Click here to view the Tire Reviews 2021 All Season Tire Test!
5 categories (17 tests)
Test Category | Best Performer | Worst Performer | Difference |
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Dry (3 tests) | |||
Dry Braking | ▲ Michelin CrossClimate Plus: 36.2 M | ▼ Vredestein Quatrac Pro: 40 M | 3.8 M (9.5%) |
Dry Handling | ▲ Vredestein Quatrac Pro: 101.04 s | ▼ Cooper Discoverer All Season: 103.43 s | 2.4 s (2.3%) |
Subj. Dry Handling | ▲ Michelin CrossClimate Plus: 9.5 Points | ▼ Giti GitiAllSeason AS1: 8.5 Points | 1.0 Points (11.8%) |
Wet (5 tests) | |||
Wet Braking | ▲ Bridgestone Weather Control A005: 36.5 M | ▼ Cooper Discoverer All Season: 41.2 M | 4.7 M (11.4%) |
Wet Handling | ▲ Bridgestone Weather Control A005: 70.72 s | ▼ Cooper Discoverer All Season: 73.91 s | 3.2 s (4.3%) |
Subj. Wet Handling | ▲ Michelin CrossClimate Plus: 9.5 Points | ▼ Cooper Discoverer All Season: 7 Points | 2.5 Points (35.7%) |
Straight Aqua | ▲ Continental AllSeasonContact: 84.28 Km/H | ▼ Nexen N Blue 4 Season: 71.98 Km/H | 12.3 Km/H (17.1%) |
Curved Aquaplaning | ▲ Cooper Discoverer All Season: 2.319 m/sec2 | ▼ Nexen N Blue 4 Season: 1.787 m/sec2 | 0.5 m/sec2 (29.8%) |
Snow (4 tests) | |||
Snow Braking | ▲ Giti GitiAllSeason AS1: 23.75 M | ▼ Cooper Discoverer All Season: 26.7 M | 3.0 M (11.0%) |
Snow Traction | ▲ Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen 3: 21.56 s | ▼ Cooper Discoverer All Season: 28.03 s | 6.5 s (23.1%) |
Snow Handling | ▲ Giti GitiAllSeason AS1: 80.21 s | ▼ Cooper Discoverer All Season: 92.98 s | 12.8 s (13.7%) |
Subj. Snow Handling | ▲ Giti GitiAllSeason AS1: 8 Points | ▼ Vredestein Quatrac Pro: 5 Points | 3.0 Points (60.0%) |
Comfort (3 tests) | |||
Subj. Comfort | ▲ Bridgestone Weather Control A005: 10 Points | ▼ Michelin CrossClimate Plus: 9 Points | 1.0 Points (11.1%) |
Rough Noise | ▲ Nexen N Blue 4 Season: 66.5 dB | ▼ Michelin CrossClimate Plus: 68.4 dB | 1.9 dB (2.8%) |
Noise | ▲ Vredestein Quatrac Pro: 57.3 dB | ▼ Giti GitiAllSeason AS1: 59.1 dB | 1.8 dB (3.0%) |
Value (2 tests) | |||
Price | ▲ Giti GitiAllSeason AS1: 66.4 | ▼ Michelin CrossClimate Plus: 96.6 | 30.2 (31.3%) |
Rolling Resistance | ▲ Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen 3: 7.96 kg / t | ▼ Cooper Discoverer All Season: 9.72 kg / t | 1.8 kg / t (18.1%) |
To find out which of these all season tires is best, and whether they can match a summer and winter tire, the 2020 Tire Reviews all season tire test has tested nine of the best 225/45 R17 all season tires on the market, and included a summer and winter tire as reference.
Each set of tires will be tested for their levels of grip in the dry, wet and snow, have their noise and comfort levels assessed, and their rolling resistance measured, meaning this test should be a complete overview of a tires performance.
Unfortunately we were unable to conduct wear testing for this test, but it's something we will be working on for next years testing.
The overall score weighting was based on 30% wet, 25% dry, 25% snow, 10% noise and comfort, and 10% rolling resistance. Further details of the breakdown can be found in the video.
Dry
The biggest negative quality of any all season tire is usually the dry performance, as a softer compound combined with more blocks and sipes means less grip, and this has proven to be the case again.
The "summer optimised" Michelin CrossClimate+ delivered on its promise and proved to be the best of the all season tires in the dry, both objectively and subjectively, but still stopped the VW Golf 1.2 meters behind the summer tire during dry braking testing.
Another 1.4 meters back was the next best all season tire, totalling 2.6 meters behind the summer tire.
