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2018 AMS Winter Tyre Test

Jonathan Benson
Data analyzed and reviewed by Jonathan Benson
6 min read Updated
Below are all the data points for the 2018 AMS Winter Tyre Test, displaying how each tyre performed across all test categories. The spider chart below provides a complete overview of performance, where one hundred percent represents the best performance in each category. The larger the area covered by each tyre's plot, the better its overall performance.
How to read these charts: For each test category, data is presented relative to the best performing tire. The direction indicates whether lower or higher values are better - pay close attention to this when interpreting results.

Performance Overview

This radar chart shows relative performance across all test categories, with 100% representing the best performance in each category. Reference tires may have gaps where data is not available.

Toyo Snowprox S953
Goodyear UltraGrip 9
Vredestein Snowtrac 5
Kumho Winter Craft WP51
Nokian WR D4
Hankook Winter i cept RS2
Continental WinterContact TS 860
Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2
Pirelli Cinturato Winter
Giti GitiWinterW1
Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO

Quick Navigation

Dry Performance Overview

Dry Braking (M)

Spread: 4.10 M (9.8%) | Avg: 44.28 M

Dry braking in meters (Lower is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was Continental WinterContact TS 860 with a result of 41.8 M. The difference between best and worst was 8.9%.
  1. Continental WinterContact TS 860
    41.8 M
  2. Vredestein Snowtrac 5
    42.9 M
  3. Toyo Snowprox S953
    43.8 M
  4. Nokian WR D4
    43.8 M
  5. Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2
    44.3 M
  6. Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
    44.7 M
  7. Goodyear UltraGrip 9
    44.8 M
  8. Hankook Winter i cept RS2
    44.9 M
  9. Pirelli Cinturato Winter
    44.9 M
  10. Giti GitiWinterW1
    45.3 M
  11. Kumho Winter Craft WP51
    45.9 M

Dry Handling (Km/H)

Spread: 4.70 Km/H (4%) | Avg: 116.01 Km/H

Dry Handling Average Speed (Higher is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO with a result of 117.7 Km/H. The difference between best and worst was 4%.
  1. Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
    117.7 Km/H
  2. Toyo Snowprox S953
    117.3 Km/H
  3. Hankook Winter i cept RS2
    117.1 Km/H
  4. Continental WinterContact TS 860
    117.1 Km/H
  5. Vredestein Snowtrac 5
    116.2 Km/H
  6. Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2
    116.2 Km/H
  7. Goodyear UltraGrip 9
    116.1 Km/H
  8. Giti GitiWinterW1
    116 Km/H
  9. Nokian WR D4
    115.3 Km/H
  10. Kumho Winter Craft WP51
    114.1 Km/H
  11. Pirelli Cinturato Winter
    113 Km/H

Wet Performance Overview

Wet Braking (M)

Spread: 7.60 M (24.2%) | Avg: 34.58 M

Wet braking in meters (Lower is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was Continental WinterContact TS 860 with a result of 31.4 M. The difference between best and worst was 19.5%.
  1. Continental WinterContact TS 860
    31.4 M
  2. Goodyear UltraGrip 9
    31.9 M
  3. Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
    32 M
  4. Pirelli Cinturato Winter
    32.5 M
  5. Hankook Winter i cept RS2
    32.8 M
  6. Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2
    32.8 M
  7. Nokian WR D4
    36.4 M
  8. Vredestein Snowtrac 5
    36.9 M
  9. Giti GitiWinterW1
    36.9 M
  10. Toyo Snowprox S953
    37.8 M
  11. Kumho Winter Craft WP51
    39 M

Wet Handling (Km/H)

Spread: 7.70 Km/H (10.3%) | Avg: 70.90 Km/H

Wet Handling Average Speed (Higher is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was Continental WinterContact TS 860 with a result of 74.5 Km/H. The difference between best and worst was 10.3%.
  1. Continental WinterContact TS 860
    74.5 Km/H
  2. Goodyear UltraGrip 9
    74 Km/H
  3. Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
    72.9 Km/H
  4. Hankook Winter i cept RS2
    72 Km/H
  5. Pirelli Cinturato Winter
    72 Km/H
  6. Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2
    71.2 Km/H
  7. Vredestein Snowtrac 5
    70.8 Km/H
  8. Nokian WR D4
    70 Km/H
  9. Giti GitiWinterW1
    68.7 Km/H
  10. Toyo Snowprox S953
    67 Km/H
  11. Kumho Winter Craft WP51
    66.8 Km/H

Straight Aqua (Km/H)

Spread: 14.60 Km/H (17.4%) | Avg: 76.21 Km/H

Float Speed in Km/H (Higher is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was Hankook Winter i cept RS2 with a result of 83.7 Km/H. The difference between best and worst was 17.4%.
  1. Hankook Winter i cept RS2
    83.7 Km/H
  2. Pirelli Cinturato Winter
    80.8 Km/H
  3. Goodyear UltraGrip 9
    80.5 Km/H
  4. Continental WinterContact TS 860
    80 Km/H
  5. Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
    77.8 Km/H
  6. Nokian WR D4
    76.2 Km/H
  7. Kumho Winter Craft WP51
    76 Km/H
  8. Vredestein Snowtrac 5
    72.8 Km/H
  9. Toyo Snowprox S953
    71 Km/H
  10. Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2
    70.4 Km/H
  11. Giti GitiWinterW1
    69.1 Km/H

Snow Performance Overview

Snow Braking (M)

