| Test Summary | |
| Wet Braking |
Reference Summer |
| Dry Braking |
Reference Winter |
| Wet Handling |
Reference Winter |
| Wear |
Nexen N Blue 4 Season |
| Rolling Resistance |
Continental AllSeasonContact |
| Straight Aqua |
Nexen N Blue 4 Season |
| Snow Braking |
Michelin CrossClimate |
| Snow Handling |
Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons Gen 2 |
When looking at the results of this test from a UK view point, ADAC have put more weighting on the snow and ice performance than we would for UK specific driving.
Dry running takes 15% of the overall weighting, wet 30%, snow 20%, ice 20%, noise 5%, fuel consumption 10% and wear 10%. Snow and ice performance is a lot more important for European climates that see plenty of snow fall, but for the UK dry and wet grip should take a higher priority as that's where most of our miles are done.
Unfortunately ADAC don't release the data from their tests, so we don't know how close the results were in raw figures, but the Nexen N'Blue 4Season has a well deserved win with a very well balanced performance in all categories. The new Continental AllSeasonContact finishes a strong second place, thanks again largely down to a well balanced performance, and the well regarded Goodyear Vector 4Season Gen-2 takes third place, proving to be the best tyre in the wet.
Even the best all season tyres on test couldn't earn the ADAC "highly recommended" label, with the testers preferring the combination of a dedicated summer / winter tyre pairing. This was due to the all season tyres being weaker than a dedicated summer tyre in the dry, and not as good as the winter tyre in snow / ice - again this is more of a consideration for parts of Europe which have larger amounts of snowfall than the majority of the UK.
Wondering what tyre type is best for you? Give this video a watch to help you decide!
Results
Having been asked by someone to recommend them an affordable all season tire solution for their car (2009 1.2L Nissan Micra) in 165/70 R14 81T which is driven mainly around the Nurember Metropolitan area and never in a sporty-aggressive manner, I've been looking through various options, on what's available on the major online retailers in Germany.
The tires it's pretty much come down to:
- Maxxis All Season AP2 (cheapest option of a somewhat known brand)
- Vredestein Quatrac 5 (slightly more expensive)
- Apollo Alnac 4G All Season (only one retailer has them, only €2/tyre cheaper than Vredestein)
At the moment they've got Apollo Alnac 4G AS and have driven them for 40'000km without any issues, so are pretty happy with those and would get them again.
Goodyear Vector 4 Season G2 would be a slightly more expensive option, not sure if that someone wants to stretch that far. Nokian is more expensive still and the winter-bias doesn't seem to be that necessary to make that trade-off. Conti is the costliest (excluding Michelin) and I'd be worried about projected wear, as the better performance of that tire might not be noticed by the specific driver in question to offset the cost, especially if they see less overall tire life than their current set.
Nexen unfortunately isn't available in that size.
Looking at this test, the Maxxis has placed 6th, Vredestein 7th. But, from the individual test results (on the ADAC website) I can't figure out where the Maxxis scored higher than Vredestein. Vredestein seems to have the edge in the dry, outside noise and roll resistance, and they score the same on wet, snow and wear. The only "advantage" Maxxis seems to have is the purchase price.
Going by tire labels in the specific size:
- Maxxis (C/B/69db), in the XL version - which is also cheaper
- Vredestein (E/C/68db)
- Apollo (C/C/68db)
- Goodyear (E/B/67db), the more expensive XL version gets a C for Roll resistance.
Based mainly on gut feeling I would tend to tell that person:
If purchase price is the main factor, to go with Maxxis and they shouldn't have any major issues.
If the best price/perfomance ratio is key then Vredestein or Apollo would suit them best, though I can't say which are the specific advantages of one or the other. I know they come from the same group, are almost identical in tread and if there are any differences it would be in the specific rubber compound. Maybe Vredestein has a higher projected wear, but I don't have the data to back this up, except the 2017 AutoBild test in a much larger size, so it must be taken with a grain of salt when looking at a different size.
Wether or not the premium option (Goodyear) is worth it in this specific case is questionable, Vredestein does seem to do better in the dry and should also be similar when it comes to wear.
