2020 Tyre Reviews All Season Tyre Test

Thinking about A/S tyres... But worry about wet and dry surface. What was the temperature for braking on dry and wet asphalt?

Michelin CrossClimate 2 or Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF2 will be better to the city for snow and rain? or maybe some other?
Thnx

I live in the middle of Europe (not in the mountains) and in the last 365 days it has snowed about 4 days, but due to the winter service there was never really snow on the street, only on some parking lots. There were also significantly more hot days (hotter than 30 degrees Celsius) than cold days (colder than 0 degrees Celsius),
That's why I found your distinction between all-weather and summer-oriented all-weather tires very interesting and I ask you to keep this or expand it.

Since I spend by far the most kilometers on the motorway, I wish that you assign the interior noise and fuel consumption a priority and perhaps make them more comparable.
So tire A has an additional fuel consumption of 0.2 liters per 100 kilometers compared to tire B and this are additional costs of x € while driving 10 000 km per year, or are the differences much smaller? Because then it would be almost irrelevant, I cannot really deduce how strong this additional consumption is from the Rolling Resistance +1.3 kg / t, just like I guess many other readers.

Additionally it would be great if you, for example, buy 4-6 year old used test winner summer/winter/all-weather tires with a good profile so that you can compare these results with the new all-weather tires.
Many readers are probably wondering whether it is besser to drive the old summer/winter tires for another season or immediately switching to a new all-weather tire.

Keep up your great work

Thanks for the test, excellent in every aspect, the usual top quality you always share
I live in Greece (Athens) and I recently got a 4drive Ateca.
I plan to drive for the winter weekends in partly snowy cold roads, around 15 - 20 days yearly.
My daily drive will be at 3c - 5c for 25 days per year, for about 6 to 7 months temps ranging from 10c to 25c and for about 3 to 4 months, we have temps ranging from 25c to 40+.
I'm not sure if an all-season tire is the right choice for me and if it can handle such high temperatures, even a summer biased one like the Bridgestone A005 Evo.
I drive about 17k miles a year with normal driving
Any advice? It's not very easy to have 2 sets of tyres

Thank you and apologies for such a long post.

I have a mazda CX-3 with 215/50/18 tires.
In all season tires, there are very few options in this size (unless I can get another size with my rims).
I noted Goodyear, Conti and Michelin.
I live in France and my priority is a comfortable tire not too noisy and which has some ecological qualities (correct consumption, long life...)
Not obvious between the three.

Any advice?
Thanks in advance

Thanks for the Comparison. I am purchasing a new 2021 Toyota sienna. in Canada Vancouver. I wanted a good all season tire so I dont have to keep changing the tyres each season. Cost and storage. I read good reviews about Michelline climate 2 , but there seems to better options when I see your test results. I have a problem. If I change to all season tires the factory tires will be wasted. I am not sure whether to change it to all season tire when I purchase the car or use the factory tires as summer tires and purchase another set of winter tires in the winter. can you suggest. Thanks.

Shame there's no wear projection category on this test (yes I know I've mentioned it before and that it's hard to test effectively) - however I wonder if the Bridgestone A005 would have fared quite so well if there was - Go to the A005's user review page and you'll find a bunch of people complaining of poor wear, with 2mm of tread being left at 12,000 miles or so - and hence poor value for money.

In my case, my car is a VW Touran and takes 215/55/17 94 V - The A005 is only about 15% cheaper than the Michelin CrossClimate+, yet I know I can easily expect 25,000 miles from the Michelins - See what I mean?

