This year, the German publication Auto Bild Allrad decided to distinguish itself. Its expert team conducted not only tire tests for compact SUVs but also comparative tests of all-season tires in the size of 235/55 R19.
List of all-season models tested:
- Continental AllSeasonContact
- Falken EuroAll Season AS210
- Goodyear Vector 4Seasons SUV Gen-2
- Gripmax Status Allclimate
- Michelin CrossClimate SUV
- Nokian Weatherproof SUV
- Vredestein Quatrac 5
The popularity of all-season tires is only growing by the year because they exempt car owners from the necessity of going religiously twice a year to a tire service in order to have winter or summer tires replaced according to the season.
There is also the economic aspect to consider: four tires instead of eight, sometimes even four rims instead of eight, minus the service costs… The benefits are obvious.
Besides, the progress is also moving on. Experimenting with rubber compound formulas and tread patterns, over the last few years the tire makers significantly increased the performance of all-season tires and their versatility.
The secret to making a great all season tire is the right kind of rubber compound. It must be elastic enough at -20°C and hard enough at +30°C. If the compound is not soft enough in winter, the car will run a risk of going into a skid, while on summer’s hot tarmac the soft tires will be wearing way too fast.
Is a compromise at all possible? Yes! The modern tire production is an art in its own right, and each of all-season tire manufacturers goes to great lengths to safeguard the secrets of its R&D departments. However, in spite of all the efforts, even the latest achievements in tire production technology did not yet yield a result that would fully answer the very notion of «all-season tires». Regretfully, a tire whose performance would be equally good in any weather conditions is still nonexistent yet.
This statement is confirmed by the 2019 Auto Bild Allrad all-season tire test which, to prove this point, involved specialized winter and summer tires competing alongside the all-seasons in the same disciplines.
What is remarkable is the fact that all the tested all-season tires bore a 3PMSF pictogram that signifies that these tires are safe to drive on in winter conditions, yet all of them showed vastly different performance on snow.
The results of the 2019 all-season tire test
Snow: better not leave your garage if on summer tires: 923 Н versus 2399 Н shown by the worst all-season tire in the discipline.
Snow Traction
- Continental
- Nokian
- Winter tires
- Vredestein
- Goodyear
- Michelin
- Falken
- Gripmax
- Summer tires
Info! Average Traction, H.
Snow Braking
- Nokian
- Winter tires
- Continental
- Vredestein
- Goodyear
- Falken
- Michelin
- Gripmax
- Summer tires
Info! Snow braking in the range of 50–0 km/h.
Snow Handling
- Continental
- Nokian
- Winter tires
- Michelin
- Vredestein
- Falken
- Goodyear
- Gripmax
- Summer tires
Info! Average Speed, km/h.
Slalom Section
- Continental
- Winter tires
- Nokian
- Vredestein
- Falken
- Michelin
- Goodyear
- Gripmax
- Summer tires
Info! Lateral Acceleration, m/s².
Wet pavement: the results of winter and all-season tires got all mixed up.
Wet Braking
- Summer tires
- Goodyear
- Vredestein
- Michelin
- Continental
- Winter tires
- Nokian
- Falken
- Gripmax
Info! Wet braking in the range of 100–0 km/h.
Aquaplaning Resistance
- Summer tires
- Falken
- Continental
- Winter tires
- Goodyear
- Michelin
- Nokian
- Vredestein
- Gripmax
Info! Rate of grip loss, km/h.
Wet Handling
- Summer tires
- Continental
- Vredestein
- Goodyear
- Michelin
- Nokian
- Winter tires
- Falken
- Gripmax
Info! Average Speed, km/h.
Lateral Grip
- Summer tires
- Vredestein
- Continental
- Michelin
- Nokian
- Goodyear
- Winter tires
- Falken
- Gripmax
Info! Lap Time, s.
Dry pavement: all-season tires are not necessarily less fuel-efficient than summer tires.
Dry Braking
- Summer tires
- Michelin
- Continental
- Vredestein
- Falken
- Goodyear
- Gripmax
- Winter tires
- Nokian
Info! Dry braking in the range of 100–0 km/h.
