WINTER TIRES (NEW FOR 2017-2018): TEST RATING OF THE BEST FRICTION RUBBER

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Friction tires (that is, those devoid of spikes and known among ordinary drivers as "velcro") have recently been actively gaining popularity, including among owners of SUV cars. And this is no accident - after all, such "shoes" on "winter" surfaces are often not much inferior to their studded "brothers", but on asphalt roads they look even much more preferable (due to a higher level of comfort).

But which velcro to choose when it comes to a crossover, especially an all-wheel drive?

First of all, you should pay attention to the presence of the “Snowflake” mark in the form of three mountain peaks with a snowflake - it indicates that the tires really passed and successfully passed the exam on the snow track. It is precisely this marking that the manufacturers carried on nine sets of friction tires of "compact crossover" dimension 215/65 R16, which we took for tests that were carried out in "combat" conditions.

The tests were held according to the standard program and included ice, snow and asphalt disciplines. They were carried out at an outside air temperature from +2 to -23 degrees Celsius (except for measurements of longitudinal dynamics, which were carried out in a closed room with a more stable temperature), and one of the popular compact crossovers acted as the "carrier" of tires.

The first exercise for all the test subjects was acceleration from 5 to 30 km / h (in order to eliminate wheel slippage) on an icy straight line, where Nokian tires performed better than others (both sets - both Hakkapeliitta R2 SUV and Nordman RS2 SUV) - to accelerate it took only 6.9 seconds. The results of Bridgestone were slightly worse - they were 0.2 seconds behind the leaders. As for the outsiders, here the balance of power was distributed as follows: Nitto - 9 seconds, Gislaved - 8 seconds, Marshal - 7.8 seconds.

When braking on ice from 30 to 5 km / h (in order to exclude ABS interference), the leading position was taken by the Nokian Nordman RS2 SUV tires, slowing down at 21.2 meters, which were ahead of their closest pursuers - Bridgestone and Continental - by 0.5 and 0.7 meters, respectively. But in the rearguard, they were still the same: Nitto tires took 21.9 meters, Gislaved - 24.4 meters, and Marshal - 24.3 meters.

The final "chord" of ice tests was the passage of a winding track for a while (along with which a subjective assessment of the convenience of driving on such a surface was given). The fastest way to conquer the track was the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 SUV, which took 74.3 seconds, while Gislaved lost only 2.1 seconds to the gold medalist. The “losers” in this situation were Nitto and Goodyear - 84.4 and 82.5 seconds, respectively. In terms of handling, all tires showed similar results, but there were some winners and losers here: among the first - Continental and Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 SUV, and second - Nitto and Goodyear.

The next cycle of tests is a snow one, passing according to the same program, which was opened by acceleration on packed snow from 5 to 35 km / h. The Pirelli and Bridgestone tires were unmatched here, completing this exercise in 4.1 seconds. The rest of the test subjects lost to the leaders by no more than 0.3 seconds, but still they could not do without outsiders - this is Nitto (4.4 seconds). When braking from 35 to 5 km / h, the balance of forces changed: among the best were Pirelli (11.3 meters), Gislaved and Bridgestone (in both cases - 11.4 meters), and among the worst - Continental (11.9 meters).

The twisty, snow-covered trail was particularly well suited to the Velcro Bridgestone and Pirelli - they spent 91.3 seconds on this exercise. The last place was “staked out” for themselves by Nitto, but they were not much behind the winner - only 2.9 seconds. The crossover drove perfectly on four sets of tires at once - Bridgestone, Continental, Gislaved and Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 SUV. Nitto proved to be less predictable, but not critical.

For winter tires, it is equally important how they behave on loose snow - this exercise was carried out on a surface with a depth of 13 cm from 5 to 20 km / h. Goodyear took the lead in 5.2 seconds, bringing only 0.1 seconds to the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 SUV and Nordman RS2 SUV tires. But Nitto was again among the outsiders - it took them 6.2 seconds to accelerate.

Tests with asphalt were carried out at a more gentle temperature regime - the outside air was warmed up to +2 degrees Celsius. When braking on a wet surface from a speed of 80 km / h, Goodyear, Gislaved and Continental “stickies” stopped faster than others - they were 32.4, 34.5 and 34.7 meters, respectively. Among the losers were Nitto - they left at once 42 meters.

On dry asphalt, tests were carried out under the same speed conditions, and the outsider remained unchanged here - the Nitto tires took 35.2 meters to stop. As for the "podium", it was topped by Continental with a score of 29 meters, and Bridgestone was one step lower, losing only 0.3 meters to the leader.

In terms of comfort, the Velcro was generally equal, but some were marginally better and some were marginally worse. In terms of smoothness, Continental and Goodyear are preferable to the rest, they, along with Pirelli, showed the lowest noise level. Well, the least suitable for asphalt in both cases were the Nitto and Marshal tires.

Topped the "final" rating of friction tires for crossovers Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 SUV - they performed well in almost all tests. But there is one "but" - they are significantly more expensive than the rest of the "experimental", except perhaps with the exception of Continental ContiVikingContact 6 and Bridgestone Blizzak VRX, which took the second and third places, respectively.

Well, the Nitto Winter SN2 tires, which are one of the most affordable options in terms of price tag, confidently settled in the last position, failing most of the exercises.

The final rating of winter friction tires for crossovers of the 2017-2018 season: