Compromise is a word often associated with the all-season tyre segment, and in its 2017/18 all-season tyre test, Auto Express has endorsed the product it views as representing the smallest compromise in year-round UK conditions. This tyre is the Michelin CrossClimate+
Philips RacingVision headlight bulbs, developed by Lumileds, has been named Auto Express Headlamp Bulb of the Year.
Trico has responded to being ranked ‘Commended’ in the Auto Express Product Awards 2017, following a four-star rating in the Auto Express Wiper Blades Test in the August 2017 issue.
Hankook’s Winter i*cept RS² has proved successful in the latest Winter Tyre Test from Auto Express, the UK’s bestselling car magazine. Finishing a close second against seven other tyre brands in the popular 225/45R17 size found on many family cars, the tyre achieved first place finishes in several categories including snow braking, snow traction and snow circle.
The outcomes of comparative tests published by car magazines and motoring associations influence many drivers’ purchasing decisions. Tyre tests are no exception here, and therefore the pride Goodyear shows in its tyres’ test performance is understandable. The tyre maker reports that, in 208 magazine tyre tests carried out by 37 well-known European publications and organisations over the past five years – including Auto Express, ADAC, Auto Bild, Auto Bild Allrad, Auto Zeitung, Gute Fahrt, Auto Moto and ACE/GTÜ – Goodyear tyres were recommended in more than 80 per cent of them. Goodyear was named test winner in 43 of these tests.
The current issue of Auto Express looks at the best tyres available in Britain, and Continental is very happy with the outcome of this year’s test. Its ContiPremiumContact 5 has been voted the top tyre in the publication’s evaluation of 11 size 205/55R16 summer tyres, and Continental notes that the award “recognises the ContiPremiumContact 5 across a broad spectrum, taking top spot for dry handling, wet handling and wet braking.”
Although the fitment of tyre pressure monitoring systems, or TPMS, in cars has only been mandatory since 2012, retrofit kits are available for older vehicles. Auto Express has tested nine such products.
The Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen-2 added to all-season tyre test victories in Auto Bild and L’Argus with its Auto Express win. The tyre performed exceptionally well in wet braking (first), wet handling (first), snow handling (first) and cabin noise (first) disciplines as well as snow braking (second), straight aqua (second) and rolling resistance (second). It shone in the wet disciplines, stopping two metres ahead of the second place Nokian Weatherproof in the wet braking test.
Recognising the attractiveness of all-season tyres to the majority of the UK market, leading weekly magazine Auto Express has conducted its second comparative test of six products in the segment. Testing on the bestselling 17” size, 225/45R17, the magazine used the independent Test World facility, with support from Hankook, to test in snow, and Continental’s Contidrom to test in cold and wet conditions to represent winter, and dry conditions to represent summer. The full test also included two leading seasonal tyres, the Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Gen-1 winter tyre and the Continental ContiSportContact 5 summer tyre, which showed that all-season products continue to represent a compromise; however the performance gaps in the tests most relevant to UK drivers may surprise critics of year-round tyres.
It’s been a fine start to life for the Continental WinterContact TS 860. In addition to receiving high praise from widely-read German car magazine Auto Bild, which described the winner of its test of 50 winter products as “an exemplary tyre without faults or flaws,” the new Continental winter tyre finished top of the class in its UK tyre test debut. Awarding first place to the WinterContact TS 860, Auto Express declared it a tyre that “delivers a winning blend of wet and dry grip plus fuel efficiency.”
Michelin’s new Pilot Sport 4 tyre has won the Auto Express Ultimate Tyre Test “by a clear margin” in the dry. The tyre performed well in virtually all of the test categories, which include dry handling, dry braking, wet handling, wet braking, wet cornering, straight aquaplaning, curved aquaplaning, rolling resistance and cabin noise.
Bridgestone’s DriveGuard run-flat tyre has been crowned Auto Express Product of the Year 2016. The touring tyre has been recognised for extending run-flat technology to cars previously unable to fit such products. The tyre became available in the UK in April following its January launch in Monaco.
TyreSafe has relaunched its Tyre Safety Companion smartphone app. Named one of the best motoring apps in 2015 by leading motoring magazine Auto Express, the app offers Britain’s drivers a range of essential tyre safety guidance. Key advice includes details of how to undertake regular maintenance checks, what to do at the roadside in the event of a puncture or incident and the use of temporary spares.
Auto Express has published the results of various tests it performed with Goodyear to measure the difference in winter braking distance when tweaking one particular tyre characteristic, and one finding is especially worth reporting as we head into the coldest part of the year. The distance it takes to stop a car doesn’t just vary depending on your choice of winter tyre – it can vary a lot.
Goodyear and Dunlop are celebrating taking first and second place in the 2015 Auto Express winter tyre test, details of which were released this week. Auto Express tested eight premium tyre brands in 225/45 R17 at Nokian’s ‘White Hell’ proving ground in Ivalo, northern Finland. There were 14 intensive tests on snow, wet and dry as well as noise and rolling resistance.
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