Tyre News

Winter tyres were always going to be difficult items to shift in an island devoid of any true Alpine regions, but many brands nonetheless offer them in the UK with commendable persistence. These products have a small but dedicated customer base who often support their purchasing decisions with comparative tests published in European countries with much higher winter tyre uptake. The latest of these tests comes from German motoring publication auto motor und sport (ams), which evaluated ten tyre brands in 215/55 R17. It was largely happy with the results and only withheld its recommendation from one product.

The all-season tyre is one of the biggest successes of recent years, growing from almost nothing in the early 2000s to occupy a sizeable chunk of the UK tyre market. Today, the best of the bunch represent a viable alternative to standard summer tyres, particularly in the colder months. In its 2025 all-season test, Auto Bild allrad looks at 11 brands of SUV tyres, declaring four of these to be ‘exemplary’ – including one of the most affordable candidates.

Turbochargers are a big part of how modern cars and vans keep running smoothly. If your vehicle has an engine with a turbocharger, you probably enjoy better fuel economy and a more responsive drive. But just like any mechanical part, a turbocharger can wear out over time. When it does, it often gives you a few warning signs before it fails completely.

For winter 2025, European motoring organisation ADAC and its partners have conducted their largest tyre test to-date, with 31 premium, mid-range and budget tyre brands battling it out. The tyre size of choice for this year is 225/40 R18. ADAC found just six of the 31 tyres to be ‘good’ products and gave 11 of them the lowest rating possible.

TyreSafe is warning that just two illegal tyres could cost new drivers their licence in its new flagship Young Driver Campaign. The campaign coincides with the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s (NPCC) Operation Spotlight – a nationwide road safety operation targeting young drivers – running from 22 September to 5 October. The simple core message is that driving with unsafe or illegal tyres carries fines of up to £2,500 and three penalty points per tyre. For new drivers in their first two years on the road the six penalty points accrued for two unsafe tyres is enough for an automatic licence revocation.

The sacrifices that the team at Auto Bild make for us. This year, in the interests of better-informed tyre purchases, they headed to the ski fields of New Zealand. In this snowy landscape at the far end of the world, testers Dierk Möller and Martin Westerhoff evaluated the performance of 30 all-season tyre models. Afterwards, they intensively tested the 15 tyres with the shortest combined wet and dry braking distances, and found that while five of these finalists delivered “performance at the highest level,” not all tyres were up to the job.