With so many all-season and winter tyres now available for the colder months, it is essential these products deliver what they promise. Comparative tests are an invaluable tool for discovering a tyre’s particular strengths and weaknesses, and we’ve ranked the best from this year’s European and UK testing.
With the winter months approaching and the cost-of-living challenge affecting many across the UK, the next few months are vital represent an important part of the year, Oak Tyres tells Tyres & Accessories. The wholesaler, part of Grouptyre, has been planning since early 2022 to strengthen its position. Oak Tyres’ winter tyre supply chain planning starts in February each year, with production running through the summer. This means that the brand has stock arriving from Autumn onwards for the winter months. Oak says it is anticipating “unprecedented demand” for sister tyre brand, Davanti, “due to its value proposition,” an eventuality it has prepared for.
The new Hyundai Ioniq 6 will roll off factory lines on Nexen Tire’s all-season N’fera AU7 EV and the N’fera Sport EV. The latest electric car from Hyndai boasts a range potential of more than 500km per charge. It contains a range of lighting technologies that communicate with vehicles and people, including dual-colour ambient mood lamps, flexible and comfortable indoor spaces, and interactive pixel lights. It uses a 400V/800V multi-fast charging system and V2L functionality in addition to offering dynamic driving performance, cutting-edge safety and convenience specifications.
Buyers of the VW Multivan who want all-season tyres can have these factory fitted, with the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles UK website listing these as an option when selecting either 16-, 17- or 18-inch rims. Continental shares that it is supplying its AllSeasonContact as an original equipment tyre for the Multivan in two key dimensions, 215/65 R16 102H XL and 235/55 R17 103H XL.
Hankook’s comprehensive range of winter and all-season car and van tyres have been scooping up plenty of awards and recommendations over the past few years. This has been reflected in commendations for both the Kinergy 4S and 4S2 all-season models by Tyres & Accessories’ sister independent tyre comparison website WhatTyre, which considers tyres’ performance in a range of quality tyre tests, original equipment fitments, and several other metrics. In addition to the Kinergy 4S2, the manufacturer’s core all-season range includes the Vantra ST AS 2 for vans, and the Kinergy 4S2 X for SUVs, while its winter collection, including the Winter i*cept evo 3, Winter i*cept evo 3 X, Winter i*cept LV, and Winter i*cept RS 2 has also received its share of plaudits.
Last month, Gute Fahrt published the first half of its latest all-season tyre test, remarking that the seven candidates didn’t handle wet and dry summery conditions as ably as the best summer tyres. As for how they fared in the snow, the motoring publication decided to test our patience and made us wait another four weeks before telling us. The time has come, and the news is both good and not great.
Davanti Tyres has launched its first all-season passenger car tyre, the Alltoura 4-Seasons. The new all-season passenger car tyre has been engineered to provide durability and performance in spring, summer, autumn, and winter, with a range of technical features contributing to its versatility. The new tyre joins the recently launched Vantoura 4-Seasons light commercial vehicle tyre in the brand’s portfolio targeting year-round mobility and has been the product of thousands of miles of testing at the UK-based brand’s summer and winter test centres. With the latest generation of premium all-season tyres proving successful in convincing UK and European motorists of the value in fitting versatile tyres, the new product line from one of the UK market’s biggest-selling mid-range brands will challenge for a piece of this growing segment. It also extends the second wave of Davanti tyres, whose names contain the “toura” suffix, introduced since the brand’s launch range from 2015. Other such products include the Terratoura all-terrain tyre, and several versions of the Wintoura cold weather tyre series, which has models for the car, performance car, SUV, and van segments.
For the forthcoming winter season in Europe, SD-International will present an extensive collection of Zeta branded winter and all-season tyres at what it calls “highly competitive prices”. The latest tyres in the range include the Zeta Active 4S, a high performance asymmetric pattern designed to deliver superior driving comfort on dry, wet and light snow road conditions.
Kumho has launched a new winter tyre for the medium to large car and SUV market, the Wintercraft WP52. The new tyre follows the introduction of a new all-season van tyre from the Korean manufacturer, the PorTran 4S CX11, which added features from the lauded Solus 4S HA32 all-season car tyre to its existing winter van range. Kumho has established itself as a tyre supplier to Europe’s biggest winter tyre markets in the Nordic and Central Europe regions with a comprehensive range of well-regarded products, and is strengthening its position in the region’s growing all-season market.
The Davanti Vantoura 4-Seasons is available in a range of light commercial vehicle fitments now, after the tyre received its public unveiling at the CV Show in 2021. The tyre is the UK tyre brand’s answer for transport operators looking for ways to ensure their fleets remain on the road and are as economical as possible. Davanti notes that the rising cost of living, and particularly fuel prices are making proper fleet maintenance even more important. One aspect that can help is checking tyres are fit for purpose. Selecting the right tyre, for the right van, for the right application, is one way to improve efficiency and reliability of commercial vehicles. With a vast range of options available to van fleets, Davanti says it is important to address the requirement of fit-for-purpose commercial tyres. Its Vantoura 4-Seasons represents the brand’s versatile solution for the segment.
It was no mistake that Gute Fahrt published just half a new all-season tyre test in its August issue. The German motoring magazine for fans of Volkswagen Group vehicles decided to focus on tyre performance relevant to summer driving in the current magazine, and is making its reader wait until September to find out how lower temperatures and the presence of snow and ice alter the story.
For light commercial vehicle fleet operators, self-employed van drivers and small businesses, getting from one job to another in confidence is crucial. Durability and longevity are therefore a significant factor when choosing the right tyres for their vehicle. Acknowledging this, Yokohama has designed a its van tyre range to address the varying needs of operators in the segment.
First presented at the SEMA show in Las Vegas back in 2014 and subsequently launched in Europe and dozens of other markets, Laufenn is Hankook Tire’s second brand. After introducing Laufenn to the world, Hankook is now bringing the brand home and offering it in South Korea for the first time. By debuting Laufenn locally, the tyre maker aims to “further accelerate” its domestic market penetration with a multi-brand strategy that satisfies “the diverse tastes of consumers.”
Safer, more comfortable, better performance. These three qualities are what Pirelli says motorists can now expect from its Scorpion range of SUV tyres following the range’s recent revamp, which the tyre maker undertook in response to forecasted global growth in SUV sales over the next few years.
A new Vredestein tyre specifically developed for electric vehicles (EVs) will debut later this year. Sharing a few details about this upcoming all-season product, Apollo Tyres says it is currently evaluating the tyre through computer simulation and at proving grounds around the world following a “major new research and development programme” that includes close collaboration with leading car manufacturers.
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Davanti Tyres
Nexen
Hankook
Davanti Tyres
SD-International
Kumho
Davanti Tyres
Yokohama