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Two motorcycle tyre tests from PS. The German sports bike magazine took a look at slick pairs for professional riders in its 6/2021 issue, and followed this up by looking at four brands of track day tyres in its 7/2021 edition. The PS testers declared Dunlop and Continental the respective winners.
Continental has notched up another tyre test win, this time on two wheels. The latest issue (07/2021) of German sports motorcycle magazine PS compares four brands of racetrack slicks suited to ambitious hobby racers. Thanks to its first-place ranking in five out of the eight test disciplines and a total of 183 points from a possible 230, the PS testers declared the Continental Track test winner.
While anyone prioritising ride comfort above every other factor should steer clear of low profile, higher rim diameter tyres, motorists who want a more dynamic driving experience certainly benefit from a couple of extra inches and a flatter sidewall. Auto Bild has tested 15 size 235/35 R19 tyres suitable for sporty compact cars such as the VW Golf GTI, Audi S3 and Seat Leon Cupra.
The Maxxis Premitra HP5 has capped a run of impressive tyre test results by winning Swedish magazine Vi Bilägare’s 225/45 R17 contest. The flagship global brand of Taiwanese manufacturer Cheng Shin beat premium tyres from Goodyear (EfficientGrip Performance 2 in second), Continental (PremiumContact 6 in third, alongside Nokian’s Hakka Blue 2), Michelin (Primacy 4 in fifth), and Pirelli (Cinturato P7 C2 in sixth) in the test, conducted in Mireval, France. The test ranked tyres based on wet handling, braking and cornering grip, curved and straight aquaplaning, dry handling and braking, fuel consumption, noise, comfort and rolling resistance.
The market for classic car tyres is a small but profitable one, with some vehicle owners prepared to pay three or four times the price of a regular tyre for a fitment that looks the part. Several major tyre brands now offer classic lines; these are either past products brought up to date with modern compounds and/or construction or newly-developed tyres featuring period treads. But how do these tyres compare with modern standard tyres? To find out, Auto Bild Klassik has tested three classic tyres – the Michelin XAS, Vredestein Sprint Classic and Dunlop Sport Classic – against four modern counterparts.
Not all sports car drivers want to compete in track day events, with fast but comfortable a greater priority for many. With this in mind, German car magazine sport auto utilised two vehicles for its 2021 summer tyre test. The chosen duo were the Toyota Supra and BMW Z4, cars that share a platform and come equipped with the same-sized tyres, but developed to satisfy differing customer tastes.
Superminis are well-represented in UK registration figures, occupying the two top spots in 2020. But auto motor und sport (ams) observes that comparative tests tend to overlook the tyres that these cars wear due to their unsporty nature. The German publication now rectifies this paucity of test data by examining 11 tyre brands in size 195/55 R16H.
With starting fields of more than 50 tyres and two rounds of product evaluation, Auto Bild’s tyre tests count amongst the most thorough and authoritative in the business. Kumho is therefore justifiably proud that its Ecsta HS51 achieved outright victory in the Auto Bild 2021 summer tyre test.
Bridgestone is tickled pink that its new flagship performance tyre, Potenza Sport, has been named winner of Auto Bild sportscars’ 2021 summer tyre test. Scoring ahead of eight other brands of tyre, the Bridgestone Potenza Sport, tested on a Ford Mustang 5.0 in the size 265/35 ZR 20, gained the overall best score in the wet and top ratings on dry roads and was classed as ‘exemplary’ by the German magazine.
A set of UHP tyres can cost more than £1,000 or less than half that, but you get what you pay for. This is what Auto Bild Sportscars found in its 2021 summer tyre test – the pricier tyres finished towards the top of the results table, while the two cheapest tyre brands were also the worst performers.
Anyone who’s ever suggested that motoring magazines favour the same two or three brands in their tyre tests will be quietened by the results of the Auto Bild 2021 summer tyre test. The biggest names in the business needed to clear space on the top step of the winners’ podium for an ambitious competitor, while the runner-up Continental tyre was given a run for its money by its lower-priced sibling Semperit.
In its 2021 summer tyre test, Auto Bild Allrad looks at ten premium, mid-range and budget brands, products ranging in price from around £230 to £450 for a set of four. The test team was, by and large, impressed with the candidates’ performance and declared six of the test products either ‘exemplary’ or ‘good’. They declined to recommend just one tyre.
We’ll have to wait another fortnight to learn the winner of this year’s Auto Bild summer tyre test, but the motoring magazine has let the names of the finalists out of the bag. Of the more than 50 tyre brands that Auto Bild looked at – this year in size 205/55 R16 91V – just 20 remain for further, more intensive testing following the qualifying round. Hankook’s candidate tops the shortlist after achieving the best stopping distances in both the wet and dry braking tests.
Ten premium and mid-range brands of tyre show us what they can – and can’t – do in Autozeitung’s 2021 summer tyre test. This year the German motoring publication looks at size 225/40 R18, which is a dimension suited to around 60 vehicle models – including the new Seat Leon, which served as test vehicle.
The days are getting longer and the air outside less bitingly cold. Summer is on its way, and this also means that tyre testers have emerged from hibernation. The first comparative evaluation we’ve seen for the warmer months of 2021 comes from German car magazine Gute Fahrt, which tested the tyre size 245/40 R18 Y.
ViBilägare