The summer tire also had a significant lead during dry handling, being the only tire to break the 100 second mark. The rest of the all season tires were extremely close to each other, with just 1.4 seconds separating the group.
Subjectively, the summer tire felt the best during dry handling.
Wet
Wet braking is a key safety quality for an all season tire, and three of them proved to be more effective than the summer tire, even at the high test temperatures.
The Bridgestone, Hankook and Goodyear all stopped the car within 0.4 meters of each other, with the next best all season tire 1.4 meters further on.
Wet handling returned the advantage to the summer tire, but the margin was small, with the Bridgestone, Hankook and Goodyear trio staying in the top three places.
While the Michelin couldn't match the grip of the best all season tires, it did feel excellent subjectively.
Continental, Hankook and Cooper all performed well in the deep water aquaplaning testing.
Snow
The snow testing really highlighted just how poor a summer tire is in adverse weather, with the summer tire performing dangerously in all three tests.
While none of the all season tires could match the winter tire on snow, the Giti, Continental and Goodyear all performed extremely well during snow braking.
Goodyear, Continental and Giti confirmed their straight grip advantage by also claiming the top three for snow traction.
Pleasingly, the snow handling test kept the Giti, Goodyear and Continental in the top three, but the winter tire could really show its design advantage, offering much more grip when cornering and beating the all season tires by a significant margin.
Comfort
The subjective comfort of all the tires on test was extremely close, with only Bridgestone having a small advantage over the group.
All the all season tires proved to have higher comfort levels than the summer tire, which is well regarded as a comfortable summer tire.
Noise testing was conducted on two surfaces, at different speeds, with the dB curves averaged out.
Cost
The new Goodyear narrowly beat the Bridgestone for the lowest rolling resistance of the all season tires, however if rolling resistance is your priority, the summer tire has a significant advantage.
The premium summer tire was cheaper than the cheapest all season tire, with the Michelin proving to be the most expensive.
Results
1st: Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Good in the dry, excellent in the wet, excellent in snow, lowest rolling resistance on test and good levels of comfort. Average dry braking. The new Goodyear Vector 4Season Gen-3 earns a win in its first test, proving to have the most rounded ability of all the all season tires included.
Read Reviews Buy from £95.70 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2nd: Hankook Kinergy 4S2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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An extremely balanced all season tire which works well in almost every category on test. Average snow traction. The Kinergy 4S2 is a hugely impressive tire with no real weakness.
Read Reviews Buy from £98.45 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3rd: Continental AllSeasonContact | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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High levels of grip in the wet and on snow, very high aquaplaning resistance, low rolling resistance. Average grip in the dry, increased noise levels. The AllSeasonContact is a very well balanced all season tire, and works well in all conditions.
Read Reviews Buy from £105.79 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4th: Bridgestone Weather Control A005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Good in the dry, best on test in the wet, very low rolling resistance, highest levels of comfort, low noise. Low grip in the snow for an all season tire, average aquaplaning resistance. The WeatherControl A005 excels in the dry and wet, and has the highest levels of comfort. It is the all season tire to pick if you live in a climate which sees very little snow.
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5th: Michelin CrossClimate+ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Best on test in the dry with good handling and short dry braking. Average wet braking, most expensive tire on test, higher levels of noise. The CrossClimate+ excels in the dry and is fine in the snow, but couldn't match the latest generation of all season tires in the wet. The CrossClimate 2 will be coming to market in 2021.
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6th: Giti GitiAllSeason AS1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Best in snow, low rolling resistance, good aquaplaning resistance, well priced. Low grip in the wet, long dry braking, high noise levels. The GitiAllSeason is the most winter like all season tire in the test and wins the snow testing, however struggles in the dry and wet. Read Reviews | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
7th: Nexen N Blue 4 Season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Good snow traction, very low levels of noise, good levels of comfort, well priced. Low grip in the dry and wet, low aquaplaning resistance, high rolling resistance. The N'Blue 4Season is a quiet and comfortable tire, but lacks the grip of the best all season tires on test. Read Reviews | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
8th: Vredestein Quatrac Pro | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Excellent dry handling for an all season tire, low noise averages, well priced. Long dry braking, low aquaplaning resistance, low levels of grip in the snow, high rolling resistance. The Quatrac Pro is the only asymmetric pattern all season tire in the test, and that seems to have hindered it in all key all season tests. Read Reviews Buy from £92.47 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9th: Cooper Discoverer All Season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Well priced, good aquaplaning resistance, good in dry braking. High rolling resistance, low grip in the wet, low grip in snow. The Discoverer All Season is a well priced all season tire, however it lacks grip in all conditions compared to the best on test. Read Reviews |