Spread: 3.40 M (13.4%) | Avg: 26.97 M

Snow braking in meters (Lower is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was Giti GitiWinterW1 with a result of 25.4 M. The difference between best and worst was 11.8%.
  1. Giti GitiWinterW1
    25.4 M
  2. Nokian WR D4
    25.6 M
  3. Kumho Winter Craft WP51
    26.3 M
  4. Pirelli Cinturato Winter
    26.5 M
  5. Hankook Winter i cept RS2
    26.9 M
  6. Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2
    27.1 M
  7. Goodyear UltraGrip 9
    27.2 M
  8. Vredestein Snowtrac 5
    27.2 M
  9. Continental WinterContact TS 860
    27.2 M
  10. Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
    28.5 M
  11. Toyo Snowprox S953
    28.8 M

Snow Handling (Km/H)

Spread: 5.40 Km/H (9.4%) | Avg: 55.30 Km/H

Snow handling average speed (Higher is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was Hankook Winter i cept RS2 with a result of 57.3 Km/H. The difference between best and worst was 9.4%.
  1. Hankook Winter i cept RS2
    57.3 Km/H
  2. Giti GitiWinterW1
    57.3 Km/H
  3. Nokian WR D4
    56.6 Km/H
  4. Continental WinterContact TS 860
    55.9 Km/H
  5. Kumho Winter Craft WP51
    55.8 Km/H
  6. Pirelli Cinturato Winter
    55.6 Km/H
  7. Vredestein Snowtrac 5
    54.9 Km/H
  8. Goodyear UltraGrip 9
    54.6 Km/H
  9. Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2
    54.6 Km/H
  10. Toyo Snowprox S953
    53.8 Km/H
  11. Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
    51.9 Km/H

Comfort Performance Overview

Noise (dB)

Spread: 2.20 dB (3.1%) | Avg: 72.08 dB

External noise in dB (Lower is better)

Key Insight: All the tyres in the noise test finished less than 3% apart.
  1. Kumho Winter Craft WP51
    71.2 dB
  2. Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
    71.3 dB
  3. Pirelli Cinturato Winter
    71.5 dB
  4. Hankook Winter i cept RS2
    71.7 dB
  5. Goodyear UltraGrip 9
    71.9 dB
  6. Continental WinterContact TS 860
    71.9 dB
  7. Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2
    71.9 dB
  8. Nokian WR D4
    72.1 dB
  9. Giti GitiWinterW1
    72.7 dB
  10. Toyo Snowprox S953
    73.3 dB
  11. Vredestein Snowtrac 5
    73.4 dB

Value Performance Overview

Price

Spread: 44.00 (66.7%) | Avg: 90.64

Price in local currency (Lower is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was Giti GitiWinterW1. The difference between best and worst was 40%.
  1. Giti GitiWinterW1
    66
  2. Kumho Winter Craft WP51
    72
  3. Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2
    73
  4. Toyo Snowprox S953
    79
  5. Hankook Winter i cept RS2
    91
  6. Nokian WR D4
    95
  7. Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
    97
  8. Vredestein Snowtrac 5
    100
  9. Pirelli Cinturato Winter
    106
  10. Goodyear UltraGrip 9
    108
  11. Continental WinterContact TS 860
    110

Rolling Resistance (kg / t)

Spread: 2.19 kg / t (28.1%) | Avg: 8.82 kg / t

Rolling resistance in kg t (Lower is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was Nokian WR D4 with a result of 7.8 kg / t. The difference between best and worst was 21.9%.
  1. Nokian WR D4
    7.8 kg / t
  2. Toyo Snowprox S953
    8 kg / t
  3. Continental WinterContact TS 860
    8.2 kg / t
  4. Vredestein Snowtrac 5
    8.3 kg / t
  5. Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO
    8.4 kg / t
  6. Goodyear UltraGrip 9
    8.6 kg / t
  7. Giti GitiWinterW1
    8.8 kg / t
  8. Hankook Winter i cept RS2
    9.5 kg / t
  9. Pirelli Cinturato Winter
    9.6 kg / t
  10. Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2
    9.8 kg / t
  11. Kumho Winter Craft WP51
    9.99 kg / t

Overall Findings

Based on the weighted scoring from all tests, here are the overall results:

Position Tyre Score
Continental WinterContact TS 860 0%
2 Goodyear UltraGrip 9 0%
3 Nokian WR D4 0%
4 Hankook Winter i cept RS2 0%
5 Pirelli Cinturato Winter 0%
6 Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 EVO 0%
7 Vredestein Snowtrac 5 0%
8 Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2 0%
9 Giti GitiWinterW1 0%
10 Toyo Snowprox S953 0%
11 Kumho Winter Craft WP51 0%

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Discussion

8 comments
  1. Stoyan archived

    You rated Bridgestone 6th place as "recommended" and tagged "highly recommended" Nokian with 6.2 on wet (when in winter most of the time we drive on wet) Why is this?
    Also the overall points for Bridgestone are 8.6, which is 2-nd place...

    #4140
    1. TyreReviews Stoyan archived

      AMS scored the test, we just covered the test. I would guess it was marked down for the snow performance, which the Germans put a higher weighting on.

      #4141
  2. J archived

    There are other weird choices..
    Why the Toyo S953, while the S954 has been available since 2016..

    #4079
    1. TyreReviews J archived

      Strange choices are often down to availability in the size at time of testing, but you're right, this is very odd!

      #4080
  3. Nick archived

    Where is Michelin?

    #4054
    1. TyreReviews Nick archived

      At a guess this would have been tested just before the alpin 6 became available so they slipped this test

      #4055
      1. Nick TyreReviews archived

        It would be interesting to see it against the new gen of winter tyres

        #4057
        1. TyreReviews Nick archived

          Agreed, it'll be next season now sadly.

          #4060