2018 Auto Bild All Season Tyre Test

The New Tyre

The most interesting part of this test must be the inclusion of the new Bridgestone Weather Control A005, as it's the first time this new tyre has featured in a full all season tyre test.

If you're just looking at the results as the overall standings, you'd be forgiven for dismissing the Bridgestone as a purchase option, but for the most of the UK this new tyre might actually be one of the BEST options for year round motoring in the UK.

Why? Because it has significant advantages in wet and dry braking, even beating the dry master the Michelin CrossClimate+, and matches the excellent performance in dry and wet handling. While it's snow performance is it's weakness, it's still significantly better than the reference summer tyre in the test. With the UK climate being dry or wet 99% of the year, the balance of performance the Bridgestone offers is more acceptable to our climate than it is to the German testers.

The Rest

Ignoring the Bridgestone in last place, the top five results aren't surprising. The Goodyear and Continental all season tyres performed excellently as ever, the Nokian was more like a winter tyre and won the snow testing, and the Michelin excellent in the dry.

If you've not already seen our all season tyre recommendation video, we explain the balance of performances between various all season tyres, and explain why for example the Nokian might not be the best idea for the south of the UK, and the Michelin not the best for northern Scotland. Have a watch here.

Dry

As mentioned above, the Bridgestone was the star of the dry testing, winning both the dry braking and dry handling tests. The Michelin CrossClimate also faired extremely well, a significant step ahead of the rest during dry braking, and joint second place during dry handling.

Wet

Wet braking once again saw the Bridgestone leading the way, however no all season tyre could get close to the summer tyre which had a large advantage.

During the wet handling testing the Goodyear was the best of the all season tyres, with the Bridgestone and Continental in second and third places.

The Continental again proved it's wet weather credentials and won the aquaplaning testing.

Snow

While the Bridgestone was exceptional in the dry and wet, it's struggled in the snow testing. The Nokian all season tyre once again showed winter-tyre like qualities in the snow, with the Continental showing an extremely balanced wet/snow performance blend.

Value

As in other tests, the Michelin had the best wear scores, but it was the Falken that proved to have the best price / wear balance costing just 4.84 euros per 1,000 km.

Environment

The Nokian had the lowest fuel use, with most of the all season tyres on test beating the summer tyre.

The good value Nexen tyre proved to also be the quietest on test.

Results

1^st

Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons Gen 2

195/65 R15

An excellent all round performance, excellent value for money, good steering precision and excellent handling in the snow and wet, safe aquaplaning, good comfort, low wear.

High price.

Total: 82

Dry 10

Wet 12

Snow 12

Comfort 13

Rolling Resistance 11

Noise 11

Wear 13

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2^nd

Continental AllSeasonContact

195/65 R15

Excellent in the snow, good steering precision, handling and grip in the wet, very good aquaplaning results, good wear.

Average dry handling.

Total: 78

Dry 10

Wet 12

Snow 12

Comfort 10

Rolling Resistance 12

Noise 10

Wear 12

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3^rd

Nokian WeatherProof

195/65 R15

Winter specialist with the qualities of a winter tyre in snow, good aquaplaning results, lowest rolling resistance.

Average wet grip, high wear.

Total: 76

Dry 10

Wet 10

Snow 13

Comfort 10

Rolling Resistance 14

Noise 10

Wear 9

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4^th

Michelin CrossClimate+

195/65 R15

Safe handling in the wet and dry, best wear on test, very good price to performance ratio.

Average curved aquaplaning, average snow cornering.

Total: 79

Dry 11

Wet 10

Snow 10

Comfort 12

Rolling Resistance 10

Noise 11

Wear 15

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5^th

Hankook Kinergy 4S2

195/65 R15

Good steering precision, feedback and handling in the wet and dry, good aquaplaning, very comfortable.

Average snow cornering, high wear.

Total: 76

Dry 11

Wet 11

Snow 10

Comfort 12

Rolling Resistance 10

Noise 13

Wear 9

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6^th

Falken EUROALL SEASON AS210

195/65 R15

Winter specialist with good traction and sporty snow handling, good aquaplaning result, comfortable, low wear.

Average wet grip, slow steering and significant understeer in the wet, high noise.

Total: 76

Dry 10

Wet 10

Snow 12

Comfort 12

Rolling Resistance 10

Noise 9

Wear 13

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7^th

Vredestein Quatrac 5

195/65 R15

A balanced all season tyre with safe handling in all conditions, good steering response and grip in the wet, low noise.

Limited aquaplaning results, slow steering in the dry.

Total: 76

Dry 10

Wet 10

Snow 11

Comfort 11

Rolling Resistance 10

Noise 13

Wear 11

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8^th

Nexen N Blue 4 Season

195/65 R15

Short braking and good cornering in the snow, low noise, good price to performance ratio.

Limited aquaplaning results, understeer in the dry and wet, high rolling resistance.

Total: 72

Dry 10

Wet 9

Snow 11

Comfort 11

Rolling Resistance 7

Noise 13

Wear 11

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9^th

Pirelli Cinturato All Season+

195/65 R15

Good traction and secure cornering on snow and ice, balanced dry handling, precise steering.

Average aquaplaning, long wet and dry braking, high rolling resistance, high wear.

Total: 69

Dry 10

Wet 9

Snow 11

Comfort 11

Rolling Resistance 9

Noise 11

Wear 8

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10^th

Bridgestone Weather Control A005

195/65 R15

Dynamic wet and dry handling, shortest braking distances on wet and dry roads.

Poor winter performance on snow and ice.

Total: 71

Dry 12

Wet 12

Snow 6

Comfort 11

Rolling Resistance 11

Noise 9

Wear 10

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11^th

Reference Summer

195/65 R15

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12^th

Reference Winter

195/65 R15

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