tirewheelguide

How TireWheelGuide scores and compares tires

Last updated: October 18, 2026

Every tire score on TireWheelGuide comes from two independent kinds of evidence: instrumented road tests published by independent testers, and owner reviews found online. This page explains how the two are turned into one number, what the number means and when we refuse to show one.

The Relative Score

A tire is scored per category: dry, wet, snow, comfort, noise and treadwear, plus handling from owner ratings. In each category the score is 60% road tests and 40% owner reviews. The Relative Score is the weighted average of the categories: dry, wet and treadwear count as “Important”, snow as “Neutral” (as “Important” on winter tires), comfort, noise and handling as “Less important”. On a compare page you can move these weights yourself and the scores update instantly.

All scores use one scale: the average tested tire gets 70, the best tire in a category 100.

Road tests

  • We use tests from independent testers (for example Auto Bild, ADAC, ACE, Auto Zeitung, Auto Express, Sport Auto and others) and credit and link the tester on every test card. Tests a review site ran itself are not used.
  • Each result is read against the other tires in the same test: a 3 dB gap counts like a typical gap in that test, as does 2 m of braking. Results published as marks or points are read on that test's own scale.
  • Summer, winter and all-season tires are scored separately: a winter tire that ran in a summer test as a comparison tire is left out of that test.
  • A win against a strong field counts for more than one against a weak field, and a last place in a strong field counts for less.
  • Newer tests count more: a test loses 10% of its weight per year.
  • A tire with few tests is pulled toward the average until more evidence arrives, so one lucky test cannot make it the best tire on the site.
  • Where a tester publishes its own category mark next to the measurements it summarises, only the measurements count.
  • Price, value, rolling resistance and the testers' overall rankings are shown but not scored.

Owner reviews

  • Owner reviews come from several retail and review sites. Each site rates on its own scale and some are more generous than others, so every site is calibrated to one scale before the reviews are combined.
  • More reviews count for more, with a ceiling: thousands of reviews on one site cannot outweigh every other source.
  • Owner category ratings lean toward the tire's own overall rating when there are few of them.
  • The owner scores are then aligned with the road-test scale, so a 70 means the same on both sides.

When one half is missing

When a tire has road tests but no owner ratings for a category (or the reverse), the missing half is estimated from the half we have — only as far as owners and testers agree on that category. Owners' noise ratings, for example, barely follow the decibel measurements, so a missing owner noise half is the owners' average. Compare pages print the estimate and the arithmetic under “Why this score”.

When there is no score

  • A tire needs at least one road test or five owner reviews for a score. Below that it shows “limited data”.
  • A score resting on fewer than two road tests and fewer than 20 owner reviews is marked Provisional.

Comparing two tires

  • An overall gap under 2 points is too close to call; under 5 points it is a narrow edge; from 5 points one tire is ahead. A category counts as won from 3 points (handling, from owners only, from 6).
  • A summer tire and a winter tire are not ranked against each other: each score is measured against tires of its own season.
  • The test table lists every discipline both tires were measured in and how many of those tests each one won.

Lists and “best” tires

Lists are ranked by the Relative Score less a margin for thin evidence (about 5 points for a tire with a handful of reviews, under 1 for one with thousands of reviews or a dozen tests), with at most one point for a tire launched this year. Tires not sold in Europe are listed after European ones on the German and Ukrainian sites.

Seasons

Each tire has one season, decided from its name (A/T, M/T…), the retailers' and test sites' categories, the EU tyre label's snow and ice marks and US specifications (treadwear warranty, UTQG). A tire that runs in summer road tests stays a summer tire.

What does not change a score

  • Community buzz from Reddit and forums is shown for context only.
  • Store links: TireWheelGuide may earn a commission from purchases, and this never affects a score or a ranking.

Summaries of owner feedback and the translations on our German and Ukrainian sites are produced with the help of automated tools and may contain errors.