Year-round performance – Auto Bild Sportcars tests 11 all-season tyres

Sales of all-season tyres continue to grow, with these products finding favour with both private and fleet customers. For UK motorists, their appeal stems from the reality that the weather isn’t warm and sunny every day of the year; in other parts of Europe, all-season tyres offer an alternative to seasonal tyre swaps. But do all-season tyres meet the high expectations of performance car drivers? Auto Bild Sportscars has tested 11 brands of size 225/40 R18 all-season tyres to find out.

With a Subaru BRZ performing the honours, the Auto Bild Sportscars team measured how the 11 tyre brands performed in dry, wet and snowy conditions, evaluating considerations such as rolling resistance, ride comfort and noise within the dry weather category. Each of the three categories contribute equally towards the final result.

Out of the 11 tyre brands, Auto Bild Sportscars gave four its top exemplary rating. It rated a further two as good and one satisfactory. Three tyre brands gained a conditionally recommended rating, while the performance car publication withheld its recommendation from one product entirely.

Summarising their findings, Auto Bild Sportscars testers Dierk Möller and Henning Klipp state that “good all-season tyres are a really recommendable alternative for use in normal everyday traffic and for vehicles up to the mid-range” as they offer “good safety reserves in all weathers.”

However, the testers note that special rules apply for the sports car segment when it comes to driving dynamics. “At the end of our test, we can only honour four of the eleven candidates with exemplary performance. With minor compromises in terms of dynamics and a safe performance in winter conditions, only these tyres guarantee driving pleasure in any weather.”

Rated exemplary

Test winner – Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF 3

+ New all-season tyre with impressive driving characteristics in all weather conditions, dynamic handling qualities, direct steering response, exemplary aquaplaning properties

Michelin CrossClimate 2
+ Winter specialist with exemplary driving performance on snow and ice, good aquaplaning reserves, stable and safe wet and dry handling, pleasantly quiet ride comfort, low rolling resistance

Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen-3
+ All-rounder with balanced high performance potential, very good traction on snow, dynamic driving qualities in all weather conditions, precise steering behaviour, moderately pricing

Bridgestone Turanza All Season 6
+ New all-season tyre with exemplary handling in all weather conditions, dynamic wet and dry handling, good price-performance ratio
– Moderate aquaplaning when cornering

Rated good

Kleber Quadraxer 3
+ All-rounder with convincing handling characteristics on snow and ice, short dry braking distances, good comfort, favourable price
– Tendency to understeer on dry surfaces

Nexen N’blue 4Season 2
+ Good traction and short braking distances on snow, stable and safe handling in all weather conditions, favourable price
– Only satisfactory aquaplaning properties

Rated satisfactory

Continental AllSeasonContact
+ Good winter qualities, stable wet handling, short wet braking distances, low rolling resistance
– Only satisfactory performance level in dry conditions, moderate aquaplaning qualities
(A new model, the AllSeasonContact2, is now available)

Conditionally recommendable

Falken EuroAll Season AS220 Pro
+ Good traction and short braking distances on snow, dynamic dry handling
– Understeering behaviour on snowy and wet roads, moderate reserves in aquaplaning conditions

Vredestein Quatrac Pro
+ Good winter qualities, stable driving behaviour on snowy/dry surfaces
– Only satisfactory wet grip, extended wet and dry braking distances, low aquaplaning reserves

Toyo Celsius AS2
+ Stable dry handling, short snow braking distances, low rolling resistance
– Winter qualities just satisfactory, understeer snow/wet handling, extended wet braking distance

Not recommendable

Double Coin DASP-Plus 4-Seasons
– Budget tyre with dangerously long wet braking distances, unbalanced understeering handling on wet/dry roads, low aquaplaning reserves, spongy steering behaviour.