Three brand-new winter tires on one Toyota Camry: Bridgestone’s Blizzak IcePeak, Continental’s VikingContact 8, and Michelin’s X-Ice Snow+. These are the three fastest winter tires around the handling loop we’ve ever tested, and that made picking a winner harder than usual. See which one of these true standouts stood out most!
Learn more:
Bridgestone Blizzak IcePeak:
Continental VikingContact 8:
Michelin X-Ice Snow+:
View the full 2026 test report:
Want to stay in the know about all things Tire Rack? Follow us on our social channels!
Instagram: / tirerack
Facebook: / tirerack
source
it almost makes me want to move back north, just so i can buy "dedicated winters". i do all my own maintenance (a garage is an undeniable benefit), so swapping tires myself is trivial.
No Nokian R5 – who cares?
The cold wet and dry test with the all season tire comparison is just the info i’ve been hunting for, thanks!
Curious on km rating for each tire. One thing i was always concerned was that needing to swap different set of tires every season and only get a season or 2 out of em…. where as sticking with a all weather with and awd vehicle. I have never had an issue. Only issue i ever had was with a winter tire on highway 2 to calgary from red deer hit black ice and spun out on a curved corner that merges onto the highway and we went right into the deep snow and go stuck. Ive stuck with high performance all seasons and now some all weathers and must say i much perfer not swapping every season. Calgary has such swings in the winter season that you can see -30 to +15c throughout the season… how long do these winters last when your driving in hot and cold. Is it really that worth it?
Blizzaks are good for two seasons then they become shit I find other brands preform better in the long run when the treads wear down.
Uber driver in Halifax, NS for past 6yrs.
FWD civic.
I buy winter tyres every summer and install them when winter starts.
Winter tyres used till yet: Blizzak, X ice, Motomaster and Yokohama.
Performance-wise: Blizzak(10/10), Motomaster(9/10) and Yokohama(8/10) until 50-75% of tread life. Afterwards it’s MEH 😒
My pick: X-ice (9/10) performance until the tread end. 🔥
I put the viking contact 8's on my maverick hybrid last winter. They're a very good tire, super quiet and did great in snow even deeper snow 6" plus. If you're considering these I definitely recommend. You will be shocked how quiet these snow tires are compared to older snow tires and traction is great
Icepeaks are only good for the first 50% of their thread
This is the testing I’ve been waiting for. Always love to have TireRack reviews as a source of reference on top of feedback from owners of tires. Working at a dealership I like to know what the best tires to recommend to people are and seeing these 3 perform so well leads me to have no hesitation in recommending them. Especially in the case of the Blizzak, I was worried how the new IcePeak would perform. With how the WS90 felt like a slight step back from the WS80 in terms of ultimate snow traction, seeing them phase the DMV2 out into this new tread design with an emphasis on ice traction, I also thought it might be a slight step back. But from reviews I’ve seen, it seems to perform as well on snow while providing better tread wear and ice performance.
Pirelli ice friction please
Thanks for the test! Very well done and appreciated. Id like to see a similar test for LT winter tires. Nokian hakkapeliitta LT3 studded vs no studded vs blizzak LT vs others.
I find some manufacturers don't make the same quality for the same tire for all sizes whether that's because of compound issues or physics for the design. Something is off
changed my comment as I did more digging. I've purchased the IcePeaks this year instead of my usual Toyo.
Just do what I tell folks when they ask about winter tires – don't overthink it and either get the Blizzak's or the X-Ice's and be done with it. They may cost a few bucks more than a cheap set of some other brand but it's not worth it. Buy once, cry once.
Do not buy Ws90. It's no good for winter weather.
People complaining about not testing Nokian when it's their own brands fault for being extremely restrictive in both Canada & USA. Brand is locked behind exclusive suppliers with minimal margins and stock availability. People don't understand you need to fill a container, and filling it with this brand always sits on the shelf. Honestly, if you like hakka's, the bridgestone is just the better tire and a MUCH easier tire to obtain if you run into sidewall damage or other issues.
great video
nice commercial guys
How much better would you say the icepeaks are than the ws90s?
Been waiting for an updated winter tire review like this. Thank-you!
