Every winter ADAC puts the most popular winter sizes through its toughest test — and for 2026 the small-car size 185/65 R15 was tested on a Skoda Fabia in deep snow in Ivalo, Finland. Sixteen tyres faced dry, wet and winter disciplines plus mileage, abrasion and efficiency.
The result is sobering: two “good”, five “befriedigend” (satisfactory) and nine not recommended (six “78ausreichend”, three “mangelhaft”). ADAC notes small dimensions may get less development priority — Bridgestone fields the older LM-005 here, not its newest Blizzak 6.
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How ADAC scores — and why it matters
ADAC uses German school grades (0.6 = very good, 5.5 = deficient), weighted 70% driving safety (dry 30% / wet 40% / winter 30%) and 30% environmental (mileage 40% / abrasion 20% / efficiency 20% / noise 10% / sustainability 10%). A weak sub-grade downgrades the whole category. Source: ADAC 185/65 R15 2026.
Top 2 in detail
1. Continental WinterContact TS 870 (2.2, safety 2.0) — precise on dry, second-best on wet (1.8, very good aquaplaning 95.1 km/h / 4.1 m/s²), good on winter (2.3). Weaknesses: only satisfactory mileage (34,300 km) and abrasion, ice braking just short of good. Strengths: safe/precise dry/wet/winter, low weight 7.0 kg, low consumption 5.5 l.
2. Michelin Alpin 7 (2.5, safety 2.3) — equally recommendable, slightly behind Continental everywhere. Good dry (2.2), wet (2.3) and winter (2.4), abrasion still good, but loud rolling noise (3.6) and satisfactory mileage (33,100 km).
Where the failures happen
Bridgestone Blizzak LM-005 (3.8) is wet champion (1.4, 33.5 m from 80 km/h) but imprecise on dry and weak snow handling. Nokian Snowproof 2, Vredestein Wintrac, Barum Polaris 6, Kumho WinterCraft WP52+ and Viking WinTech NewGen (3.8-3.9) are downgraded for dry despite shining on winter. Sunny Winter-max NW611 (4.8), Atlas Polarbear HP and Rockblade Rock 868S (5.5) have lethal wet braking (5.5, 51.4 m) — at Bridgestone’s standstill they still travel 38-47 km/h. Rockblade’s winter 1.5 proves a single talent is not enough.
Midfield satisfactory alternatives are region-dependent: Hankook Winter i*cept RS3, Optimo Winter Touring OW41 and Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 3 for wet regions; Linglong Sport Master Winter (shortest dry braking 43.3 m) for dry. Mileage spans 22,400 km (Bridgestone) to 40,000 km (Kumho).
| # | Model | Overall | Safety | Eco |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Continental WinterContact TS 870 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 2.8 |
| 2 | Michelin ALPIN 7 (★84) | 2.5 | 2.3 | 2.9 |
| 3 | Hankook W462 Winter i*cept RS3 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 3.4 |
| 4 | Linglong Sport Master Winter | 3.1 | 3.1 | 3.2 |
| 5 | Optimo Winter Touring OW41 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
| 6 | GoodYear UltraGrip Performance 3 (★93) | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.0 |
| 7 | GT Radial WinterPro2 Evo | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.4 |
| 8 | Bridgestone Blizzak LM-005 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 3.8 |
| 9 | Nokian Snowproof 2 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.1 |
| 10 | Vredestein Wintrac | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.3 |
| 11 | Barum Polaris 6 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.5 |
| 12 | Kumho WinterCraft WP52+ | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.0 |
| 13 | Viking WinTech NewGen | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.6 |
| 14 | Sunny Winter-max NW611 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 2.9 |
| 15 | Atlas Polarbear HP | 5.5 | 5.5 | 2.7 |
| 16 | Rockblade Rock 868S | 5.5 | 5.5 | 3.1 |