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2021 Auto Bild Sports Car Winter Tyre Test

Jonathan Benson
Data analyzed and reviewed by Jonathan Benson
8 min read Updated
Below are all the data points for the 2021 Auto Bild Sports Car 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.

Nankang SV2
Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
Dunlop Winter Sport 5
Falken Eurowinter HS01
BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
Toyo Snowprox S954
Reference Summer
Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
Vredestein Wintrac Pro
Vredestein Quatrac Pro
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus
Hankook Winter i cept evo3
Bridgestone

Quick Navigation

Dry Performance Overview

Dry Braking (M)

Spread: 8.10 M (22.2%) | Avg: 42.91 M

Dry braking in meters (Lower is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was Reference Summer with a result of 36.5 M. The difference between best and worst was 18.2%.
  1. Reference Summer
    36.5 M
  2. Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
    41.4 M
  3. Vredestein Quatrac Pro
    41.9 M
  4. Toyo Snowprox S954
    43 M
  5. Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
    43.1 M
  6. Vredestein Wintrac Pro
    43.2 M
  7. Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus
    43.5 M
  8. Dunlop Winter Sport 5
    43.6 M
  9. Falken Eurowinter HS01
    43.9 M
  10. Hankook Winter i cept evo3
    43.9 M
  11. Nankang SV2
    44 M
  12. BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
    44 M
  13. Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
    44.2 M
  14. Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
    44.6 M

Dry Handling (Km/H)

Spread: 6.00 Km/H (5.7%) | Avg: 101.14 Km/H

Dry Handling Average Speed (Higher is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was Reference Summer with a result of 105 Km/H. The difference between best and worst was 5.7%.
  1. Reference Summer
    105 Km/H
  2. Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
    102.9 Km/H
  3. Vredestein Quatrac Pro
    102.5 Km/H
  4. Toyo Snowprox S954
    101.7 Km/H
  5. Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
    101.6 Km/H
  6. Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
    101.4 Km/H
  7. Hankook Winter i cept evo3
    101 Km/H
  8. Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
    100.9 Km/H
  9. Vredestein Wintrac Pro
    100.8 Km/H
  10. Nankang SV2
    100.1 Km/H
  11. Falken Eurowinter HS01
    100.1 Km/H
  12. BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
    99.7 Km/H
  13. Dunlop Winter Sport 5
    99.3 Km/H
  14. Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus
    99 Km/H

Wet Performance Overview

Wet Braking (M)

Spread: 18.30 M (38.9%) | Avg: 52.39 M

Wet braking in meters (Lower is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was Reference Summer with a result of 47.1 M. The difference between best and worst was 28%.
  1. Reference Summer
    47.1 M
  2. Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
    49 M
  3. Hankook Winter i cept evo3
    49.7 M
  4. Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
    49.8 M
  5. Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
    50.2 M
  6. Toyo Snowprox S954
    50.5 M
  7. Vredestein Wintrac Pro
    51 M
  8. Falken Eurowinter HS01
    51.4 M
  9. Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus
    52.1 M
  10. Dunlop Winter Sport 5
    52.4 M
  11. Vredestein Quatrac Pro
    52.6 M
  12. BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
    55.5 M
  13. Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
    56.7 M
  14. Nankang SV2
    65.4 M

Wet Handling (Km/H)

Spread: 10.20 Km/H (14%) | Avg: 70.29 Km/H

Wet Handling Average Speed (Higher is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 with a result of 72.9 Km/H. The difference between best and worst was 14%.
  1. Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
    72.9 Km/H
  2. Reference Summer
    72.4 Km/H
  3. Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
    72 Km/H
  4. Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
    71.9 Km/H
  5. Hankook Winter i cept evo3
    71.9 Km/H
  6. Vredestein Wintrac Pro
    71.7 Km/H
  7. Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
    70.5 Km/H
  8. Dunlop Winter Sport 5
    70.3 Km/H
  9. Vredestein Quatrac Pro
    70.3 Km/H
  10. Toyo Snowprox S954
    70.1 Km/H
  11. Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus
    69.9 Km/H
  12. BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
    69.2 Km/H
  13. Falken Eurowinter HS01
    68.2 Km/H
  14. Nankang SV2
    62.7 Km/H

Wet Circle (s)