I'm a little confused and wonder whether you can help...? I've looked at this test with great interest as I'm looking to change to get the best comfort tyre. I drive a Kia Venga and am finding the ride too firm. When I had a road test, the car was on Continental Premium Contact 2's, and I thought they gave a reasonably good ride. Well, I didn't buy that particular car - I eventually went for a lower-mileage example but it's shod with Michelin Energy savers. I think the ride is much firmer with these. Anyway...to my point: When I look at your winner in the 'subjective comfort' test, it's the Bridgestone Weather Control A005. However, when I click on the link to the individual test page (not part of the group test), the comfort is rated at 74%. As an example, this is 13% lower than the Michelin CrossClimate+ rated on its own test page at 87%, but finishes in 9th position in this group test. Should I take this recent group test as the best guide?

Hey- wondering if you can give some advice, I'm slightly undecided as whats best. We live half way up the country. Our daily drive is a mix of dual carriageway and proper rural roads, which are always untreated and often muddy because of farm traffic. Currently on proper winters but super fed up with swapping. Snow is the odd day per year but cold/icy wet and mud is my concern. What would you buy? :)

Hi, thank you for the review. Really helpful. I have a Golf Gti mk7.5 with Michelin PS4 tyres 225/40/18 which i find very noisy on anything but smooth surfaces. (I've dynamat'ed the boot and under rear seats that helps.) I'm now looking for the quietest tyres and someone told me to go for all season as they are the quietest and then saw this video where you have comparisons to summer and winter tyres, and v helpfully had cabin noise on smooth and course surfaces. It interesting you used a Golf as your test car on 17" wheels. I live in south England. Do you think Bridgestone Weather control or Goodyear 4 seasons would be the best for the quietest tyres on my GTi with 18" wheels? Or a summer tyre. Thanks

Can I ask whether all the tyres in this test have the same speed and load ratings, I know from reading your other tests that you don't believe load ratings make much or any difference to the tyres, but do manufacturers change the compounds slightly for higher speed ratings?

I'm mainly interested in the hankook kinergy 4s2

It is interesting to see that the industry seems to have decided that symmetrical directional tread patterns are the way forward for now. Costly tyre rotations with tire dismounting and tire mounting? "The customers are wealthy enough to pay for those additional costs. Afterall, they can afford breathing air and drinking water, so they obviously have plenty of disposable income and time." Tyre dealers ended up disliking tyre rotations when the first symmetrical directional Goodyear Gatorbacks were installed on cars. I have noticed that the heavy trucking industry has largely rejected the directional tread trends, demanding that the engineering be used to develop better symmetrical non-directional tread tyres. Super Single wide directional tyre failures produce spectacularly huge amounts of wheel damage.

Dunlop sport all season.....???

Awesome test with a lot of detailed information, well done! You mentioned 2 different score weightings in your video, which got me thinking... Would it be possible to implement a score weighting tool (for example with sliders) on the website? That would result in a different ranking of the tyres based on the individual needs of each one of us. I think that would be very helpful to make a decision which one of these tyres to buy :)

the tyre industry advocates a crossover temperature of approx +7C to swap from summer tyres to all season/winter tyres. is there any low guide temperature that all season tyres will perform down to? is there an equivalent crossover temperature between all season and winter tyres?

Thank you for this review. I am considering to have my car's tyres replaced with all season tyres and this website is plenty of helpful information.

I've seen that Dunlop has recently launched a new summer oriented all season tyre with asymmetric pattern, the Dunlop Sport All Season.

Have you got any insight on this tyre's performance ? I'm looking forward to see it included in one of your upcoming reviews, as well as the Vredestein Quatrac, which is the replacement for the Quatrac 5 and has scored remarkably well so far in Auto Bild's reviews, unlike the Quatrac pro you tested.

Greetings !

Great review as always! It makes me thinking
The results make me wonder if Goodyear (I guess this is the best all season tyre you can get) will be good enough for the BMW G21 not to think about changing tires. The only things that make me think are dry braking and snow handling cause I live in Munich and regularly drive 160-180 on motorways, as well as driving 10-20 times in the winter to the Alps in Austria.

EDIT: for those interested its in the video:

Summer Reference: goodyear efficientgrip performance 2
Winter Reference: goodyear ultragrip performance+

Hey, cool review, thank you!
But - what are the reference Winter and Summer tyres?

