| Test Summary | |
| Wet Braking | Continental Premium Contact 5 |
| Dry Braking | Continental Premium Contact 5 Nokian Hakka Blue |
| Wear | Continental Premium Contact 5 |
| Rolling Resistance | Michelin X Ice Xi3 Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance Dunlop Sport BluResponse Nokian Hakka Blue |
| Noise | Michelin X Ice Xi3 |
| Snow Handling | Michelin X Ice Xi3 |
Interestingly, in 2014 Test world have included both a European winter tyre, and a full nordic studless extreme winter tyre to give the reader an idea of what performance you can expect if you choose to run winters year round.
While the European winter tyre (the best of the category, the Continental Winter Contact TS850) was usable in the warm wet and dry conditions, it still unsurprisingly lagged behind the best of the summer tyres, beating only the worst summer tyre in wet braking and none of the summer tyres in dry braking. The nordic winter tyre worse again, proving that extreme winter tyres are dangerous to run year round.
Results
1st: Continental Premium Contact 5 | |
| Excellent handling on dry and wet roads, good stability High fuel consumption The Continental Premium Contact 5 provides excellent grip and optimal handling in bad weather. They are very accurate tyres with good steering response and good stability at the limit. They are also very quiet and comfortable. The Continental is almost the ideal tyre for all conditions, with only a high rolling resistance letting them down Read Reviews Buy from £97.22 |
2nd: Apollo Alnac 4g | |
| Short braking distances on wet roads, a high level of comfort None listed Apollo present a real surprise and become one of the best on test in wet braking. These tyres have no problem coping with emergency maneuvers, with no unexpected loss of grip. With no obvious weaknesses, Apollo have never never demonstrated such consistencies in all areas Read Reviews |
3rd: Nokian Hakka Blue | |
| Good handling on wet roads, low noise, low rolling resistance Relatively long braking distances in the dry The Nokian is well suited for driving on wet roads, which showcases the successful combination of high grip, precise steering response and, if required, predictable behavior during abrupt maneuvers. In the dry the tyre isn't as strong, with longer dry braking distances. Low noise and low rolling resistance give the Nokian a solid third Read Reviews |
4th: Pirelli CINTURATO P7 | |
| Good handling on dry roads, high resistance to aquaplaning High rolling resistance The Pirelli has good results on dry and wet roads, and a high resistance to aquaplaning. The tyre reacts quickly and accurately, but their behavior in an emergency situation may be too nervous. One of the disadvantages - high rolling resistance Read Reviews Buy from £66.98 |
5th: Michelin Primacy 3 | |
| Excellent balance of all characteristics, good handling and predictable behavior in all conditions Relatively high rolling resistance The Michelin provides good handling in all conditions and is difficult to get to lose grip in a sharp turn. Braking efficiency is also high, but not quite with the leaders. The only drawback - a relatively high rolling resistance Read Reviews Buy from £86.67 |
6th: Dunlop Sport BluResponse | |
| Short braking distances on dry and wet roads, low rolling resistance Nervous dynamic behaviour at the limit of grip The Dunlop has excellent grip in all conditions, and in accordance with the name, a quick and precise steering response. Be that as it may, their behavior may be too nervous, and during sharp maneuvers the car has a tendency to oversteer. Acceptable noise levels and a very low rolling resistance Read Reviews Buy from £70.03 |
7th: Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance | |
| Low rolling resistance, good handling on dry and wet roads Relatively weak resistance to aquaplaning The Goodyear has the lowest rolling resistance of tires tested. Combine fuel efficiency with high traction on wet surfaces - a very difficult task, and Goodyear perfectly coped with it. Grip on the wet track was optimal and manageable. The Goodyears only weakness was aquaplaning, which caused it to lose a number of positions in the overall results Read Reviews Buy from £71.19 |
8th: Hankook Ventus Prime2 | |
| High resistance to aquaplaning High rolling resistance, nervous dynamic behaviour at the limit of grip The Hankook resist aquaplaning and have excellent grip on wet surfaces - albeit somewhat worse than the leaders of the test. At the limit the tyre does not behave as predictably as we would like, and the rear wheels can go into a skid. The same pattern is repeated on dry roads. The noise level is low, but the rolling resistance is too high Read Reviews Buy from £154.99 |
9th: Vredestein Sportrac 5 | |
| Short braking distances on wet roads, a high level of comfort Relatively high rolling resistance The Vredestein has a very high braking performance on wet roads. Lateral grip is also good, but weaker than the longitudinal. The tyre can show a good lap time, but the rear grip sometimes falls away at the limit. On dry roads the tyres behave predictably and logically, as well as quiet. In general, it is well balanced tyre without serious drawbacks Read Reviews |
10th: Barum Bravuris 3HM | |
| Good handling on wet roads, predictable in all conditions Low level of comfort A balanced tyre. The wet grip is slightly lower than the best tyres, but the Barum has good accountability in all situations without any major handling surprises. On dry roads the tyres react too slowly, and while they're stable the grip isn't great. Disadvantage - it's a hard tyre that becomes immediately apparent on uneven surfaces Read Reviews |
11th: Landsail LS288 | |
| Short braking distances on wet roads, low noise, low rolling resistance Nervous dynamic behaviour The Landsail tyres become the main surprise of this test. On a wet surface, the tyre has a very short braking distances and good lateral grip. During emergency maneuvers the grip is high, but it can disappear abruptly, especially on wet surfaces. The tyres are also good in tests for noise and efficiency. Overall, Landsail become the Chinese tyre tested by Test World Read Reviews |
12th: Toyo Proxes CF2 | |
| Low noise, good comfort Poor wet handling The Toyo has acceptable braking on wet roads, but wet handling is clearly a big problem with the tyre posting a very slow laptime. Fortunately, the tyres behave predictably enough, without unpleasant surprises. The situation is somewhat better on dry roads, than in the wet. Read Reviews |
13th: BFGoodrich gGrip | |
| Balanced Characteristics Weak grip on wet and dry roads, high rolling resistance The BFGoodrich has very balanced characteristics, but, unfortunately, they are still quite low in this test. The tyres easily start to slip on the wet surface and slow to respond during emergency maneuvers. Fortunately, the behavior is quite predictable. High noise and rolling resistance Read Reviews |
14th: Hercules Raptis VR1 | |
| None listed Poor grip and bad handling in all conditions, noisy The Hercules could not deal with any test. Wet grip is very weak, and these tyres make driving especially difficult. In the dry the tyres make the back of the car snap sharply during high-speed maneuvers. The Hercules is also very noisy and hard, and they high rolling resistance. Hercules - is a Chinese-made tires at its worst Read Reviews |
15th: Continental WinterContact TS 850 | |
| The Continental TS850 P is a european winter tyre included for comparison purposes. While it wasn't last in wet braking (the Hercules was the worst summer tyre) it did stop 5.6 meters later than the best summer tyre (Apollo) from 50mph. While not the best tyre on test, it shows a high quality mid european winter tyre can be used year round, and you'll still have more grip than using a cheap chinese summer tyre Read Reviews |
16th: Michelin X Ice Xi3 | |
| The Michelin X Ice Xi3 is a full nordic winter tyre. While this tyre scores extremely well in extreme winter tests, it is no match for the summer tyres in the warmer conditions, stopping nearly 15 meters later than the best summer tyre, and 6.7 meters after the worst summer tyre. This shows northern Europe winter tyres should not be used year round, despite their noise and comfort advantages! Read Reviews |
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