German motorcycling magazine Motorrad MO has recommended a trio of brands in its test of a half-dozen roadgoing sports tyres. MO fitted the candidates to a Triumph Street Triple RS and evaluated their performance in a range of parameters, publishing the results in its September 2020 edition.
The world’s top-selling tyre size, 205/55 R16, has been given the Tyre Reviews treatment. The site prodded and poked a dozen specimens to find out which ones deliver safety, comfort, efficiency and value – and which tyres don’t. The results have been distilled into 17 minutes of highly informative video.
Germanophone auto clubs, ADAC, the Austrian Automobile, Motorcycle and Touring Club (ÖAMTC) and the Touring Club Switzerland (TCS) have presented the results of their joint all-season tyre test. Despite the rising popularity of all-season tyres in European markets, the clubs did not recommend any of the seven tyres in the test without condition. The tyres were tested in size 235/55R17 103V/Y using a Ford Kuga as an exemplifier of heavier, larger SUVs, which are themselves increasing in popularity throughout Western Europe. Such vehicles are also amongst those most likely to fit all-season products. Tyres tested were Bridgestone’s Weather Control A005, Conti’s AllSeasonContact, Goodyear’s Vector 4Seasons Gen-2, Michelin’s CrossClimate +, Nokian’s Weatherproof, Uniroyal’s AllSeasonExpert 2, and Vredestein’s Quatrac Pro. The publication of the test was delayed from its original planned publication date in April due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ahead of next week’s Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) opener at Donington, four-time champion Colin Turkington put the latest Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport tyres through their paces.
The coronavirus outbreak and subsequent lockdowns mean that sales of car tyres especially have sustained a harsh blow around the world. But as measures introduced to halt the spread of COVID-19 begin to be eased, motorists will steadily begin to use their cars again, increasing demand. In the car tyre sector, high value, ultra-high performance segments could prove vital, as better potential margins offer attractive opportunities for increasing cashflow quicker. The other side of that coin is that motorists’ finances are also under pressure, putting the price they pay for their car tyres under even greater scrutiny. Could this, therefore, present an opportunity for mid-range brands to make a case for their products, offering more palatable performance compromises compared with premium rivals than the lowest-priced brands?
Tyre tests published in the run-up to summer show that the majority of mainstream tyres available in the UK are of a high or very high standard. Europe’s major car magazines and motoring associations recommended most products during the recent spate of testing. Of the 134 individual tyres put through their paces, only a handful weren’t recommended or were found to have serious issues. A further 13 were deemed merely ‘adequate’ or were conditionally recommended.
More news from Australia, this time a tyre test win for Continental. The PremiumContact 6 has been named victor in Wheels magazine’s ten-tyre comparative evaluation.
UK motorcycling magazine RiDE has looked at six brands of sports touring tyres and declared the Metzeler Roadtec 01 SE its top pick. In its evaluation of size 120/70-17 and 180/55-17 rubber, tested on a BMW R1250RS, RiDE awarded the Metzeler tyres a score of 91 points out of a possible maximum of 100 and recommended the Roadtec 01 SE as its “best purchase”.
All-season tyres offer safety in a wide range of weather conditions and have gained a lot of traction within the passenger car segment. But what about campervans – is all-season a good choice of tyre for those hoping to squeeze in a belated post-lockdown holiday? Auto Bild Reisemobil fitted eight sets of all-season campervan tyres to a VW Crafter with a 600 kilogramme payload and put them through their paces to check performance in dry, wet and snowy conditions.
Hot hatches don’t really get much more sizzling at the moment than the Mercedes-AMG A 45 S, whose turbocharged four-cylinder engine produces a hearty 416bhp. As usual, four rubbery rings take on responsibility for transferring all this power to the road – but what’s the best tyre for this job? That depends upon the sort of driving you have planned.
To find the best tyres for the “dynamic mid-range segment”, German motoring publication auto motor und sport (ams) has taken a look at 11 products in size 225/45 R18Y. While the usual premium suspects claimed the victors’ podium, the ams test also confirms what Auto Zeitung recently found – that Maxxis is making some great value for money tyres at the moment.
Tyre choice is a “decisive factor” determining a vehicle’s dynamic qualities, comments Auto Bild Sportscars in the preamble to its latest comparative test.The performance motoring magazine stresses that this is particularly the case when choosing the right rubber for performance cars. We see this in its 2020 summer tyre test, in which Auto Bild Sportscars looks at ten size 245/35 R19 (front axle) and 265/35 R 19 (rear) tyres that cover a range of prices and performance levels.
Dunlop is very happy with Scooter & Sport magazine’s decision to name its ScootSmart overall winner in its test of five tyre brands. In its January/February magazine (Issue 1/2020), the German publication fitted the size 120/70-15 front and 140/70-14 rear tyres to a Honda Forza 300 and evaluated them with a focus on dry and wet grip and handling.
Auto Zeitung’s 2020 summer tyre test is one of the largest it has ever published. The German motoring magazine has looked at 20 brands of size 225/50 R17 94/98 W/Y tyres in an evaluation that covers premium to budget. The cheapest of the tyres on test can be had for around 230 euros (£200) a set; the most expensive cost more than twice as much. As you’d expect, the winners’ podium was dominated by premium products priced well above the average. The fourth-placed tyre is a different story.
After eliminating 30 tyres from its 2020 summer tyre test in a preliminary wet and dry braking round, Auto Bild scrutinised the remaining 20 more closely. The findings are now out, and the motoring publication is very happy with more than a third of the tested candidates. First place in test was shared by two tyres.
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Jakob Ebrey, Goodyear
Falken
Stephen Goodchild
Continental AG
Metzeler
Auto Bild Reisemobil