Dry Handling
- Summer tires
- Michelin
- Vredestein
- Falken
- Goodyear
- Continental
- Winter tires
- Nokian
- Gripmax
Info! Average Speed, km/h.
External Noise
- Goodyear
- Summer tires
- Continental
- Nokian
- Winter tires
- Michelin
- Falken
- Vredestein
- Gripmax
Info! The noise level at a speed 80 km/h, db(A).
Rolling Resistance
- Continental
- Michelin
- Summer tires
- Goodyear
- Winter tires
- Gripmax
- Falken
- Vredestein
- Nokian
Info! Rolling Resistance, kg/t.
Result summary
- 1 place: Vredestein Quatrac 5.
Positive: Better performance in any weather conditions, great balance and handling precision, effective braking on snow, wet and dry pavement, a reasonable price. - 2 place: Michelin CrossClimate SUV.
Positive: Sports-grade handling response on dry pavement, dependable grip on snow and wet pavement, low rolling resistance. Negative: High price.
- 3 place: Continental AllSeasonContact.
Positive: Outstanding traction on snow, dynamic handling response on wet pavement, good riding comfort, the lowest rolling resistance on test. Negative: Insufficient handling response on dry pavement.
- 4 place: Goodyear Vector 4Seasons SUV Gen-2.
Positive: Short braking distances on wet pavement and snow, low noise emission, low rolling resistance. Negative: Delayed steering response on snow.
- 5 place: Nokian Weatherproof SUV.
Positive: Safe behavior on snow, good hydroplaning resistance, low noise emission. Negative: Insufficient handling response in the dry, long braking distances on dry and wet pavement.
- 6 place: Falken EuroAll Season AS210.
Positive: High hydroplaning resistance. Negative: Delayed steering response, insufficient handling and a long braking distance on wet pavement, average riding comfort.
- 7 place: Gripmax Status Allclimate.
Positive: Low rolling resistance, low price. Negative: Weak traction on snow, extremely weak grip and a dangerously long braking distance on wet pavement, insufficient handling response in the dry.
Verdicts and opinions of the experts of Auto Bild Allrad
Oftentimes, all-season tires start behaving differently in certain weather conditions but, parallel to that, there are new models that do not display any noticeable drawbacks in any time of the year. An example of that is Vredestein Quatrac 5 that scored the first place in the test with a great balance of operational properties and short braking distances on all kinds of pavements. «Exemplary»
The second place with the same honorable verdict was won by the most expensive tire on test Michelin CrossClimate SUV with a slightly poorer performance on dry pavement. The safety of this model in the wet and on snow is absolutely doubtless. But the price tag…. Way too high. Nevertheless — «Exemplary».
Continental AllSeasonContact scored the third place. It performs admirably on snow and wet pavement — says the technical expert of TiresVote.com — but it has a few issues with handling on dry pavement. On the upside, this tire has a remarkably low rolling resistance. The overall verdict: «Good».
The fourth berth of the final ranking was occupied by two all-season models Nokian Weatherproof SUV and Goodyear Vector 4Seasons SUV Gen-2. The former is engineered chiefly to be driven on snow, showing insufficient braking performance on dry and wet pavement. The latter shows a slightly poorer handling response on snow but it is a lot more predictable on wet and dry pavement.
Interestingly, the two models got different verdicts: Goodyear — «Good»; Nokian — «Satisfactory».
The sixth place was scored by Falken EuroAll Season AS210. According to the experts, its only strong point was their good hydroplaning resistance. In all other respects, this tire showed a poorer performance than the competitors’ on wet pavement. This was enough to bring it a «Satisfactory» verdict.
The only «not recommended» verdict on test was bestowed on the Chinese budget tires Gripmax Status Allclimate, a set of which is 1.7 times cheaper than a set of Michelin CrossClimate SUV tires in the size of 235/55 R19.
But differences in price entail differences in operational properties that affect safety. The Gripmax demonstrated weak traction on snow, as well as extremely weak grip and a dangerously long braking distance on wet pavement. Now add to this poor handling response in the dry. The experts’ collective opinion is hard to argue with. The last seventh place.
