Some tyre tests are a lot like sports days at infant school, with all protagonists receiving kind words and a pretty certificate. But not all tyres deserve such generous treatment, and that’s why the latest ADAC all-season test is a breath of fresh air. While the motoring association praises four of the 16 tested tyres as ‘good’, it strongly cautions against no less than four other products.
Evaluating in size 225/45 R17 with a VW Golf serving as test vehicle, ADAC (which shares results with neighbouring associations ÖAMTC and TCS) examined safety performance in dry, wet and wintry conditions. This testing contributed 70 per cent towards the total score, with factors related to efficiency and sustainability accounting for the remainder.
Rated good
Last year’s test was significant for being the first occasion that ADAC awarded an all-season tyre – the Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen-3 – its coveted ‘good’ rating. In 2025, no less than four tyres gain this distinction.
The motoring association crowned two tyres the test winners: Once again, the Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen-3 occupies the top step of the podium, sharing it this time with the Continental AllSeasonContact 2. ADAC additionally gave its ‘good’ rating to the Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF3 and Bridgestone Turanza All Season 6, with both tied for third place.
According to the ADAC test team, what all four abovementioned tyres have in common is an ability to “resolve the fundamental conflict of objectives between good grip in summer at high temperatures and good grip in winter on ice and snow at low temperatures.”
Satisfactory
Alongside the ‘good’ tyres, the ADAC awarded four products a ‘satisfactory’ rating. Each of these has specific strengths and weaknesses, starting with the Michelin CrossClimate 2 in fifth place, Dunlop All Season 2 and BFGoodrich Advantage All-Season as joint sixth through to the Viking’s FourTech Plus. “When choosing a tyre, it depends on what is most important to you. Michelin, Dunlop and BFGoodrich have their strengths on wintry roads, while the Dunlop is also top in terms of environmental properties. The Viking is not particularly good or bad in any area, so the price could be the deciding factor,” writes the ADAC.
Adequate
Further down the table, ADAC rated four tyres as ‘adequate’ – the Vredestein Quatrac Pro+, Barum Quataris 5, Nexen N’Blue 4Season 2 and Superia Ecoblue2 4S.
ADAC delivered criticism towards one member of this quartet in particular: “Despite everything, a well-known brand alone does not guarantee that you will receive a good product. Continental’s budget brand Barum achieves only an ‘adequate’ rating with the Quartaris 5 and is therefore not recommended.” The motoring association then highlighted the differing performance between the AllSeasonContact 2 and the Quartaris 5 – two tyres made by the same company. “Is significantly less invested in development for this budget subsidiary compared to the premium Continental brand? Evidently, as otherwise it would be difficult to explain the poor performance, especially on dry roads.”
ADAC also voiced its disappointment in the results achieved by the Vredestein and Nexen tyres. The testers “expected more” from these products.
Not recommended
But four other tyres show that things can be even worse. The CST Medalion All Season ACP1, APlus AS909, Arivo Carlorful A/S and Petlas Multi Action PT565 all finished the test with ADAC’s worst-possible ‘poor’ rating. “You really don’t need to remember these cheap tyres, which are mainly available on the Internet.” Withholding its recommendation, the motoring association comments that “poor braking distances are reason enough to advise against these tyres” but adds that “they do not even come close to fulfilling the other requirements of a good tyre.” ADAC concludes that due to a lack of grip on wintry roads (CST and Petlas) or on wet roads (Arivo and APlus), these four tyres are “simply unsuitable” as all-season tyres.
