Motor winter tire test 245/45 R18 2026

Can a mid-range tire beat the most expensive brands? This year, the Polish magazine Motor deliberately left out budget tires and pitted mid-range tires against premium models. The result is a surprise: the new Nokian Snowproof 3P won ahead of both Continental and Goodyear, and it's cheaper than both of them too.

Which cars fit the 245/45 R18 size

You can find the 245/45 R18 size, for example, on the BMW 5 Series and BMW i4, Audi A4 Allroad and A6, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and E-Class, VW Passat and Arteon, Volvo S90 and V90, Cupra Formentor, Hyundai Tucson, Opel Insignia, Seat Ateca, Subaru Outback or Renault Espace.

Before buying, please check the size in your vehicle's registration certificate.

Which tires were tested

Premium class:

• Bridgestone Blizzak 6
• Continental WinterContact TS 870 P
• Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 3

Mid-range class:

• Falken Eurowinter HS02 Pro
• Hankook Winter i*cept evo3 W330
• Nokian Snowproof 3P (new)
• Vredestein Wintrac Pro+

All tires were purchased by the editorial team from an online store.

• Snow: testing center in northern Finland at the end of March. Braking, acceleration and lap time on a snow-covered track were measured.
• Wet and dry: testing facility near Madrid at the beginning of April. Braking, aquaplaning on a straight line and in a curve, driving in a wet circle, wet and dry handling circuits, and noise were measured.
• Rolling resistance: laboratory measurement in Finland.

The test car was an electric BMW i4 with rear-wheel drive. It had no problems on snow or wet surfaces, but its battery overheated during hard driving on the dry track. The last discipline was therefore driven with a Mercedes-AMG C 63.

The maximum was 250 points: wet 100, dry 80, snow 60 and rolling resistance 10.

The new Nokian Snowproof 3P had, according to the editorial team, an exceptionally successful market debut. It scored 247.3 points out of 250 and offers the highest level of safety and excellent driving characteristics on all surfaces.

• It braked the shortest of all on wet surfaces (33.2 m from 80 km/h).
• It braked the shortest of all on dry surfaces (40.0 m from 100 km/h).
• It was the fastest on the wet circuit and shared first place with Continental in the wet circle.
• On snow, it had the fastest lap on the track.
• Together with Goodyear, it was the quietest.

In addition to the title of winner, it also received an award for high performance and attractive price. It is cheaper than Continental, Goodyear and Bridgestone.

Continental confirmed the quality of the German manufacturer. It is the most resistant to aquaplaning on both a straight line and in a curve, had the fastest lap on the dry circuit and low rolling resistance. It drives precisely and its performance is consistently high in any weather. The editorial team recommends it for high performance in dry and wet conditions. However, it is the most expensive tire in the test.

Goodyear lost to Continental by just 0.3 points. On snow, it has no competition: shortest braking distance and fastest acceleration. On dry surfaces, it is on a similar level to Continental and is among the quietest. It lost points on wet asphalt. The editorial team recommends it for high performance on snow.

Bridgestone doesn't impress with its performance, but it did not fail in any discipline. It braked well on wet surfaces, and was weaker in braking and track driving on snow. However, it won the rolling resistance measurement, making it the most economical in the test.

• Hankook Winter i*cept evo3 (5th place) is a quality mid-range tire with stable performance in all conditions. It won't surprise the driver in any way and resists aquaplaning well. However, it is the noisiest in the test and its price is not very attractive.
• Falken Eurowinter HS02 Pro (6th place) is the cheapest tire in the test with average performance. It lags behind on snow and wet surfaces, and on both dry and wet circuits it has a tendency to oversteer, which is dangerous at high speed. It brakes decently on dry surfaces, but has high rolling resistance.
• Vredestein Wintrac Pro+ (7th place) is, according to the editorial team, not well balanced. It is very good on snow, but had the longest braking distances in the test on wet and dry surfaces. On the dry circuit, it also had a tendency to oversteer and has the highest rolling resistance.

The editorial team emphasizes that even the tires at the bottom of the ranking are not dangerous. All of them passed the braking tests at the required safety level.

• Most expensive doesn't mean best. The winner, Nokian, is classified as mid-range and yet it beat premium brands.
• Premium brands still offer the highest level of safety. Both Continental and Goodyear are excellent, each with its own strong point.
• Equal points don't mean equal tires. Tires with a similar total score can behave completely differently, so it's worth reading the detailed results as well.