Summer Passenger Car Tyre Tests

Finnish magazine Moottori tested eight mid-range summer tyres in size 205/55 R16. They ran the tyres through wet and dry braking tests, handling circuits, aquaplaning resistance, and measured noise levels and rolling resistance. The test showed clear differences in grip levels, with Nokian's Hakka Blue 3 taking the top spot over BF Goodrich Advantage DT1 and Hankook Ventus Prime 4.

Following on from the 52 set braking shootout, the full Autobild summer tyre test has taken the best twenty tyres to the full set of testing, with some interesting highlights!

There are two interesting stories. Firstly, is the rise of the Chinese tyres, with both Linglong and Sailun performing really well in the grip tests. Does this mean Chinese tyres are now fighting with the premium manufacturers? Well, sort of.

There's a new comfort bias summer tyre to market, the Pirelli Cinturato C3! To see how good the new tyre really is, I've tested it against some of its key rivals from Michelin and Continental. I've also added some new tyres I've not tested before. 

As usual, all the tyres in this test will be tested in the dry and wet, and I'll be assessing the comfort, noise, and rolling resistance (energy use) of the tyres to give you a complete overview of which tyre is best.

The 2025 Auto Zeitung summer tyre test has tested ten ultra high performance 225/45 R18 patterns in the dry and wet, and this year included wear!

The wear test has added some interesting highlights, which we'll discuss below.

The 2025 ADAC summer tyre test has been published, and it follows this years trend of testing in the sporty 225/40 R18 tyre size!

As always with ADAC they sadly don't give us all the data for the test, but they do give us some interesting insights, including wear, and they do a great job summarising each tyres performance overall.

So it begins, the 2025 summer tyre test season is upon is, and it's going to be an interesting year!

To start things off, Autobild have published their annual 52 tyre shootout, where they test the wet and dry braking of pretty much every tyre they can get their hands on to work out the best 20 to take through to the full tyre test.

Top Tyre Review has put six Asian-market ultra-high performance tyres through a comprehensive test for 2024/25. The lineup includes five standard UHP tyres - Continental MaxContact MC7, Michelin Pilot Sport 5, Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6, Toyo Proxes TR1, and the Chinese-made RoadX RXMotion U11. Adding an interesting comparison, Hankook's EV-focused iON evo was included to see how a dedicated electric vehicle tyre performs against traditional UHP options.

This is the data from the 2024 EVO Summer Tyre Test.

Auto Bild Klassik magazine recently conducted a test of seven classic-style summer tyres in the 205/70 VR 15 size, aiming to improve safety and performance for vintage sports cars. The testers used a Jaguar E-Type Lightweight replica, an iconic 1960s sports car renowned for its powerful 270 PS engine and impressive 240 km/h top speed. I'm very sad this isn't a Tyre Reviews test!

As usual with Auto Bild tests, they've done a proper job. On wet surfaces, the tyres were evaluated for their resistance to aquaplaning, cornering stability, overall handling, and braking efficiency. Dry condition tests focused on handling, braking performance, rolling comfort, and noise levels. Additionally, the tyres' rolling resistance was measured to gauge their efficiency.

This year's Auto Express Summer Tyre Test focused on the popular 225/45 R17 size, a common fitment for many UK vehicles.

As usual with Auto Express tests, we've kept the summary to a minimum and encourage you to read the full test on their website.

If you enjoy going fast, the Porsche 992 911 GT3 RS is the track car to own, and what use is the best track car without the best track tyres?

Porsche offers six different tyre options specifically homologated for the GT3 RS, and the wonderful people at Autobild have tested them all! 

The tyres on test are the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R, brand new Pirelli P Zero Trofeo RS, and Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersport RS - and the three more street-oriented options - the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2, Pirelli P Zero Corsa, and Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersport R.

While the tyres were tested in the wet, most of the scoring was based on the dry performance. The tyres were tested on both a single lap of the long punishing Nardo test facility, and long six lap runs.

We're finally going to find out what the fastest tyre in the world is, and the result might surprise you!

The Auto Bild 2024 summer tyre test for electric vehicles (EVs) in the 235/55 R19 size aimed to compare the performance of standard and specialized EV tyres to determine if EV-specific tyres offer significant advantages over their conventional counterparts. The test included eight tyre models: the Continental PremiumContact 7, Falken e.Ziex [ev specific], Hankook iON evo SUV [ev specific], Michelin Pilot Sport 4 SUV, Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6, GT Radial SportActive 2 EV [ev specific], Bridgestone Potenza Sport, and Goodride ZuperEco Z-107.

The 2024 AZ Summer Tyre Test evaluated nine premium touring summer tyres, providing a detailed analysis of their performance in various conditions, including dry and wet braking, handling, noise level, and rolling resistance. The Continental PremiumContact 7 stood out with top marks in most categories, followed closely by other brands like Pirelli and Hankook.

The 2024 summer tyre test conducted by Sport Auto magazine compared five premium-category summer tyres against an all-season tyre on a Hyundai i20 N. The test aimed to determine if the all-season tyre could compete with the best summer tyres had to offer during warm (approximately 25c / 77f air temperature) conditions.

Every year Autobild Sports Cars aims to go big, and this year they've literally have, testing UUHP summer tyres! In search for the sportiest performance tyre, they used a Mercedes AMG test vehicle which is fitted with 265/35 R19 front and 295/30 R20 rear tyres.

As usual the excellent drivers at AutoBild put seven sets of UUHP / maximum performance tyres to the test in the dry and wet, as well as testing the rolling resistance and noise levels of the tyres.

It's a good bunch of tyres, and includes the brand new Vredestein Ultrac Pro (which replaces the Ultrac Vorti) against the very best in the category.

The 2024 AutoBild Summer Tyre Test reviewed 20 premium touring summer tyres in size 205/55 R16. The test focused on several key performance indicators including dry and wet braking, handling, noise, wear, value, and rolling resistance. 

Michelin Primacy 4+ ranked first, demonstrating a balanced performance with short braking distances and high efficiency. Continental PremiumContact 7 and Bridgestone Turanza 6 followed, showing strong wet and dry road performance and low wear levels.

The 2024 ADAC summer tyre test tested sixteen tyres in the popular 215/55 R17 size.

We recently tested three of Bridgestone's highest performance tyres back-to-back on track and road: the Potenza Sport, the new Potenza Race, and the track-focused RE71 RS. Testing was conducted on a Honda Civic SI in temperatures reaching 95°F (35°C).

Top Tire Review is a relatively new website, similar to Tyre Reviews (not affiliated), operating in the Asian Pacific (APAC) region, which have different tyre patterns to Europe and North America.

In spite of being a relatively new organisation, they have already conducted their first Asian Pacific tyre test, testing six region specific patterns!

The Polish Motor Magazine recently conducted a premium touring tyre test. The test included eight different tyre brands, all in the popular size of 205/55 R16, which is commonly used in compact and some larger car models. The brands tested were Continental, Goodyear, Dunlop, Bridgestone, Hankook, Pirelli, Michelin, and Vredestein. The test was comprehensive, covering various aspects of tyre performance including wet and dry handling, rolling resistance, noise, and comfort.