EU label ratings are included for fuel economy, rolling resistance (RR) and wet grip (WG), which range from A to E (with A being best), plus pass-by noise (N), which is measured in decibels, so the lower the number the better.
| Continental WinterContact TS 870 | 91H RR: C WG: B N: B (70) |
| Falken Eurowinter HS02 | 91H RR: D WG: B N: A (69) |
| Goodride Snowmaster S608 | 91H RR:C WG:C N: B (72) |
| Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 3 | 91H RR: C WG: B N: B (70) |
| Hankook i’cept RS3 | 91H RR: C WG: B N: B (72) |
| Pirelli Cinturato Winter 2 | 91H RR: C WG: B N: A (69) |
| Vredestein Wintrac | 94H RR: C WG: B N: B (70) |
How we tested them
Snow
For the snow tests, we headed to Hankook’s Technotrac facility at Ivalo, Finland, 200 miles inside the Arctic Circle. Conditions were good, with track temperatures ranging from minus 7 to minus 12 deg C.
We tested braking from 35-10kph (22-6mph) and acceleration from 10-35kph (6-22mph). The handling test was on a gently rising and falling 1.2km (0.75 mile) track which had a challenging variety of corners that tested handling, stability under braking, and traction exiting turns.
Wet tests
Both the wet and dry assessments were carried out at Continental’s Contidrom near Hannover in Germany, where temperatures were on the cusp of ideal. Winter tyres are designed to work below 7 deg C and that was where temperatures sat during our tests.
Our wet tests measure each tyre’s braking and cornering ability, plus their resistance to aquaplaning. Straight-line braking from 50mph to zero was done on a rail, ensuring that the same piece of asphalt was used each time, while wet cornering was derived from lap times on a 57.5m- diameter circle. The 1.1 mile wet handling circuit has a mix of corners and revealed each tyre’s handling and breakaway characteristics, cornering grip, traction and braking composure.
