2. Goodyear 4Seasons Gen-2

OUTGOING winner Goodyear has to settle for second place here, but this is still a class act.

It was marginally the most effective tyre in the snow tests and felt very secure on the handling track. It also proved best in braking and traction.

Unlike some rivals, it managed to maintain a good performance in both deep and shallow water and was best of the rest after the Crossclimate across all the wet tests.

It was less assured in the dry where it was a touch off the best around the handling circuit; it felt very much like a winter tyre, lacking sharpness and feeling slow to respond. Despite this, its lap time was only a second off that of the winning Michelin.

Braking was less good, but it was still one of the better performers.

At the pumps the 4Seasons again demonstrated that when it comes to combining wet grip and fuel economy Goodyear/dunlop has the edge.

“It was the most effective in snow and also good in the wet”