Tire Reviews Tire Tests
Summer Tire Tests
All Season Tire Tests
Winter Tire Tests
Total Tests: 511
Most Tested Brand: Michelin (488 tests)
Most Tested Tire: Dunlop Winter Sport 5 (63 tests)
This is part 2 of the 2010 European Summer Tire Test - 185/65 r15. To read the reaction, and see the results of tires sized 225/45 R17 please read Part 1
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In the past few years budget and mid range brands have taken the tire market by storm. Tires like the Falken FK452, Toyo T1R and Uniroyal Rainsport 2 have proven to be excellent performing and cost effective compared to some of the premium offerings. This year however, it seems the premium manufacturers have stepped up a notch and all released excellent updates to their ranges. The 2009 Auto Motor und Sport [AMS] tire tests was dominated by premium brand tires and AMS believe premium cars, like the Mercedes E-Class used in this tire test, should be run with premium tires.
Most tire innovations come from the big 6 manufacturers and patents are quickly awarded stopping the budget manufacturers replicating their discoveries. Due to this, AMS decided to test tires from what it considers to be the "top 10" premium manufacturers. The big 6 are Goodyear, Pirelli, Continental, Dunlop, Bridgestone and Michelin and also included in the test is Uniroyal who are part of Continental, Vredestein which have been recently been bought by the Indian giant Apollo Tires, Nokian who are an independent manufacturer from Finland and Hankook, a Korean "mid range" brand who are quickly moving into the premium sector.
Read MoreWe'll keep this brief! In 2010 Auto Zeitung have tested 9 ultra high performance summer tires on a 200bhp VW Scirocco.
The magazine covers aquaplaning resistance (where sensors determine the speed at which a tire floats in 7mm of standing water), braking (from 62mph in both the wet and dry), a timed lap in the wet and dry, and how the cars respond on the limit. Added for this year, Auto Zeitung also tested the rolling resistance of each tire using a dedicated machine.
Key highlights include...
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