With these ADAC all season tests, I get the feeling that they have a clear editorial bias against the use of all season tires and constantly recommend the use of dedicated season tires, except maybe for a 2nd small car that's used exclusively in city driving.
As someone who lives in Germany (Bavaria, near the Danube, to be exact) I rarely encounter snow covered roads on my daily commute (less than 7 days a season on average, this last decade), and have happily managed with all season tires. Yet when talking with other drivers I constantly get labled as being crazy and that all season tires are a hazard to myself and everyone else (while they drive cheap, old, bought used or retreaded winter tires). The constant mantra "the ADAC says they're not good / doesn't recommend them". Sure they're not the universal solution for everyone, but for my specific needs they're perfect, and most of my work colleagues certainly don't have hugely different needs as their daily commute is similar to mine, with similar road conditions.
I think ADAC are quite rightly negative about the dry braking penalty of siped tyres. Modern premium all season tyres are managing to negate this somewhat, in particular the Michelin CrossClimate and Bridgestone A005, but all tyres are some level of compromise and I'm not sure it's unfair for the publication to pick up on!
I fully agree that all season tires are a compromise, and that it's right to point out their relative weaknesses.
I find that your site does a great job at picking up on the compromises, also AutoBild tests manage to point these out while approaching, and writing up, the tests objectively.
ADAC starts this article off by referencing their previous all season tests and how they considered all those tested tires not recommendable for the vast majority.
The article then goes on to give only partial recommendation to the top 4 tires in this test (leaving out Michelin and Vredestein), for low mileage city driving.
The general recommendation the ADAC gives to the majority of their readers/members: "mount proper winter tires from October to Easter".
My issue is with them perpetuating that arbitrary timeframe. While October may have been a good changing point from the 1960s to 1990s, current climate trends no longer support this blanket statement. We've seen plenty of days with daytime temperatures in the double digits well into December.
The other change-over-point, Easter, is even more problematic as it's a variable date, some years Easter has seen daytime temperatures as high as the 20s °C, other years snow on Easter or a cold spell occured sometime after still.
If we generalize: October-April, there are at least 100 days where drivers will encounter dry road conditions, conditions in which the all season tires should perform better than a proper winter tire (but not as well as a summer tire, but ADAC isn't recommending driving that for 6-8 months).
My personal expectation in a premium all season tire is that it will work safely in winter and slightly better than a budget summer tire in summer, while being aware that it won't match a premium summer tire in dry or wet braking, or a premium winter tire on snow covered roads.
German all season tire tests generally tend to over emphasize snow performance in their weighing.
While there definitely are areas of the Country that see a lot of snow days, large population centers such as Berlin, Hamburg or the Ruhr urban area rarely see snow, whereas Munich is a mixed bag (40 minutes to the north one might see less than a week's worth of snow, 30 minutes to the south and one might encounter deep snow frequently).
You did a great job on your take of the 2018 AutoBild test in pointing out that one shouldn't dismiss the Bridgestone Weather Control A005 out of hand, especially if one rarely or ever actually has to drive on snow.
ADAC's testing, in my opinion, is great - though I'd prefer they provided raw data instead of only (German) school grades.
My issue was more with the writing of the actual article and it's generalized opinion that the majority is served best by driving 50% of the year on proper winter tires.
HI, I'm just about to buy allseason tyres, (I live in Aberdeen) I can get the Michelin Crossclimate plus for £82 each or I can get the Goodyear Vector 4 season G2 for £66 each. I think I want to go for the Vector as michelin and goodyear are pretty close in performance, I don't want to compromise the dry handling, it seems that Michelin is better in dry. Which one would you recommend? I can't decide. By the way, you have a really good videos and website!!
Both excellent tyres! Up in Aberdeen I'd be more inclined to look at the Goodyear for the slightly better snow and ice performance.
any indication as to what the reference summer tyre was?
It was referred to as a "premium summer", nothing more sadly.
Looking at the dry, wet & wear scores, my guess would be PC5.
I wouldn't like to speculate :)