Premium Touring Tire Tests

For the 2024 AutoBild Camper test, Autobild tested the popular 235/55 R17 size. While they used a camper van for the test, this tire dimension is commonly found on a variety of vehicles, including SUVs such as the Audi Q3 and BMW X1, and even some family cars like the Volkswagen Passat Alltrack.

The Michelin CrossClimate 2 emerged as the clear winner, earning top marks across all test categories. It demonstrated exceptional performance in winter conditions, with impressive traction and handling on snow and ice. The tire also excelled in wet conditions, offering excellent aquaplaning resistance and short braking distances. On dry roads, it provided precise handling and low rolling resistance, contributing to fuel efficiency.

The 2024 winter tire test conducted by Teknikens Värld, a Swedish automotive magazine, evaluated 18 different tires across various categories, including studded, Nordic non-studded, and Central European winter tires. The test also included two used tires to demonstrate how performance changes over time. 

The magazine crowned an overall winner, which we feel is a bit of an odd choice given the differing target requirements. The overall winner of the test was the Continental ContiVikingContact 8, a Nordic non-studded tire that demonstrated excellent all-round performance. It maintained the strong winter capabilities of its predecessor while significantly improving wet performance and rolling resistance. This proved manufacturers are working to address the traditional weaknesses of Nordic non-studded tires, particularly in wet conditions.

The 2024 Autobild All Season tire test tested 37 premium touring all-season tires in the 225/50 R17 size, focusing on dry and wet braking performance. The test reveals a significant performance gap between the top and bottom performers, especially in wet conditions. The Bridgestone Turanza All Season 6 emerged as the standout performer, excelling in both dry and wet braking tests. It was closely followed by the Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF3 and Continental AllSeasonContact 2. The test highlighted that while many tires performed adequately in dry conditions, wet performance varied dramatically, with some budget options showing alarming results. This overview serves as a preliminary assessment, with top performers likely to advance to more comprehensive testing.

For 2024 ADAC have tested two sizes of winter tires. The below test covers the 16" version. There's nothing particularly shocking in the overall results, so enjoy the data, which includes wear, below!

Autobild are back at it again, this year testing a massive 55 winter tires in wet braking, then taking the top 33 to a snow braking test, all to find out the safest 20 winter tires in the wet and snow to put through to their full test!

Auto Bild Klassik magazine recently conducted a test of seven classic-style summer tires in the 205/70 VR 15 size, aiming to improve safety and performance for vintage sports cars. The testers used a Jaguar E-Type Lightweight replica, an iconic 1960s sports car renowned for its powerful 270 PS engine and impressive 240 km/h top speed. I'm very sad this isn't a Tire Reviews test!

As usual with Auto Bild tests, they've done a proper job. On wet surfaces, the tires were evaluated for their resistance to aquaplaning, cornering stability, overall handling, and braking efficiency. Dry condition tests focused on handling, braking performance, rolling comfort, and noise levels. Additionally, the tires' rolling resistance was measured to gauge their efficiency.

Famously, ADAC are not fans of all season tires, seeing them as too compromised for year round motoring and insisting that a summer and winter tire combination is superior.

This means ADAC have not tested all season tires since 2020, so lets see if the modern batch of all season tires can change ADACs mind!

As motorcycle enthusiasts, we all know that choosing the right set of tires is crucial for a safe, comfortable, and enjoyable ride. Sadly, I'm not a good enough rider to do motorbike testing myself, so that's where the annual Motorrad motorcycle touring tire test comes in.

For the 2024 edition, Motorrad has put six of the most popular touring tires in the 120/70 ZR 17 front and 180/55 ZR 17 rear sizes to the test. The contenders are the Bridgestone Battlax T 32, Continental RoadAttack 4 GT, Dunlop Roadsmart IV GT, Metzeler Roadtec 02, Michelin Road 6 GT, and Pirelli Angel GT II.

The 2024 Promobil camper van / motorhome all season tire test has tested eight of the best all season tires using a VW Transporter Van (T6.1) fitted out as a camper. The test looked at how these tires perform in various conditions, including snow, wet, and dry roads. Key aspects such as braking distances, traction, and handling were examined to understand each tire's capabilities.

For 2024 Autobild's motorhome magazine tested ten sets of 225/55 R17 tires using a van like Mercedes Vito Tourer.

