Buyers of the VW Multivan who want all-season tyres can have these factory fitted, with the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles UK website listing these as an option when selecting either 16-, 17- or 18-inch rims. Continental shares that it is supplying its AllSeasonContact as an original equipment tyre for the Multivan in two key dimensions, 215/65 R16 102H XL and 235/55 R17 103H XL.
Last month, Gute Fahrt published the first half of its latest all-season tyre test, remarking that the seven candidates didn’t handle wet and dry summery conditions as ably as the best summer tyres. As for how they fared in the snow, the motoring publication decided to test our patience and made us wait another four weeks before telling us. The time has come, and the news is both good and not great.
VW Caddy models supplied with 16- and 17-inch rims will be available with Continental all-season tyres as original equipment. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is equipping the Caddy with the AllSeasonContact in sizes 205/60 R16 96H XL and 215/55 R17 98H XL. It has also approved the Continental EcoContact 6 summer tyre for the Caddy in size 215/55 R17 98H XL.
Continental is introducing a further five AllSeasonContact dimensions, and these tyres are the first in the range to offer an EU label rating of A for fuel efficiency. Furthermore, four of the five new sizes are XL rated for heavier loads; Continental says this combination “makes the tyre the ideal retrofit option for electric vehicles, as it can carry the higher average weight and extend the range of e-vehicles.”
A pilot project that Continental began with Share Now in late 2020 is progressing into a broader partnership that will see the car sharing firm’s Danish vehicle fleet fitted with Continental AllSeasonContact tyres and monitored under a Conti360° Solutions contract. The partnership includes new innovations, including algorithm-based, real-time tread depth monitoring.
Parky mornings and evenings are one sign that summer is on the wane. The appearance of all-season and winter tyre tests is another. The first to arrive this year is from German motoring magazine Autozeitung, which has looked at the commonly-fitted small car size 205/55 R16.
Continental has collected silverware in the Auto Express Product Awards 2021, with its AllSeasonContact winning the all-season tyre category. The tyre maker states that gaining the Best All-Season Tyre award “highlights how committed Continental is to providing drivers with the safest and top-performing choice all year round.”
The improvement in the quality of all-season tyres has supported their sustained growth in Europe. While the latest test by the DACH region’s leading auto clubs continued to characterise the product as an unrecommended compromise, German magazine ratings this year have been much less snooty about the segment. Joining the UK’s leading consumer testers in praising the latest generation of year-round fitments, was AutoBild, among the industry’s most coveted ratings, while the most recent Sportauto test gave six out of the seven candidates “good” or even “very good” overall grades. The test acknowledges the advantages of seasonal rubber via two Bridgestone control tyres, the Turanza T005 summer tyre and the Blizzak LM005, but also points out the “amazing qualities” of the seven test subjects on cold-wet and cold-dry roads. The seven all-season tyres were tested in size 225/45 R18 on a BMW 330i.
About a year ago Continental announced its selection as a tyre supplier to the ID.3, and under this arrangement is providing original equipment EcoContact 6 summer tyres, WinterContact TS 850P winter tyres and AllSeasonContact all-season tyres. But tyres are only one of a host of Continental products and technologies going into the new all-electric range. The company is also supplying computer equipment, brake technology, hose lines, heat pumps and driver assistance systems.
Tyre Reviews has made the newly released Goodyear Vector 4Season Gen-3 its 2020 All Season 17” Test winner. Putting nine all-season tyres in size 225/45 R17 through their paces at Goodyear’s testing facilities in Finnish Lapland and the south of France, tester Jonathan Benson gave additional recommendations to four further tyres: Hankook’s Kinergy 4S2 (second place) and the Continental AllSeasonContact (third) were given the review website’s Highly Recommended rating, while the Bridgestone Weather Control A005 (fourth) and Michelin CrossClimate+ (fifth) were Recommended. The weighting of different conditions is particularly relevant to all-season tyre tests, given the promise of functionality in a wide range of climate and road surface conditions. Tyre Reviews opted to award overall scores based on 30 per cent wet, 25 per cent dry, 25 per cent snow, 10 per cent noise and comfort, and 10 per cent rolling resistance. See below for the Tyre Reviews video of the 2020 All Season 17” test, and for additional comments on each of the nine tyres tested.
Germanophone auto clubs, ADAC, the Austrian Automobile, Motorcycle and Touring Club (ÖAMTC) and the Touring Club Switzerland (TCS) have presented the results of their joint all-season tyre test. Despite the rising popularity of all-season tyres in European markets, the clubs did not recommend any of the seven tyres in the test without condition. The tyres were tested in size 235/55R17 103V/Y using a Ford Kuga as an exemplifier of heavier, larger SUVs, which are themselves increasing in popularity throughout Western Europe. Such vehicles are also amongst those most likely to fit all-season products. Tyres tested were Bridgestone’s Weather Control A005, Conti’s AllSeasonContact, Goodyear’s Vector 4Seasons Gen-2, Michelin’s CrossClimate +, Nokian’s Weatherproof, Uniroyal’s AllSeasonExpert 2, and Vredestein’s Quatrac Pro. The publication of the test was delayed from its original planned publication date in April due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
