Tire Reviews Tire Tests

Following on from the 52 tire shootout, Auto Bild have taken the twenty best tires through a full array of wet, dry, NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) and wear tests.

As a change from the usual FWD hatchback used for testing, Auto Bild tested the 225/50 R17 size using a RWD BMW 3 Series.

For 2017 AutoBild have chosen to test the large 235/50 R18 tire size, fitted to vehicles such as the BMW X3, Audi Q5 and as tested, the VW Tiguan.

Auto Bild put the ten tire patterns through the usual wet, dry, comfort and economy tests, and also tested the tires on grass, gravel, sand and mud, should you wish to take your crossover SUV for some light offroading.

For 2017 the German publication Auto Zeitung have chosen to test ten summer tires in 215/55 R17 using a VW Touran.

Like Auto Express, AZ buy their tires on the open market, meaning the Continental Premium Contact 6 and the Bridgestone Turenza T001 Evo are sadly excluded from the test, and are instead represented by their predecessors. To further highlight the complexity of tire testing, Hankook noted the version of the Ventus Prime 3 purchased for the test were an early manufacturer date and intended for OE fitment. The aftermarket fitment of the Ventus Prime 3 Hankook would have preferred to be tested would have had better wet performance.

The crossover SUV tire segment is quickly becoming the most important tire range for tire manufacturers. Thanks to the exponential growth in popularity of cars such as the VW Tiguan, Audi Q3 and BMW X3, the 16" and 17" SUV sizes are the quickest growing in terms of volume, and why this year ADAC has tested fifteen 215/65 R16 tires using a VW Tiguan.

After testing the unusually large size of 225/45 R17 in 2016, normal service has been resumed for the 2017 ADAC Summer tire test, this time testing sixteen tire patterns in 195/65 R15.

ADAC tests are no toriously data driven and they write very little commentry of their own, so here's our take on the test.

This year Auto Bild have taken 52 summer tires in 225/50 R17, put them through wet and dry braking, and taken the top 20 through to a full tire test.

Off road vehicles don't always spend all their time off road, and the new generation of "soft-road" vehicles can go their entire lives without seeing so much as a muddy verge.

For this reason, the German "Off Road" magazine have chosen to test six 215/65 R16 tires on an Audi Q3, which are designed to spend 99% of their life on the road.

With SUV and 4x4 vehicles quickly becoming the most popular vehicle type in Europe, more and more magazines are providing dedicated tire tests for SUV sizes.

This year, Auto Motor und Sport have tested nine SUV tires in the crossover 215/60 R17 size using a VW Mokka.

This year the German AutoBild magazine have taken the 15 best tires from their 205/55 R16 50 tire braking shootout through to the full test, and the result is another impressive win for Hankook!

One VW Golf wearing 205/55 R16 tires, 50 different tire patterns, and a lot of wet and dry braking tests gives us a good overview of the market in 2016. The dry test was braking from 62 mph, and the wet from 50 mph.

Much like the 225/45 R17 test ADAC published at the same time, the ADAC 185/65 R15 tire test looks at sixteen premium and mid range tires, but this time has selected tires intended to be fitted to smaller town and city cars.

The biggest surprise of the test was this time delivered by Vredestein, with the Sportrac 5 dominating the test, and beating the wet weather master Continental Premium Contact 5 in the wet tests. The Vredestein must have gone through a life cycle update, as in 2015 the best result it could manage was fifth overall, and over placed near the bottom of the tests it took part in.

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...

We like technical data, and Auto Bild Belarus have gone the extra mile with their 2015 215/55 R16 tire test. 

The 2015 Off Road Magazine SUV and 4x4 tire test covered 9 tires in 225/55 R18 on a Mercedes ML250. 

Following on from the 53 tire wet and dry braking shootout, Auto Bild have tested the top 18 tires more thoroughly, putting them through the usual mix of wet, dry, wear and NVH tests in 185/60 R15 on a VW Polo.

Test World this year again tested a range of 205/55 R16 tires, including a mix of premium, mid-range and budget brands. 

53 summer Tires for small to medium cars in 185/50 R15. The top 18 go through to the full Auto Bild test.

There are the wet and dry braking results from 62mph.

The 2015 European tire test by the German organisations ADAC and Stiftung Warentest is here, and this time it's a little more interesting than usual. Read on for the full details!