The onset of the travel season marks a crucial time for motorhome owners to evaluate the condition and performance of their tires. Autobild’s comprehensive review begins with practical advice on tire inspection, emphasizing the significance of understanding tire age through the DOT code and the necessity of regular checks for wear and damage. Generally speaking, tires which are over five years old are nearing the end of their life, even if they have good tread depth.

For their 2024 summer tire test, the magazine "Auto Motor und Sport" tested eight summer tires in the popular 235/55 R18 SUV size. 

The test includes new tires like Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 SUV, Bridgestone Turanza 6, and Continental PremiumContact 7, evaluating them on wet and dry braking, handling, aquaplaning resistance, comfort, and environmental impact. 

In a data-extravaganza, Autobild have taken eleven SUV summer tires in the popular 235/55 R19 size, and even though this size is an ultrahigh performance fitment, and is fitted to soft-roaders such as the Audi Q5, BMW X3, Honda CR-V and many others, tested them exhaustively in off-road tests along with the usual dry and wet testing!

The 2024 AZ Summer Tire Test evaluated nine premium touring summer tires, providing a detailed analysis of their performance in various conditions, including dry and wet braking, handling, noise level, and rolling resistance. The Continental PremiumContact 7 stood out with top marks in most categories, followed closely by other brands like Pirelli and Hankook.

The 2024 AutoBild Summer Tire Test reviewed 20 premium touring summer tires in size 205/55 R16. The test focused on several key performance indicators including dry and wet braking, handling, noise, wear, value, and rolling resistance. 

Michelin Primacy 4+ ranked first, demonstrating a balanced performance with short braking distances and high efficiency. Continental PremiumContact 7 and Bridgestone Turanza 6 followed, showing strong wet and dry road performance and low wear levels.

For the longest time the Michelin CrossClimate 2 has been the best all season / all weather tire on the market, winning more tests than any other tires in its category, including my tests for the last 3 years!

However, since last year's test there have been not one, not two, but three new premium all season tires launched, all looking to dethrone the CrossClimate 2 from its category top spot. 

Naturally I had to find out whether any of these new tires from Bridgestone, Continental and Pirelli can match the Michelin, so as usual I'll be testing everything, including wear, to see which is best! And I've also thrown in a couple of tires Dunlop and Yokohama, because why not.

Can any of these new tires really challenge the CrossClimate 2, or are they all going to be left wanting for more?

The 2024 ADAC summer tire test tested sixteen tires in the popular 215/55 R17 size.

Top Tire Review is a relatively new website, similar to Tire Reviews (not affiliated), operating in the Asian Pacific (APAC) region, which have different tire patterns to Europe and North America.

In spite of being a relatively new organisation, they have already conducted their first Asian Pacific tire test, testing six region specific patterns!

The extreme winter specialists at Vi Bilagare are back at it testing the latest and greatest studless friction winter tires. This year they not only tested seven of the most popular studless friction nordic compounds in the popular 225/45 R17 tire size, they also included an older tire to see the effects of aging. The older tire is am 8 year old, lightly used (6mm remaining) Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2, which has its work cut out as its "two-generation-newer" brother, the Hakkapeliitta R5 is also included in this test!

The new Nokian Outpost nAT claims to be an all terrain tire you can use in snow, but how good is it? Nokian invented winter tires, so they're pretty confident, so confident in fact they suggested we test it against the king of winter tires, the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5, along with their much loved all weather tire, the Nokian WRG4 SUV, and their high mileage all season tire, the Nokian One SUV.

Before we start, it's worth noting that three of the tires are 3PMSF marked, which is the 3 peak mountain snowflake symbol, sometimes called "severe snow rating". The Winter, All Weather and All Terrain tires carry the 3PMSF marking, but the all season does not. The test size was 265/65 R17, and we used a Toyota Hilux for the test in RWD only mode.

Sadly Tire Reviews won't be conducting a studded tire test this year, but thankfully the excellent testers at the Swedish magazine Vi Bilagare have, and as they're some of the best Nordic drivers in the world, you can be assured this is the best studded tire test you'll see this year.

As always for a studded tire test, the tires were all tested in the dry, wet, snow and importantly ice, which is where studs really make a difference. To add another element to the testing this year Vi Bilagare bought a "joker" tire, a lightly used Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8 (the current version is the Hakkapeliitta 10) which was manufactured in 2015, making the tire both old technology AND 8 years old. The testers noted that the tire still had around 7mm of tread depth (compared to 9.1mm of the new Hakka 10) and that some studs had fallen out, and those which hadn't were somewhat blunted compared to new.