Test of friction winter tires from Vi Bilägare — 2025

The Swedish magazine Vi Bilägare has published the results of tests of Scandinavian-type winter friction tires in size 235/60 R18, the main debutant of which was the new Pirelli Ice Friction, available in Russia under the name Pirelli Ice Zero FR 3. The novelty has already taken second place in the Teknikens Värld tests, and this time the competitors were no less serious, including, for example, the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5 SUV, made from an improved rubber compound designed to increase grip on wet roads. Additionally, the Nordman North RS3 SUV of the medium price segment with a pattern from Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 was tested, presented last year.

The other participants in the tests were Continental VikingContact 8, Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3, Hankook Winter i*cept iZ3 X and Michelin X-Ice Snow SUV, and in the economy segment, the Maxtrek Trek M7 Plus tires were chosen for testing, which are produced by the Chinese company Zhaoqing Junhong Co., Ltd.

The tests on ice and snow were carried out at the Elvsbyn test site (Sweden), and the traction force on the icy surface was measured using a Volvo XC60 and a Volkswagen Tiguan with all-wheel and front-wheel drive, respectively. As a result, almost all tires showed good results, and only Hankook lagged slightly behind, but the Maxtrek performance was deemed unsatisfactory.

The first places in the braking efficiency test on flat ice were taken by Michelin and Continental, while Hankook again showed average results, and Maxtrek had a frankly poor performance.

In terms of handling on ice, Continental was recognized as the best, which, in particular, restores grip faster than other tires in case of its loss, and Nordman unexpectedly behaved more balanced and predictable than the model under the "senior" brand.

On the snow track, all the tires provided fast acceleration, so they all received a "Good" rating, and the best with a minimal gap were Continental and Pirelli.

The braking performance on snow was also satisfactory for all "Scandinavian" tires, and Maxtrek was able to perform at the same level as Nokian and outperform Michelin.

The next discipline is handling on snow, and here Continental takes the first place, which behaves very stably, including under load. At the same time, Nokian reacts quickly to the driver's actions, but can sharply lose grip in a turn, Hankook tends to skid, and Maxtrek is clearly lacking in cross-grip.

The new rubber compound has indeed improved the grip of Hakkapeliitta R5 on wet surfaces, and this time it was Nokian that had the shortest braking distance in such conditions. Next come Pirelli, while the braking distance of Maxtrek was 15% longer than that of Nokian.

In the handling test on a wet track, Nokian was not the best, as it tends to understeer in sharp turns, but still made it to the top three, giving way to Goodyear and Pirelli. Nordman has a quick response, but lacks grip, and Maxtrek, according to experts, "prefer to drive only straight, without turning".

Pirelli demonstrated the highest resistance to aquaplaning, and Nokian's result was better than in previous years. Nordman and Michelin coped with their tasks worse than the others.

On dry asphalt, the braking distances of the tires differed much less than on wet surfaces, and the first places were taken by Pirelli and Continental, and the last place was taken by Maxtrek.

Pirelli also provides good handling on dry surfaces, but here they conceded to Goodyear, which has even higher stability when maneuvering. Nordman has a generally good result, but it was slightly marred by the not-so-good sensitivity of the steering when driving in a calm mode, and Maxtrek was only able to score one point out of five.

All the tested tires were found to be quite economical, but Continental can reduce fuel consumption by 4% compared to Nordman.

Noise was measured in the car cabin at 70 and 110 km/h, but more important was the subjective assessment of acoustic comfort, and the best in this discipline were the Goodyear tires.

The winner of the test is the Continental VikingContact 8 tire, since none of the competitors could show such stable results in all tests. Continental also has excellent grip on ice, which allows you to pass turns at high speeds, and in addition, the tires behave predictably at the limit of grip. On wet asphalt, the tires are also effective, and on dry surfaces, they provide good lateral stability and a low noise level, but the reactions to steering wheel turns are not as accurate as those of some other tires. In any case, the victory is well-deserved, since Continental has no significant drawbacks.

Silver is awarded to the new Pirelli Ice Zero FR 3 tire, and the testers noted that it significantly surpasses the previous generation model (Pirelli Ice Zero Asimmetrico) and excelled in the wet surface tests: no other tire in the test has such high resistance to aquaplaning, and Pirelli also has a short braking distance and good lateral stability. On dry surfaces, Pirelli deserves praise for its quick response to steering wheel turns, and at the same time, the tires also performed well on snow and only slightly lagged behind the leaders on ice.

The Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 tires showed their main strengths on asphalt, and here they were only comparable to Pirelli in terms of stability under load, although the braking distance was slightly longer than that of the best tires in this discipline. Despite the fact that the emphasis during development was clearly placed on asphalt properties, Goodyear also has good indicators in winter conditions, and they are especially impressive with their high cross-grip on snow and good handling on ice. In addition to everything else, Goodyear was the quietest tire in the test, so they have an almost ideal balance of characteristics.

Next comes the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5 tire, which was often criticized for its weak grip on wet surfaces, and in this regard, the tires have indeed become more efficient thanks to the updated rubber compound. However, the question is whether the company has become too carried away with improving the characteristics on this type of surface? The braking distance of Nokian on the wet track was the shortest among the participants, but at the same time, the tires lost some of their advantage in winter conditions, especially in turns: the grip is still good, but skidding on snow and ice can start faster than before, and it's become more difficult to balance on the limit of grip. In general, Nokian has improved the balance between characteristics on wet asphalt and snow/ice, which is certainly good, but in the face of tough competition, the tires have to be content with fourth place.

Behind Nokian are the Michelin X-Ice Snow SUV tires, which turned out to be the oldest premium tires in the test. Michelin is still among the best winter tires, and in the braking efficiency test on ice, they shared first place with Continental. However, the X-Ice Snow SUV tires do not handle loads as well and lose grip earlier than their competitors when the steering wheel is turned at large angles. On asphalt, Michelin has relatively long braking distances and a pronounced tendency to skid, but good straight-line stability and comfort level. Thus, the overall level of characteristics is not as stable as that of newer premium-class tires, so Michelin takes fifth place.

The Nordman North RS3 SUV tires earned the most points in winter conditions, and their braking and handling performance on ice was even better than that of Nokian, but on wet surfaces, the mid-range tires have low braking efficiency and weak grip in turns, which means that the balance of parameters is worse compared to premium-class products.

The Hankook Winter i*cept iZ3 tires (the X in the name indicates that the tires are designed for crossovers) have replaced the iZ2 model, which was often criticized for its relatively low grip on ice, and it is precisely this parameter that has been improved with the change of generation. Although Hankook still does not reach the level of premium tires, they have significantly approached them in terms of braking performance on icy surfaces, but at the same time, they can skid under load in turns. On asphalt, Hankook behaves reliably, but the noise level has increased compared to the previous model.

Since the Maxtrek Trek M7 Plus tire was the only budget tire in the test, it consistently showed the lowest results and took last place in 10 out of 13 disciplines, often with a significant gap from the other participants. The only positive moment was the good longitudinal grip on snow, but in turns, the efficiency decreases, and it's also difficult to regain control in case of skidding (it's only comforting that the grip disappears first on the front axle, not the rear one). On asphalt, the grip is so low that when trying to turn the car, it stubbornly goes straight, and this alone could have sent the tires to the last place.

Source: Vi Bilägare