Tire Reviews Tire Tests

Having already looked at the 2020 ADAC 18" UHP summer tire test, the SUV version in 235/55 R17 is more of the same.

Of the twelve tires tested in this popular crossover SUV size, Michelin once again take the top spot with the Primacy 4, thanks to an excellent all round balanced performance.

Warning, lots of data ahead! For the 2019 winter, Auto Motor und Sport have tested eleven of the best winter tires in the 215/55 R17 crossover SUV size.

The biggest plus of this test is the sheer amount of data they've produced, as they've rated the tires both objectively and subjectively in a lot of categories.

Earlier this year Auto Bild published their 2019 SUV all season tire test, using an Audi Q3 wearing the popular 235/55 R19 all season tire size.

As usual, all seven tire patterns were tested in the dry, wet and snow, and as a reference, Auto Bild included a premium summer and winter tire.

For their 2019 summer tire test, Auto Express have tested eight SUV tires in the popular 235/50 R18 size.

The 2019 Auto Motor und Sport tire test has tested eleven crossover SUV tires in 215/55 R17. While this fitment isn't the most exciting fitment in the world, usually being found fitted to vehicles like the Vauxhall Mokka, Skoda Karoq, Seat Ateca, Hyundai Kona and Audi Q2, it is a high growth segment thanks to the huge sales of these types of cars.

The results of this test are fairly straight forward, with only one note. The Continental PremiumContact 5 tested has been replaced by the PremiumContact 6, which undoubtably would have fared better than the seventh place overall.

The 2019 Auto Bild AllRad SUV tire test tested ten 225/55 R17 tire patterns using BMW X3, covering dry, wet, gravel, mud and grass performance! 

As with other tests in 2019, the gap between the best and worst tires on test is getting ever smaller, and while the new Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 took another win, three tires were awarded the second place slot!

The Continental PremiumContact 6, Hankook Ventus Prime 3 and Nokian PowerProof all were deemed "exemplary" buy Auto Bild, with each tire having a slightly different balance of performance overall, but all equally as recommended.

For 2018, the German publication Auto Zeitung have tested nine SUV / 4X4 winter tire patterns in 235/60 R18 using an Audi Q5.

The tires on test covered the premium and midrange segments, with a single budget tire included, the Wanli Snowgrip S1083. The Wanli tire was less than half the price of the most expensive tires on test, so it will be interesting to see whether the Chinese manufactured tire can improve on past performances.

The 2018 Auto Bild SUV / 4x4 winter tire test has used an Audi Q5 to test ten 235/60 R18 winter tires, with the Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen-1 SUV proving to be the best tire on test thanks to an excellent all-round performance.

Surprisingly Pirelli edged out Continental to second place, with a brilliant result for the Pirelli Scorpion Winter. This tire has been on the market a number of years now, and historically hasn't tested as well as Goodyear or Continental, so there must have been and update for the 2018 winter season.

The Continental Winter Contact TS850P SUV rounded out the top three, with its only real weakness appearing during the important dry braking tests.

When it comes to trying new things in tire tests, the German publication Auto Bild leads the way, and with their latest SUV 4x4 all season tire tire test they are once again pushing new ground.

Not only do they test six all season tires in the SUV / 4x4 size of 235/60 R18 and include reference summer and winter tires, but they also include two all terrain (AT) off-road tires. These AT tires aren't specifically designed to work in snow and ice like the all season tires have been, instead they have a more off-road bias to their performance bend. Even with this added off-road performance, they still qualify as legal all season tires thanks to them being marked with the "three peaks mountain and snowflake" symbol.

As a result, the AT tires have a very different performance blend to the all season tires on test, and while their snow performance was surprisingly OK, this test shows how badly they perform on-road, specifically in the wet.

Read on for the full details! For reference, the two AT tires are the Yokohama Geolander AT G015, and the General Grabber AT3.

Thanks to the explosion in SUV type vehicles, tire companies are feverishly updating their SUV and 4x4 product lines. To see which manufacturer is currently doing the best job, Auto Bild Allrad have tested eight of the latest patterns in the large 265/60 R18 size.

For 2017, the "All Road" edition of the German publication Auto Bild has tested ten 225/55 R17 winter tires. This size is commonly used by compact crossovers, such as the BMW X1 used in this test.

The biggest interest in this test was the Chinese budget winter tire from Pace. With the most expensive set of winter tires costing 660 euros at time of test, the budget Pace tires were a full 400 euros cheaper, at just 260 euros. Are the savings worth the performance drop? Read on below to find out.

Sadly there's very little data available for this 235/55 R17 SUV tire test conducted by the European motoring bodies ACE / ARBO / GTU, nor are Michelin featured, but it's still worth a read if you drive a crossover vehicle such as the Ford Kuga or Volkswagen Tiguan which uses this tire size.

This year the German motoring orginisation ADAC have tested winter tires in 195/65 R15 and 215/65 R16.

Unusually for a winter tire test, Continental faulter in this 215/65 R16 SUV tire size, only finishing seventh overall. This leaves the door open for Dunlop to take first place with the Winter Sport 5 which proves to have a very balanced all round performance with no glaring weaknesses.

BF Goodrich finished in a very strong second place, winning the majority of the test categories but missing out on the top spot due to a slightly weak wet performance, where as the third placed Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen-1 proved to be extremely strong in the wet, but a little disappointing on snow.

With the SUV sector booming, tire manufacturers are starting to merge their car and SUV lines into one product. The latest, and according to this test by the Swedish magazine Vi Bilägare, greatest example of this, is the new Continental Premium Contact 6.

We've currently very few details about this years ACE / GTU SUV Summer tire test, but we do know some things.

The testers tested eleven 215/60 R17 tires using a the crossover SUV Vauxhall Mokka. No offroad tests were done, as crossover SUVs spend most of their lives on the black stuff.

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.

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.

Winter tires aren't exclusively reserved for two wheel drive vehicles, four wheel drive cars benefit too. This year AMS have tested ten winter tires in the popular 4x4 / SUV / Crossover size of 215/60 R17, which covers cars such as the Opel Mokka, Skoda Yeti, and the Volkswagen Tiguan.

While the four wheel drive systems and extra weight of large SUVs can give you a traction advantage in snow and ice over "normal" cars, you have roughly the same braking and turning ability as any other car on the road, which makes winter tires a sensible option for anyone with an SUV requiring safe, year round motoring.

This year, Auto Bild have tested eight winter tire patterns in 255/55 R18 using a BMW X5 in Northern Finland, across the usual array of dry, wet and snow tests, all while looking at the tires comfort, rolling resistance and noise levels.