00:00 Introduction and Information
00:30 Test Data
02:23 Ranking
04:35 Conclusion and Recommendations
1. Continental WinterContact TS 870 P
2. Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 SUV
3. Hankook Winter i cept evo 3 X
4. Bridgestone Blizzak LM005
5. Nokian Snowproof 2 SUV
6. Pirelli Scorpion Winter 2
For the second winter test of 2023, Tyre Reviews as looked at nine of the best SUV performance winter tyres in the popular 235/60 R18 size. As always, all the tyres have been testing in the dry, wet and snow, and had the noise, comfort and rolling resistance analysed.
Snow
The worst tyre in snow handling also happened to be the cheapest. It felt more like an all season tyre, and a bad one at that, provinging very low grip.
Next up was the Maxxis, 8.4% off the best, so you can see already much more grip than the budget, but sadly much less grip than the best in the test. This tyre also had high levels of understeer and limited communication around the limit meaning you were constantly worried about if you were near the limit of grip.
Next up was the Bridgestone, it felt better under traction than the Maxxis and had less understeer, but it was still quite an understeer bias tyre.
The next group of tyres were all within a percent of each other, and that was the Nokian, Hankook and Pirelli. All three of these had better front axle bite on turn in which helped the lap time, and all of them were really well balanced and nice feeling tyres to drive. If I had to pick one of the three, the Nokian would take it subjectively, but all of their snow performances were perfectly good.
A little ahead of that group was the Goodyear and Continental. We're in the realm of very good now, and they felt a lot like the preceding group but with just and extra little bit of grip. The Goodyear did pick up a little more understeer but it had plenty of grip to back it up.
The best tyre in snow handling was also the best in the Tyre Reviews car winter test, so it seems at least in snow, a different vehicle and AWD doesn't make a difference. There's no escaping the Pilot Alpin 5 SUV is in a class of its own, and if you'd told me the tyre I was driving on was actually a soft compound winter tyre snuck into the group, I'd probably believe you, it just found grip where no other tyre could, and was thoroughly well balanced and enjoyable to drive too. One day I might be able to tell you that a Michelin winter tyre isn't the best in the snow, but today is not that day.
Wet
Wet handling saw the pack compress, no doubt helped by the AWD platform I'm testing with.
There was only one bad tyre, and it wasn't even that bad. The Leao winter defender was 4% off the best in time, and it definitely wasn't the best balanced tyre for the road as it had pretty snappy oversteer making it quite the challenge. Fun for me as a tester in track , but I wouldn't want to put my dad on it on the road.
Next up was the Maxxis, just 2% off the best, so it's already a very close group. The Maxxis was one of the most lovely tyres to drive, offering really predictable grip, good steering response and just a hint of understeer in the balance.
Nokian was next now just 1.5% off the best, and again was a lovely tyre to drive with an understeer balance.
Bridgestone and Hankook essentially tied next just 1% off the fastest lap. The Bridgestone had a frustratingly high amount of understeer compared to some of the other tyres around it and a vague feeling front axle. Understeer is safe, but this was a lot. The hankook was better in this regard, the car was more balanced, but there wasn't any extra grip.
The top four tyres were separated by just 0.4% and where Michelin, Continental, Goodyear and Pirelli was the fastest.
The Michelin had good grip, but like the Bridgestone it was one of the numbest tyres with a lot of understeer, the Continental was more fun but a little twitchy around the limit, the goodyear was one of the best subjectively and felt a lot like the Maxxis, and the Pirelli was the fastest.