Tyre Reviews Tyre Tests

The extreme winter specialists at Vi Bilagare are back at it testing the latest and greatest studless friction winter tyres. This year they not only tested seven of the most popular studless friction nordic compounds in the popular 225/45 R17 tyre size, they also included an older tyre to see the effects of aging. The older tyre 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!

Sadly Tyre Reviews won't be conducting a studded tyre 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 tyre test you'll see this year.

As always for a studded tyre test, the tyres 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" tyre, a lightly used Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8 (the current version is the Hakkapeliitta 10) which was manufactured in 2015, making the tyre both old technology AND 8 years old. The testers noted that the tyre 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.

The 2023 TESTIRENKAAT Snow Tyre Test tested eight tyres designed for extreme winters in the popular 205/55 R16 size.

Interestingly the four premium tyres are studless friction tyres, and the four budget tyres are studded, so it gives us an interesting data point to compare the best of the new studless friction soft compound tyres against the cheaper end of the studded market.

Noteworthy performers from the 2023 16" ADAC winter tyre test included the Falken EUROWINTER HS02 with good dry braking, Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 showcasing remarkable wet braking, and the Goodyear UltraGrip 9 Plus excelling in snow and ice braking. On the flip side, the Austone SP 901 displayed weaknesses in wet conditions and aquaplaning scenarios. The Fulda Kristall Control HP2 emerged as a durable option with the longest wear, while the Barum Polaris 5 stood out for fuel efficiency. 

The biggest surprise is probably the winner. The  now aging Dunlop Winter Sport 5 emerged as the overall victor in the 2023 ADAC 16 Inch Tyre Test, exhibiting a balanced performance across various testing categories. Its well-rounded performance underscores its reliability and suitability for diverse road conditions, making it a commendable choice for motorists seeking a harmonized blend of safety, comfort, and efficiency

Following on from the 35 all season shootout, Autobild have placed the top 15 through the usual array of tests, including dry, wet and snow testing, plus they've tested wear!

Unlike the Tyre Reviews test this year, they also managed to test the new Bridgestone Turanza All Season 6 and Continental AllSeasonContact 2! Can either of these new tyres displace the Michelin CrossClimate 2 at the top of the results? Read on to find out!

Annually, the team at the German outlet Auto Bild conducts comprehensive tests on all-season tyres, focusing on wet and dry braking performance, and this year is no different! 

Below are the braking results for 35 all-season tyres in the 225/45 R17 size. The top 15 will proceed to the complete evaluation, which will be published on the site next week.

For the 2023/24 season, Tyre Reviews has tested ten of the very best all season tyres available. Following on from last years test in 17", this year we focused on the smaller 15" wheel size, and included summer and winter reference tyres to highlight exactly what the best all season tyre is for your driving, and where summer and winter tyres fit into the overall performance.

As always, this is one of the most in depth all season tyre tests on the internet, and each of the ten sets of tyres are tested in the dry, wet and snow, plus the tyres subjective noise and comfort and rolling resistance (energy use) is also tested.

As everyone's driving situation is a little different, you can also adjust the overall score weighting of the test below so you really can find the perfect tyre for your own driving needs.

Last year the Michelin CrossClimate 2 won for the second year in a row. Can it make it three of three?

For the launch of the new Bridgestone Turanza AllSeason 6, Bridgestone had the independent test body TÜV SÜD Automotive GmbH conduct a comprehensive test of the new all season tyre, and compare it to the leaders in the all season category, the Continental AllSeasonContact, Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen-3, and Michelin CrossClimate 2.

While this isn't a traditional magazine test, it is interesting data, and as many of you have questions about the performance of the new Turanza AllSeason 6, we believe it's worth including on the site.

The Polish Motor Magazine recently conducted a premium touring tyre test. The test included eight different tyre brands, all in the popular size of 205/55 R16, which is commonly used in compact and some larger car models. The brands tested were Continental, Goodyear, Dunlop, Bridgestone, Hankook, Pirelli, Michelin, and Vredestein. The test was comprehensive, covering various aspects of tyre performance including wet and dry handling, rolling resistance, noise, and comfort.

Times are hard, and now more so than ever people are asking me what the best budget tyre they can buy is. As these have never been tested against each other properly, I usually don't have an answer, but all that is about to change!

Sadly I've not been able to test every budget available, there are literally hundreds of tyre brands coming out of the far east, most of them from just a handful of factories. In fact, I've got over 300 tyre brands on the tyre reviews website, and as much as I love big tests, even that's too much for me.

Instead, I've bought eight of the most common and cheapest tyres available I could find, and because I've never tested a retread tyre, I bought one of those too. Naturally they'll all be going through a full tyre reviews tyre test to see which is best.

