2019 Auto Bild All Season SUV Tire Test

Test Summary
Dry Braking	▲Michelin CrossClimate SUV: 38.9 M ▼Nokian WeatherProof SUV: 43.6 M
Dry Handling	▲Michelin CrossClimate SUV: 95.2 Km/H ▼Gripmax Status AllClimate: 92 Km/H
Wet Braking	▲Vredestein Quatrac 5: 55.6 M ▼Gripmax Status AllClimate: 88.5 M
Wet Handling	▲Vredestein Quatrac 5: 80 Km/H ▼Gripmax Status AllClimate: 66.8 Km/H
Straight Aqua	▲Falken EUROALL SEASON AS210: 76.4 Km/H ▼Gripmax Status AllClimate: 68.5 Km/H
Snow Braking	▲Nokian WeatherProof SUV: 23.5 M ▼Gripmax Status AllClimate: 28.5 M
Snow Handling	▲Continental AllSeasonContact: 47.3 Km/H ▼Gripmax Status AllClimate: 43 Km/H
Noise	▲Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons Gen 2 SUV: 72.1 dB ▼Gripmax Status AllClimate: 73.8 dB
Price	▲Gripmax Status AllClimate: 480 ▼Michelin CrossClimate SUV: 830
Rolling Resistance	▲Continental AllSeasonContact: 6.73 kg / t ▼Nokian WeatherProof SUV: 8.55 kg / t

Earlier this year Auto Bild published their 2019 SUV all season tire test, using an Audi Q3 wearing the popular 235/55 R19 all season tire size.

As usual, all seven tire patterns were tested in the dry, wet and snow, and as a reference Auto Bild included a premium summer and winter tire.

All Season vs Summer vs Winter

As we've seen before, the balance of all season vs summer tires follows a general trend. Summer tires do the best in the wet and dry, but cannot perform in snowy conditions. 

When it comes to comparing all season tires against winter tires, things get a little more muddled. In this test the unnamed premium winter tire only won the aquaplaning test. It was strong in the snow, but not the strongest on test, and while it was weaker in the dry and wet than most of the all season tires, it wasn't the worst. It just goes to show, the range of all season tires abilities can span from dry optimised, like the Michelin Crossclimate to a winter tire beating all season tire, like the Nokian Weatherproof.

Dry

The dry braking results yielded no big surprises, with the summer tire and Michelin CrossClimate leading the pack. The Continental was the best of the rest, with the winter bias Nokian Weatherproof struggling to stop the SUV in dry conditions.

The dry handling results were similar to the dry braking, with the summer and Michelin leading the pack.

Wet

During wet braking, the Vredestein and Continental were closest to the summer tires distances, just 0.1 meters off. The Nokian, Falken struggled compared to the best on test, and the budget GripMax was shockingly bad.

As with the dry handling results, the wet handling results showed a similar order to wet braking.

The straight aquaplaning results had the reference winter tire winning the test, with the summer in the middle of the all season tires.

Snow

The winter bias Nokian all season tire won snow braking, stopping in a shorter distance than even the full winter tire! Continental Did a great job of mixing dry, wet and snow results by finishing second.

The Continental and Nokian were again the strongest tires during snow handling, besting the full winter tire. The summer tire could not complete a lap of snow handling, so didn't set a time.

Environment

The Goodyear was the only tire to match the low noise of the summer tire.

The Continental and Michelin had the lowest rolling resistance on test, but were some of the most expensive tires to purchase at the time of test.

