Tire Tests

The first summer tire test of 2016 is a curious one. ACE, the Automobile Club Europa, are often first to publish their regular summer tire tests, but this year their first tire test exclusively features midrange tires.

Testing ten 195/65 R15 tires on a VW Golf, ACE argue that the most important consideration for 90% of motorists is price, which is why they've chosen to tests tires as cheap as 35/euros per tire.

Continuing the year of all season tire tests, French magazine L'Argus have released their first all season tire test, which included both the new Michelin CrossClimate, the new Nokian Weatherproof, and the new Nokian WR D4 as the reference winter tire.

Testing five of the latest all season tires in 205/55 R16 on a VW Golf, L'Argus put the all the tires through a full complement of winter and summer tests, in both an Austrian Autumn at a warm 15c, and a Finnish winter where the temperatures were as low as -15c.

Testing 10 premium UHP winter tires in 225/50 R17, including three patterns released in 2015, Auto Motor und Sport put the tires through the usual range of dry, wet, snow and environmental tests across Finland and Germany.

Our copy of the 2015 ACE winter tire test is a little thin on details, but we thought it was important to include as it tests many of the new winter tires for 2015, in the popular 225/50 R17 tire size.

This year, Sport Auto have tested seven different UHP winter tires in 235/35 R19, on a VW Golf R.

The UK climate represents a difficult challenge for car tires. Warm enough to require a tire that works well at higher temperatures, but not warm enough to make a summer tire the best choice year round.

Until recently, tires have fallen into three distinct categories: summer, all season and winter tires. Traditionally, all season tires have been developed from a winter tire origins, which give them excellent snow performance but can impact dry and wet performance, especially in the warmer months. This year, Michelin have released the CrossClimate, which if the marketing is to be believed, promises to be a second type of all season tire, one which started life as a summer tire and has been gifted winter capabilities.

Is a summer and winter tire combination the only safe option? Has the second generation Goodyear all season moved the game on? Can the new Michelin CrossClimate live up to the marketing hype? That's what we're here to find out.

There's not much we can say about the excellent 2015 Auto Express Winter Tire Test, other than head over to the Auto Express site and check out the full review!

Based on a combined snow and wet braking performance, this year Auto Bild have taken the best eightteen 185/60 R15 winter tires through from their 2015 Winter Tire Shootout, and one all season tire, the Pirelli Cinturato All Season.

From the fifty tires tested, there were some surprise drop outs. The Vredestein Snowtrac 5, Yokohama W.Drive, Toyo Snowprox S943 and Avon Ice Touring were a few of the 32 tires which failed to make the grade. Equally, tires like the Semperit Speed Grip 2, Barum Polaris 3, Gislavel Euro Frost 5 and Viking Snow Tech II were are few surprise inclusions, it will be interesting to find out if they can live up to the established competition in the full winter tire test.

Most winter tire tests cover sizes up to 16 inch wheels, as these are by far the most common winter tire sizes fitted across Europe. Unfortunately, if you're looking to keep your performance car mobile over winter, these tests are largely useless as a reference, as tire patterns and performances can drastically change as the sizes increase.

Luckily Auto Bild Sportscars have us covered with their latest ultra high performance winter tire test. Auto Bild have taken eight UHP winter tires in 225/40 R18 and tested them on a RWD Mercedes C Class across the usual range of snow, wet and dry tests and have included a summer tire as reference.

The 2015 Auto Bild all season tire test is here, and it's the first test to include the new Michelin CrossClimate and Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen-2.

The 2015 winter tire test season is here, and as usual the German magazine Auto Bild have done an excellent job of giving us an overview of this years contenders.

Testing 51 tires in 185/60R15, Auto Bild put each tire through a wet braking test, then took the top 28 tires through to the snow braking test. Once the snow braking results were in, the magazine combined the wet and snow distances to give an over all result, taking the top 15 tires through to their full 2015 Winter Tire Test.

2015 has been called the year of the all season tire, and Auto Express have just confirmed it with their first ever all season tire test.

Testing six all season tires, and a class winning summer and winter tire, Auto Express put all eight tires through fourteen tests covering the snow, wet, dry abilities of the tire, and included noise, rolling resistance and price too.

The best tire test from the UK press is finally here - the EVO 2015 tire test.

The 2015 Auto Express tire test covers eleven patterns in the popular 225/45 R17 size.  Testing at Continentals test track in Texas, Auto Express used the benchmark VW Golf to carry out nine thorough tests covering dry and wet performance, along with rolling resistance and cabin noise.

The Russians always put on an interesting tire test. Usually, their tire tests crun big, ultra high performance tires on powerful cars, and give an excellent account of just how each tire feels on the limit. This time, it's a little bit different...