Date: 8 Nov 1994 11:50:16 GMT
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: paul@nvg.unit.no (Paul Roberts)
Subject: Re: repost: studded snowtire test
Here goes, the test of studded snowtires I half promised you during my
previous test posting of studless snowtires. 6 of the bestselling studded
snowtires (from now on just regarded as snowtires) in Norway. These ought to
be the 6 best snowtires on the market. Remember though, that even if
Michelin only received 1 star, there are lots of worse tires for sale.
The 185/65 R15 tires were mounted on Volvo 850 cars. The test took place in
Finnish Lappland, by the Finnish magazine "Tekniikan Maailma", the Swedish
"Teknikens Varld", and the Norwegian "Motor" (published by the Norwegian
Automobil association).
During the test, difficult conditions on snow and ice have been chosen as
the most important. However, if you mostly drive on bare asphalt, you can be
able to go into the tables and chose the right tire for yourself. Finding a
tire that is best for ALL conditions is almost impossible. A problem with
tire-tests, is that they usually use rather new tires (i.e. not worn). As
the tires wear down, the qualities change. The positioning on the list may
change too. the main rule is still that a good tire when new,will be good
when used too.
The tires in the test are:
Gislaved Nord Frost II
Nokia Hakkapeliitta 10
Continental Viking Stop 400
Pirelli Winter Performance
GoodYear Ultra Grip 300
Michelin XM+S 260
Acceleration on snow: (measured in N)
GoodYear: 2350
Michelin: 2300
Gislaved: 2250
Nokia: 2250
Viking: 2150
Pirelli: 2100
The pulling force is measured by accelerating from a standstill to 30 km/h.
THe result is the force the tire can give to the ground with a spinn of 20%
Acceleration on slippery ice:
GoodYear: 1200
Pirelli: 1200
Gislaved: 1100
Nokia: 1100
Viking: 1050
Michelin: 900
Accelerating from a standstill to a speed where the wheels spinning stops,
and the revs are 4000 rpm.
Braking on slippery ice: (measured in meters)
Nokia: 58.5
Viking: 62.5
Pirelli: 63.5
Gislaved: 66.5
Michelin: 67.0
GoodYear: 74.0
The braking is measured with locked front-wheels on slippery natural ice.
THe result is an average of 16 runs. (the speed isn't given! probably a
mistake)
ABS-braking on hard snow: (meters)
Viking: 24.0
Nokia: 24.5
Gislaved: 25.0
GoodYear: 25.5
Michelin: 25.5
Pirelli: 25.5
Braking is done with ABS brakes on hardpacked snow from 50 km/h.
Sidegrip on rough ice: (time per round in seconds)
Gislaved: 20.5
Michelin: 21.0
Viking: 21.0
GoodYear: 21.5
Nokia: 21.5
Pirelli: 21.5
Measured on a circular course with a diameter of 60 meters. THe ice has been
churned up to make it rough. Fastest possible times. The results are an
average of several laps.
Drivability on ice: (10 is best, 4 is worst)
Gislaved: 10
Viking: 9
Nokia: 8
GoodYear: 7
Pirelli: 7
Michelin: 6
Three test-drivers subjective meaning of how the tires react on ice surface.
During the testing, the drivers never know what tires the car is mounted with.
Noise:
GoodYear: 9
Nokia: 9
Michelin: 8
Pirelli: 8
Viking: 8
Gislaved: 7
The scores are given by three different drivers after driving on varying
surfacing and speeds.
Stability on bare asphalt:
GoodYear: 10
Gislaved: 9
Nokia: 9
Pirelli: 9
Michelin: 8
Viking: 8
Same as above.
Braking on snow: (meters)
Nokia: 46.0
Pirelli: 49.0
Viking: 52.0
Gislaved: 53.5
Michelin: 56.0
GoodYear: 57.0
Braking is done from 50 km/h with braking only on the front-wheels. the
result is the average from 16 runs.
