As motorhome, van and commercial vehicle tyre testing is new to the Tyre Reviews website, we thought we'd start with the best of the best, and cover the 2020 Auto Bild 235/65 R16 C test, which used a VW Crafter van to test eight cargo rated all season tyres, and included a summer and winter tyre as reference!
As this is an all season tyre test, Auto Bild not only tested the dry and wet performance of all eight tyres, but also the snow ability of each pattern. Read on below for the full results of what is, another fascinating test by Auto Bild.
Dry
During the dry testing, the Pirelli proved to be the best all season tyre on test, but was still behind the summer tyre in both braking and handling. Of the all season tyres, Falken struggled the most, however it still had an advantage over the dedicated winter pattern.
Dry Braking
Dry braking in meters (Lower is better)
Reference Summer
42.20 M
Pirelli Carrier All Season
44.80 M
Hifly All Transit
45.30 M
Maxxis VanSmart AS AL2
48.30 M
Continental VanContact 4Season
48.40 M
Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Cargo
49.70 M
Kleber Transpro 4S
49.90 M
Vredestein Comtrac 2 All Season
50.10 M
Falken EuroAll Season Van11
50.70 M
Reference Winter
52.50 M
Dry Handling
Dry Handling Average Speed (Higher is better)
Reference Summer
59.90 Km/H
Kleber Transpro 4S
59.60 Km/H
Pirelli Carrier All Season
59.60 Km/H
Continental VanContact 4Season
59.30 Km/H
Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Cargo
59.30 Km/H
Vredestein Comtrac 2 All Season
58.90 Km/H
Maxxis VanSmart AS AL2
58.80 Km/H
Hifly All Transit
58.70 Km/H
Falken EuroAll Season Van11
58.10 Km/H
Reference Winter
57.90 Km/H
Wet
The Pirelli also proved to have the best wet braking performance, again behind the summer tyre. Kleber, Falken and Vredestein were all a significant amount behind the best, while the winter tyre stopped the VW a huge 11 meters behind the best all season, and nearly thirteen meters behind the summer tyre!
Wet Braking
Wet braking in meters (Lower is better)
Reference Summer
49.50 M
Pirelli Carrier All Season
51.80 M
Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Cargo
54.30 M
Continental VanContact 4Season
54.80 M
Maxxis VanSmart AS AL2
55.40 M
Hifly All Transit
55.80 M
Kleber Transpro 4S
57.80 M
Falken EuroAll Season Van11
57.80 M
Vredestein Comtrac 2 All Season
58.00 M
Reference Winter
62.20 M
The wet handling test had the first outright win for an all season tyre, with the Continental VanContact 4S beating the summer tyre!
Wet Handling
Wet Handling Average Speed (Higher is better)
Continental VanContact 4Season
68.60 Km/H
Reference Summer
68.60 Km/H
Vredestein Comtrac 2 All Season
68.20 Km/H
Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Cargo
68.10 Km/H
Pirelli Carrier All Season
68.00 Km/H
Kleber Transpro 4S
67.20 Km/H
Maxxis VanSmart AS AL2
67.20 Km/H
Falken EuroAll Season Van11
66.70 Km/H
Reference Winter
66.50 Km/H
Hifly All Transit
65.30 Km/H
Straight aquaplaning testing again had just a single all season tyre besting the summer tyre, this time the Maxxis VanSmart AS AL2.
Straight Aqua
Float Speed in Km/H (Higher is better)
Maxxis VanSmart AS AL2
94.50 Km/H
Reference Summer
93.70 Km/H
Pirelli Carrier All Season
93.20 Km/H
Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Cargo
92.80 Km/H
Vredestein Comtrac 2 All Season
92.60 Km/H
Kleber Transpro 4S
91.00 Km/H
Continental VanContact 4Season
90.90 Km/H
Reference Winter
90.00 Km/H
Falken EuroAll Season Van11
90.00 Km/H
Hifly All Transit
89.90 Km/H
Snow
Due to the unsafe performance of the summer tyre, Auto Bild chose not to run it during snow testing.
Snow braking was narrowly won by the winter tyre, with the Goodyear and Kleber all season tyres just 0.3 meters behind.
