The experts from the German magazine Sport Auto figuring out what tire size 245/40R18 V is best suited for sporty driving in winter conditions.
It happened by accident, but it seems that everything was planned in advance - a dark blue four-wheel drive Audi TT 3.2 Quattro is very photogenic looks against the backdrop of snow-covered tracks, while his identical technically, but the yellow twin brother of the well is allocated to the sad gray asphalt.
Both of them were used to test how they behave on the bus and the snow and on wet and dry surfaces, experts from the team the German edition of Sport Auto.
All six candidates to win, of course, have their both strong and weak sides, but they initially have to be of sufficient quality so that even in the winter to cope with speeds up to 240 km / h, so that the bad tires this test, you will not find.
In addition, all these buses belong to the premium segment, which, though not an absolute guarantee of quality, but says that the fight will be at the highest level.
The test compares the following winter tires:
- Continental WinterContact TS 810 Sport
- Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D
- Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3
- Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme
as well as two recently updated models:
- Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 2
- Pirelli Winter 240 Sottozero Serie II
Snow
In the tests on the manageability and predictability of response to the snow-covered road (the circular track, 1.1 km) both evolved tires valiantly fought for the lead, but the tone in the discipline give Vredestein, immediately followed by Continental and Dunlop.
Of all the sextet's only French Michelin afford some weak - they fell behind by Vredestein in 1.8 seconds. In general, Michelin did not feel very confident on the snow, which was shown also tests for traction, but when they lose grip in the corners, they still have to notify the driver, going to understeer. On the strengths of the French tire you learn from these tests.
Tests in the snow
The main confrontation erupted between Goodyear and Dunlop, but, ultimately, Goodyear were still slightly ahead because of the greater information content of a loss of traction and a little stronger traction.
The fact that both tires have a well-balanced driving characteristics, which inspire driver confidence, makes them the preferred choice for the winter months. For a duo of leaders followed Vredestein and Pirelli, moreover, Italian bus pulled in the snow better than all the rest.
However, in regard to handling, updated Pirelli still require constant adjustments. At least a four-wheel drive TT in the transition to Pirelli management changes were obvious, experts Sport Auto.
However, Pirelli is not the only ones who can make a claim - the same Continental (the only ones in the test tire speed rating W) can afford some liberties, so that the rear part can and write. Moreover, consistent understeer is asserting itself more gently, and, ultimately, the car is easier to manage.
Equally obediently when they lose grip and behave Vredestein, aided and good lateral stability. High enough traction and shorter braking distances Vredestein secured high marks in this test.
|
Handling on snow |
|
| Vredestein | 1.08,1 min |
| Continental | 1.08,2 min |
| Dunlop | 1.08,3 min |
| Goodyear | 1.08,5 min |
| Pirelli | 1.08,8 min |
| Michelin | 1.09,9 min |
| Braking distance on snow (50-0 km / h) |
|
| Dunlop | 20,1 m |
| Goodyear | 20,3 m |
| Vredestein | 20,4 m |
| Continental | 20,6 m |
| Pirelli | 20,7 m |
| Michelin | 20,9 m |
| traction on snow (in Newtons) |
|
| Pirelli | 7360 H |
| Vredestein | 7142 H |
| Goodyear | 7132 H |
| Dunlop | 7093 H |
| Continental | 7003 H |
| Michelin | 6792 H |
wet surface
In Europe, the snow-covered road sections are not as often, so drivers should not choose a tire just from what they have driving performance on snowy surfaces. Therefore, separate tests were conducted on a wet track, which before were again the winners of tests on the snow.
Goodyear, Dunlop again left all opponents behind, but the difference is that now Dunlop, having a sufficient number of lamellae have been able to get ahead of Goodyear. In five of the six disciplines Dunlop managed to become the best, and only in tests of aquaplaning these tires showed fairly poor results, but in terms of handling and braking on wet surfaces they were not equal.
C installed Goodyear tires the car slows down a little bit worse, and managed by TT also will not be as acute as with Dunlop. But Goodyear have the most severe resistance to aquaplaning in all tested tires.
Tests mokroy surface
As for the time of arrival, the Goodyear Dunlop lagged behind by only 0.2 seconds, which can not be considered a considerable margin, while all the other bus from behind is more important interval. Continental came in third, but the difference with the result of Goodyear was already 2 seconds. In this case, performance Continental on a wet surface should be considered acceptable.
Tires accurately respond to driver input and too late to lose grip. True, they do so quite dramatically. Received 88 out of 100 possible points Continental occupy an honorable third place in the test on a wet surface.
