The American publication tested a few dozen summer and all-season tires designed for passenger cars, as well as for SUVs and pickup trucks.
Consumer Reports has published the results of its recent tire test, noting that the test procedure was slightly changed. The tires were tested at the Consumer Reports Auto Test Center in Connecticut, while treadwear testing was performed over public roads in western Texas to 16,000 miles. The ice performance of the all-season tires was tested at a nearby ice track.
First place in the final standings of Performance class tires was scored by the Michelin CrossClimate 2, which was rated particularly high for its handling performance and hydroplaning resistance; next-placed were the Continental PureContact LS and Hankook Kinergy 4S 2. There were only two tires that were rated as downright poor in some of the disciplines — the Uniroyal Tiger Paw Touring A/S (in North America, the rights to this brand belong to Michelin), which had a high rolling resistance, and the budget Atlas tire, which failed the ice braking test.
Michelin also almost won the UHP all-season tire test with its Pilot Sport A/s 3+ model, but was outperformed by the Goodyear Eagle Exhilarance, whose size range was recently additionally widened. The worst tire on test, however, was pronounced to be the GT Radial Champiro UHP AS from Singapore’s Giti, which demonstrated poor ice and snow performance.
In the segment of UHP summer tires, the victory was won by the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S, with Continental, Pirelli and Bridgestone (even in spite of the fact that the test involved three tire models from the Japanese brand) falling behind. The worst performance was demonstrated by the Armstrong tires.
All-season SUV tires were also tested, and here the victory was won by the Michelin CrossCimate SUV, which demonstrated a good braking performance combined with strong hydroplaning resistance, while second place with a large gap was scored by the Vredestein Hitrac, one of whose strong points was a low noise level.
In the All-Terrain tire test, the Michelin and Vredestein tires also scored high places, this time second and fourth respectively, first place being won by Continental. On the other hand, Continental projected mileage was almost half of that of Michelin’s — 90K vs 160K kilometers.
And, finally, the Highway-Terrain tire test was again won by the Continental model, two bottom lines of the tournament bracket being scored by two products from the Japanese Toyo Tires.
