ADAC 2024 Winter Tire Test: 205/55 R16

Despite the boom in the crossover segment, compact cars such as the Opel Astra, Toyota Corolla, and Volkswagen Golf are still in high demand on the European market, which is why the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (ADAC) chose the popular 205/55 R16 size for its new tire test.

The test involved 12 tire models, which had to demonstrate a good balance of characteristics to receive high ratings, i.e., they had to provide not only a high level of safety on snow but also be effective on asphalt and be environmentally friendly. This task is not easy, and the premium tires Continental WinterContact TS 870, Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 3, and Michelin Alpin 6 coped with it best, as they have no significant drawbacks and a high level of reliability.

The winner was Continental, which outperformed its competitors in tests on wet and snowy surfaces, while Michelin had less impressive traction but excellent environmental performance and the best ride among the tested tires. At the same time, Goodyear showed generally good and even results. As a result, all three tires received a "Good" rating and are strongly recommended for regions with mild winters.

Four tires received a "Satisfactory" rating: Hankook Winter i*cept RS3, Dunlop Winter Sport 5, Nokian Snowproof 2, and Falken Eurowinter HS02, each with its own characteristics. For example, Falken tires work better on dry asphalt than in winter conditions; Hankook had higher ratings on ice and snow than on wet surfaces; Dunlop was very effective on snow but average on dry surfaces; and Nokian had no significant drawbacks or advantages.

The list of outsiders included five tires, one of which, Winrun Winter-Max A1 WR22, received an "Unsatisfactory" rating, as although the results on dry asphalt and in winter conditions were good, the traction on wet surfaces was very weak, leading to skidding and loss of control, and the residual speed when braking from 80 km/h was almost 30 km/h compared to Continental and Pirelli Cinturato Winter 2.

The fact that Pirelli tires, which quickly stopped the car on wet asphalt, did not take a high place in the overall standings, is due to weak results on dry surfaces. According to experts, the sensitivity of the steering and the informativeness leave much to be desired, and in turns, it is necessary to constantly adjust the steering to maintain the desired radius. At the same time, Pirelli has high traction on snow and ice, so the final rating could have been higher. A similar situation was with Vredestein Wintrac tires, which work well on snow but failed to show good results on dry surfaces. In turn, Zeetex WH1000 did not impress in any discipline, and GT Radial WinterPro 2 Evo also failed to receive a recommendation.

Vredestein, among other things, turned out to be the least durable among the tested tires, while Michelin took the first place in this discipline, as already mentioned.

Tires of the 205/55 R16 size are designed for cars such as the Audi A3, BMW 1-Series, Ford Focus, Dacia Sandero, Skoda Octavia, and others.

Source (including photos): ADAC.