Tyre Tests

As always, we keep our coverage of the Auto Express tyre tests to a minimum, instead encouraging you to go and see the full article on the Auto Express website (link in comments), but there is one aspect of the test we'd like to mention.

The 2018 Auto Motor und Sport [AMS] winter tyre test has tested eleven winter tyre patterns in the popular 205/55 R16 winter tyre size, using a Seat Ibiza.

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

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

The 2018 Auto Bild SUV / 4x4 winter tyre test has used an Audi Q5 to test ten 235/60 R18 winter tyres, with the Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen-1 SUV proving to be the best tyre 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 tyre 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.

Following on from the 27 all season tyre braking shootout, Auto Bild have published their excellent 2018 all season tyre test. Testing the best ten 195/65 R15 all season tyres from the braking test, Auto Bild have done an incredibly thorough job putting all the tyre patterns through the usual array or dry, wet and snow testing.

Following on from the 195/65 R15 winter tyre test, the excellent German publication Auto Bild have tested ten UHP winter tyres in 245/45 R18.

The biggest shock in the test is the winner - it's the brand new Vredestein WinTrac Pro. This new tyre from Vredestein proved to have Continental like qualities, displacing the Continental WinterContact TS850 P from it's usual top spot and performing well in the dry, wet and snow tests. The Continental WinterContact TS850 Pl, which has now been replaced by the Continental WinterContact TS860 S, proved that it's still a quality option and finished a very close second place.

The weekly UK publication Auto Express has just published their 2018 winter tyre test! This year Auto Express have tested eight winter tyre patterns in 205/55 R16 using a VW Golf.

As in 2017, the German club ACE have tested all season and winter tyres in exactly the same tests! On test are nine 185/65 R15 winter tyre patterns, and three all season tyres in the same size, and they used an Opel Corsa as the test vehicle.

All twelve tyres were put through identical dry, wet and snow testing, and to further highlight the point that most all season tyres are interchangeable with winter tyres, the all season tyres finished second, fifth and ten places overall.

As with the Auto Bild winter tyre test, the excellent German publication have placed a large number of all season tyres through wet and dry braking tests in order to find the top ten tyres for the full all season tyre test, which will include broader wet and dry testing, plus the inclusion of snow running.

In total 27 all season tyre patterns were tested in the popular 195/65 R15 size, and the spread of best to worst proved to be worringly large!

Following on from the 51 winter tyre braking test, the excellent German publication Auto Bild have promoted the best 20 tyres to their full winter test, which covers every aspect of the winter tyres performance.

As always, an (unnamed) summer and all season tyre have been included as reference, and to make a change from the past few years, it isn’t the remarkable Continental WinterContact TS860 taking the top spot overall…

The 2018 Auto Motor Und Sport all season tyre test has tested seven all season tyres, and a summer and winter tyre through the usual range of dry, wet, snow and environmental tests.

The unique twist this year? For some reason, the summer and winter reference tyres are in 205/55 R16, while the seven tested all season tyres are in 225/45 R17. Strange.

In spite of the curious size choices, it's an interesting test. The tyres chosen for the test, and the final results are very close to the Tyre Reviews All Season Tyre Video, so be sure to check that out too.

This year the German motoring orginisation ADAC have tested winter tyres in 175/65 R14 and 205/55 R16.

Both tests continue Continentals winter dominance, with two win for the Continental WinterContact TS860. 

This year the German motoring orginisation ADAC have tested winter tyres in 205/55 R16 and 175/65 R14. 

Both tests continue Continentals winter dominance, with two win for the Continental WinterContact TS860. 

Second and third places were taken by the sisters brand Goodyear and Dunlop, with all three of the leading tyres proving to offer an excellent balance of winter performances.

This year AutoBild have placed 51 195/65 R15 winter tyres through wet braking tests, with the top thirty tyres also being tested for snow braking performance. Only the top twenty have gone through to the full Auto Bild winter tyre test!

With the best winter tyre on test stopping the VW Golf in 34.3 meters, and the worst tyre on test at 49.8 meters, you can see why it's extremely important to judge a winter tyres performance as much on wet grip as it is snow grip.

All season tyres try to be a tyre without compromise, but does such tyre exist? In this latest video I take a look at exactly how good all season tyres are in 2018, and seven of the best tyres in the all season category.

This video does not cover any summer or winter tyres options, so if you feel like you might need a different tyre setup, check out our "best tyre type for winter driving" video first.

If you have any further questions once you’ve watched the video, head on over to the YouTube comment sections, or ask below and I’ll do my best to answer.

EVO are the only publication to put out their summer tyre test so late in the season, and while the timing is less than ideal, the content is always excellent.

2018 is no different, with the September EVO issue covering six 235/35 R19 UUHP / max performance tyres using a Ford Focus ST (we recently used the same car to test Michelin PS4 vs PS4S vs Cup 2 here)

The test winning Michelin was no surprise, the Pilot Sport 4 S always performs excellently when tested, but it was a surprise to see the Continental Sport Contact 6 bested by the aging Goodyear and Dunlop pairing. Perhaps there was some home advantage as the test was conducted at Goodyear's incredible test facility in Miraval, France.

What's the fastest trackday tyre? What's the best track day semi slick tyre to use on the road and track? I take 3 very different track day tyres and put them on a BMW M2 to see which is best in the dry and wet. The video was shot at MIRA and Cadwell Park in the UK.

The 11th July 2018 issue of Auto Express magazine tested ten 225/45 R17 summer tyres, using a VW Golf at the Continental test facility in Uvalde, Texas. The end result was closer than ever, with the worst tyre on test just 3.7% overall behind the test winner.

This year the Hungarian publication Auto Navigator have tested fourteen 205/55 R16 summer tyres, but also included an all season tyre (the Michelin CrossClimate), a full winter tyre, and most interestingly worn summer and winter tyres.

It's important to note that the worn winter tyre used was from last years test, whereas the worn summer tyre was 7 years old and had been stored in "sub optimal conditions". While the tread depth of each of the worn tyres isn't exactly clear, the worn summer tyre was at a huge disadvantage due to age and storage conditions. 

All tests were performed around 15c air temperature. Sadly aquaplaning wasn't tested by the magazine.

Sadly, this years Auto Review tyre test is behind a paywall, but given the range of tyres they tested, the overall results were worth covering.

They also made a rather interesting youtube video of the test, so if your Russian is up to scratch, follow this link.

The full results are on the AutoReview.Ru website, if you're a paying subscriber.