2022 Auto Bild Summer Tire Test

The 2022 AutoBild summer tire is here! As usual, the test started out as a wet and dry braking test of fifty sets of tires in the popular 215/55 R17 size using a VW Passat, with the best twenty one moving through to this full test. Not only have AutoBild managed to test the new Hankook Ventus Prime 4 and Kumho Ecsta HS52, they've also put all twenty one sets of tires through a wear test, and included an (unnamed) all season tire as a reference in the grip tests!

The Best in Test

The Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 won the test by combining good grip in the dry and wet, very low rolling resistance and the best wear on test. Even though it wasn't the cheapest tire, when AutoBild divided the purchase price by the projected mileage it also proved to be the best value tire on test, a very impressive showing from Goodyear.

Hankook will be pleased with a second place overall for the new Prime 4. The Prime 3 often had high wear, but the Prime 4 was excellent in the wear test, one of the best tires in the dry and very good in the wet.

It seems impossible to keep the Michelin Primacy 4 away from the podium of a test, with the French tire finishing third overall with low wear and a very low rolling resistance as its standout qualities, but thanks to its high purchase price, its calculated value was 20% lower than the Goodyears.

The other notiable inclusion in this test was the ultra low rolling resistance Continental EcoContact 6. Due to the way tire tests work, this tire was never going to do well overall thanks to lower levels of wet grip, but the Continental eco tire did prove to have a significant advantage in rolling resistance, reasonable grip in the dry and wet (remember it beat thirty other tires in dry and wet braking to get to this test) and surprisingly good levels of wear. If you're looking for a tire to save petrol, this might be the one for you, but it's definitely not great for sporty handling.

As for the all season tire, it was the worst in dry braking which was no surprise, but also the worst in both aquaplaning tests, mid pack in dry and wet handling, and mid-pack for rolling resistance. Given this is the only tire which would offer any sort of grip in snow, it's a fairly impressive result.

Below is the exhaustive data, and be sure to check out the full test on the AutoBild website!

Dry

The new Kumho and Nokian led the way in dry braking, with Bridgestone and Hankook tied behind them.

Hankook led the dry handling lap with the fastest average speed, and Michelin was the best of the rest.

Wet

The Bridgestone Turanza T005 consistently leads wet braking testing, and once again it was the best tire in the test. The new Hankook again placed well, with Falken and Vredestein close behind.

Bridgestone again led the wet in wet handling, with Hankook and this time Nokian rounding out the top three.

Wet circle roughly mirrored wet handling.

There were varying results for the two aquaplaning tests.

Wear

The test winning Goodyear had a huge lead in wear, with Michelina and Continental rounding out the top three.

Value is calculated by dividing the purchase price of the tires by the projected mileage then giving a Euros per 1000km figure.

Environment

The eco bias Continental had a good lead in the rolling resistance test, with Michelin, Bridgestone and Goodyear the best of the "regular" tires.

Autobild conducted external noise testing at 50 km/h and 80 km/h, these are the results from 50 km/h.

Results