Spread: 1.35 s (11.1%) | Avg: 12.74 s

Wet Circle Lap Time in seconds (Lower is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was Reference Summer with a result of 12.18 s. The difference between best and worst was 10%.
  1. Reference Summer
    12.18 s
  2. Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
    12.41 s
  3. Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
    12.44 s
  4. Vredestein Quatrac Pro
    12.51 s
  5. Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
    12.57 s
  6. Hankook Winter i cept evo3
    12.65 s
  7. Vredestein Wintrac Pro
    12.67 s
  8. Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus
    12.7 s
  9. Dunlop Winter Sport 5
    12.73 s
  10. Toyo Snowprox S954
    12.81 s
  11. Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
    12.87 s
  12. BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
    13.05 s
  13. Falken Eurowinter HS01
    13.23 s
  14. Nankang SV2
    13.53 s

Straight Aqua (Km/H)

Spread: 11.10 Km/H (10.9%) | Avg: 95.28 Km/H

Float Speed in Km/H (Higher is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was Reference Summer with a result of 101.5 Km/H. The difference between best and worst was 10.9%.
  1. Reference Summer
    101.5 Km/H
  2. BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
    97.5 Km/H
  3. Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
    97.5 Km/H
  4. Hankook Winter i cept evo3
    97.4 Km/H
  5. Vredestein Wintrac Pro
    97.2 Km/H
  6. Nankang SV2
    96.8 Km/H
  7. Falken Eurowinter HS01
    96.6 Km/H
  8. Toyo Snowprox S954
    96.1 Km/H
  9. Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
    94.7 Km/H
  10. Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus
    94.1 Km/H
  11. Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
    93.6 Km/H
  12. 92.5 Km/H
  13. Vredestein Quatrac Pro
    92.5 Km/H
  14. Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
    90.8 Km/H
  15. Dunlop Winter Sport 5
    90.4 Km/H

Curved Aquaplaning (m/sec2)

Spread: 1.09 m/sec2 (25.8%) | Avg: 3.74 m/sec2

Remaining lateral acceleration (Higher is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was Hankook Winter i cept evo3 with a result of 4.22 m/sec2. The difference between best and worst was 25.8%.
  1. Hankook Winter i cept evo3
    4.22 m/sec2
  2. Vredestein Wintrac Pro
    4.04 m/sec2
  3. Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus
    3.92 m/sec2
  4. Dunlop Winter Sport 5
    3.84 m/sec2
  5. Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
    3.82 m/sec2
  6. Reference Summer
    3.81 m/sec2
  7. Nankang SV2
    3.79 m/sec2
  8. Toyo Snowprox S954
    3.74 m/sec2
  9. Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
    3.73 m/sec2
  10. BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
    3.68 m/sec2
  11. Falken Eurowinter HS01
    3.63 m/sec2
  12. Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
    3.62 m/sec2
  13. Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
    3.43 m/sec2
  14. Vredestein Quatrac Pro
    3.13 m/sec2

Snow Performance Overview

Snow Braking (M)

Spread: 26.50 M (86.3%) | Avg: 34.65 M

Snow braking in meters (Lower is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2 with a result of 30.7 M. The difference between best and worst was 46.3%.
  1. BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
    30.7 M
  2. Hankook Winter i cept evo3
    31.7 M
  3. Dunlop Winter Sport 5
    31.8 M
  4. Falken Eurowinter HS01
    31.9 M
  5. Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
    32 M
  6. Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus
    32.1 M
  7. Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
    32.2 M
  8. Vredestein Wintrac Pro
    32.3 M
  9. Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
    32.7 M
  10. Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
    33.5 M
  11. Vredestein Quatrac Pro
    34.7 M
  12. Toyo Snowprox S954
    35.4 M
  13. Nankang SV2
    36.9 M
  14. Reference Summer
    57.2 M

Snow Traction (N)

Spread: 2265.00 N (76.1%) | Avg: 2521.43 N

Pulling Force in Newtons (Higher is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2 with a result of 2975 N. The difference between best and worst was 76.1%.
  1. BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
    2975 N
  2. Dunlop Winter Sport 5
    2824 N
  3. Hankook Winter i cept evo3
    2800 N
  4. Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus
    2789 N
  5. Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
    2727 N
  6. Vredestein Wintrac Pro
    2705 N
  7. Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
    2688 N
  8. Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
    2687 N
  9. Falken Eurowinter HS01
    2684 N
  10. Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
    2575 N
  11. Vredestein Quatrac Pro
    2419 N
  12. Nankang SV2
    2364 N
  13. Toyo Snowprox S954
    2353 N
  14. Reference Summer
    710 N

