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ADAC tested 16 winter tires for mid-range vehicles. Only four are “good”, six failed, with sometimes dramatic differences in wet braking.
The ADAC tested 16 winter tires in the dimension 225/50 R17. In this common size for mid-range vehicles such as the Audi A4,, only four models received a “good” rating, while six failed with “poor” marks.
Particularly striking and simultaneously concerning are the differences in braking on wet roads. In this discipline, almost twelve meters separate the best from the worst tires. The Pirelli Cinturato Winter 3 secures the test victory. It impressed with short braking distances on wet surfaces, high aquaplaning reserves, and precise handling.
Close behind are the Continental WinterContact TS 870 , the Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 3 , and the Michelin Alpin 7 . In the midfield are Bridgestone, Hankook, ESA+TECAR, Dunlop, Yokohama, and Vredestein with ratings between 2.6 and 3.1. The most serious deficits were observed in wet braking.
While the test vehicle on Continental and Pirelli came to a standstill from 80 km/h after about 35 meters, it required almost twelve meters more with the Sunwide Snowide. In other words, at the point where the vehicle with the best tires had already stopped, it was still traveling at about 40 km/h with the Sunwide.
In the case of a traffic jam end, a crossing cyclist, or a pedestrian, the tires can prevent an accident or merely determine the severity of the impact. The following failed: Falken Eurowinter HS02 Pro , Toyo Tires Observe EWS1 , Tracmax Ice-Plus S210 , Aptany RW211 , Royal Black Royalwinter UHP , and Sunwide Snowide . Their specific weaknesses sometimes differ considerably: The Falken failed primarily in snow handling with insufficient lateral guidance.
The Toyo still showed near premium level on dry and wet roads but broke down significantly on snow. Here, the vehicle tended to understeer or oversteer too early. The Tracmax revealed serious deficits on both wet and snow. The Sunwide Snowide is particularly noteworthy: it achieved the best score in the entire test field with a sub-score of 1.3 on snow.
On dry roads, however, it reacted extremely sluggishly; simultaneous braking and steering could throw the vehicle off course. A tire that only works on snow simply does not cover a large portion of real winter situations in Central Europe, as winter tires are more frequently driven on dry or wet roads due to weather conditions than on packed snow.
All tested tires meet at least wet grip class C, the ADAC’s minimum requirement for its product selection, on the EU tire label. Nevertheless, six models failed. The reason: The label only reflects a limited aspect of overall performance. It says nothing about snow and ice braking, aquaplaning behavior, cornering grip, or the balance between different road conditions.
The ADAC therefore explicitly advises not to rely solely on this designation when making purchasing decisions. Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer To ensure the results are as representative of reality as possible, they are weighted.
The club does not evaluate the overall rating as a simple average to prevent so-called “breakthrough effects,” where outstanding performance in one discipline masks safety-critical weaknesses in another. Therefore, a sub-score of 4.6 or worse in an individual criterion results in the worst score being transferred to the overarching category. The overall rating consists of 70 percent driving safety and 30 percent environmental impact.
The failed models cost between approximately 61 and 116 euros, while the four best cost between 148 and 165 euros. A low price can indicate lower development costs, simpler rubber compounds, or less balanced tread patterns.
However, the test also shows that a well-known brand name is no guarantee of quality: Falken and Toyo failed despite market recognition, while Hankook or Dunlop achieved solid results as more affordable brand tires. The key remains to look at independent test results, especially for individual values in wet braking, snow handling, and aquaplaning. The results apply exclusively to the tested dimension 225/50 R17.
According to ADAC, they can only be transferred to similar sizes, meaning a maximum deviation of approximately 10 millimeters in width, 5 percentage points in aspect ratio, and an identical rim diameter. Different speed and load indices, as well as vehicle types, further limit comparability because they strongly influence the carcass strength and thus indirectly the behavior of the tread.
For the dimension 185/65 R15, the picture in the parallel ADAC test was even worse: only two out of 16 tires received a “good” rating there, and nine were deemed not recommendable.showed, the safety margin noticeably decreases with only 4 mm of remaining tread. The wet braking distance increased by more than five meters with only 2 mm of remaining tread. ADAC therefore recommends replacing winter tires when tread depth falls below 4 mm. This is significantly before the legal minimum of 1.6 mm.
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