The qualifying round of the big summer tire test from Auto Bild — 2025

The German magazine Auto Bild has published the results of the qualifying round of its traditional big test, which featured 52 models of summer tires in the 225/40 R18 size. To make it to the main part of the test, the tires had to stop the car quickly enough on dry and wet surfaces, and in 2025, this was achieved by tires from two Chinese companies: Sailun and Linglong, with the Linglong Sport Master, made at the recently opened plant in Serbia, taking fourth place, outpacing products from such renowned brands as Goodyear and Continental.

The best in terms of braking performance were the Bridgestone Potenza Sport, and the top three also included the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 and the Hankook Ventus evo, and in total, 20 tires made it to the main part of the test, which will have to compete for victory in standard disciplines such as handling, aquaplaning resistance, etc.

The results of 13 tires after qualifying were deemed unsatisfactory, with the worst being the Royal Black Royal Explorer II and the Autogreen Smart Chaser SC1. The braking distance of the Autogreen from 80 km/h on a wet surface was 43.6 meters, while a car on Bridgestone stopped after just 27.6 meters, so it is strongly not recommended to buy these budget tires.

Source: Auto Bild