Snow Handling (Km/H)

Spread: 5.40 Km/H (12.1%) | Avg: 42.79 Km/H

Snow handling average speed (Higher is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2 with a result of 44.7 Km/H. The difference between best and worst was 12.1%.
  1. BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
    44.7 Km/H
  2. Hankook Winter i cept evo3
    44.6 Km/H
  3. Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
    44.3 Km/H
  4. Dunlop Winter Sport 5
    44.1 Km/H
  5. Vredestein Wintrac Pro
    44 Km/H
  6. Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus
    44 Km/H
  7. Falken Eurowinter HS01
    43.7 Km/H
  8. Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
    43 Km/H
  9. Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
    42.7 Km/H
  10. Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
    41.3 Km/H
  11. Vredestein Quatrac Pro
    40.7 Km/H
  12. Nankang SV2
    39.9 Km/H
  13. Toyo Snowprox S954
    39.3 Km/H

Snow Slalom (m/sec2)

Spread: 1.69 m/sec2 (43.4%) | Avg: 3.49 m/sec2

Lateral acceleration (Higher is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 with a result of 3.89 m/sec2. The difference between best and worst was 43.4%.
  1. Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
    3.89 m/sec2
  2. BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
    3.85 m/sec2
  3. Vredestein Wintrac Pro
    3.81 m/sec2
  4. Falken Eurowinter HS01
    3.79 m/sec2
  5. Hankook Winter i cept evo3
    3.73 m/sec2
  6. Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
    3.72 m/sec2
  7. Dunlop Winter Sport 5
    3.71 m/sec2
  8. Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus
    3.66 m/sec2
  9. Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
    3.46 m/sec2
  10. Toyo Snowprox S954
    3.29 m/sec2
  11. Nankang SV2
    3.27 m/sec2
  12. Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
    3.27 m/sec2
  13. Vredestein Quatrac Pro
    3.26 m/sec2
  14. Reference Summer
    2.2 m/sec2

Comfort Performance Overview

Noise (dB)

Spread: 3.10 dB (4.3%) | Avg: 73.87 dB

External noise in dB (Lower is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2 with a result of 72.4 dB. The difference between best and worst was 4.1%.
  1. BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
    72.4 dB
  2. Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
    72.5 dB
  3. Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
    72.8 dB
  4. Nankang SV2
    72.9 dB
  5. Vredestein Quatrac Pro
    73.3 dB
  6. Toyo Snowprox S954
    73.4 dB
  7. Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
    73.4 dB
  8. Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
    73.9 dB
  9. Falken Eurowinter HS01
    74.3 dB
  10. Vredestein Wintrac Pro
    74.6 dB
  11. Hankook Winter i cept evo3
    74.7 dB
  12. Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus
    75.1 dB
  13. Dunlop Winter Sport 5
    75.4 dB
  14. Reference Summer
    75.5 dB

Value Performance Overview

Price

Spread: 270.00 (62.8%) | Avg: 553.85

Price in local currency (Lower is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was Nexen WinGuard Sport 2. The difference between best and worst was 38.6%.
  1. Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
    430
  2. Nankang SV2
    450
  3. Falken Eurowinter HS01
    475
  4. Hankook Winter i cept evo3
    495
  5. Toyo Snowprox S954
    525
  6. Vredestein Wintrac Pro
    535
  7. Vredestein Quatrac Pro
    535
  8. BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
    560
  9. Dunlop Winter Sport 5
    590
  10. Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus
    590
  11. Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
    615
  12. Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
    700
  13. Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
    700

Rolling Resistance (kg / t)

Spread: 2.31 kg / t (29.2%) | Avg: 8.77 kg / t

Rolling resistance in kg t (Lower is better)

Key Insight: The best performer was Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 with a result of 7.91 kg / t. The difference between best and worst was 22.6%.
  1. Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
    7.91 kg / t
  2. Reference Summer
    8.03 kg / t
  3. Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
    8.43 kg / t
  4. Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus
    8.46 kg / t
  5. Dunlop Winter Sport 5
    8.51 kg / t
  6. BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2
    8.58 kg / t
  7. Vredestein Quatrac Pro
    8.73 kg / t
  8. Hankook Winter i cept evo3
    8.74 kg / t
  9. Nexen WinGuard Sport 2
    8.84 kg / t
  10. Nankang SV2
    8.91 kg / t
  11. Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
    8.91 kg / t
  12. Toyo Snowprox S954
    9.18 kg / t
  13. Vredestein Wintrac Pro
    9.38 kg / t
  14. Falken Eurowinter HS01
    10.22 kg / t

