Do you want to know what tyre is best for every day, real world driving? In this test we take eleven of the very best 205/55 R16 tyres on the market, plus a well regarded budget tyre, to see exactly what tyre performs best in the dry, wet, comfort, noise and rolling resistance tests!

In an unexpected release, Auto Bild have just published their second ultra high performance tyre test of 2021, this time testing the popular 235/35 R19 tyre size and again putting the new Bridgestone Potenza Sport up against the best from Continental and Michelin. Strangely, Auto Bild have included the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 instead of the Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport which would have been a more natural selection for this group, but it's still a really interesting test.

As always, things are close at the top, with Michelin taking a narrow victory, just ahead of Bridgestone and Continental in joint second place.

It seems like every year there's a tyre test that doesn't follow the norm, and this year it's the ACE / ARBÖ / GTÜ summer tyre test. 

The test starts out as a regular summer tyre test, there's nine tyre patterns in the popular 225/45 R17 size, and they tested using a VW Golf which is the standard test car. However, once you get into the results, things get a little confusing.

Firstly, no data is provided by the testers, just a points system which makes an accurate analysis of the results difficult. Secondly, the test gives weighting to the price of the tyres, but doesn't test wear, which means a tyre which is cheap to purchase scores well, even if it has a lower overall value due to high wear.

But strangest of all are the overall results. 

It’s important to check your tyres thoroughly after a prolonged period of not using your car very much, especially now the UK is preparing to come out of lockdown. Your driving habits may have changed dramatically from early last year, as home working has become much more prevalent as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Tyres can degrade over time, and you might need to replace even nearly-new tyres if your car has seen a lot less use than in previous years.

Michelin has reminded drivers to check their tyres over before using their vehicles frequently again. It has provided a step-by-step checklist so you don’t forget any part of your tyres and wheels.

Good news, 2021 is shaping up to be a really a exciting year for tyres. We have a brand new UUHP contender taking the fight to Michelin, Goodyear and Continental, some extreme updates of existing patterns, and the promise of new tyres on the horizon later this year! 

Watch on for the full exciting details!

For 2021, the testing experts at ViBilagare have tested eight of the latest 225/45 R17 tyres, with a surprising result!

The Maxxis Premitra HP5 aced the tyre test to finish in first spot overall, ahead of the new Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 in second place and Continental PremiumContact 6 in third. This is a really impressive result for the Maxxis brand, especially when you consider price was NOT taken into account for the final results!

The only caveat worth remembering is wear was not tested in this test. In previous tests where wear results were included, the second placed Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 had a significant advantage over other tyres on test, and the Maxxis didn't score too well..

Chevrolet’s new 2022 Corvette Z06 has been spotted with some of the widest tyres ever fitted to a production car. In images posted on Corvette Blogger, the rear tyres are shown in detail; they’re 345/25 Michelin tyres and sit on 21-inch rims. Standard Chevrolet Corvette models use 305-section rear tyres, and that means there is almost 8cm more rubber across the two tyres. The Z06 has a wider stance than the regular Stingray model, and this is why!

As is the case with many high-performance cars, it is thought that the Corvette Z06 will use Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres. These will be a lot stickier than you would expect to find on a road car, as the Z06 is influenced by the brand’s racing division. The width of the tyres and the compound of the rubber should help the car grip well.

It's the second time in history the new Bridgestone Potenza Sport has been tested in a tyre test, and it's super exciting to see whether it can it match the first place from the Auto Bild Sportscars test!

There are some small differences between the two tests. Firstly, Auto Bild tested 20" tyres using a Ford Mustang, where for this test Sport Auto have used the Toyota Supra / BMW Z4 platform which wears 255/35 R19 front and 275/35 R19 rear tyres.

Sport Auto have also added a little depth to the test by including both UUHP (or Maximum Performance) and UHP tyres, which means we get the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 up against the best from Michelin and Bridgestone, not the Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport.

Following on from the massive 53 tyre braking test, Auto Bild have taken the best twenty 205/55 R16 tyres through to further testing, which includes wet and dry handling, aquaplaning, rolling resistance, noise, and a rarity in tyre testing, wear!

As the 2021 Tyre Reviews summer test is covering UHP and SUV sizes, this will be the most complete reference we have this year for the 16" summer tyre market, however if you'd like to watch a 16" summer tyre test, you can check out ours from last year here.

It's the test we've all been waiting for, it's the first test of the brand new Bridgestone Potenza Sport, the only new tyre in 2021 that has the chance of taking the fight to the established ultra high performance tyres such as the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, Continental SportContact 6 and Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport.

Naturally, it's the best testers in the business doing it first, the German publication Auto Bild. They've tested nine 265/35 R20 UUHP tyres in the dry and wet using a very un-european Ford Mustang.

