2018 AMS All Season Tire Test

The unique twist this year? For some reason, the summer and winter reference tires are in the popular 205/55 R16 size, while the seven tested all season tires are in 225/45 R17. Strange. In theory, the narrower tires will have a harder time during the dry testing, but should have a small advantage during snow running.

In spite of the curious size choices, it's a really interesting test, and highlights the different qualities in the various all season tire offerings. It's also fortunate that the final data and conclusions are very close to our own All Season Tire Video, so be sure to check that out too.

Dry

It won't come as any surprise that in the dry, the summer tire dominated the braking test, with the Michelin CrossClimate dividing the gap between the summer tire, and the rest of the all season tires. Interestingly, even the narrower winter tire could hold its own amongst the wider all season tires, once again proving the brilliance of the Continental WinterContact TS860.

Dry handling mixed the order up a little with the Vredestein Quatrac 5 posting the fastest average speed across the 1900m circuit, beating the narrower summer tire. The rest of the order was as you would expect.

Wet

We're unsure why the Continental winter tire had such an advantage during wet braking, but it led the pack of all season tires by a huge margin. The summer tire finished in fifth place overall, behind the Goodyear, Michelin and Nexen all season tires. This isn't something we've seen in other all season tests, with the summer tire normally matching the best all season tires on test.

Wet handling once again changed the order. The narrower summer and winter tires seemed to struggle during the 1823m wet handling course, leaving the Michelin with a modest advantage over the second placed Goodyear and third placed Nexen.

The narrower tires naturally had a big advantage during aquaplaning tests, where getting water out of the tread is the key criteria to scoring well.

Snow

The narrower Continental winter tire just beat the impressive Continental all season tire during the snow braking and snow handling testing.

Environment

The three Continental tires on test all proved to have an excellent low rolling resistance.

Interestingly the narrower Continental summer tire was almost the noisiest tire on test, once again proving that all season and winter tires are often quieter than their summer counterparts.

The Nexen was significantly cheaper than the rest of the all season tires, and even cheaper than the smaller summer and winter tires. The new Nexen all season tire is proving to be incredible value.

Results

Magazine score weighting - 20% dry, 40% wet, 20% snow, 20% environment

1^st

Continental AllSeasonContact

225/45 R16

Surprisingly strong snow performance, direct steering response and excellent grip in the wet, good dry grip.

Weak steering feed and feedback in the dry.

Total: 74.5

Dry 7.6

Wet 9.2

Snow 9.7

Subjective 7

Wet Subjective 8

Comfort 6

Rolling Resistance 10

Noise 8

Overall 9

Read Reviews Test Results Results Table Test Charts

1^st

Continental WinterContact TS 860

225/45 R16

The strongest tire in the snow and wet testing

Not as strong as the best all season tires in the dry as the temperatures increase

Total: 79.9

Dry 7.2

Wet 10.1

Snow 10.6

Subjective 7

Wet Subjective 9

Comfort 7

Rolling Resistance 10

Noise 10

Overall 9

Read Reviews Test Results Results Table Test Charts

2^nd

Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons Gen 2

225/45 R16

An excellent balanced tire. Stable and controllable on snow, and good grip in the wet and dry

A somewhat sluggish steering response in the wet and dry

Total: 74.5

Dry 7.2

Wet 9.9

Snow 8.6

Subjective 8

Wet Subjective 9

Comfort 7

Rolling Resistance 7

Noise 9

Overall 8.8

Read Reviews Test Results Results Table Test Charts

3^rd

Michelin CrossClimate+

225/45 R16

Balanced in the snow, good wet grip with excellent wet handling and good grip in the dry

Above average noise, poor curved aquaplaning result

Total: 69.6

Dry 8.6

Wet 8.7

Snow 7.2

Subjective 8

Wet Subjective 9

Comfort 7

Rolling Resistance 6

Noise 7

Overall 8.1

Read Reviews Test Results Results Table Test Charts

4^th

Nexen N Blue 4 Season

225/45 R16

Good traction on snow and good in the dry and wet, excellent value

Slightly weak aquaplaning result and poor steering precision in the wet

Total: 69.3

Dry 7.6

Wet 8.2

Snow 8.6

Subjective 8

Wet Subjective 7

Comfort 8

Rolling Resistance 4

Noise 10

Overall 7.9

Read Reviews Test Results Results Table Test Charts

5^th

Vredestein Quatrac 5

225/45 R16

Excellent in the dry with best steering response and stability. Still safe to drive in the snow

Average wet performance

Total: 66.8

Dry 8.7

Wet 8.1

Snow 7.2

Subjective 9

Wet Subjective 6

Comfort 7

Rolling Resistance 5

Noise 8

Overall 7.8

Read Reviews Test Results Results Table Test Charts

6^th

Nokian WeatherProof

225/45 R16

Excellent braking and traction in the snow, excellent aquaplaning results

Poor snow balance with oversteer, poor steering precision in the wet and dry

Total: 67.2

Dry 7.2

Wet 7.6

Snow 7.8

Subjective 7

Wet Subjective 7

Comfort 6

Rolling Resistance 9

Noise 8

Overall 7.6

Read Reviews Test Results Results Table Test Charts

6^th

Continental Premium Contact 5

225/45 R16

Quiet and comfortable, best in the dry and strong in the wet

No winter performance

Total: 72.2

Dry 9.9

Wet 9.1

Snow 1.2

Subjective 9

Wet Subjective 9

Comfort 10

Rolling Resistance 8

Noise 8

Overall 8

Read Reviews Test Results Results Table Test Charts

7^th

Toyo Celsius

225/45 R16

Stable and balanced driving in the snow

Poor wet performance

Total: 61.7

Dry 7.2

Wet 6.1

Snow 7.8

Subjective 8

Wet Subjective 6

Comfort 7

Rolling Resistance 5

Noise 8

Overall 6.6

Read Reviews Test Results Results Table Test Charts