If for whatever reasons you can't say the exact model - can you at least say if it is high-end high-mid ... low end?

Cheers!

Great comparison, as always. Thank you so much for this, it’s really helpful.
I have a BMW 120i that runs on 245/35R18 at the rear. Only the Conti AllSeason Contact and Michelin CrossClimate + are available in this size. I wish I could wait for the new CrossClimate 2 to be released but I’m already halfway through my leasing contract so I don’t want to wait too long. I’m mainly driving in the UK, on the motorway (usually under the rain) so I want some comfort and low noise level (Can’t stand run flats anymore). But I’m planning to go to ski next year so I want to make sure I have the right tyre for that too. Which one between the Conti and the Michelin would you recommend?

Cracking review Jon, many thanks for putting this together.
One real-world review: I have Nexen N Blue 4-Seasons on both our cars and they have been excellent in the Frankfurt winters (wet, huge temperature variations, occasional snow).
Very happy.

What was the ground and /or air temperature these tests were conducted at?

Whilst it was of course a very informative test / video, it would have been useful to have tested these tyres at multiple temperatures Jonathan. We know that different all-seasons behaviour varies at different rates depending on this. Currently you’re only telling half the story - and we don’t know which half.

Until you show us data that proves otherwise, I’ll stick with my Michelins as per your video on this.

I really appreciate the quality and extensiveness of your tests and explanations. One suggestion: For your international viewers/ readers, it would be very helpful either to have separate tests based on market availability or at least to have market availability mentioned in the tests/ reviews. In particular, it is quite difficult to find objective, comparable, worthwhile reviews of tires that are available in the U.S. market.

I spent quite a bit of time selecting my preferred tire (based largely on your great reviews) only to find out that it's not available in the U.S. (Goodyear dealers in the U.S. have no idea what the Vector 4Seasons is.) The same was true for my second choice (Bridgestone Weather Control A005). I contacted Goodyear and Bridgestone; both replied with completely useless marketing garbage directing me to other models (all of which are described in ways that fail to differentiate anything). I settled on Michelin CrossClimates (3rd choice), which have taken 3 months to acquire. They've been available for several years for the UK and Europe, but are evidently very difficult to get here. (Even the dealers that could get it on special order all incorrectly thought they were dedicated snow tires.)

I suspect it will be several years before I will make use of your reviews again, but perhaps other viewers would benefit from reviews of tires available in the U.S. market or, at least, an indication in the tests of which tires are available in which markets. (I also imagine viewers elsewhere in the world might appreciate similar info if it's not too onerous for you to include.)

Again, thanks for your great reviews. (For what it's worth, I'm always amazed that you can casually talk through technical reviews while whipping around race tracks driving better than I ever would with total focus.)

Thank you for the test. I'm about to place order for the Good Year Vector G3.

Based on your test, the Vector G3 performs just behind the Good Year winter reference tire, the Performance plus, in snow braking and traction. When I look at the other test for winter tires this year, I see many other well-regarded winter tires, including the Michelin Alpin 6 and the Continental WinterContact TS 860, also perform behind the Good Year Performance plus in snow braking and traction.

My question is: Does that mean the Good Year Vector G3 performs very close to these winter tires in snow? In my region, the temperature never drops below -1 -2c. I understand it's difficult to say without testing them directly but that's just my guess. What do you think in your professional opinion?
Thank you.

Hi, I have seen your all weather tyres review and it’s really informative. I can do with some help please- I have a Jaguar XF saloon and now looking for 4 new tyres due to existing Goodyear F1 didn’t last as long as it should have as between groves, the cords started showing irrespective of the tread being more then 4mm on al tyres. i am after size 245/45 r18 100Y. I don’t drive the car much so it’s for going to work on 30 mile round trip once a week and some weekend driving. Don’t want to spend a lot of money so was wondering if you can suggest any decent tyre like please? I liked Hankook Kinergy 4S based on your all season tyre review but it’s £110/tyre so thought of going with IMPERIAL ALL SEASON DRIVER 245/45 R18 100Y as it’s around £70/tyre.