Results

1st: Vredestein Quatrac 5
235/55 R19	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 3rd +1.6 M 96.05% Dry Handling 2nd -0.2 Km/H 99.79% Wet Braking 1st 100% Wet Handling 1st 100% Straight Aqua 6th -4.2 Km/H 94.5% Snow Braking 3rd +1.5 M 94% Snow Handling 4th -1.6 Km/H 96.62% Noise 6th +1 dB 98.63% Price 2nd +170 73.85% Rolling Resistance 6th +1.54 kg / t 81.38% An excellent all season tire with great performance in all weather conditions. Good balance and precise steering, short wet and snow braking, well priced. None mentioned. Read Reviews
2nd: Michelin CrossClimate SUV
235/55 R19	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 1st 100% Dry Handling 1st 100% Wet Braking 3rd +2.9 M 95.04% Wet Handling 4th -1.4 Km/H 98.25% Straight Aqua 4th -2.4 Km/H 96.86% Snow Braking 6th +3.7 M 86.4% Snow Handling 3rd -1.4 Km/H 97.04% Noise 4th +0.7 dB 99.04% Price 7th +350 57.83% Rolling Resistance 2nd +0.64 kg / t 91.32% A strong allrounder with sport dynamic handling in the dry, and good in the snow and wet. Low rolling resistance. Expensive. Read Reviews    Buy from £168.00
3rd: Continental AllSeasonContact
235/55 R19	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 2nd +1.2 M 97.01% Dry Handling 5th -1.3 Km/H 98.63% Wet Braking 4th +3 M 94.88% Wet Handling 1st 100% Straight Aqua 2nd -1.3 Km/H 98.3% Snow Braking 2nd +1.2 M 95.14% Snow Handling 1st 100% Noise 2nd +0.1 dB 99.86% Price 5th +290 62.34% Rolling Resistance 1st 100% Excellent in the snow, dynamic wet handling, good comfort levels, low noise, best rolling resistance on test. Understeer in the dry. Read Reviews    Buy from £149.99
4th: Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons Gen 2 SUV
235/55 R19	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 5th +3.1 M 92.62% Dry Handling 4th -1.1 Km/H 98.84% Wet Braking 1st 100% Wet Handling 3rd -1.2 Km/H 98.5% Straight Aqua 3rd -1.9 Km/H 97.51% Snow Braking 4th +2 M 92.16% Snow Handling 6th -2.7 Km/H 94.29% Noise 1st 100% Price 6th +330 59.26% Rolling Resistance 3rd +0.78 kg / t 89.61% Short snow and wet braking distances, low noise, low rolling resistance. Average snow cornering, understeer in the dry. Read Reviews
4th: Nokian WeatherProof SUV
235/55 R19	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 7th +4.7 M 89.22% Dry Handling 6th -3 Km/H 96.85% Wet Braking 5th +5.8 M 90.55% Wet Handling 5th -1.5 Km/H 98.13% Straight Aqua 4th -2.4 Km/H 96.86% Snow Braking 1st 100% Snow Handling 2nd -0.2 Km/H 99.58% Noise 3rd +0.3 dB 99.59% Price 4th +230 67.61% Rolling Resistance 7th +1.82 kg / t 78.71% Strong winter abilities, good aquaplaning result, low noise. Extended wet and dry braking, understeer in the dry. Read Reviews
6th: Falken EUROALL SEASON AS210
235/55 R19	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 4th +1.7 M 95.81% Dry Handling 3rd -0.9 Km/H 99.05% Wet Braking 6th +6.4 M 89.68% Wet Handling 6th -2.8 Km/H 96.5% Straight Aqua 1st 100% Snow Braking 5th +3.6 M 86.72% Snow Handling 5th -2.1 Km/H 95.56% Noise 5th +0.9 dB 98.77% Price 2nd +170 73.85% Rolling Resistance 5th +1.25 kg / t 84.34% Good aquaplaning result. Slow steering, understeer and long braking distances in the wet, average comfort. Read Reviews    Buy from £132.59
7th: Gripmax Status AllClimate
235/55 R19	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 6th +3.2 M 92.4% Dry Handling 7th -3.2 Km/H 96.64% Wet Braking 7th +32.9 M 62.82% Wet Handling 7th -13.2 Km/H 83.5% Straight Aqua 7th -7.9 Km/H 89.66% Snow Braking 7th +5 M 82.46% Snow Handling 7th -4.3 Km/H 90.91% Noise 7th +1.7 dB 97.7% Price 1st 100% Rolling Resistance 4th +0.96 kg / t 87.52% Low rolling resistance, low price. Very poor grip in the wet and snow, very long wet braking distances, poor dry handling. Read Reviews