Ice-track: (round times in seconds)
Gislaved: 65.0
Viking: 67.5
Nokia: 69.5
GoodYear: 70.0
Michelin: 70.0
Pirelli: 70.0
The tires grip/traction on varying surface conditions on a 1100 meter long
ice-track (oval). The result is the average score of three drivers round
times.
AVERAGE SCORES FOR THE TIRES: (the scores have been calculated using a
percentage score for the abilities found most important. For example: the
test results for driving on ice count more than the driving comfort. Several
more criterias have been taking with than the ones stated in the tables
above, mostly stability driving on roads with tracks in them on asphalt and
ice)
Gislaved: 8.6
Nokia: 8.5
Viking: 8.3
Pirelli: 7.8
GoodYear: 7.3
Michelin: 7.0
OK, now for a seperate bit about each tire:
GISLAVED NORD FROST II
Much improved from the old Gislaved snowtire. Specially the directional
stability on roads with lots of track-wear. The old tire was bad, the new
one is amongst the best in the test. With total scores in mind, it's THE
best tire in the test, even though it lost quite a lot of its studs during
the test. THis had some negativ effect on a couple of the tests, but still
with a very succesful end result. The cause for the tire losing some of its
studs could be that they've tried a rubber mixture with soft friction
compounds. We expect this problem to be solved quite soon.
+ sidegrip on ice, driving comfort
- noise, the studs falling out
NOKIA HAKKAPELIITTA 10
The tire is still doing well, even though it's been on the market for quite
some time now. Still, the tire is only a tenth of a point behind Gislaved.
The tire does well in most of the catagories. Best on braking on ice and
snow, which is thought of as the most important factors amongst winter
drivers. It's medium on sidegrip on ice, but when the surface is snow, the
sidegrip is also good.
+ braking on ice, all qualities on snow
- sidegrip on ice, directional stability on ice
CONTINENTAL VIKING STOP 400
Behaves nicely in all situations, and doesn't give the driver any unexpected
surprises. Best on braking on ice, and on braking on snow with ABS brakes.
Something in the tires construction makes the accelearation moderate, even
though the braking is good. THe comfort is good on various surfaces.
+ braking abilities, drivers comfort
- acceleration, directional stability
PIRELLI WINTER PERFORMANCE
A completely new tire from Pirelli, much better than the old one. THe studs
on these tires stuck out a lot, and without making some correcting for this,
the tires might have got a very good test result indeed. A problem with the
studs sticking out this much might be that they fall out easily when the
tire gets older. It brakes well on ice, and partially on snow. The driving
comfort and the directional stability aren't great though.
+ braking on ice, ABS braking on snow
- acceleration on snow, sidegrip on ice
GOODYEAR ULTRA GRIP 300
GoodYear have been using a lot of their time on manufacturing studless
snowtires lately, maybe this is a reason why their studded snowtires don't
do so well. It's worst on braking on ice. The difference to the best tires
is big, the reason may seem to be the studs abilities to grip. The tire
isn't good on snow or in panic situations with locked wheels either. The
qualities are much better with ABS, and the acceleration is average. The
tire needs to be renewed.
+ directional stability on bare asphalt, acceleration on snow and ice
- braking on snow and ice,sidegrip on ice
MICHELIN XM+S 260
Michelin has a good reputation for snowtires, but that's not enough for this
rather new tire. The other tires have gone a huge leap past it. The best
abilities are sidegrip on ice and acceleration on snow.
+ sidegrip on ice, acceleration on snow
- drivability on ice, acceleration on ice
Just a little bit on tire size at the end. You should fit your car with the
standard dimension tires for your snowtires. Unless you drive a lot on roads
which rarely sees a snowplough, or other bad winter roads. In which case you
should go down a bit on the tire width. Thinner tires get around better in
deep snow.
Ok, that was all from me. Have fun chosing your new snowtires, wheather they
are studless or studded ones. Lets pray for loads of snow this winter :)
Paul
-81 vanagon
-69 squareback
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Paul Roberts * I think the optimum choice in the *
* University of Trondheim, Norway * circumstances would be some kind *
* * of lightweight throwing toaster. *
* email: paul@nvg.unit.no * - Hugh Laurie - *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
