Tyre Reviews Tyre Tests

The German publication Auto Bild have just tested five 235/35 R19 track day tyres using a Ford Focus ST, and included a "normal" maximum performance road tyre as comparison.

Given the location of the test (Continentals proving grounds in Texas), and the performance of the included road tyre, we're going to assuming the tyre was the Continental Sport Contact 6, and it demonstrates just how good road tyres have become!

The first test featuring the new Bridgestone DriveGuard runflat tyre has been published!

Testing ten 205/55 R16 touring tyres on a VW Golf, Polish Motor magazine included the new generation Bridgestone DriveGuard runflat tyre against the traditional non-runflat competition. 

The German publication Auto Bild have published their third tyre test of 2017, this time testing nine UHP tyres in 245/40 R18 using an Audi TT. Without a budget tyre included in the test, this is one of the closest tyre tests we've seen in years, and highlight just how close the latest generation of tyres have become in terms of raw performance.

How much faster are track day tyres compared to the best road tyres? The German publication Sport Auto have produced the answer by taking seven of the best maximum performance road tyres and three of the best track day tyres, and placing them all through the same testing on a Toyota GT86 (225/40 R18).

For 2017, Auto Motor und Sport have tested ten 245/45 R18 ultra high performance tyres using a BMW 3 Series Estate.

This test is the first time the new Michelin Pilot Sport 4 and Continental Premium Contact 6 have appeared in the same test, which should give us some interesting data about the two big rivals.

Following on from the 52 tyre shootout, Auto Bild have taken the twenty best tyres through a full array of wet, dry, NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) and wear tests.

As a change from the usual FWD hatchback used for testing, Auto Bild tested the 225/50 R17 size using a RWD BMW 3 Series.

The Auto Bild sports cars test is usually one of our favourite tests of the year, and this year looks to be no different.

Testing nine 235/35 R19 maximum performance tyres using a Focus ST, Auto Bild have focused on the raw performance of these tyres, weighting the score heavily in favour of wet and dry handling.

For 2017 the German publication Auto Zeitung have chosen to test ten summer tyres in 215/55 R17 using a VW Touran.

Like Auto Express, AZ buy their tyres on the open market, meaning the Continental Premium Contact 6 and the Bridgestone Turenza T001 Evo are sadly excluded from the test, and are instead represented by their predecessors. To further highlight the complexity of tyre testing, Hankook noted the version of the Ventus Prime 3 purchased for the test were an early manufacturer date and intended for OE fitment. The aftermarket fitment of the Ventus Prime 3 Hankook would have preferred to be tested would have had better wet performance.

After testing the unusually large size of 225/45 R17 in 2016, normal service has been resumed for the 2017 ADAC Summer tyre test, this time testing sixteen tyre patterns in 195/65 R15.

ADAC tests are no toriously data driven and they write very little commentry of their own, so here's our take on the test.

This year Auto Bild have taken 52 summer tyres in 225/50 R17, put them through wet and dry braking, and taken the top 20 through to a full tyre test.

This year Auto Express have tested six all season tyres in the rather large (by all season tyres standards) 225/45 R17.

This year Sport Auto magazine have tested six performance winter tyres in 235/40 R18.

Due to the limited number of patterns in the test, and no all season or summer comparison, we'll forgo the usual commentry and just present the results below.

Issue 1,443 of the weekly UK publication Auto Express contains their excellent 2016 winter tyre test! This year Auto Express have tested eight winter tyre patterns in 205/55 R16 using a VW Golf, and like other publications have included an all season and summer tyre for comparison.

Each year, the German automotive publication Autobild trump all the other European magazines by putting out a huge winter tyre test, and this year is no different.

Starting out with fifty winter tyre patterns, Autobild tested all the tyres wet braking performance. Once the wet braking order was set, Autobild took the twenty seven patterns which stopped the car within 20% of the best through to snow braking, then the top twenty wet and snow braking results combined this, the full tyre test.

With the 2016 winter season fast approaching, the AMS all season tyre test has been published, this time in the SUV / 4x4 size 215/60 R17.

Auto Motor Und Sport used a crossover Vauxhall Mokka to test four all season patterns, and compared them to a summer Continental Premium Contact 5 tyre, and a winter Continental WinterContact TS850 P SUV.

Using a BMW 3 Series wearing 245/40 R18 tyres, Auto Bild placed eight ultra high performance winter tyre patterns to the test.

Most magazines look to test around ten different tyre patterns each test, with some pushing up to fifteen different tyres. Auto Bild like to go a step further and this year, have tested test fifty sets of 205/55 R16 winter tyres.

The 2016 Auto Bild All Season tyre test has tested ten of the latest all season tyres across the usual array of dry, wet, snow, comfort and economy tests using the industry standard VW Golf wearing 205/55 R16 sized tyres.

For the second time this year, the summer-bias Michelin CrossClimate won the test overall by dominating in the dry, having the shortest wet braking and being good enough in the snow.

Once again in 2016, the German Magazine Auto Zeitung have provided one of the most exciting winter tyre tests we've covered. Testing thirteen of the latest winter tyres in 205/55 R16, including the Continental WinterContact TS860, Dunlop Winter Sport 5, Goodyear UltraGrip 9 and Nokian WR D4, Auto Zeitung have also included the Michelin CrossClimate summer-bias all season tyre as a comparison.