Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 vs Continental VikingContact 7: If you are living in an area which has a cold and long winter, you probably heard of Nordic/Studless tires. These are the tires which are designed specifically for snow & ice usage only. In terms of winter performances the typical ranking goes like this, All Season –> Winter –> Nordic/Studless–>Studded.
We have cover this segment quite a bit with the undisputed best Nordic/Studless tire, Continental’s VikingContact 7 which is the best you can get in this segment. In the European circuit, it has won 24 out of the available 27 test. For this time around we would like to bring on European champ against Bridgestone’s WS90 which was launched in 2019 and its specified product which is only available in the North America market. VikingContact 7 on the other hand was launched in 2018 with and has been consistently tearing apart the competition in Europe. Let’s put these 2 tires head to head and see who comes up on top !
Table of Contents
Results
Results below were taken from the Tire Rack’s “Testing Studless Ice & Snow Winter Tires” test. A total of 4 tires were tested this time around in Tire Rack’s own proving ground. The graph below shows the comparison between Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 vs Continental VikingContact 7 based on the relevant performance category. The Blizzak WS90 was set as a reference hence at the 100% mark. Note that for subjective evaluation, we equate 1 point as 5%. Hence for example if tire A is graded 7 while tire B is graded 6, A is better than B by 5%.
As we are evaluating the Nordic/Studless segments, Tire Rack has included snow & ice in its testing portfolio. A detailed testing on snow including acceleration, braking & handling were also evaluated. However for summer performances, only wet/dry braking & noise were tested as the main focus was on winter tests. The tire size of interest is a 225/50 R17 which is a common tire size for Audi A4 & Honda Accord. You can check out our latest tire size table for more information. The testing vehicle is a rear wheel drive 2020 BMW F36 430i Gran Coupe with a 17×7.5 rim.
Ice
As what vanilla ice said in his famous song “Ice Ice Baby”, the song sums up the key needs for this particular segment. As the usage conditions are usually around lower than -10°C, ice is the most wanted criteria. This is where we got a mixture of results from the 2 competitors. In ice braking, Blizzak WS90 managed to out-brake VikingContact 7 by 2.4 feet (0.7m) from a braking speed of 12 mph (20 km/h) to 0. Things however turned around in favor of VikingContact 7 as it took 0.04 seconds less to get to 60 feet.
VikingContact 7:
- -7.2% in ice braking
- +0.9% in ice acceleration
Snow
Unlike in ice where things were pretty close, VikingContact 7 clearly dominates in snow performances. It stopped 5.2 feet (1.6m) earlier than Blizzak WS90 from a speed of 25 mph (40 km/h) to 0. It was also extremely good when it came to snow acceleration as it took 2.7 feet (0.8m) less distance to accelerate from 0 to 12 mph (20 km/h).
Oddly enough, Blizzak WS90 came out subjectively ahead of VikingContact 7 with a rating of 8.17/10 compared to 7.75/10 of Blizzak WS90. However objectively, VikingContact 7 was quicker in lap time by 1.2 seconds ! Below are some of the subjective notes from the test:
Blizzak WS90:
The Blizzak WS90 also delivered poised handling characteristics with particularly pleasant rotation under light braking mid corner, which seemed to quickly correct any driver errors. We would have liked to see a little more traction from the rear end under heavy acceleration, which was also a critique of the other two tires in this test.
Test driver feedback on Blizzak WS90
VikingContact 7:
While perfectly usable, the VikingContact 7 also had the tendency to sidestep on corner exit quicker than expected.
Test driver feedback on VikingContact 7
VikingContact 7:
- +11.4% in snow braking
- +11.2% in snow acceleration
- -2.1% in snow handling (subj)
- +1.8% in snow handling (lap time)
Wet
The friction of coefficient of the tire/road dramatically decreases in wet roads compared to dry roads. Hence it is more likely to get into a road accident during wet conditions rather than on a sunny day. It was so important that the EU label has wet braking as one of its three criteria. VikingContact 7 was second best as it trailed Blizzak WS90 7.5 feet (2.3m) in distance at a braking speed of 50mph (80km/h) down to 0.
VikingContact 7:
- -5.5% in wet braking
Dry
As for dry, safety is usually not an issue as the braking distance is much longer than wet. However this is the default daily usage and the tires have to perform at a very consistent level. While things overwhelmingly favored Blizzak WS90 in the wet, it continued in dry as Blizzak WS90 managed to brake 7.6 feet (2.3m) earlier compared to VikingContact 7 from a speed of 50mph (80km/h) down to 0.
VikingContact 7:
- -7.9% in dry braking
Noise/Comfort/Ride Quality
Ride comfort, noise & comfort was tested and VikingContact 7 came out slightly ahead at 7.5/10 rating compared to the 7.17/10 rating of Blizzak WS90 with ride quality & noise being the main differences.
VikingContact 7:
- +1.7% in average of Noise, Comfort & Ride Quality.
Price
Being the clear dominant Studless tire in the European circuit, we would expect VikingContact 7 to command a high price tire in the market. This was in alignment as VikingContact 7 was 19 dollars more expensive than Blizzak WS90.
Tire size: 225/50 R17
VikingContact 7: $206
Blizzak WS90: $187
Difference: +9% more expensive for VikingContact 7.
Summary
Overall, both tires took turn to showcase their clear strengths. VikingContact 7 was extremely good when it comes to snow & noise/comfort. On the other hand, Blizzak WS90 showed clear competency ice, wet & dry braking. As both tires took turn to outperformed each other on different various categories, there is no clear winner this time. Which tire you should choose is highly dependent on what is your main requirements. Enjoy!