It’s already gained the attention of Auto Express’s tyre testers, been rated “exemplary” and taken top honours in this month’s Auto Bild test of ten all-season tyres, and gained approval as original equipment on Audi, Ford, Vauxhall/Opel and Renault models. Therefore it’s high time that we report the launch of the second generation Goodyear Vector 4Seasons.
Auto Express has named the Nokian Weatherproof as its number one all-season car tyre in its survey of the segment. Testing a modest six tyres at Nokian’s test centre in Ivalo, Finland for winter conditions and at Contidrom, Germany for summer conditions, the test was a first for the magazine, highlighting the growth trend Tyrepress.com has noted in the UK market for such products. The Nokian Weatherproof was declared the test winner, and an Auto Express ‘Best Buy’, perhaps unsurprisingly sweeping away the competition in the winter tests (the winter rubber specialist uses Test World to test its tyres). The test’s most notable omission is Michelin’s self-professed “game-changer”, the 2015 launched CrossClimate. The French manufacturer has responded hawkishly to references to the new product as an all-season tyre despite its year-round applicability, though tyre test coordinator Kim Adams noted that its March 2015 launch was “just too late” for the tyre to be included.
The Maxxis AP2 all-season passenger car tyre was rated in fourth place in a series of performance tests recently carried out by Auto Express magazine. Maxxis scored an average of 95.4 per cent over a total of 14 disciplines, surpassing the score of comparative tyres from the likes of global giants Pirelli and Bridgestone.
The new Goodyear Vector4Seasons Generation 2 tyre has ranked highly in Auto Express’ latest edition to its tyre test portfolio – the All Season Tyre Test 2015.
The team at Auto Express recently headed to Texas to evaluate 11 European market tyres at Continental’s Uvalde proving ground. The size 225/45R17 tyres were tested against ten criteria that covered wet and dry performance, rolling resistance and comfort. The result? Continental’s ContiSportContact 5 was voted King of the Hill in the Lone Star State.
The Dunlop Sport BluResponse, and the ContiWinterContact TS850 have been named winners in the latest Auto Express Product Awards. Detailed in the latest June Special of the UK’s best-selling motoring weekly, product experts Henry Willis and Kim Adams wrote that its summer tyre winner – the Sport BluResponse – “has clearly been designed with EU tyre labels in mind [with highly rated fuel efficiency and wet grip characteristics]… Yet Dunlop engineers haven’t ignored other performance attributes,” with the tyre achieving “six top-three places” in Auto Express’ nine testing categories. The winter tyre winner – the ContiWinterContact TS850 – was lauded for its all-round ability, having been bested by competitors in snow track testing. Conti’s tyre was rated highly for achieving highly in the “conflicting demands” of wet grip and braking, and low rolling resistance.
In the preamble to the latest issue of Auto Express, editor-in-chief Steve Fowler ponders the attitude many have to buying tyres, noting their status as “one of the most important things you’ll buy for your car,” yet observing that “relatively few of us in the UK think about changing our tyres to suit the conditions” and that “most of us tend to buy on price rather than quality.” Fowler rightly calls this approach “crazy for a safety-related item.” Addressing both issues, eight winter tyres – all from well-known manufacturers and retailing for between £82.49 and £120.99 – underwent a series of cold-weather challenges in the 5 November 2014 edition of Auto Express, and an all-season and a summer tyre joined them to see how they’d fare against the specialised winter rubber.
UK motoring publication Auto Express has named the Dunlop Sport BluResponse the winner of its 2014 test of the popular 205/55R16 tyre size. The Dunlop tyre was rated the top performer in three of the nine test criteria and came second in a further two. Test runner-up was its Goodyear stablemate, the EfficientGrip.
Philips Automotive’s X-tremeVision headlamp bulb was named Headlamp Bulb of the Year in consumer magazine Auto Express’ Product Awards. The manufacturer’s VisionPlus headlamp was also one of two bulbs to pick up a commendation. The X-tremeVision previously picked up a commendation from leading German Car magazine AutoBild in its 2013 lighting tests. Phillips’ X-tremeVision has […]
Auto Express’ decision to make its recent tyre tests their “biggest ever” goes some way towards demonstrating the increasing interest surrounding these reports. And with so many brands on the market all claiming to be the best at something, who can blame consumers for wanting a second opinion?
However, Auto Express is not alone when it comes to testing. Other well-known magazines including Which? Autocar and Evo also publish tyre test results. But in terms of coverage and frequency Auto Express’ tyre tests currently lead the way in the UK. And when you consider that that this particular publication is Britain’s biggest selling motoring weekly, it is clear that winning or being recommended by such a report can have very positive repercussions on the tyre business.
Relatively unknown brands particularly have a lot to gain. By winning or being recommended in tests, these companies stand to gain a leg up in the estimation the country’s motoring millions, without investing in publicity or marketing campaigns. The theory is that product quality will speak for itself.
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