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General Altimax is par with Barum Polaris 2 in 3rd place for quality $
Semperit Sport Grip is par with ContiWinter Contact TS800 in roughly 2nd for quality $$
Continental Extreme Winter Contact is the top dog $$$$

There are others in between.
And they are all under the Continental Rubber Group and are all a great tire no matter what choice you choose. But that goes for most other companies too. People choose what name & price they like best.

But I mean for a 205/55R16 Barum Polaris 2 for $90 installed and balanced and a 205/55R16 Semperit Sport Grip for $115 installed and balanced is pretty dam good price for what you get for a quality winter tire, even though its not on the top of the list.

Softer the rubber the more it wears out. I personally get the harder rubber for deep snow then the millions of sypes and a super sticky tread meant for ice. That way I have winters for more than a season or 2.