Overall Findings

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

Position Tyre Score
Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 0%
2 Hankook Winter i cept evo3 0%
3 Vredestein Wintrac Pro 0%
4 Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 0%
5 Dunlop Winter Sport 5 0%
6 Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Plus 0%
7 Continental WinterContact TS 850 P 0%
8 BFGoodrich gForce Winter 2 0%
9 Falken Eurowinter HS01 0%
10 Nexen WinGuard Sport 2 0%
11 Toyo Snowprox S954 0%
12 Nankang SV2 0%
13 Reference Summer 0%
14 Vredestein Quatrac Pro 0%

Discussion

8 comments
  1. Vasilis Machairas archived

    it is the second winter i am having gForce Winter 2 and i am really amazed by his snow performance. It lacks performance at the dry, but what a snow tyre!

    #7775
  2. Marc Valme archived

    Coincidentally, I came here to ask a very similar question, to the question below. I'm really trying to compare the CC2 to the Wintrac Pro for my winter setup. Particularly for wet performance, I assumed that all weather would do better. While there is no direct test, I noticed the Quatrac Pro did better than the CC2 in the wet in autobild all season test. And the Quatrac Pro did worse the the Wintrac pro in the wet in this test. Can I then assume that the Wintrac Pro will do better than the CC2 in the wet?

    However if you saying below that quiet updates ​happen all the time, my assumptions are vulnerable.

    Even more so, the older model performance winters tires we get in North America ( Sotto3, Wintrac Pro, PA4 ). I was using the test data from older European tests to make my decisions. Can I no longer assume that the pilot Alpine PA4 or the wintrac Pro, in the American marketplace are the same as what was available in Europe 5 years ago? Tires are complicated man.

    #7714
    1. TyreReviews Marc Valme archived

      Tyres are complicated, even more so when you start getting to tyres vs tires as the same names can be different tyres (North American CC2 is different from European CC2).

      It's a headache for me.

      #7715
      1. Marc Valme TyreReviews archived

        Indeed, but in the end, selecting a good tire is not difficult, trying to figure out what the best is for your situation is what's difficult so it's not really much of a problem is it.

        "Tyre vs Tire" subtle, clever.

        #7716
  3. Roel archived

    These are some interesting results! In wet braking and wet handling the reference Vredestein Quatrac Pro all-season tyre scores worse than almost every winter tyre. In the all-season test Autobild did earlier, the exact same tyre (Vredestein Quatrac Pro) achieved the best score in wet braking and wet handling beating other all-season tyres and interestingly also beating the (anonymous) reference winter tyre in that test. What would cause that difference? Why is the same tyre in this test worse in wet than the winter tyres and better than a reference winter tyre (and every other all-season tyre) in another test? Would this be because of the size (in this test 18 inch, in the all-season test 17 inch)? Maybe the reference winter tyre in the all-season test was just a shitty tyre? Or the temperatures (22 degrees in the all-season test, unknown in this test)?

    #7708
    1. TyreReviews Roel archived

      That's a good bunch of questions :D

      My guess would be that the 17" in the all season test would have received an update, where as the 18" here hasn't yet. But I'll pass on the question to Vred and see what they say.

      Of course, only auto bild really know the answer.

      #7709
      1. Roel TyreReviews archived

        That's another possibility I didn't think of! But if the Vredestein tyre received such an update that has a significant impact, would Vredestein not called it Quatrac Pro 2, Quatrac Pro S or Quatrac Pro Evo or something? If I had to guess, I'd put my money on difference in temperature. The all-seasons were tested at too high temperatures (22c) and maybe the winter tyres were tested at or below freezing? Maybe I should ask AutoBild.
        Would love to see a test similar to the test you did a few years ago with tyres at different temperatures but then with more tyres. Four of the best tyres in categories of summer, winter and all-season at different temperatures in wet and dry to see when what tyres performance best.

        #7712
        1. TyreReviews Roel archived

          If you do ask Auto Bild let me know if you get a reply!

          I'm not sure why names don't change with updates, but it's not uncommon for tyres to get silently updated a number of times in their life, sometimes they're significant updates too. The only way to tell is that the EAN changes, but that's not usually easy to find data.

          #7713