As much as enthusiasts on the internet would love to argue they should, most people just don’t like swapping between summer and winter tires. Even folks who get enough snow to truly justify investing in a good set of winter tires rarely do. The good news is, all-season tires continue to improve every year, and while the best ones are pretty darn pricey, you may be surprised how well they perform in a variety of conditions if you aren’t a tire nerd who regularly pays attention to this stuff.
This year, Nokian has a new entry in the segment called the SeasonProof 2 that should, at least in theory, be about as good as an all-season tire can be. But is it really? Our friends over at Tyre Reviews still haven’t learned how to spell “tire” correctly, but they did get their hands on a set of SeasonProof 2s to test against six other all-season tires to see how it stacks up against the competition. As always, the best tire for you, personally, is going to depend on where you live and what kind of driving you do, but that’s also why they include the option to change the weighting of each category on their website based on your priorities.
Still, one tire has to come out on top, and what do you know, in this particular test, it was the Nokian SeasonProof 2. Except it isn’t clear when or if the SeasonProof 2 will go on sale in the U.S., so unless you live in Europe, the best tire you can actually buy will be the one that came in second. Darn those Europeans and their tire hoarding.
Best all-seasons for U.S. buyers
So what tires did they test the Nokian SeasonProof 2 against? The BFGoodrich Advantage SUV All Season, Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen 3, Hankook Kinergy 4S 2 X, Maxxis Premitra All Season AP3 SUV, Bridgestone Turanza All Season 6 and West Lake All Season Elite Z401. If you haven’t heard of West Lake, that’s OK. The tiremaker does sell tires here in the U.S., but you can also promptly forget the brand exists because it came “firmly in last place.” And that’s despite being fairly comfortable and offering low rolling resistance, one important part of getting good fuel economy or improving EV range.
As previously mentioned, you can also forget the Nokians because, at least for now, they appear to be a European exclusive. Is there anything tariffs can’t ruin?
As for the rest of the tires, the Bridgestones came in sixth, followed by the Maxxis. The Hankooks and Goodyears tied for third place, leaving the BFGoodriches to take second — or, for U.S. buyers, first place. The good news is, they weren’t exactly a distant second and actually performed the best in the dry braking test. They also did impressively well with hydroplaning resistance, while still providing good snow performance, excellent noise and comfort levels and the best rolling resistance out of the bunch. They were really only let down by its wet braking and a little extra understeer in the handling test.
Still, their overall performance proved pretty solid. They certainly aren’t the cheapest all-season tires you can buy, but as we saw with the West Lake, saving money isn’t always the best idea. And if the BFGs aren’t available for your specific car, you also can’t go wrong with the Hankooks or Goodyears.
