If you daily a big saloon on 245/45 R19s (think BMW 5 Series), the fresh comparative from Auto Zeitung with partners GTÜ and ARBÖ is one of the most useful datasets this winter. Ten tyres, one car, controlled runs on snow, wet and dry, plus a fourth bucket that quietly decides running costs and eco-score (abrasion, rolling resistance, exterior noise, projected life). Conclusion: premium still pays—both for safety and, counter-intuitively, often for money over the full life of the tyre.
☰
TL;DR of the podium
- Winner: Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 3 — 414 pts. Wet-road authority with consistently high scores elsewhere and a strong overall environmental showing.
- 2nd: Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 — 397 pts. The longevity and abrasion champ; quiet and thrifty to roll, which is why it ends up the most economical over life despite a high purchase price.
- 3rd: Pirelli P Zero Winter 2 (★94) — 393 pts. Flash-bang wet braking numbers and a sustainability angle: ≥55% recycled/biobased materials in this size. Slight ding in curve aquaplaning.
Rounding out the “very recommendable” pack: Bridgestone Blizzak 6 (★91) Enliten (snow maestro, narrowly off the podium) and Continental WinterContact TS 870 P (★93) (balanced, but not quite as short on wet-brake).
What was actually measured (and why it matters)
Auto Zeitung’s matrix stresses three equal “chapters”—snow, wet, dry—with multiple sub-tests per chapter, then folds in wear/rolling/noise/longevity. In practice, two things move the needle most for real-world safety:
- Wet braking and stability. The spread is sobering. In one anchor comparison, where the 5-Series on the grippiest tyre has already stopped from 100 km/h, the same car on the worst performer is still doing ~40 km/h—that’s crash-energy territory.
- Snow traction & lateral grip. Bridgestone, Goodyear and Michelin deliver that reassuring “hooks-up and stays there” winter feel; cheaper imports struggle to keep the car settled when the surface turns to glass.
The budget reality check
Three budget entries looked tempting at checkout but cost you margin when it matters:
- Maxxis Premitra Snow WP6 — last overall; very long wet stops and weak dry-brake performance outweigh decent snow basics.
- Linglong Sport Master (★67) Winter — low overall safety reserves on snow; highest environmental burden in the group.
- Triangle EffeX Winter W421 — intriguing: 2nd-best dry brake and a low per-km cost, but stability/comfort/environment penalties keep it off any recommend list.
Yokohama BluEarth Winter V906 and Vredestein Wintrac Pro+ (★67) sit in the middle ground: usable, but expect compromises—Yokohama gives up too much on snow; Vredestein’s wet braking runs longer than you’d like in this class.
Nerdy bits we liked
- Eco math vs purchase price. Triangle is ~⅓ the price of a Michelin in this size, and you’ll get ~59% of the mileage—so on a pure €/km view it can look okay. But the test’s abrasion/noise/rolling metrics (and safety gap) tilt total cost of ownership back to the top brands. Michelin ends up the true “economy” pick over a full life thanks to low wear and low RR.
- Material science cameo. Pirelli’s ≥55% recycled/biobased recipe is notable in a tyre that still punches near the top in dynamic tests. The trade-off shows specifically in curve aquaplaning, not in the big-ticket wet-brake number.
- Snow chapter still matters. Even if your winters are milder, the delta in traction + lateral support means fewer stability-control interventions and more predictable transient response when slush piles up. Bridgestone’s new Enliten-spec shines here.