Tyre News

Motorists continue to choose the space and high visibility seating position offered by SUVs. In fact, they are so popular that many new cars have adopted looks leaning in the direction of SUVs. That inclination has created the CUV (crossover utility vehicles) and impacts the 2023 WhatTyre Tyre of the Year rankings because we have to define what an SUV is for the purposes of this category. Building on the platform formed by the previous two years of WhatTyre Tyre of the Year awards, this year we have tightened up our judging criteria to create a more robust and competitive 2023 award. We began by filtering our database of around 300,000 tyres based on the three leading SUV tyre sizes according to market research specialists GfK. From here we filtered products according to their Tyrescore – our market-leading bespoke tyre comparison system – requiring all short-listed tyres to score above seven out of 10 or above in both one of the three key sizes and across its range as a whole on average. We then interrogated the results according to the following further criteria: category appropriateness; specialist category tests and require relatively recent third-party magazine tyre test results.

Drivers want mobility all year round. In the past, that meant changing tyres for the winter months or compromising on noise and comfort with an old-school all-season tyre. Not so anymore. As we have seen in previous years, the latest generation of all-season tyres offer impressive year-round performance without the downsides. But does that description apply in the all-season SUV tyre niche? In order to find out, we started with the bespoke Tyrepedia database that powers WhatTyre.com. Tyrepedia features data relating to more than 700 brands and 340,000-odd different tyres. We filtered our database according to three top SUV tyre sizes, which this year were: 235/60/18, 215/60/17 and 235/55/19. Accreditation such as the three-peaks-mountain-snowflake (3PMSF) marking helped show winter performance too.

With winters feeling colder and summers apparently getting hotter each year, all-season tyres are making more sense than ever to UK drivers. While many stick with summer tyres, which are optimised for higher ambient temperatures and are less adept when things get slushy frozen, years of technological advance mean no-one can deny the advantages of all-season tyres in autumn and winter conditions. And what’s more, the leading tyremakers have spent years of time and millions of dollars mitigating the summer-time downsides of all-season tyres. Gone are the days of the stereotypical noisy all-season tyre which is sub-par in summer. Now, all-season tyres offer an attractive year-round solution. Here, WhatTyre ranks the current all-season tyre market leaders in terms of performance, to help you find the best tyres for you. At the same time, as well as flagging up the best-performing tyres out there, we also use our wide-ranging performance, OE and ESG data analysis to help highlight value champions in each category of the 2023 WhatTyre Tyre of the Year Awards.

Yet another crossover enters the fray in the shape of the Alfa Romeo Tonale, which in UK spec is exclusively available as a mild hybrid or plug-in hybrid model. Continental tells us that it is supplying tyres for vehicles equipped with 18-inch rims, as well as a 17-inch tyre for markets where that rim size is offered. Alfa Romeo will fit the Continental EcoContact 6 to Tonale models built at its Pomigliano d’Arco plant in Naples, Italy in sizes 215/60 R 17 96V and 235/50 R 18 97V.

Tomket Tyres has become the Official Global Tyre Partner of West Ham United F.C. under a new arrangement that will, amongst other things, give the tyre brand a presence upon the club’s LED pitch-side perimeter advertising system and matchday hospitality rights. Tomket says it will use the partnership to connect with the West Ham United fanbase and provide opportunities for fans to experience matchday hospitality packages and win signed merchandise via its official social media channels.

To many, the ever-changing make-up of cities such as London, Manchester – or for that matter even Stoke-on-Trent – represent a joyous melting pot of culture, art and multiculturality. But they are also becoming increasingly expensive places to live, with everything, from rent to loaves of bread, seeming to cost just a little more than is comfortable. And with this economic load a constant reminder to be frugal, it can be quite tempting to look for areas to cut costs – such as on car servicing. I look after my car, the reasoning might go, so it won't hurt to miss just one service. However, that’s flawed reasoning. Getting your car serviced should be seen as an investment: paying a little money now to save future you from high car repair bills.