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.

#	Name	Our rating	Segment	Price
1	Premium GoodYear UltraGrip Performance+ 90%	90%	Premium
2	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-005 90%	90%	Premium	£120 91 T +4 More
3	Premium Continental WinterContact TS 860 90%	90%	Premium	£208 91 T +5 More
4	Premium Pirelli Cinturato Winter 2 89%	89%	Premium	£93 91 T +2 More
5	Premium Michelin ALPIN 6 89%	89%	Premium
6	Premium GoodYear UltraGrip 9 89%	89%	Premium
7	Upper-middle Kleber KRISALP HP3 89%	89%	Upper-middle	£74 91 T +3 More
8	Premium Michelin ALPIN 5 89%	89%	Premium	£105 91 T +7 More

9	Premium Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen-1 89%	89%	Premium	£93 91 H +1 More
10	Premium Dunlop Winter Sport 5 89%	89%	Premium	£71 91 T +7 More
11	Upper-middle BFGoodrich G-FORCE WINTER 2 87%	87%	Upper-middle	£83 91 T +3 More
12	Premium GoodYear UltraGrip 9+ 86%	86%	Premium
13	Budget Semperit Speed-Grip 2 86%	86%	Budget
14	Premium Michelin ALPIN A4 86%	86%	Premium
15	Premium Pirelli WINTER SOTTOZERO Serie III 86%	86%	Premium
16	Upper-middle Nokian WR D4 86%	86%	Upper-middle

17	Upper-middle Hankook Winter i*cept RS2 W452 85%	85%	Upper-middle	£126 91 T +7 More
18	Upper-middle Firestone Winterhawk 4 84%	84%	Upper-middle	£69 91 T +3 More
19	Premium Pirelli CINTURATO WINTER 84%	84%	Premium	£83 +5 More
20	Upper-middle Hankook Winter i*cept evo2 W320 84%	84%	Upper-middle	£94 91 H +2 More
21	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-001 84%	84%	Premium	£102 91 H +5 More
22	Budget Semperit Speed-Grip 3 81%	81%	Budget
23	Budget Semperit Speed-Grip 5 81%	81%	Budget	£79 91 T +3 More
24	Budget Fulda Kristall Control HP2 80%	80%	Budget	£67 91 H +1 More

25	Upper-middle Falken EuroWinter HS01 80%	80%	Upper-middle	£157 91 T +8 More
26	Upper-middle Toyo Observe S944 79%	79%	Upper-middle	£81 91 H +2 More
27	Upper-middle Nokian WR Snowproof 79%	79%	Upper-middle
28	Upper-middle Toyo Snowprox S954 78%	78%	Upper-middle
29	Premium Vredestein Snowtrac 5 77%	77%	Premium	£84 91 T +4 More
30	Premium Continental WinterContact TS 860S 76%	76%	Premium	£118 91 H +1 More
31	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-001 EVO 75%	75%	Premium
32	Budget Debica Frigo 2 75%	75%	Budget	£63 91 T +1 More

33	Budget Sava Eskimo HP2 75%	75%	Budget	£64 91 H +2 More
34	Upper-middle Kumho WinterCraft WP71 75%	75%	Upper-middle
35	Upper-middle Uniroyal MS Plus 77 74%	74%	Upper-middle
36	Budget Giti GitiWinter W1 74%	74%	Budget
37	Budget Sava ESKIMO S3+ 73%	73%	Budget	£64 91 T +2 More
38	Upper-middle Yokohama Bluearth Winter V906 72%	72%	Upper-middle	£76 91 T +3 More
39	Upper-middle Kumho WinterCraft WP51 68%	68%	Upper-middle
40	Budget Nexen Winguard Snow G WH2 67%	67%	Budget	£55 91 T +2 More

41	Budget Nexen Winguard Snow G3 WH21 67%	67%	Budget	£60 91 T +3 More
42	Premium Bridgestone Blizzak LM-32 66%	66%	Premium
43	Upper-middle Nokian WR D3 66%	66%	Upper-middle
44	Budget Nexen WinGuard Sport 66%	66%	Budget
45	Budget Debica Frigo HP2 66%	66%	Budget	£58 91 H +1 More
46	Upper-middle Uniroyal WinterExpert 65%	65%	Upper-middle	£69 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	£114 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	Upper-middle Yokohama BluEarth-Winter V906 40%	40%	Upper-middle	£75 91 H +1 More
58	Budget Kormoran SNOW 40%	40%	Budget
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

Winter tyre test 205/55 R16 - Auto Express 2026

Auto Express winter tyre test 2026: Continental narrowly beats Pirelli

Price vs Quality

Results

Detailed results

Aquaplaning - cross

Aquaplaning - longitudal

Wet braking

Wet circle cornering

Wet handling

Snow braking

Snow handling

Snow traction

Dry braking

Dry handling

Interior noise

Rolling resistance

Same size tyres not featured in the test

Cars with 205/55 R16 tyres