Are Budget Winter Tyres Actually Any Good?
We get it - you’ve already spent quite a bit of money on some nice summer tyres for your car, so when it comes to winters, there might be a temptation to cheap out. But if you do, how much grip and traction will you lose?
To find out, Tyre Reviews headed north of The Wall with a VW Golf and a Volvo S90 to compare Nokian’s Snowproof winter boots to the catchily-named ‘Tristar Ice Plus S210 Snow’, a product sold under several different brands.
The answer is, as you might expect, you get what you pay for. But how far off the budget option was from the premium tyre varied from test to test, and the extra weight of the Volvo generally made the gap even bigger whenever it was used.
Watch the video at the top of the page to see exactly how the budget option fared.
Source: YouTube/TyreReviews.com
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
Didn’t know Nokian was considered as premium tyre…
If they are a sponsor they are.
Nokian Tyres Oyj, headquartered in Nokia, Finland, produces tyres for cars, trucks, buses, and heavy-duty equipment. Known for its winter tyres, Nokian operates the only permanent winter tyre testing facility in the world. The company’s Hakkapeliitta brand name is recognised in Finland as a reputable trademark. Wikipedia
If they pay Carthrottle enough, anything is premium.
Tyre Reviews (fantastic site) does a good summary of what makes a premium tyre manufacturer a premium tyre manufacturer - check out the article on the 1st August.
Although Nokian are not considered a premium tyre manufacturer because “their turnover is way off the big 7”, they do have OE winter fitment in a number of regions, with one of those OE fitments being Porsche. As such, you could argue that they are a premium winter tyre, but not a premium tyre manufacturer.
Beside that, their independent test results speak for themselves.
Even the most budget winter tyres will still be much better on snow and ice than the best summer tyres.
For sure
Amen.