Avon AS7 tyre review - All-Season Tyre Test 2021

• Score: 96.20%
• Ranking: 8th
• Price: £76.09

Last year we tried the Cooper all-season tyre, but this year the US producer decided to submit the Avon. On paper, this should have fared better, because it was launched late in 2020, but it was last of our eight contenders, further off the pace of the best. 

Its big weakness was on snow, where it was more than 10 per cent behind the leading Goodyear, hurt by a weak traction result. In the wet it still finished near the bottom of the table, beating only the Maxxis. Its deep-water performance was close to the best, but it struggled in the key braking and handling tests. 

That lack of grip was easily felt on the handling track, where we needed to apply significantly more lock through the turns while still failing to match the top lap times. It was hard to keep the nose on the line and it spun the wheels easily. Its balance wasn’t bad, but it was all at lower speeds than the best. 

Runner-up spot in dry braking was the AS7’s best performance, but it could not be backed up on the handling track, where it had the same lack of relative grip.

We say:

It may be a new design, but the AS7 needs work in just about every area if it is to compete with the latest generation of all-season tyres.

Blackcircles.com says:

It doesn’t rate highly on tyre-label scores for fuel efficiency, but customers have been happy with this tyre. Positive reviews often comment on roadholding and braking performance.