Snow Braking
Snow braking in meters (Lower is better)
Reference Winter
24.30 M
Kleber Transpro 4S
24.60 M
Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Cargo
24.60 M
Continental VanContact 4Season
25.30 M
Vredestein Comtrac 2 All Season
25.70 M
Maxxis VanSmart AS AL2
26.30 M
Falken EuroAll Season Van11
26.50 M
Pirelli Carrier All Season
29.90 M
Hifly All Transit
30.20 M
Goodyear and Kleber also proved to be the best during snow traction, this time beating the winter tyre!
Snow Traction
Pulling Force in Newtons (Higher is better)
Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Cargo
4460.00 N
Kleber Transpro 4S
4410.00 N
Reference Winter
4350.00 N
Continental VanContact 4Season
4320.00 N
Falken EuroAll Season Van11
4130.00 N
Vredestein Comtrac 2 All Season
4115.00 N
Maxxis VanSmart AS AL2
4030.00 N
Pirelli Carrier All Season
3860.00 N
Hifly All Transit
3840.00 N
The winter tyre took back its advantage during snow handling testing, beating Continental and Vredestein.
Snow Handling
Snow handling average speed (Higher is better)
Reference Winter
45.30 Km/H
Continental VanContact 4Season
45.10 Km/H
Vredestein Comtrac 2 All Season
45.00 Km/H
Falken EuroAll Season Van11
44.90 Km/H
Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Cargo
44.80 Km/H
Hifly All Transit
44.50 Km/H
Maxxis VanSmart AS AL2
44.30 Km/H
Kleber Transpro 4S
44.20 Km/H
Pirelli Carrier All Season
43.90 Km/H
Environment
The Pirelli Carrier AllSeason was the quietest all season tyre on test, and the only tyre quieter than the summer tyre.
Noise
External noise in dB (Lower is better)
Pirelli Carrier All Season
70.50 dB
Reference Summer
71.00 dB
Hifly All Transit
71.00 dB
Kleber Transpro 4S
71.60 dB
Falken EuroAll Season Van11
72.30 dB
Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Cargo
72.40 dB
Maxxis VanSmart AS AL2
72.50 dB
Continental VanContact 4Season
72.50 dB
Vredestein Comtrac 2 All Season
74.70 dB
Reference Winter
74.70 dB
There was a spread of 11.2kgs per set, or a difference of 2.8kg between the lightest and heaviest tyre on test.
Tyre Weight
Tyre Weight Per Set (Lower is better)
Hifly All Transit
56.00 Kg
Kleber Transpro 4S
59.20 Kg
Continental VanContact 4Season
60.80 Kg
Maxxis VanSmart AS AL2
61.60 Kg
Vredestein Comtrac 2 All Season
61.60 Kg
Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Cargo
65.20 Kg
Pirelli Carrier All Season
66.00 Kg
Falken EuroAll Season Van11
67.20 Kg
The lightest tyre was also the cheapest tyre.
Price
Price in local currency (Lower is better)
Hifly All Transit
385.00
Maxxis VanSmart AS AL2
440.00
Pirelli Carrier All Season
510.00
Falken EuroAll Season Van11
510.00
Vredestein Comtrac 2 All Season
585.00
Kleber Transpro 4S
595.00
Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Cargo
600.00
Continental VanContact 4Season
630.00
Continental had a significant fuel saving advantage over the rest of the group.
Rolling Resistance
Rolling resistance in kg t (Lower is better)
Continental VanContact 4Season
6.36 kg / t
Kleber Transpro 4S
6.80 kg / t
Reference Winter
6.80 kg / t
Pirelli Carrier All Season
6.84 kg / t
Hifly All Transit
6.90 kg / t
Reference Summer
6.98 kg / t
Falken EuroAll Season Van11
7.21 kg / t
Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Cargo
7.22 kg / t
Maxxis VanSmart AS AL2
7.23 kg / t
Vredestein Comtrac 2 All Season
7.40 kg / t
Results
It's worth mentioning, for a climate like the majority of the UK which sees very little snow, the Pirelli Carrier All Season might actually be the best choice of all season tyres as it offers excellent dry and wet performances while being more usable than a summer tyre in the snow.