2019 Auto Bild All Season Tyre Test

For the first time in 2020, Tyre Reviews will be performing its own all season tyre test, but until then, the Auto Bild all season tyre test is the best you can get! Testing ten sets of all season tyres in 225/45 R17 using a BMW 1 Series, and including a summer and winter tyre as reference, Auto Bild have done as thorough a job as ever for their 2019 all season tyre test.

The most notable performances follow the trends other tests have shown during 2019. The new Bridgestone WeatherControl A005 couldn't deliver on the foundations laid by the strong wet and dry braking performance in the shootout test, finishing ninth overall due to a very average snow performance, but more importantly for UK drivers, very high wear.

The Vredestein Quatrac Pro again impressed, beating the established excellent all season tyres from Goodyear and Continental to second place, with a sporty handling feel in all conditions, coupled with good dry and wet grip.

It's no surprise that the Michelin CrossClimate+ won another test, but it was a surprise the "summer optimised" all season tyre from the French manufacturer was second in snow handling. Apparently, it is now a tyre that can do everything.

As this is a German tyre test, they put more weighting on snow performance than we perhaps would in the UK, however the top four places are all excellent all season tyres, with the Goodyear the best if you expect to experience a lot of snow and ice, and the other three patterns having slightly different blends of dry, wet and snow performances.

As always, check out all the glorious data below to decide which tyre is the best for your own personal driving circumstances.

Dry

Due to very strong performances by the new comers from Maxxis and Bridgestone, the usual dry weather braking king, the Michelin CrossClimate+ had to settle for third overall. As usual, all ten all season tyres struggled to match the reference summer tyre, with the Goodyear Vector 4Season Gen-2 the worst of the all seasons, tying with the reference winter tyre.

Michelin asserted it's dry dominance during dry handling, with the Vredestein Quatrac Pro the best of the rest. Both tyres were reported to have a sporty handling feel when compared to other all season tyres on test.

Wet

The wet braking test showed the summer tyre having an even bigger advantage. The Bridgestone A005 continued its run of excellent wet braking results to stop the car ahead of all the other all season tyres, and the new Vredestein Quatrac Pro again impressed.

The Vredestein Quatrac Pro was the only all season tyre to beat the summer tyre during wet handling, with the Continental, Michelin, Goodyear and Bridgestone all closely matched.

Dry braking and aquaplaning are often opposing qualities, so it was surprising Maxxis also won the aquaplaning testing! Vredestein, Michelin and Continental were the worst in testing, which highlights the deemphasis of aquaplaning results in new premium designs.

Snow

 The winter reference tyre had a narrow advantage over the best all season tyres, with the summer reference tyre performing as expected.

Goodyear again won the snow handling test, with a surprisingly strong second placed for the dry-optimised Michelin CrossClimate+. 

Value

It's no surprise Michelin won the wear testing, the French manufacturer consistently has the best wearing tyres in the market. Continental again prove they've fixed their wear issues with the latest generation of products, wearing nearly as well as the Michelin, and proving better value overall thanks to a lower purchase price.

The cheaper tyres on test had the best mileage / purchase price balance, with the Continental, Michelin and Goodyear performing well.

Environment

The Bridgestone and Continental had very low rolling resistance results.

Nexen had a significant advantage in external noise testing.

Results