All-terrain tyres are gaining popularity amongst owners of campers and pick-ups, with their chunky treads promising good traction on all surfaces. But are they really the right tyre for the great outdoors? To answer this question, European motoring associations ADAC, ÖAMTC and TCS assessed eight all-terrain tyres in 225/65 R17, a dimension worn by the VW Transporter and Multivan.
The team at Auto Bild has been at it again – another tyre test has hit the real and virtual magazine stands, with the German publication’s Auto Bild Sportscars title evaluating seven tyre brands in the mixed 245/35 R20 (front) and 295/30 R20 (rear) sizes. Tyre expert Dierk Möller fitted these to a Lotus Emira for testing, which took place at the Contidrom proving ground in Germany.
Last month we shared the results of the 225/40 ZR18 tyre test performed by Die Reifentester, an experienced team of journalists and tyre developers from Germany. This evaluation of eight products delivered a winning result to three tyres, one of these being a newcomer from Kumho. The recently launched Ecsta Sport excelled across the board in its inaugural tyre test appearance, gaining a ‘very good’ rating from the Die Reifentester team.
Auto Bild – the German motoring publication we know and love for its giant tyre tests, has named its tyre brand of the year. It asked its readers to decide upon the best brands in all parts of the automotive sector, and for tyres they could vote for two categories: Quality and Price/Performance. In recent times, German tyre brand Continental has taken first place in both for seven consecutive years.
Several leading European motoring publications and associations have favourably rated Goodyear tyres in their summer 2025 comparative tests, and the tyre maker considers this to be recognition of Goodyear’s “commitment to safety, comfort and work toward helping reduce environmental impacts.” Four separate tests praised the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 and EfficientGrip 2 SUV for their mileage and well-balanced performance.
Can energy-efficient summer tyres still deliver excellent grip in wet and dry conditions? That’s the question Poland’s Motor magazine set out to answer in its latest comparative tyre test. The publication focused on 205/55 R16, a size popular among compact and mid-size vehicles like the VW Golf, Ford Focus, Vauxhall/Opel Astra, Audi A3, and even electric models such as the Nissan Leaf.
Netherlands-based motoring association ANWB has compared 18 models of size 225/40 R18 summer tyres. Its test team subjected the these to safety-related tests in wet and dry conditions, these contributing 70% towards the final score. They additionally appraised rolling resistance, fuel consumption, noise characteristics and wear.
Kumho Tyre is well pleased with the ‘exemplary’ rating its Kumho Ecsta PS71 gained in the Auto Bild 2025 summer tyre test. It earned the motoring publication’s top rating when tested in size 225/40R18, finishing joint fourth from a total of 52 candidates. Auto Bild particularly praised the Ecsta PS71 for its outstanding performance in dry and the best result in wet conditions.
Motorcycling magazine Motorrad has published the first part of its spring 2025 tyre test, and this ends with an outcome that seems contradictory at first glance. In this product comparison, six testers scrutinised six different tyres for BMW GS motorcycles, using six identical BMW R 1300 GS bikes. So far, so good. But while each tester ultimately chose a different tyre as their personal favourite, the magazine did not announce six winners. Instead, Motorrad’s overall ratings ranged from ‘very good’ to ‘satisfactory’. How can this be?
Dunlop’s new road-focused hypersport tyre, the SportSmart mk4, has won two separate comparative tests. Motorrad Europe’s largest motorcycle magazine, awarded the tyre the top ‘Very Good’ rating in the Sport category of its latest test, additionally making the magazine’s ‘Buying Recommendation Dry’ and ‘Buying Recommendation Wet’. PS Magazine, meanwhile praised the tyre for its grip, performance and quick warm-up on both wet and dry roads.
SUVs and 4x4s are popular in the UK, and even though most spend their entire lives on sealed roads, a sizeable number of drivers demand tyres that will see them good should they ever encounter gravel, sand or grass. Auto Bild Allrad has compared ten SUV tyres in size 255/55 R18. Nine brands in total, with Goodyear represented twice – although it probably thinks once would have been enough.
We’re in the thick of tyre test season, and motoring association ADAC has published a comparative evaluation with a difference. Instead of car, SUV or 4×4 tyres, it has chosen to test tyres for trailers, caravans and horse trailers. All ten brands in this test are specifically developed trailer tyres that carry the designations ‘trailer use only’ or ‘free rolling tyre’. ADAC has chosen the popular trailer size 185 R 14, with the speed rating N for speeds up to 87 mph or 140 km/h.
In its 2025 summer tyre test, Sportauto not only highlights the advantages of mixed diameter fitments, it also compares original equipment and aftermarket tyres, emphasising why the former may not be the best choice – despite being tailor made for a specific vehicle model. In this case the vehicle is a BMW M4; the motoring publication evaluates four brands of tyre in the combination of 275/35 R19 at the front and 285/30 R20 at the rear, a setup increasingly common in high-performance sports cars.
If our interactions with tyres were a relationship, it’d quite possibly be a toxic one. No matter how much our round, rubbery partners deliver, we demand more and more. They’ve given us durability, increased grip, high-speed performance, traction in the wet, run-flat capabilities, low noise and reduced rolling resistance, but in the end, it hasn’t been enough – now we want our tyres to be sustainable, too. Tyre makers have responded with products that claim to satisfy this wish; motoring publication auto motor und sport (ams) puts six of these through their paces.
Cars with 19-inch rims were still something special even ten years ago, but not these days. This size is standard for many manufacturers, particularly on their sportier models. Auto Bild Sportscars has selected 245/35 R19 for its summer 2025 test, a dimension that is a popular optional fitment for the now-retired Audi TT.
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