Snow Tire Review

Best snow tire reviews come from Sweden and Norway

We enlisted the help of a Swedish translator to prepare our report on snow tires because the best snow-and-ice tire testing takes place in Scandinavia rather than in the U.S. In Sweden, where snow tires are required by law in winter, three auto magazines -- Teknikens Varld, Aftonbladet and Vi Bilagare -- put winter tires through their paces on some of the northernmost test tracks in the world. We found similarly strict tests in Motor, a Norwegian auto club magazine. These thorough reviews reveal how dozens of studded, nonstudded and performance winter tires manage in a variety of tests, including the moose test, which evaluates how well snow tires handle a swerve on an icy road, as if to avoid an unexpected moose that wanders into the driver's path.

ConsumerReports.org also tests winter tires, and due to its focus on the North American market (where many locations ban studded tires), editors concentrate on studless rubber. Forty-two tires are tested in ConsumerReports.org's latest review, but it's not as detailed as the Scandinavian reviews. A Canadian nonprofit association, the Automobile Protection Association (APA) is another unbiased source that rates more than 50 studded and nonstudded tires for cars, performance cars and SUVs, based on the experts' own experience as well as recommendations from other tire experts and retailers.

Traditionally, winter tires spiked with metal studs have offered a more tenacious grip on ice and snow than the studless versions. About 70 percent of Swedes drive on studded tires in winter, but some Swedish tire experts have been getting better results lately from improved studless tires, which use porous rubber (crisscrossed with thousands of tiny cuts, known as sipes) to stick to the ice. Studded tires have been accused of tearing up Sweden's city streets and polluting the air with asphalt dust, and they're banned on one particularly congested street in Stockholm.

However, other Scandinavian experts still get the best ice grip with studded tires, and most agree that some studded tires are necessary to chew up the ice so that studless tires can stick. In North America, most U.S. states and Canadian provinces permit studded tires during winter months (see our Studded Snow Tires and Useful Links sections for details).

Not all winter tires are created equal. European tests regularly uncover cheap, off-brand winter tires -- primarily from China, Korea, Taiwan or European countries -- that fail miserably. "The best tires are the most expensive ones," Motor magazine concludes. Michelin, Nokian and Bridgestone winter tires are some of Motor's favorites, and these premium brands tend to win other tests, too.

But just because you've heard of the brand, don't necessarily expect a good winter tire. Testers at Canada's APA downgrade the Cooper Weather-Master S/T 2 (*Est. $100) and Kelly Snowtrakker Radial ST/2 (*Est. $90) to below average. Both use old tread technology that grips well in deep snow but not on other surfaces, editors say.

The studdable Pirelli Winter Carving Edge (*Est. $75) actually wins the tough test at Teknikens VŠrld, but its studs fly out of the tire, so editors disqualify it. After driving about 750 miles, "the Pirelli tire had lost around 8 percent of its studs," Teknikens VŠrld reports. A Pirelli spokesman tells Teknikens VŠrld that the company is aware of the problem -- some shipments of studs were too small for the tires -- and "it has been resolved effective from week 11, using a new type of stud." We found no complaints of this problem from Pirelli Winter Carving Edge owners who post reviews at TireRack.com, a U.S. retail website.

Unless otherwise stated, pricing estimates for passenger car tires in this report are for 195/65-15 tires, such as those appropriate for a base-model 2011 Honda Civic. Prices for SUV/light truck tires are for 245/70-17 tires, such as those appropriate for a 2011 Chevrolet Silverado or Jeep Grand Cherokee. (Read more on tire sizing in our What to Look For section.)