Would you suggest this or another all season tyre give a causal low mileage driving (max 2500 miles a year).

Thanks,
PG

Hello.
I am French and I found your video test and summary article very interesting. My English being very basic, I was able to understand your graphics in your video and a bit of your comments, but it would be excellent to be able to offer your video report in French translation. I did not find such a complete test on the French net.
Thank you.
Pascal

Hello.
Is this Goodyear Vector tyre an XL (extra load / reinforced) one?
I checked in specification and 225/45 R17 size (which was tested) in Poland is sold only as XL.
If you confirm, I wonder what a difference would be in test between standard and reinforced tyre of the same size.
Greetings
Artur

Am stuck between 3 of the tyres in the tests I need to buy 8 tyres in total All 225 40 r18 in size. And am torn between the vredestein at £76 Cooper at £66 and nexen at £70. The vredestein tested very high in auto blud but the coopers where not recommended. In your tests both where the lowest scoring with the nexen being marginly better. I can find no other reviews on the coopers other than being the best rated tyres out of the 3 with a c for fuel and b for wet grip rating. Can anyone recommend which to pick or something totally different or should I chance the coopers and write my own review?

Hi Jonathan

Enjoyed the video and the way you play a totally straight bat in doing so. I've been an all season convert for a few years now, having previously run winter and summer sets. The advent of TPMS made it too expensive to have separate rims, though I used to love my old Nokian WRs for snow driving. All seasons are by definition a compromise, but it's one I'll cheerfully take when you get a winter snap which makes driving on summer rubber a truly terrifying experience.

Hi thank you so much for your great review on all season tyres!!! The best review by far I found!
I just have one question for you: Do you know if any of these tyres you tested, have rim protection?
I think that is interesting for all people, who tend to hit the curb like me :D

HI!
I watched your review again and it made me think: what was the depth of the water on wet testing? Water seems to be literally flowing down the test track on handling test. In wet braking test, standing water is deep enough for waves to occur when stopping (25:28). In real life, that would mean rain pouring down so hard, that drainage of the streets would be overwhelmed. Wouldn't under such conditions (due to heavily reduced visibility alone) everybody drive too slow (if at all) for "hydroplaning" even to matter?
Aa far I could see, aquaplaning tests are mostly made in 8 mm deep water. When does that happen?
Extremely rarely: perhaps in some underpass after summer thunderstorm. But definitely not while driving fast on highways. Besides, there are always speed limits on the public roads. So, considering "float speed" measured, how could aquaplaning (as tested) even happen, at least within the legal speed limits?
So, I made a bit of research and found this: https://www.researchgate.ne...
Apparently, in less than 1% percent of wet road conditions water on the streets is deeper than 1mm. That's less than 0,3% of overall road conditions. And even when that happens, it's practically always at low speeds, mostly in urban areas. How relevant is than testing like this: https://www.tirestesting.co...
All that has some serious implications for safety. Tyres are compromises, results of solving cooptimisation problems between ensuring grip on one side and avoiding hydroplaning on the other. Just looking at the Bridgestone tyre we can see, that by increasing grooves and sipes it is very good at preventing hydroplaning, but is sacrificing grip and durability with less rubber on the street. The question of course is, how relevant is this and for how long. After 10.000km it might be worse even where is now best.
But as already mentioned, we simply don't drive fast enough (at least legally) in standing water deep enough for hydroplaning to matter as much as officially tested. People can so buy a tyre with "A" rating for unrealistic wet conditions that will never happen at expense of safety under conditions experiencing every day!
So, shouldn't be tyres tested not only on wet, but also on damp roads, and come with some legally required graphs explaining changing performance during lifetime.