It's the 50th anniversary of the ADAC tyre test, and to celebrate the German automotive body have tested fifty summer tyres in the popular 205/55 R16 tyre size, and have included wear testing for every tyre!

There's a lot to unpack in this test, so we'll dive straight in! Headline notes, there are two Michelin tyres in this test, the Michelin Primacy 4+ and the energy saving Michelin e.Primacy, the Continental on test is not the new PremiumContact 7, it's the previous model, the Continental PremiumContact 6, and Continental also have the new Continental UltraContact in the test, which is meant to be a lower rolling resistance and higher mileage tyre for those who drive a lot of distance!

In this test, we'll be finding out what the best premium touring summer tyres on the market are!

I'm going to try and keep this as condensed as I possibly can as we have 13 sets of tyres in this test including the newest and best from Continental, Michelin, Hankook, Pirelli, Bridgestone, Vredestein, Kumho, Toyo, Nankang and more! This should also be the world's first test of the Continental PremiumContact 7!

Auto Bild tests are always amongst the best in the industry, and this year Auto Bild have taken things a step further. Not only did Auto Bild start with 25 all season tyres in the popular 195/55 R16 size and test them in dry and wet braking to get the best 15 for the full test below, they've also tested things Tyre Reviews was unable to test in the Tyre Reviews 2022 all season tyre test, including real world fuel use, the all important wear test, and new for this year, they tracked the abrasion of the tyres to see which tyre gives off the least particulates to the environment, which is separate from projected tyre life!

Snow tyres, studless friction tyres, extreme winter tyres, nordic winter tyres. This category of tyre goes by many names, and they have one design goal, to be the very best on snow and ice for harsh winter climates, where studded tyres aren't appropriate, or for people who don't want studs.

To find out which is the best, Tyre Reviews has taken 7 of the most popular tyres available to both the North American and Nordic markets, and will be putting them through a full range of tests, including ice, snow, wet and dry testing to find out which is best at what. Also, to help you understand where these tyres fit in the market, I'm also including the very best of the central european and studded winter tyres, the Continental WinterContact TS870 and the studded Nokian Happapelliita 10.

For 2022, the excellent German test organisation ADAC have tested 15 winter tyres in 185/65 R15 and 15 crossover SUV winter tyres in 215/60 R16.

The results below are for the 185/65 R15 test, where we have no real surprises in the overall results. 

For 2022, the excellent German test organisation ADAC have tested 15 crossover SUV winter tyres in 215/60 R16 and 15 winter tyres in 185/65 R15.

The results below are for the 215/60 R16 test, where we have a few interesting quirks in the overall results. 

For this year's Tyre Reviews winter tyre test, we've got nine sets of the most popular winter tyres, half of which are brand new tyres for this year!

As always I'll be testing in the snow, wet and dry, and looking at rolling resistance, noise and comfort, to ensure you get the best overview of all the new winter tyres!

Once a year, the wonderful people at the German publication Auto Bild take a huge number of all season tyres through a wet and dry braking, to find the very best to include in their full test.

Fortunately, this year is no different, and below you'll find the wet and dry braking results of thirty five all season tyres, and a summer and winter reference tyre, with the top fifteen going through to the full test which will be on the site next week.

All season tyres are trying to be one tyre for every situation, but as we know no tyre can excel in every category, meaning tyre manufacturers often take away from one area to be better in another.

So, which all season tyre is best for YOUR own needs? To find out Tyre Reviews has ten of the most popular all season tyres on the market, and will be testing them in the snow, dry and wet, noise, comfort and rolling resistance!

The tyre size I'm testing is massively popular 225/45 R17, and while there might not be any new names in the test this year, a different size and different testing location means we're likely to get some interesting results! The Michelin Crossclimate 2 stormed to victory last year in 16", will this year be any different?

If like me you've been wondering exactly how low rolling resistance / eco / EV tyres differ from their regular counterparts, this is the test for you!

The wonderful people at the Swedish publication ViBilagare have tested ten sets of tyres in the popular 205/55 R16 size, and included "normal" AND "eco / EV" tyres from Continental, Michelin and Nokian. This means we have the Continental PremiumContact 6 vs EcoContact 6, Michelin Primacy 4 vs e.Primacy and Nokian Hakka Blue 3 vs Green 3 (these are the Nordic specific versions of the Nokian WetProof.)

Why no eco / low rolling resistance / EV tyres from Goodyear and Bridgestone? This test highlights the different approaches of certain tyre manufacturers, and while Tyre Reviews isn't sure on Bridgestones philosophy, Goodyear firmly believe that EV specific tyres aren't needed if you make all your tyres EV Ready, by focusing on low fuel consumption and excellent grip in all conditions for every tyre.