Winter Tyres
Falken has expanded its range of tyres suitable for use in cold weather conditions. The brand has added the Euroall Season AS220 Pro all-season tyre to its range and increased the available sizes of its Eurowinter HS02 and HS02 Pro winter tyres, available now in 45 and 74 sizes respectively.
Dunlop is extending its Econodrive range of light truck tyres to include winter and all-season fitments. Two new products, the Dunlop Econodrive AS (all-season) and Dunlop Econodrive Winter, expand the existing Dunlop Econodrive light truck range. This includes the summer tyres Dunlop Econodrive and Dunlop Econodrive LT. Dunlop said the new additions help to position the brand to compete in the value segment of the light truck tyre market.
The new Iveco eDaily 42S will drive exclusively on Continental tyres, with the Italian commercial vehicle manufacturer approving summer, all-season and winter tyre models as original equipment in size 235/65R16C 121/119R. Depending on market and preference, eDaily 42S buyers can choose from the Continental VanContact Ultra, VanContact Eco, VanContact4Season or VanContact Winter.
Hankook has achieved several top results in the latest round of independent tyre tests of winter and all-season tyres. Hankook’s Winter i*cept and Kinergy 4S tyre lines gained several podium finishes in tests by such leading independent testers as ADAC, Auto Bild and Auto Express, scoring particularly highly in the dry and wet as well as in snow.
Goodyear’s new Nordic friction – or non-studded – winter tyre, the UltraGrip Ice 3 has gained several podium positions in the 2023 winter tyre testing season. The tyre won two Finnish tests from magazines Moottori and Tekniikan Maailma, and claimed second place in the tests conducted by Swedish magazines Vi Bilägare and Teknikens Värld. The Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 incorporates a range of the manufacturer’s latest winter tyre technologies, including Ice Grip technology, Ice Handling+ technology, and Snow Braking technology.
The Falken Eurowinter HS02 and HS02 Pro ranges have grown since their arrival last winter and are now respectively available in 45 and 74 dimensions. For this winter, they’re joined by a new all-season tyre, the Falken Euroall Season AS220 Pro. Designed to perform all year round and available in Europe since mid-September, Euroall Season AS220 Pro is aimed specifically at performance-oriented vehicles.
In addition to evaluating the performance of 16 winter tyres in size 225/45 R17, European motoring clubs ADAC, TCS and ÖAMTC have tested a further 16 in size 205/60 R16, a dimension primarily worn by smaller SUVs. The test team fitted the tyres to a VW T-Roc and appraised their performance in dry, wet and wintry conditions as well as for environmental and sustainability-related factors such as noise, wear and rolling resistance.
Unusually, two tyres won this year’s Tyre Reviews winter tyre test – both the Michelin Alpin 5 and the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005. According to Tyre Reviews founder and head tester Jonathan Benson, “technically the Michelin Alpin 5 did pip the Bridgestone, but it was such a tiny margin I am calling them both test winners.”
The days are getting shorter and cooler, but we don’t need to go outdoors to realise that winter is fast approaching – the glut of seasonal tyre tests give the game away. European motoring associations ADAC, TCS and ÖAMTC are readying their members by testing winter tyres in two dimensions. Here we look at 225/45 R17, a popular size for cars such as the Audi A3, Mercedes A-Class and – the test team’s chosen vehicle – the VW Golf.
In the preamble to its 2023 winter tyre test, SUV and 4×4 specialist publication Auto Bild Allrad argues that tyres play an even more important role than all-wheel drive when piloting a vehicle in wintry conditions. While employing four driving wheels instead of two undoubtedly improves traction, this only represents one aspect of vehicle safety – when it comes to braking and negotiating curves, tyres are decisive.
Winter tyres are niche products in the UK but make a lot of sense in particular situations. High-powered performance cars, for example, may benefit from the added grip that season-specific rubber provides. Auto Bild Sportscars has evaluated 11 brands of tyre in size 225/40 R18 to gauge performance in snowy, wet and dry conditions. Four tyres gain the motoring publication’s highest recommendation, but Auto Bild Sportscars also warns against bad eggs in the basket.
The verdict is now out on the 20 finalists in the Auto Bild 2023 winter tyre test. While the Auto Bild test team found that most of these size 225/45 R18 tyres offered “really good performance” when snow and ice were present, the picture looked different when testing in conditions that motorists more typically encounter. They observed “surprisingly large differences in performance potential” on wet and dry roads and gave only three tyres their top ‘exemplary’ rating. One of the 20 receives a non-recommendation.
The Auto Bild tyre test team has been busy. In addition to evaluating 35 all-season tyres they have put 54 winter tyres through their paces. After subjecting all to a preliminary test round – on this occasion braking from 80km/h in the wet and from 50km/h on snow – 20 tyres remain as finalists.
In its latest joint winter tyre test, motoring association Auto Club Europa (ACE) describes the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 as being “close to the perfect winter tyre,” having displayed “more than rock solid performance” in all test disciplines. The Bridgestone tyre was the only product to gain ACE’s ‘very recommendable’ rating. The association gave a ‘recommendable’ rating to six tyres and ‘conditionally recommendable’ to one product but declared a further two ‘not recommendable’.
GT Radial is delivering the latest extensions to its winter tyre line, the WinterPro2 evo and the WinterPro2 Sport, to European dealers preparing for the 2023/24 winter season. The GT Radial WinterPro2 evo arrives in 44 sizes with rims ranging from 13-17”, section widths from 155-245 and series sizes from 50-80. Manufacturer Giti Tire has introduced another 14 sizes to its winter tyre for performance vehicles, the GT Radial WinterPro2 Sport, bringing the total number to 23. The GT Radial brand is distributed exclusively by Micheldever Tyre Services in the UK.
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Falken
Goodyear
Giti Tire