Tyre News

When looking at the 13 nominees for our What Tyre summer Tyre of the Year category, it quickly became apparent that our TyreScore had done its job superbly. It also serves us well when identifying the category finalists, all of which bring together high levels of performance, safety and economy/mileage in various combinations. Our five finalists are taken from the three top summer tyre sizes in the UK (205/55 R16, 225/45 R17, 195/55 R15), and we set a TyreScore of 8 as a minimum prerequisite. A test win or a recommendation of ‘good’ or better in a 2020/21 tyre test is also a must have.

All-season tyres are growing in popularity on the UK and European roads so, following the announcement of our WhatTyre all-season tyre of the year nominations, we are excited as anyone to learn the identities of the top five tyres in our database of over 250,000 variations.

It is now time to name the finalists for the WhatTyre UHP Tyre of the Year, and again we’re looking at the popular sizes 245/45 R18, 245/35 R19, 265/35 R20 in Y or higher speed ratings. We have added the requirement that our finalists should have at least one original equipment approval to their name – car makers have exacting requirements when selecting OEM tyres, and manufacturer approval thus serves as a useful barometer of tyre competence and quality.

Following the unveiling of the first WhatTyre SUV Tyre of the Year nominees earlier this month, the time has come to name the finalists. In order to identify the best of the best, we entered the top three SUV tyre sizes (235/60 R18; 215/55 R18; and 215/60 R17) into our unique comparison engine in order to filter the database of a quarter of a million variations down to the most relevant products. Our system boils down all the legally-required European tyre label performance data as well as our library of third-party magazine test cross-references into a single figure.

What are the best electric car tyres in 2021? The recent boom in electric vehicle sales has meant that tyre manufacturers are paying more attention to the demands of this market. While new car demand has stalled in most segments during the pandemic, full electric car sales have continued to grow. In Europe, estimates put full electric or hybrid car sales at around 12 per cent of the full market. And with various countries around the world introducing legislation to bring petrol and diesel production to an end over the next two decades, growth is certain to continue. Likewise, this will inevitably mean more manufacturers will provide replacement tyres tuned to these vehicles, especially as the second-hand market blossoms.

250,000 tyres and 600 brands later, the nominations for the inaugural WhatTyre awards are complete. So what SUV, UHP, electric vehicle, summer, winter or all-season tyres should you buy? Our nominations lists, which rate up to 20 of the best tyres in each category are a great place to start. Each of these tyres receives WhatTyre "Commended" status as a result of meeting our stringent nomination criteria. You can navigate to each category below.