2017 All Season VS Winter Tyre Test

Test Summary
Wet BrakingMichelin CrossClimate
Dry BrakingContinental WinterContact TS 860
Wet HandlingContinental WinterContact TS 860
WearContinental WinterContact TS 860
Rolling ResistanceNokian WeatherProof
NoiseContinental WinterContact TS 860
Snow HandlingContinental WinterContact TS 860
Falken EUROALL SEASON AS200
Uniroyal AllSeasonExpert
BFGoodrich g Grip All Season 2
Toyo Celsius
The German publication Auto Zeitung have just published their 2017 all season tyre test, and it might be the most UK relevant tyre test we've seen this year.

First, they're testing in the most popular 205/55 R16 size using a FWD Audi A3, which represents a large slice of our car market. Secondly, they've managed to include ten all season patterns, which is more than most all season tyre tests manage, but the icing on the cake is the winter tyre included for reference is the multiple award winning Continental WinterContact TS 860.

We've mentioned a number of times that the Continental WinterContact range is not only consistently the best tested winter tyres on the market, but could also be considered as the best "winter-bias all season tyre" available due to its remarkable ability to work well in the snow, and the wet. This test confirms that, but it faces close competition from the only summer-bias all season tyre on the market, the Michelin CrossClimate

Dry

There are no surprises during the dry testing. The summer-bias Michelin CrossClimate makes good on its promise of behaving like a summer tyre in dry conditions, and aces both the dry braking and dry handling tests by some margin.

BF Goodrich have a good showing, placing second under dry braking and third in dry handling, and the Continental WinterContact TS860 and Goodyear Vector 4Season Gen 2 both finish mid pack in a closely contested group.

Wet

The wet braking confirms why the Continental WinterContact TS860 is currently unbeaten in winter tyre testing, it wins the wet handling lap by over a second, and finishes joint first in wet braking. While the Michelin couldn't quite match the Continental and Goodyear during wet braking, it still finishes a respectable fourth place overall, and places second overall in wet handling.

Snow

The Goodyear all season tyre managed to beat the Continental winter tyre during the snow braking test, and the Nokian all season tyre just edges out the Continental during snow handling. The summer bias Michelin managed a respectable fifth place during the snow braking, despite its summer bias, but the lack of sipes were highlighted in the snow handling test, where the Michelin could only finish ninth overall.

Other

The Nokian proved to have the lowest fuel use on test, and all eleven tyres were within 2db during the external drive by noise test.

Results

1st: Continental WinterContact TS 860

Continental WinterContact TS 860
  • 205/55 R16
  • 3PMSF: no
  1. Total: 845
  2. Dry: 113
  3. Wet: 149
  4. Snow: 140
  5. Comfort: 9
  6. Rolling Resistance: 22
  7. Noise: 10
  8. Overall: 402
Excellent performance in the snow (better than any of the all-season tires), good braking and handling in the wet, low rolling resistance
Poor dry handling

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1st: Michelin CrossClimate

Michelin CrossClimate
  • 205/55 R16
  • 3PMSF: no
  1. Total: 750
  2. Dry: 138
  3. Wet: 124
  4. Snow: 96
  5. Comfort: 7
  6. Rolling Resistance: 18
  7. Noise: 9
  8. Overall: 358
Good acceleration and braking on snow, good in the wet, very short dry braking, excellent dry handling
Weak snow handling

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2nd: Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons Gen 2

Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons Gen 2
  • 205/55 R16
  • 3PMSF: no
  1. Total: 747
  2. Dry: 110
  3. Wet: 118
  4. Snow: 126
  5. Comfort: 6
  6. Rolling Resistance: 24
  7. Noise: 9
  8. Overall: 354
Even better than the winter under snow braking, excellent snow traction, good wet braking, low rolling resistance
Relatively long dry braking and poor dry handling

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3rd: BFGoodrich g Grip All Season 2

BFGoodrich g Grip All Season 2
  • 205/55 R16
  • 3PMSF: no
  1. Total: 728
  2. Dry: 123
  3. Wet: 111
  4. Snow: 111
  5. Comfort: 8
  6. Rolling Resistance: 20
  7. Noise: 10
  8. Overall: 345
Good acceleration and braking on snow, good handling on wet and dry roads, low rolling resistance
Poor snow handling

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4th: Nokian WeatherProof

Nokian WeatherProof
  • 205/55 R16
  • 3PMSF: no
  1. Total: 714
  2. Dry: 108
  3. Wet: 95
  4. Snow: 134
  5. Comfort: 6
  6. Rolling Resistance: 25
  7. Noise: 9
  8. Overall: 337
Almost as good as a full winter in the snow, good aquaplaning resistance, low rolling resistance
Average braking and handling in the wet

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5th: Uniroyal AllSeasonExpert

Uniroyal AllSeasonExpert
  • 205/55 R16
  • 3PMSF: no
  1. Total: 676
  2. Dry: 95
  3. Wet: 103
  4. Snow: 123
  5. Comfort: 7
  6. Rolling Resistance: 17
  7. Noise: 10
  8. Overall: 321
Good snow handling, good wet braking, good resistance to aquaplaning
Longest braking in the dry, and poor dry handling

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6th: Vredestein Quatrac 5

Vredestein Quatrac 5
  • 205/55 R16
  • 3PMSF: no
  1. Total: 630
  2. Dry: 116
  3. Wet: 98
  4. Snow: 88
  5. Comfort: 7
  6. Rolling Resistance: 18
  7. Noise: 8
  8. Overall: 295
Good wet and dry handling
Weak resistance to aquaplaning, poor lateral snow grip, loudest tyre on test

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7th: Falken EUROALL SEASON AS200

Falken EUROALL SEASON AS200
  • 205/55 R16
  • 3PMSF: no
  1. Total: 596
  2. Dry: 90
  3. Wet: 112
  4. Snow: 82
  5. Comfort: 6
  6. Rolling Resistance: 12
  7. Noise: 10
  8. Overall: 284
Good wet handling
Weak grip in the snow, long dry braking, high rolling resistance

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8th: Pirelli Cinturato AllSeason

Pirelli Cinturato AllSeason
  • 205/55 R16
  • 3PMSF: no
  1. Total: 597
  2. Dry: 104
  3. Wet: 110
  4. Snow: 67
  5. Comfort: 8
  6. Rolling Resistance: 18
  7. Noise: 9
  8. Overall: 281
Good resistance to aquaplaning and good wet braking
Understeer in the dry, longest braking distances in the snow

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9th: Hankook Kinergy 4S

Hankook Kinergy 4S
  • 205/55 R16
  • 3PMSF: no
  1. Total: 584
  2. Dry: 111
  3. Wet: 85
  4. Snow: 82
  5. Comfort: 7
  6. Rolling Resistance: 12
  7. Noise: 9
  8. Overall: 278
Good dry handling
Poor snow handling, longest wet braking, poor wet handling

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10th: Toyo Celsius

Toyo Celsius
  • 205/55 R16
  • 3PMSF: no
  1. Total: 571
  2. Dry: 103
  3. Wet: 79
  4. Snow: 88
  5. Comfort: 7
  6. Rolling Resistance: 14
  7. Noise: 10
  8. Overall: 270
None mentioned
Poor snow handling, long dry braking

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