I've used and trusted Bridgestone Blizzaks for over 10 years now here in Southern Ontario. I was shocked at how quiet the DM-V2s were in comparison to my all-season tires and they were awesome in the snow. Now it's come time to change our Odyssey's winter tires. Unfortunately Michelin doesn't make the X-Ice snow+ tires for the size we need but the Conti's are intriguing, especially as they come in a bit cheaper than the Bridgestones. Still have a few weeks to decide before the snow and cold arrive here.
The Blizzaks used to have a snow/ice tread compound (multicell they called it) only on the outer half of the tread depth. Once you were past that compound the tire became essentially a rain/all-season tire. That's always ruled them out for me. Do they still do that or is it now a true snow/ice tire all the way through its tread life?
On the website, these tires are not listed as Tire Rack Recommended? Is there a delay in that recommendation.
Ice is most important to me with fleet of older RWD sedans on city streets that become 3-4 mile long sheets of ice.
Nokian Hakkapeliitta Studded.
Every winter, all winter.
The best for years and years, and still the best by a mile or three.
🇨🇦
Tread wear stats? (particularly with dry roads)
I put a pair of Bridgestone Blizzaks in size 235-60-17 on the front of my wife's front wheel drive Sienna mini van and that vehicle is now an unstoppable beast. It gets through heavy snow much better than our neighbors AWD Sienna with only all season tires.
The blizzak icepeak is also cheaper than the X ice plus. They're on sale for much better deals
Also include tests at 50% wear. Yeah, I didn't think so.
Blizzaks are usually great when new, then they fall off. Michelin will maintain its performance longer.
Great video! May I have your permission to translate and repost this video to Chinese video platforms? Full credit will be given to your channel
I really dig the music in this review.
Now if only we had CC2s or the Goodyear version for a true comparison.
Still happy I got my continental contacts 8's,really great tires for Québec winters.
Excellent in all conditions.
Would love to know how they compare to severe snow service rated all-seasons
There are several things that are little off comparing to other reviewers about these tires. Want to see others in the nordic countries test it. Blizzak have never been comparable to the best nordic wintertyres before ever. But i hope they made it better now for more competition and give us consumers better products.
I want to see the results after they have 5000 miles on them and again with 10k miles.
I feel like there is a major flaw with winter tire testing in that they are all tested when they are new.
All of them are great when they are new but how long will they maintain that performance? That's what really matters.
Disappointed not to see Nokian tires in this review. They are a leading tire with a lot of patents in the U.S. To me, this review is not useful without Nikon Hakkas in it because I still believe they are better. I'm glad you're selling Nokians now, so there's no reason not to put them into this review.
What about how the tires handle slush ?
Where are the Nokian Hakkapelittas?
You have lost integrity without Nokian Hakka.
Blizzaks for winter. Michelin Crossclimates for all seasons
X-ice going to be the way to go yet again this winter.
None of these stand a chance vs the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 01 that has retracting studs in warm weather that push into the road when it is cold. If studs are forbidden though, i'd choose the Continentals. Officials should allow the Hakkapeliitta 01:s now due to the new technology.
Thank you for your testing, TJ and Brent! Particularly for the EV drivers among us, some testing of rolling resistance would be great!
Finally! Been waiting on this one. Just pulled the trigger on the icepeak!
Well, I just bought some older production (2023 in 2026) Firestone Winterforces from you folks for my car. I figured after last season with thoroughly meh all-season tires, even though I'm getting a winter rig this time, I want to be ready.
Perhaps it might be a good idea to do some of the mid-tier winter tires as well, and, as suggested by another viewer, it would be interesting to see how these tires all do on hills. Where in live in north central Massachusetts, I'm more likely to have problems with poorly-plowed hills than a lot of other things, and I'm likely not alone.
I am interested in how they perform on an incline. I live in the mountains, so I would like to know how the tires do with hills. I know that if they can stop faster and accelerate faster they are better, but what kind of incline can they safely traverse? I used the word traverse because I want my comment to sound more smarter.
Thanks TR for all the tests. I live just north of Atlanta. We literally had 3 hours of snow last season. Wondering if I could get away with buying summer tires.
One significant item that's disappointingly missing from the tests: hydroplaning.
Sumitomo Ice Edge is what I have used for the past 5 years and they are awesome!