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.
Continental leads wet braking but ranks ninth in snow traction. Hankook wins snow braking, Goodyear wins snow handling, and Michelin has the lowest rolling resistance. Minerva finishes last overall despite sharing the best dry-handling score.
Snow testing took place in Ivalo, Finland; wet and dry testing at the Contidrom in Germany. Wet performance contributes 50% of the overall score, snow and dry performance 20% each, and the remaining tests 10%. Category scores are percentages relative to the category winner, not braking distances.
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Overall results
| Position | Tyre | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Continental WinterContact TS 870 | 100.0% |
| 2 | Pirelli Cinturato Winter 3 | 99.8% |
| 3 | Hankook W462 Winter i*cept RS3 | 99.4% |
| 4 | Bridgestone Blizzak 6 | 99.3% |
| 4 | Michelin ALPIN 7 (★85) | 99.3% |
| 6 | GoodYear UltraGrip Performance 3 (★92) | 98.9% |
| 7 | Falken EuroWinter HS02 (★65) | 98.6% |
| 8 | Dunlop Winter | 97.3% |
| 9 | Linglong Sport Master Winter | 96.7% |
| 10 | Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6 | 96.6% |
| 11 | Minerva Frostrack HP | 93.0% |
Source: Auto Express, 2.9.2026 · Auto Express — Overall results
Continental WinterContact TS 870
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
Pirelli Cinturato Winter 3
Second overall on 99.8%, only 0.2 percentage points behind Continental.
- Best straight aquaplaning; joint best wet handling
- Seventh in snow braking
Hankook W462 Winter i*cept RS3
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
Bridgestone Blizzak 6
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
Michelin ALPIN 7 (★85)
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
GoodYear UltraGrip Performance 3 (★92)
Sixth overall on 98.9%, combining category wins on snow and in deep water.
- Best snow handling and curved aquaplaning
- Last in dry handling
Falken EuroWinter HS02 (★65)
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
Dunlop Winter
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
Linglong Sport Master Winter
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
Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6
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
Minerva Frostrack HP
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