For the 2021 Sport Auto summer tyre test, the German publication have tested eleven tyres in the relatively small 195/55 R16 tyre size. As this tyre size is intended for smaller vehicles such as the Audi A1, Ford Fiesta, Peugeot 208 and other similar sized cars, Sport Auto used a Seat Ibiza for testing, and placed all eleven sets of tyres through the usual dry, wet and environment based tests.

The 2021 Auto Bild All Rad SUV test has tested ten SUV tyres in the popular 215/60 R17 size. While the German publication used a Jeep Renegade for testing, this size is also fitted to vehicles like the Nissan Qashqai, VW Transporter, Renault Kadjar, Toyota C HR and many other popular crossover SUVs.

As always Auto Bild have done a great job testing, as not only have they tested in the dry and wet, they've also conducted FIVE off-road tests. Given these sort of vehicles rarely see any activity outside of the school run, the tests have a low weighting in the overall results, but it's certainly excellent data if you ever plan to take your crossover SUV on grass, gravel, sand or mud!

In December 2020 Michelin announced the new Michelin e.Primacy, and now in March 2021, it is widely available for purchase in the UK market. Designed to sit alongside the hugely popular Michelin Primacy 4, the new Michelin e.Primacy has some incredible statistics both for electric vehicle (EV), and internal combustion (IC) drivers who want to save money, range, and have an interest in protecting the environment. 

The new Michelin e.Primacy is the first tyre to be carbon neutral at point of purchase, and has the lowest rolling resistance in its class. It is built on the core Michelin principle that a tyre should perform all the way to 1.6mm, which avoids early changing of tyres, reducing the environmental impact and saving the customer money. Impressively, it is still capable of passing the EU wet braking test after 30,000 km, a distance at which some competitor tyres might be already past the legal tread depth limit!

After already publishing the ADAC 16" tyre test in 2021, ADAC have also released their slightly more sporty, 225/50 R17 summer tyre test.

While the 16" test received wear data, for this test we have wet braking data, and the range between best and worst is larger than ever!

For the 2021 ADAC summer tyre tests, the German organisation selected the popular 205/55 R16 and 225/50 R17 summer tyre sizes.

As usual with ADAC tests there is little raw data provided, instead the testers grading each tyre with a score, but this year we do get wear data (below) and even some of the testers subjective thoughts on the tyres, which is an excellent addition.

Without fail, each year German publication Auto Bild provides the most comprehensive overview of the summer tyre market by testing a huge amount of tyres ability in the dry and wet, in order to work out which twenty tyres deserve to be tested in their full summer tyre test.

For 2021, Auto Bild have tested 53 tyres in the most popular tyre size in Europe, 205/55 R16.

All 53 sets of tyres have their wet and dry braking results below, with the shortest 20 combined braking distances progressing to the full test, which will be on the website shortly.

The 2021 summer tyre test season is kicking off early, with the excellent team at Auto Zeitung publishing their 10 set 225/40 R18 summer tyre test during February!

As this test is out so early in the season, it means the testing would have been completed in late 2020, which means it's missing the new Bridgestone Potenza Sport, but it's still an excellent start to the year as AZ always dig into the subjectiveness of the tyres, covering dry handling, wet handling and comfort!

All testing was carried out using a Seat Leon FR, and the popular 225/40 R18 UHP tyre size should cover many mid-sized sporty cars, including the ever popular VW Golf, the front of a BMW 1 Series, the Audi TT and many other vehicles.

Pirelli have announced their latest generation all season tyre, the Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF2 (SnowFlake 2.)

As a result of climate change, where winters are getting less extreme in many parts of Europe, the interest in all season tyres is growing year by year.

Historically the sales of tyres has been  60% summer tyres and 40% winter, but the market for all seasons is growing rapidly, with just 3% in 2014, 14% in 2020, and a predicted 20% by 2025. Naturally these numbers are for areas of Europe with milder winters, if you live in an alpine area dedicated summer and winter tyres are still the best option.

Winter experts Nokian Tyres have updated the hugely successful studded winter tyre range, the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9, with three new models - the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 10, Hakkapeliitta 10 SUV and Hakkapeliitta 10 EV.

The new Hakkapeliitta 10 range comes with an array of new features, including an innovative tread pattern and multifunctional siping to improve snow traction and lower noise levels, a stiffened centre rib to help steering feel and speed, new compound to improve overall wet grip, and revised studs which sit on a cushion of softer rubber and air to improve grip on ice, cause less damage to the road surface, and further lower the noise levels.

Nokian Tires has recently launched the new Nokian One all season tire for the North American market. On the surface, this looks like a usual all season tire launch, but with two interesting additions for the consumer. 

Not only does the new Nokian One come with a HUGE 80,000 mile (or 129,000 km) treadwear warranty, it also has a pothole protection warranty meaning if you hit a pothole which results in the tire puncturing beyond repair, Nokian will replace the tire for a new one free of charge.

This adds up to an extremely long lasting tire - not only can you drive around the circumference of the earth nearly three times, you can also do it with confidence that any unexpected road issues won't dent your wallet.