For Continental by a wide margin followed by Pirelli with 66 points, which showed the lowest resistance to hydroplaning on wet pavement with an 8-mm layer of water, the fastest losing traction.
In addition, tires tend to move from poor to oversteer, but to the poor results on the Test of aquaplaning added an average of test on the stopping distance, but in terms of controllability worse Pirelli were only Michelin, which are somewhat redeemed themselves on the Test resistance to aquaplaning.
| Handling on wet surfaces (time of passage of the track, 2.300 m) |
|
| Dunlop | 1.42,3 min |
| Goodyear | 1.42,5 min |
| Continental | 1.44,2 min |
| Vredestein | 1.47,8 min |
| Pirelli | 1.49,3 min |
| Michelin | 1.49,4 min |
| Braking on wet surfaces (100 - 0 km / h) |
|
| Dunlop | 52,9 m |
| Goodyear | 54,2 m |
| Continental | 54.5 m |
| Pirelli | 58,0 m |
| Michelin | 60,0 m |
| Vredestein | 61,6 m |
| longitudinal aquaplaning (the rate at which lost traction) |
|
| Goodyear | 74,5 km / h |
| Michelin | 73,4 km / h |
| Continental | 72,4 km / h |
| Vredestein | 69,4 km / h |
| Dunlop | 69,2 km / h |
| Pirelli | 68.3 km / h |
Dry surface
The second rematch Michelin took the tests on a dry surface. With his slight slip and good running qualities the French tire failed, finally, to get more points.
Best of inhibition demonstrated Vredestein, which in this case, left on a fairly mixed feelings about the trials on dry pavement. Controllability was clearly insufficient, the clutch is lost too early, then rotates to a pronounced understeer.
Tests of the dry
Continental is much more precisely follow the instructions of the driver, and as for the clutch, the German tire and here showed excellent results, as when cornering. Success in this test was confirmed and short braking distances.
But the best in the test to the manageability of course became Pirelli, they are sensitive to the slightest movement of the steering wheel and provide the highest levels of grip, so that even Michelin can not compete with them. The most agile and energetic on a dry road Audi TT will be just a Pirelli.
The total score (greater, are the results of tests on snow and wet surfaces) first, without a doubt, become Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D and Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 2. Goodyear were quite a bit ahead at the expense of more dynamic driving characteristics on dry surfaces.
Despite the fact that far surpassed other tires Goodyear and Dunlop in the tests on dry roads, in tests on snow and wet surfaces, both tires have the maximum number of points that led to their victory.
| Handling on dry surfaces (speed of passage of the track, 1.700 m) |
stopping distance on dry surface (100 - 0 km / h) |
||
| Pirelli | 53.5 sec | Vredestein | 40,7 m |
| Michelin | 53,7 sec | Continental | 42,1 m |
| Continental | 53.9 sec | Michelin | 42,3 m |
| Goodyear | 53,9 sec | Pirelli | 42,7 m |
| Dunlop | 54,4 sec | Dunlop | 42,9 m |
| Vredestein | 55,0 sec | Goodyear | 43,2 m |
The test results are presented in the table below:
| Location | bus | Results | Points |
| 1 | Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 2 | Snow | |
| Handling | 30 | ||
| Driving performance | 20 | ||
| traction | 20 | ||
| Stopping distance | 30 | ||
| The amount of points | 100 | ||
| wet surface | |||
| Handling | 30 | ||
| Driving performance | 20 | ||
| Sensitivity to the steering |
20 | ||
| Stopping distance | 20 | ||
| A longitudinal aquaplaning | 10 | ||
| The amount of points | 100 | ||
| Dry surface | |||
| Handling | 20 | ||
| Driving performance | 20 | ||
| Sensitivity to the steering |
10 | ||
| Stopping distance; | 20 | ||
| The sum score | 70 | ||
| Total balllov | 248 | ||
| Opinions Sport Auto: Pros: Very high levels of grip on the Cons: Relatively long stopping distance |
|||
| Sport Auto: exemplary | |||
| 2 |
Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D |
Snow | |
| Handling | 30 | ||
| Driving performance | 20 | ||
| Pullpower | 20 | ||
| Stopping distance | 30 | ||
| The amount of points | 100 | ||
