Tire Reviews Tire Tests

In their second SUV / 4x4 all season tire test of 2019, Auto Bild have tested ten all season tires in 235/65 R17, and included the usual summer and winter tire as benchmarks.

The 2019 Auto Center winter tire test is both good and bad. The positive is that out of ten 205/55 R16 patterns, it only includes two premium manufacturers. This means we get a much better look at the midrange bracket of winter tires, which is great for those of us who want to save a little money, and all ten patterns on test have been tested for ice braking and traction which is now usually omitted from central European tire testing.

For their third winter tire test of 2019, Auto Bild have stepped up the fun and fitted an Audi S5 with eleven sets of 255/35 R19 ultra high performance winter tires, and included the usual set of reference summer tires!

Following on from a win in Auto Express, the new Goodyear UltraGrip Performance+ takes its second win of 2019, once again proving to have a near flawless blend of qualities. Vredestein have also continued their run of good results with a very strong second place for the Wintrac Pro. This tire is significantly cheaper than the premium winter tires in the UK, so is probably the best choice if you need to save a few pounds.

Are cheap winter tires safe? To find out, we travelled to Finland, twice, to do snow, ice, wet and dry testing.

All tests were done using two cars, a VW Golf wearing 205/55 R16 tires, and a heavier, larger Volvo S90 fitted with 245/45 R18 tires.

For the first time in 2020, Tire Reviews will be performing its own all season tire test, but until then, the Auto Bild all season tire test is the best you can get! Testing ten sets of all season tires in 225/45 R17 using a BMW 1 Series, and including a summer and winter tire as reference, Auto Bild have done as thorough a job as ever for their 2019 all season tire test.

The most notable performances follow the trends other tests have shown during 2019. The new Bridgestone WeatherControl A005 couldn't deliver on the foundations laid by the strong wet and dry braking performance in the shootout test, finishing ninth overall due to a very average snow performance, but more importantly for UK drivers, very high wear.

The 2019 Auto Express winter tire test has tested ten 225/45 R17 winter tires, and included a summer and all season product as a benchmark.

The newest winter tire from Goodyear is shaping up to be an excellent winter product. Thanks to a near perfect all round performance, it wins another tire test, narrowly beating the established king of winter motoring, the Continental WinterContact TS860.

The ACE / GTU tire test is always a funny one, as they go to a lot of effort to test the tires, but then provide no data at all, only the overview scores.

For this reason, we always keep the commentary low, but it's important to have the test results on Tire Reviews, as the more tests published the better right?

The weekly UK publication Auto Express has just published their 2019 all season tire test! This year Auto Express tested nine all season tire patterns in 205/55 R16 using a VW Golf.

As in previous years, Auto Express have included a summer and winter tire as reference. Shockingly, the summer Continental PremiumContact 5 was the best in dry overall, near the best in wet, and fell apart in snow. Things get more interesting when we compare the winter Continental WinterContact TS860 to the all season tires on test.

While studded tires don't have much use in the UK, for parts of the Nordic countries they are essential for safe mobility.

To find out which of the latest studded winter tires are worth fitting, Swedish magazine Vi Bilagare have tested seven studded winter tires in 225/50 R17, and included a studless nordic friction winter tire as a comparison.

It's winter testing time, and as always, Auto Bild are leading the way! Following on from the 53 winter tire shoot-out, Auto Bild have taken the top twenty 225/45 R17 tires through to the full test, along with a summer tire as reference. Each set of tires has been tested in the dry, wet and snow using a RWD BMW 1 Series, and Auto Bild are one of the few publications which test for wear. It's an exciting test! (if you're into tires...)

Winter tire buying can be a confusing challenge, as there are now six types of tire you can realistically fit to your car. But which is best? To find out, I test summer, all season, all weather, winter, extreme winter and studded tires in dry, wet, snow and ice testing, covering handling, braking and grip.

Following on from the All Season tire market overview, Auto Bild have published their winter version of the shootout style braking test.

For the winter test, Auto Bild have tested 53 winter tires in 225/45 R17 in wet and snow braking. The two braking distances are combined, and the top twenty tires go through to a full test covering all aspects of a tires performance.

This year the German motoring organisation ADAC have tested sixteen winter tires in the popular 185/65 R15.

With summer sadly coming to an end, now is a great time to start thinking about switching to all season or winter tire options.

To help this purchase decision, the excellent German publication Auto Bild publish the results of their pre-tests, in order to select the best all season tires to send through to their full all season tire test.

This year Auto Bild have tested 31 all season tires in 225/45 R17 in wet and dry braking, and the top ten will go through to the full test due next month.

The excellent UK automotive magazine EVO always seems to publish their summer tire test late in the season, but it shouldn't be ignored as it's one of the best in Europe if you care as much about steering feel and feedback as you do ultimate grip.

This year, EVO have tested seven 225/40 R18 UHP tires using a VW Golf GTI at the Pirelli test facility in Vizzola, Italy, and while the volume of tires is surprisingly small for such a common size, the breath of testing was as vast as any European tire test.

Track day tire tests are always a welcome read, as those of us who use our cars on track are often super switched on to the differences the tires can make. This year AutoMail.Ru have tested four track day tires in 225/45 R17 using a Mazda MX5 Cup car, and included the Continental PremiumContact 6 as a reference "normal" tire.

It's worth remembering the MX5 is a light, relatively low powered car, so the results from this test might be different on something heavier.

It's never a bad thing when a magazine goes to the effort of testing summer AND all season tires in the same test, as it gives the motorist a good idea of the different balance of performances each tire type has, so it's great to see Auto Navigator doing exactly this for their 205/55 R16 summer tire test.

Not satisfied with just summer and all season tires, Auto Navigator have included a "test winning" winter tire, as well as worn summer and worn winter tires (tread depth unknown!)

The Norwegian AutoMobile Federation (NAF) has tested seven summer tire patterns in 205/55 R16, and included a premium winter tire for comparison.

The winter tire performed surprisingly well during the wet braking testing, which was tested between 18 and 25c, beating the Dunlop and Bridgestone summer tires. Wet handling showed a little more weakness, with the winter tire finishing last, but it was still within a few percent of the summer tires.