205/45 R17 - Best winter tyres 2026 - market overview, tests, reviews

A great winter tyre with balanced handling characteristics. Great in the wet, but slightly less durable than newer models.

Michelin has unveiled the ALPIN 7 winter tyre, featuring an advanced tread design with additional sipes and an evolving tread pattern to maintain traction as the tyre wears. The new model aims to enhance braking and acceleration on snowy and wet roads while improving overall efficiency for a variety of vehicles. Unlike the Alpin 6, which was considered a bit overpriced for its performance, the Alpin 7 is expected to offer better value and address concerns in upcoming winter tests.

There aren’t many things to dislike about the Winter i*cept RS3, except perhaps for slightly lower mileage and higher rolling resistance. For its price, it performs well in all weather conditions.

G-Force Winter 2 is our favorite budget winter tyre. It's great on snow and offers good safety on all surfaces, which is no surprise as BFGoodrich is a part of the Michelin group.

The Kumho WinterCraft WP52+ is a winter tyre from the established South Korean manufacturer, designed for use on passenger cars during cold weather conditions. Serving as an updated successor to the standard WinterCraft WP52, this model is engineered for winter driving. Its main focus is delivering traction on cold, snowy, and icy roads, though specific technical modifications over its predecessor are not detailed.

Old but gold, that is how we can pretty much describe the Krisalp HP3. It's a winter tyre that is great on snow for a good price, which is what the average driver is looking for. It's not a premium tyre, but you get a lot of bang for your buck.

We really like the new Speed-Grip 5 - it's not expensive, it's very good on snow and on top of that, it's got very low rolling resistance. What it lacks compared to the premium tyres is better wet performance, but given it's price it's definitely recommendable.

Very good traction on snow for a nice price in a wide range of dimensions. Could use shorter braking distance on dry and better traction on the wet.

The Cinturato Winter 2 is enjoyable to drive and offers safety in all conditions. However, some tests have described its dry handling as sluggish.

Kristall Control HP2 is an affordable snow specialist with some compromises in the wet and dry handling and braking.

The EuroWinter HS02 is one of the few affordable winter tires with good mileage and low rolling resistance. It offers strong driving characteristics, with only slight weaknesses on snow.

The Winterhawk 4 is a tyre with mixed ratings as there are tests where the tyre was not recommended. Common criticisms include longer braking distances and significant understeer

A cheap tyre from European manufacturer that is very snow-focused, while sacrificing performance on both dry and wet. It could be recommended as a cheap option for extreme climates with a lot of snow.

The winter model of the polish brand that belongs to Goodyear is great on snow, but has extended wet and dry braking distances and increased rolling resistance.