| wet surface | |||
| Handling | 30 | ||
| Driving performance | 20 | ||
| Sensitivity to the steering |
20 | ||
| Stopping distance | 20 | ||
| Longitudinal aquaplaning |
10 | ||
| The amount of points | 100 | ||
| Dry surface | |||
| Handling | 20 | ||
| Driving performance / td> | 20 | ||
| Sensitivity to steering |
10 | ||
| Stopping distance | 20 | ||
| The amount of points | 70 | ||
| The total score | 245 | ||
|
Opinions Sport Auto: Pros: High levels of grip on wet and snow-covered surface. Accurate response to steering and well-balanced driving characteristics on wet Cons: Moderate resistance to aquaplaning. Low levels of grip on dry surfaces |
|||
| Sport Auto: exemplary | |||
| 3 | Continental ContiWinterContact TS 810 Sport |
Snow | |
| Manageability | 30 | ||
| Driving performance | 20 | ||
| Pullpower | 20 | ||
| Stopping distance | 30 | ||
| The amount of points | 100 | ||
| Wet the surface | |||
| Handling | 30 | ||
| Driving performance | 20 | ||
| Sensitivity to steering | 20 | ||
| Stopping distance | 20 | ||
| A longitudinal aquaplaning | 10 | ||
| The amount of points | 100 | ||
| Dry surface | |||
| Handling | 20 | ||
| Driving performance | 20 | ||
| Sensitivity to steering | 10 | ||
| Stopping distance | 20 | ||
| The amount of points | 70 | ||
| The total score | 233 | ||
| Opinions Sport Auto: Pros: Very well-balanced driving characteristics. High levels of grip and braking on any surface Cons: Abrupt loss of grip on wet surfaces, the change in handling the transition to the mode of engine braking |
|||
| Sport Auto: good | |||
| 4 | Pirelli Winter SottoZero Serie II (W210/W240) |
Snow | |
| Handling | 30 | ||
| Driving performance | 20 | ||
| Pullpower | 20 | ||
| Stopping distance | 30 | ||
| The amount of points | 100 | ||
| wet surface | |||
| Handling | 30 | ||
| Driving performance | 20 | ||
| Sensitivity to steering | 20 | ||
| Stopping distance | 20 | ||
| A longitudinal aquaplaning | 10 | ||
| The amount of points | 100 | ||
| Dry surface | |||
| Handling | 20 | ||
| Driving performance | 20 | ||
| Sensitivity to steering | 10 | ||
| Brake path | 20 | ||
| The amount of points | 70 | ||
| The total score | 219 | ||
| Opinions Sport Auto: Pros: Very accurate response to steering and exchange rate stability on a dry surface. Good traction on snow Cons: Low levels of grip on wet surfaces. Moderate resistance to aquaplaning |
|||
| Sport Auto: good | |||
| 5 | Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme |
Snow | |
| Handling | 30 | ||
| Driving performance | 20 | ||
| Pullpower | 20 | ||
| Stopping distance | 30 | ||
| The amount of points | 100 | ||
| wet surface | |||
| Manageability | 30 | ||
| Driving performance | 20 | ||
| Sensitivity to steering | 20 | ||
| Stopping distance | 20 | ||
| A longitudinal aquaplaning | 10 | ||
| The amount of points | 100 | ||
| Dry surface | |||
| Handling | 20 | ||
| Driving performance | 20 | ||
| Sensitivity to steering | 10 | ||
| Stopping distance | 20 | ||
| The amount of points | 70 | ||
| The total score | 210 | ||
| Opinions SportAuto: Pluses : Strong performance on the snow, well-balanced driving characteristics and high levels of grip Cons: Relatively low levels of grip and lack of handling on dry and wet |
|||
| Sport Auto: Fair | |||
| 6 | Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 |
Snow | |
| Handling | 30 | ||
| Driving performance | 20 | ||
| Pullpower | 20 | ||
| Stopping distance | 30 | ||
| The amount of points | 100 | ||
| wet surface | |||
| Handling | 30 | ||
| Driving performance | 20 | ||
| Sensitivity to steering | 20 | ||
| Stopping distance | 20 | ||
| A longitudinal aquaplaning | 10 | ||
| The amount of points | 100 | ||
| Dry surface | |||
| Handling | 20 | ||
| Driving performance | 20 | ||
| Sensitivity to steering | 10 | ||
| Stopping distance | 20 | ||
| sum score | 70 | ||
| The total score | 203 | ||
| Opinions Sport Auto: Pros: Very good handling on dry surfaces. High resistance to aquaplaning Cons: Weak performance in the tests on wet surfaces, poor traction in the snow |
|||
| Sport Auto: Fair | |||
