Premium Touring Passenger Car Tyre Tests

Famously, ADAC are not fans of all season tyres, seeing them as too compromised for year round motoring and insisting that a summer and winter tyre combination is superior.

This means ADAC have not tested all season tyres since 2020, so lets see if the modern batch of all season tyres can change ADACs mind!

The 2024 AZ Summer Tyre Test evaluated nine premium touring summer tyres, providing a detailed analysis of their performance in various conditions, including dry and wet braking, handling, noise level, and rolling resistance. The Continental PremiumContact 7 stood out with top marks in most categories, followed closely by other brands like Pirelli and Hankook.

The 2024 AutoBild Summer Tyre Test reviewed 20 premium touring summer tyres in size 205/55 R16. The test focused on several key performance indicators including dry and wet braking, handling, noise, wear, value, and rolling resistance. 

Michelin Primacy 4+ ranked first, demonstrating a balanced performance with short braking distances and high efficiency. Continental PremiumContact 7 and Bridgestone Turanza 6 followed, showing strong wet and dry road performance and low wear levels.

For the longest time the Michelin CrossClimate 2 has been the best all season / all weather tyre on the market, winning more tests than any other tyres in its category, including my tests for the last 3 years!

However, since last year's test there have been not one, not two, but three new premium all season tyres launched, all looking to dethrone the CrossClimate 2 from its category top spot. 

Naturally I had to find out whether any of these new tyres from Bridgestone, Continental and Pirelli can match the Michelin, so as usual I'll be testing everything, including wear, to see which is best! And I've also thrown in a couple of tyres Dunlop and Yokohama, because why not.

Can any of these new tyres really challenge the CrossClimate 2, or are they all going to be left wanting for more?

The 2024 ADAC summer tyre test tested sixteen tyres in the popular 215/55 R17 size.

Top Tire Review is a relatively new website, similar to Tyre Reviews (not affiliated), operating in the Asian Pacific (APAC) region, which have different tyre patterns to Europe and North America.

In spite of being a relatively new organisation, they have already conducted their first Asian Pacific tyre test, testing six region specific patterns!

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.