While regular car tires have to balance wet and dry performance, 4x4 tires have even more to do as they have to potentially cope with high speeds and massive loads on rough terrain.
With this in mind Auto Zeitung have taken 8 of the latest high performance 4x4 tires and tested their wet, dry and offroad performance. To ensure of the off road performance tests are through, the BMW X5 test vehicle found itself in a mud pool, on sand, skidding over lose dirt and sliding about on wet grass!
With safety being a key concern, the results place the scoring emphasis on braking performance, with traction playing an important part of the offroad scores. As high performance tires are normally used year round on the road, the wet and dry weather performance forms the largest percentage of the overall points.
The results? Apparently Continental can make thier 4x4 tires just as good as their car tires and take another convincing win in 2010. Michelin and Bridgestone place 2nd and 3rd respectively with Nokian finishing 4th to beat the premium Dunlop tire (which is 100 euros more!)
