Summer tire ranking in 2023 - News, tests and reviews

Summer tires are undoubtedly one of the most important things in any car and you should make the best choice.

Explore the 2023 summer tire rankings and discover why summer tires offer greater driving comfort than all-season tires or—worse still—winter tires in high temperatures. After reading the following sections, summer tires will hold no secrets for you and you'll gain insight into the latest summer tire innovations.

Which summer tires are worth choosing in 2023? Ranking of the best products

Summer tires can be evaluated based on various parameters. One of the most important factors affecting the safety of summer tires is the braking distance achieved by a car equipped with them. The undisputed leader in this category is the Uniroyal Rain Sport 3 , which boasts exceptionally short braking distances on wet surfaces.

10 best 205/55 R16 summer tires according to ADAC

In the tests conducted by the German automobile club ADAC (summer tire ranking 2023), described in more detail below, the best places were taken by:

1. Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 tires
2. Continental PremiumContact 6 tires
3. Michelin Primacy 4+ tires
4. Bridgeston Turanza T005 tires
5. Nokian Wetproof tires
6. Falken ZIEX ZE310 ECORUN tires
7. Continental UltraContact tires
8. Kumho Ecsta HS52 tires
9. Hankook Ventus Prime4 tires
10. Nexen N'Fera Primus tires

This is the summer tire ranking for this year, and after choosing a specific model, it's worth checking its position and how it performed in summer tire tests. This knowledge will allow you to avoid the weakest models and focus on those at the top of the rankings.

New products on the summer tire market - what technologies are used?

Tire manufacturers are competing to present their customers with increasingly innovative systems that help ensure driving comfort, durability, and shorter braking distances. What new summer tire offerings are worth considering? Bridgestone Turanza 6 tires are among the best performing on wet surfaces. This is thanks to technologies such as Techsyn – improved synthetic rubber enriched with special silica, which increases durability while reducing rolling resistance – and Enliten technology – a special tire construction that reduces tire weight by up to 10 percent without sacrificing performance. Goodyear is also introducing various new features. For example, the Goodyear Efficientgrip Compact 2 tires feature Wet Grip technology for increased wet grip, Dry Stability for greater dry stability, and Mileage Plus for increased tire durability.

Of course, there are still articles and news about tires that won't require inflation or tires made from 100 percent renewable materials. Airless tires are announced for next year, but that could still take some time. Goodyear is the leader in producing tires from renewable materials, but these are still mostly demonstration tires, not production models.

However, models designed for electric cars are becoming increasingly popular. These include the Yokohama ADVAN db V552, Michelin EV, and Bridgestone Ecopia500.

It is therefore worth keeping up to date with the latest developments in summer tyres so that you can benefit from the latest technological advances in tyre production at any time.

What are the most demanding tests that summer tires have passed in the 2023 ranking?

The ADAC, arguably the most trusted organization in the automotive world, conducts annual tests of summer, winter, and all-season tires. The summer tire rankings, compiled by the ADAC/OAMTC (German Automobile Club and Austrian Automobile Club), are presented worldwide as the most important. All tire models are subjected to the same tests. These include braking from 80 km/h, i.e., grip tests on dry and wet roads, abrasion assessment, noise level assessment, rolling resistance, and fuel efficiency. It's worth noting that the difference in wet braking performance is enormous – the worst tires from unknown Asian brands require almost twice as much stopping distance as top models from renowned brands. The summer tire test is a very good source of knowledge about parameters such as summer tire grip and ride comfort.

What criteria should you consider when choosing summer tires?

When choosing summer tires for your car, you should pay attention to a number of parameters. These include:

• Tire size – this seems straightforward. The car manual specifies the correct tires, but many people, for various reasons, buy tires that aren't the correct size. This can lead to numerous adverse effects, including malfunctions in electronic driving assistance systems (ABS, ESP, ASR, etc.), faster wear, increased fuel consumption (with wider tires), and incorrect speed readings.
• Tire grip – this is a key parameter responsible for how well the car will handle and what its braking distance will be;
• Tire speed rating – this should, of course, be at least as high as recommended in the vehicle's manual. Summer tires with a higher rating will last longer, meaning they'll last longer;
• Tire load index – here you should also choose tires with an index no lower than that recommended by the car manufacturer;
• Tire noise level – this is a parameter that many people want to keep as low as possible, and it's also beneficial for the environment. In an age of increasingly soundproof cars, it's often the tire noise that's primarily audible at low speeds;
• Rolling resistance – this parameter determines fuel consumption, so it's best to keep it low. However, lowering it reduces traction, so you need to find a happy medium here if you want to drive economically or accept higher fuel consumption if you want to drive with maximum safety and comfort;
• Tire production date – tires are considered new for three years from the date of production. Unfortunately, this is not respected by many retailers, as compliance with the standard is voluntary. After this date, tires should be marked as used. Besides the date itself, the conditions in which the tire was stored are also important. Therefore, it's best to order tires from reputable stores, where you can be sure that the purchased product will be of full value.

Safety, durability, traction and driving comfort - which tires meet these requirements?

All summer, winter, and all-season tires sold in Poland should, and most do, meet the required standards. However, it's definitely best to focus your search on tires from top manufacturers. Companies without a track record or experience often offer summer tires at significantly lower prices, but summer tire tests and the 2023 summer tire ranking mercilessly demonstrate that these designs are unreliable in the challenging situations that abound on our roads. The same applies to the durability of such tires. Therefore, if you care about safety and value the comfort of driving with summer tires, choose models that rank high in summer tire rankings.

Remember that every tire change should include a so-called rim and tire optimization . Unfortunately, many garages, especially during the busiest tire change seasons, skip this step to save time and focus on the next customer. Wheel optimization is performed on a wheel balancer, which allows for the tire's position relative to the rim to be adjusted so that their unevenly distributed masses (there are always some inaccuracies and losses) cancel each other out, resulting in the smallest possible imbalance. Smaller imbalances are much easier to compensate for with additional weights if necessary.