ALL-SEASON TIRE TEST: For the first time, a product has received a very good rating!
All-season tires are undoubtedly becoming more popular, but there are still several questions surrounding them. The first – how to successfully compete with traditional summer and winter tires, the second – how to offer good driving characteristics on wet surfaces, and the third – how to ultimately create an environmentally friendly product. There are many challenges, so it's quite logical to doubt whether it's even possible to produce a tire that can successfully balance all these demands.
Because it's necessary to find a tire that will be comfortable to drive in summer conditions, when the asphalt temperature is 50 degrees Celsius, but also safe in dangerous situations. That same tire in winter conditions, with temperatures below freezing and on snow-covered roads, should also provide maximum safe handling. And it should be just as safe on wet and slippery roads. In addition, it should be durable, lightweight, fuel-efficient, and quiet. How to reconcile all that?
In search of an answer to this question, European automobile clubs, including HAK, tested 16 models for the first time in one of the most popular sizes, 205/55 R16 (Golf-class cars), and for the first time found a highly recommended tire (no excellent ones). This is the Goodyear Vector 4Season Gen-3, which, although not without flaws (especially at high summer temperatures on dry surfaces), is the best in this competition. Unfortunately, no all-season tire managed to reach a high level in two important areas – safety and ecology, nor did any come close to the top standards of specialized summer and winter tires in individual categories.
In addition to the Goodyear Vector 4Season Gen-3 (overall score 2.4, highly recommended or very good), which performed impressively in wet and winter conditions (with high predicted mileage, durability, and good efficiency), Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF2 (overall score 2.6 – recommended or good) also deserves praise, as it was the only tire to receive a highly recommended rating in the safety category. In other words, its driving characteristics are impressive both in summer and winter, and on wet surfaces. Unfortunately, in the predicted mileage category, it did not shine, which is why its overall rating could not be highly recommended (missing by just a tenth of a point). However, for drivers who do not rack up a lot of annual mileage, this could be a very interesting choice.
The following quartet also earned noteworthy results – Hankook Kinergy 4S2 and Michelin CrossClimate 2 (both scored 2.7), as well as Kumho Solus 4S HA32+ and Vredestein Quatrac (both scored 2.8). All these tires were quite successful in the ecological field and somewhat less so in the safety field. Specifically, Hankook did not perform well on wet and snow-covered surfaces, Michelin on wet surfaces, Kumho on wet and dry surfaces, and Vredestein on wet, dry, and snow-covered surfaces. In addition to the previously mentioned five, the only other tire to receive a recommended overall rating was the Falken EuroAll Season AS210, which did not particularly stand out in terms of either safety or ecological performance.
A level below was a group of seven tires that cannot boast particularly balanced characteristics and are only partially recommended after this test. This group includes models such as Firestone Multiseason2, Sava All Weather, Nankang Cross Seasons AW-6, Toyo Celsius AS2, Semperit AllSeason-Grip, Uniroyal AllSeasonExpert 2, and Yokohama BluEarth-4S. These have their good and bad sides, but thanks to the good ones, they will attract some buyers. However, they are unlikely to attract drivers living in warmer climates because their performance on dry surfaces is lacking. So, if you cover many kilometers in summer conditions, try to avoid this group of products, as driving them is not precise, and maneuvers to avoid obstacles at the limit can lead to oversteering and insufficiently quick stabilization of the vehicle.
At the bottom of this ranking are two products that are not recommended. These are the Kenda Kenetica 4S, which underperformed in winter conditions (although it performed quite well on dry and wet surfaces), and the Infinity Ecofour, which disappointed on wet surfaces (and didn’t impress on dry surfaces either).
The choice of all-season tires is already, by itself, a certain compromise. However, if you opt for this type of tire, try not to compromise on quality. This will, of course, be related to the amount of money in your wallet, but if you find an all-season tire that suits your driving preferences, don’t quibble over a euro more or less. Sooner or later, it will pay off.
Finally, the criteria. Since 2023, the overall rating consists of 70% driving safety and 30% ecological balance (sustainability, tire durability, etc.).
All-season tire test 205/55 R16
Goodyear Vector 4Season Gen-3
highly recommended
+ safe on wet surfaces, safe in winter conditions, high predicted mileage, lightweight, low fuel consumption
– minor shortcomings on dry surfaces
Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF2
recommended
+ precise and safe when driving at the limit on dry surfaces, safe on wet surfaces, still safe in winter conditions, low fuel consumption
– lowest predicted mileage in the test, relatively heavy tire
Hankook Kinergy 4S2
recommended
+ precise and safe on dry surfaces, high predicted mileage, durable tire, lightweight, low fuel consumption
– minor shortcomings on wet surfaces, minor shortcomings in winter conditions, somewhat noisier tire
Michelin CrossClimate 2
recommended
+ precise and safe when driving at the limit on dry surfaces, precise and safe in winter conditions, high predicted mileage, most durable tire in the test, lightweight, low fuel consumption
– minor shortcomings on wet surfaces
Kumho Solus 4S HA32+
recommended
+ high predicted mileage, durable tire, still efficient tire
– shortcomings on dry surfaces, minor shortcomings on wet surfaces
Vredestein Quatrac
recommended
+ high predicted mileage, durable tire, efficient tire
– shortcomings on dry surfaces, minor shortcomings on wet surfaces, minor shortcomings in winter conditions
Falken EuroAll Season AS210
recommended
+ safe on wet surfaces, durable tire, low fuel consumption
– minor shortcomings on dry surfaces, shortcomings in winter conditions, minor shortcomings in predicted mileage
Firestone Multiseason2
partially recommended
+ lightweight, low fuel consumption
– weak on dry surfaces, minor shortcomings on wet surfaces, shortcomings in winter conditions, only satisfactory predicted mileage, only satisfactory durability
Sava All Weather
partially recommended
+ safe in winter conditions, still satisfactory durability, durable tire, lightweight, very low fuel consumption
– weak on dry surfaces, shortcomings on wet surfaces
Nankang Cross Seasons AW-6
partially recommended
+ still durable tire, low fuel consumption
– weak on dry surfaces, shortcomings on wet surfaces, shortcomings in winter conditions, heavy tire
Toyo Celsius AS2
partially recommended
+ good predicted mileage, durable tire, lightweight, low fuel consumption
– weak on dry surfaces, shortcomings on wet surfaces, shortcomings in winter conditions
Semperit AllSeason-Grip
partially recommended
+ safe on wet surfaces, safe in winter conditions, lightweight, low fuel consumption
– weak on dry surfaces, only satisfactory predicted mileage, only satisfactory durability
Uniroyal AllSeasonExpert 2
partially recommended
+ still safe on wet surfaces, still safe in winter conditions, high predicted mileage, durable tire, lightweight, low fuel consumption
– weak on dry surfaces
Yokohama BluEarth-4S
partially recommended
+ good in braking on snow
– weak on dry surfaces, shortcomings on wet surfaces, shortcomings in winter conditions, shortcomings in predicted mileage, shortcomings in durability, very heavy tire
Kenda Kenetica 4S
not recommended
+ good in braking on snow
– weak on dry surfaces, shortcomings on wet surfaces, shortcomings in predicted mileage, shortcomings in durability
Infinity Ecofour
not recommended
+ low fuel consumption
– weak on dry surfaces, shortcomings on wet surfaces, shortcomings in predicted mileage, shortcomings in durability, very heavy tire