Tyre Tests

WhatTyre’s inaugural Tyre of the Year awards in 2021 proved to be so popular that they are back again this year with more categories and an even more thorough qualifying procedure. So, if you want to know the top 15 SUV tyres, keep reading over the next few weeks.

Sharing the results of both its main summer 2022 test of 50 tyres and the performance-oriented Auto Bild Sportscars tyre test, European publication Auto Bild wrote that the days of Chinese-made tyres failing such tests due to outdated technology are well and truly behind us. The magazine’s tyre testers were particularly impressed about one product from China and look forward to pitting it against the competition at a later date.

Auto Bild Sportscars has marked the arrival of spring driving weather by testing 15 tyre combinations. The publication examined 11 brands in the all-round size 225/45 R18 and four as a mixed 225/45 (front) and 255/40 R18 (rear) fitment, taking each set “to the limit and a bit beyond” with a series of performance tests on wet and dry surfaces. The goal was to identify the “tops and flops” available for purchase this season.

Auto motor und sport (ams) now uses the adjective ‘phenomenal’ to describe the tyres that impress its testers the most, and the first product to gain this new top rating is a recent release from Goodyear. During testing for its 2022 summer test, ams found the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 to be a tyre that delivers a balanced spectrum of performance. The ams testers particularly praised its precise and easily controllable handling on dry roads. “Goodyear’s newcomer convinces with much safety and top dynamics,” states the German motoring publication.

Each of the 21 tyres participating in round two of the Auto Bild summer tyre test has already proven its ability to stop without fuss on wet and dry roads. Auto Bild's testers now turn their attention to separating the great from the good and just okay. The publication honoured three of the size 215/55 R17 tyres with its top rating of exemplary. It rated a further seven tyres good and ten satisfactory. The last-placed tyre gains just a conditional recommendation.

Just as chefs tweak their recipes to improve flavour, manufacturers update tyres during the production cycle to gain better performance. Such a tweak has helped Bridgestone: When motoring magazine Autozeitung tested the Turanza T005 in 2020 it found the tyre imperfect on wet roads. Bridgestone adjusted the tread rubber compound last year, and the result is a safer “wet specialist” – and an Autozeitung test win for the T005.

The 2022 summer tyre tests performed by motoring organisations in Austria, Germany and Switzerland evaluated a total of 34 tyres, in 185/65 R15 88H as well as the 215/60 R16 99V size for compact SUVs that we’re looking at here. In its reportage, German association ADAC shares that recent progress in tyre development was evident in the test candidates, and it is thus in the happy position of recommending almost all of the tyres.

Auto Bild has done it again - the motoring publication has examined no less than 50 brands of tyre in the first round of its summer 2022 tyre test. It looked at how these tyres brake in both wet and dry conditions, and the 21 tyres with the shortest combined stopping distances will progress to a more comprehensive second round that includes aquaplaning, handling and mileage tests.

The tyre size 185/65 R15 is a popular fitment for smaller cars and can be found on numerous models. European motoring associations ADAC, TCS and ÖAMTC have chosen 185/65 R15 as one of two dimensions evaluated in their summer 2022 tyre test. Their testers fitted 16 brands of tyre to a VW Polo and subjected these to braking and handling tests in wet and dry conditions as well as a range of comfort, environmental and economy-related evaluations. They found six products to be well-balanced performers.