Hello,

thank you for the great test. May I ask you to comment on this year's ADAC test results (https://www.adac.de/rund-um... They seem to still be quite against all season tyres. Do you think that their poorer results are only due to using a heavier car and higher dry temperatures? I have some doubts whether all season tyres would be ok for the summer (we have temperatures up to 34°C and a similarly heavy car).

Hello,
The bridgestone A005 weather control have obtained a result that's 10km/h inferior to the Continental Allseason Contact.
In this test (2019 Auto Bild All Season Tyre Test)that has been published last year, instead they result superior by 3 km/h.
How is such a different result between the two tests possible ?

I undestand little variations, but a difference like this is substancial.

Hello,

Amazing website and thanks for your detailed reviews. I have problems to find the two set of results, I can only see one above these comments. Also, I am intrigued by how the Quatrac Pro was put so low in the test, as in a previous test by Auto Build it was second just to the Crossclimate+ (you mention just down here that it was a different tyre, but I as far as I can see they are exactly the same, or at least they have the exact same name). So how come a same tyre, compared to the same tyres it previously beat, now its suddenly inferior after dealing with comparable objective tests? Its numbers are better than other tyres. Anyway, I guess is impossible to get rid of subjectivity. I am in between these two and the Vector 4Seasons Gen 3, and it is a very difficult choice.

BTW I just found their latest publication, and it is indeed just Quatrac, I was referring to their previous one where the Quatrac Pro was second place.

So again, I am basically looking again for the table of results for when you are giving more and less weight to the snow performance. I am not liking the Weather Control A005 because its longevity issues. Waiting for the EVO... Sadly I do not think you will review it anytime soon?

Thank you!!!

The winter is named at the start of the video, and sadly I won't be doing a gen 2 vs gen 3 but there's info on the Goodyear site

I'm at a complete loss here between the disparity of your test, and the auto bilt test regarding the Vredestein Quatrac Pro. It came second in the auto bilt test but came eight on your test. It also came second in the north American Tyre rack test. Do you know if they have recently changed thier tire formula? I'm only asking because it's one of the few tires in my size that's available the US. I know it's still on the list of top tires but there are a few other tires I'm considering. They Hankook Kinergy 4S2 scored higher in this test but scores lower in the auto bilt test.

I'm wondering if the CC+ would score much higher on the cost metric if, rather than the purchase cost, either the purchase cost over its lifespan (as has been in the past on other reviews), or an entire lifetime cost (including the metric on rolling resistance) were used?

The CC+ is always near the top on purchase price, but also out in front in terms of both lifespan, in terms of useful life (years), wear rate (miles or km) and performance when worn.

As someone whose car runs on CC+s (15in), I found that they are quite price competitive compared to their main rivals (GY / BS / CTis) on the most common tyre sizes like mine - only about 5-10% more before any discounts (195/65 R15) and others (like the 205/55 R16 and a few others), but considerably more expensive on less popular and larger tyre sizes.

My CC+s are doing very well after 2.5 years. Still no snow to test them on during that time (I live in East Anglia)...yet.

Once again an excellent review. I bought a set of continental all season contacts the day before the review. I suppose they will do for the cumbrian winter

Not sure if I'm missing something - but where are the second set of results mentioned in the video whereby the weighting of each section is adjusted for the southern UK climate (or similar)?

Other than this, once again a fantastic test - with only the wear vs. effectiveness testing being missing.

Thanks so much again for this test, really appreciate the effort you’ve gone through!
Maybe you want to include the ‘mild winter’/London scoring as a results list here as well, as you have done in the video? Think that is really useful as here in the Netherlands we only get snow sometimes and for the one-time a year drive to the Alps, a summer biased all-season tyre would be perfect.
I’m surprised by the somewhat lower scores for the Michelins in the wet and wonder how the Bridgestone Weathercontrol A005 holds up when you test for wear as well.