All season VS winter tires is a hotly discussed topic, and while we've done our own test at various temperatures, it sadly didn't include any ice testing, or things like wet handling and rolling resistance testing.

Fortunately, our friends at Vi Bilagare once again have us covered. During their Nordic winter testing in 2020, the magazine included an all season and "european" winter tire alongside their usual selection of Nordic friction and studded winter tires.

As the all-season and European winter tire were being tested from a Nordic perspective, they had a significant testing on ice, which is a rarity for an all-season tire.

The results... well, I’m sure you can guess how each of the four tire types performed on each surface, but it's really cool to see all this data from one source.

Sadly there are very few professional tire tests conducted in North America, however the magazine Consumer Reports does an excellent job of educating the market with a number of huge tire tests every year.

While the public data is limited, you have to be a member to see the full results, we thought it would be important to database the information we have to help our American audience pick the right winter tire.

The 2020 Consumer Reports Winter Tire Test has tested seventeen of the best winter tires on the market in the popular 215/60 R16 size.

For their second winter test of 2020, the excellent Vi Bilagare have tested eight Nordic friction (studless) winter tyres.

As with the studded version, Vi Bilagare have performed a thorough test covering dry, wet, snow and ice, and should be considered one of the benchmarks for extreme winter testing in Europe. 

This test is particularly interesting as it has the new Michelin X-Ice Snow, Bridgestone Blizzak Ice, Pirelli Ice Zero FR and Nexen Winguard Ice Plus WH43 placed up against the established Nordic winter tyres from Continental, Goodyear and Nokian.

For the 2020 Vi Bilägare Winter studded tire test, the Swedish magazine has tested 8 of the most extreme studded winter tyres in 205/60 R16.

As this is a studded winter tyre test, the testers placed much more emphasis on snow and ice performance, so if you're in a region that sees a lot of compacted snow and ice on the road during normal winters, this is a very useful test.

The 2020 Auto Bild crossover SUV all season tyre test has tested 11 of the best all season tyres in the rather small 215/60 R16 tyre size, using a VW T-Roc. 

Auto Bild have also included a reference summer and winter tyre, so we can see the difference performances between the three tyre types, but sadly haven't shared which tyres were used as the reference tyres.

The 2020 Auto Zeitung has tested fourteen winter tyres in 205/55 R16, including new winter tyres from Bridgestone, Goodyear and Maxxis, as well as a low cost retreaded tyre.

While all the tyres were tested in the dry, wet and snow, sadly Auto Zeitung didn't include any handling data, instead just providing subjective feel scoring.

The 2020 Sport Auto all season tyre test has covered seven of the best all season tyres in 225/45 18, using a new BMW 3 Series.

Most of the tyres on test were also included in the 2020 Tyre Reviews all season tyre test, however as Sport Auto used a different size and vehicle, this test still makes for interesting reading!

If you're planning on undertaking a massive Nordic friction and studded winter tyre test, having the right facilities to conduct the test in is key. Fortunately for Test World, they own one of the best independent arctic testing facilities in the world which is why we're super excited to see this 21 tyre test, covering all the key friction studless and studded winter tyres on the market.

All tyres are in the popular 205/55 R16, and were tested using a VW Golf. There were some interesting new tyres in the test, including the first test of the studless Michelin X-Ice Snow.

The 2020 Auto Bild SUV Tyre test has tested ten crossover SUV / 4x4 winter tyres in the popular 225/55 R17 size, with a summer tyre included as a reference.

Of the ten tyres on test, the top four tyres were given the "Exemplary" award, which included the new Goodyear UltraGrip Performance+, the much improved Bridgestone Blizzak LM005, the new Michelin Alpin 6 and the Vredestein Wintrac Pro.

The test winning Goodyear had a good all round performance, with the testers noting the winter tyre felt precise and dynamic in all conditions. The Bridgestone LM005 performed well in the dry and wet to secure second place, while the joint third Michelin and Vredestein pair performed well in all tests, but either cost more to buy (Michelin) or used more fuel (Vredestein.)

Following on from the 32 tyre braking shootout, Auto Bild have taken the fourteen best all season tyres to the full test, and included a summer and winter tyre as reference.

As with the Tyre Reviews all season test, Auto Bild have ranked the new Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen-3 as the best all season tyre, not because it was outstanding in one single area, but because it had a rounded performance in nearly all tests.

Following on from the 52 winter tyre braking test, the top 20 winter tyres in 245/45 R18 have been put through the usual Auto Bild winter tyre tests, to discover the best performance winter tyre for the 2020 season.

With the promise of one tyre to work in all conditions, all season tyres are a rapidly growing market segment.

To find out which of these all season tyres is best, and whether they can match a summer and winter tyre, the 2020 Tyre Reviews all season tyre test has tested nine of the best 225/45 R17 all season tyres on the market, and included a summer and winter tyre as reference.