Braking distance, lateral control, steering – Tires are more important for driving safety than any assistance system, as they ensure that the vehicle can transfer all dynamic driving forces to the road surface in the best possible way. To achieve this, they must meet a compromise of many different criteria, which is a challenge in itself.
Added to this are now the high demands on comfort and the environmental impact of microplastics, which have been included in the ADAC rating since 2023. However, the changing road conditions over the seasons exceed the compromise possibilities of even the most precise engineering product. For this reason, winter tires are still available and there is no indication that this will change soon.
General dimension for the middle class
The already traditional ADAC winter tire test in 2025 included 31 tires in the size 225/40 R18. It included dry driving tests in Italy, wet and icy tests in Hanover and snow tests in northern Finland. The size was chosen because it is suitable for many compact and mid-size cars, such as the Audi A3, BMW 1 Series, Mercedes A-Class, Opel Astra, Skoda Octavia, Toyota Camry, VW Golf and many others.
The historically large test field should help to clarify, among other things, whether the so-called budget segment has already learned anything new. First of all, it should be understood that you are still not making a mistake if you stick to expensive quality products. Good tires can meet many different requirements at the same time. This makes their development and production complex and expensive. However, compared to their performance, cheap tires are too expensive. Not to mention the risk of damage to the vehicle or the health of road users.
Only six tires are “good“
Of the 30 tires, only six are “good“, twelve are only recommended to a limited extent by experts and are rated “satisfactory“. Almost half of the tires tested failed with a rating of “not recommended“. Although some of them achieved quite good results on certain criteria, none of them managed to fulfill the contradictory goals that can arise in different road conditions.
Even the best tire did not achieve the highest rating. The test engineers gave the Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 3 “good“. Its strength lies in its good performance on wet surfaces, which is the most common winter road condition in Central Europe, even before it snows, which is why this is the main criterion with the highest score of 40 percent. Here is the full list.