO 75%	75%	Premium
32	Budget Debica Frigo 2 75%	75%	Budget	£62 91 T +1 More

33	Budget Sava Eskimo HP2 75%	75%	Budget	£63 91 H +2 More
34	Upper-middle Kumho WinterCraft WP71 75%	75%	Upper-middle
35	Budget Giti GitiWinter W1 74%	74%	Budget
36	Upper-middle Uniroyal MS Plus 77 74%	74%	Upper-middle
37	Budget Sava ESKIMO S3+ 73%	73%	Budget	£64 91 T +2 More
38	Upper-middle Yokohama Bluearth Winter V906 72%	72%	Upper-middle	£63 91 T +3 More
39	Upper-middle Kumho WinterCraft WP51 68%	68%	Upper-middle
40	Budget Nexen Winguard Snow G3 WH21 67%	67%	Budget	£59 91 T +3 More

41	Budget Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2 67%	67%	Budget	£80 91 T +2 More
42	Budget Nexen WinGuard Sport 66%	66%	Budget
43	Budget Debica Frigo HP2 66%	66%	Budget	£58 91 H +1 More
44	Upper-middle Nokian WR D3 66%	66%	Upper-middle
45	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-32 66%	66%	Premium
46	Upper-middle Uniroyal WinterExpert 65%	65%	Upper-middle	£71 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	£115 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	Budget Kormoran SNOW 40%	40%	Budget
58	Upper-middle Yokohama BluEarth-Winter V906 40%	40%	Upper-middle	£79 91 H +1 More
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