Winter Testing of Cars and Tires for Magazine Comparisons 890027
Winter testing of cars and tires for consumer comparisons is not an easy task to begin with; this is further complicated by the fact that reliable methods for evaluating performance and access to good testing conditions are unavailable to most magazines.
The testing group at Tekniikan Maailma Magazine, Finland, has been fortunate to have both the right conditions as well as reasonable resources to develop methods of testing to the extent that they provide sufficiently reliable data to assess vehicle and tire performance in winter conditions.
Before any final evaluations are published in the magazine, the weighing of different factors, i.e. the amount of importance placed on different performance characteristics, is carefully considered.
In order to achieve a meaningful ranking of these products in relation to different characteristics, constant reference runs, statistical research methods, and highly skillful test drivers are employed.
Experience has shown that the results of winter testing can be heavily influenced by a number of undesirable factors, and this can lead to misinterpretations. Thus, the testing should be carried out as well as possible technically in order that any potential errors will be eliminated.
