2015 European Tyre Test 205/55 R16

Test Summary
Wet Braking	Michelin Primacy 3 Continental Premium Contact 5
Dry Braking	Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance Pirelli Cinturato P7 Blue Kumho Solus HS51 Harmony Sports
Wear	Michelin Primacy 3
Rolling Resistance	Hankook K425 Kinergy Eco Bridgestone Ecopia EP001S
Snow Braking	Michelin Primacy 3 Michelin Energy Saver Plus
Snow Handling	Continental Eco Contact 5 Hankook K425 Kinergy Eco

The 2015 European tyre test by the German organisations ADAC and Stiftung Warentest is here, and this time it's a little more interesting than usual.

This year testing 205/55 R16, ADAC made their annual tyre test a little more in-depth by including a number of "low rolling resistance" ECO tyres. These tyres are designed to use less fuel than normal tyres, with a little trade in dry and wet grip.

Unfortunately for those of us looking to save a few pound on the annual fuel bill, not one of the ECO tyres offered a balance of performance ADAC were happy with, and they finished in the final five places. While all the tyres offered slightly improved rolling resistance scores, the trade off in wet grip wasn't worth the small saving.

While the ECO Michelin Energy Saver+ could only manage 15th place due to a poor wet performance, it's sister tyre, the Michelin Primacy 3, won the test by a large margin thanks to an excellent performance in the dry, wet, the best wear score and low rolling resistance.

The usual suspects filled places two to five, with Bridgestone making a suprise return to the top six with the Turenza T001 - apparently Bridgestone have finally got on top of the wet performance issues their tyres have faced in the past.

The Results

Click here to view Results as a single table and adjust the score weighting based on your own driving needs!

1st: Michelin Primacy 3
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 49.2 Dry: 9 Wet: 7 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 6 Wear: 11 Overall: 8.2 Very balanced summer tyres, top marks in the dry and lowest wear Read Reviews Buy from £86.67
2nd: Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 45.8 Dry: 8.6 Wet: 7.8 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 6.2 Wear: 7.4 Overall: 7.8 Very balanced tyre, top marks in the wet, good in the dry Read Reviews Buy from £71.19
3rd: Continental Premium Contact 5
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 45.2 Dry: 9 Wet: 7.4 Rolling Resistance: 7.8 Noise: 6 Wear: 7.4 Overall: 7.6 Very balanced tyre, top marks in the dry, good in the wet Read Reviews Buy from £97.22
4th: Dunlop Sport BluResponse
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 45.2 Dry: 8.6 Wet: 7.4 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 6.6 Wear: 7 Overall: 7.6 Very balanced summer tyres, good in the dry and wet Read Reviews Buy from £70.03
5th: Pirelli Cinturato P7 Blue
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 44.2 Dry: 8.4 Wet: 7.8 Rolling Resistance: 7.6 Noise: 4.8 Wear: 8 Overall: 7.6 Very balanced tyre, top in the wet, good in the dry, low wear A little noisy Read Reviews
6th: Bridgestone Turanza T001
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 44.2 Dry: 8.8 Wet: 7.6 Rolling Resistance: 7.4 Noise: 6 Wear: 7 Overall: 7.4 Very balanced summer tyres, especially good in the dry and wet Read Reviews Buy from £91.00
7th: Fulda EcoControl HP
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 43.2 Dry: 7.6 Wet: 6.6 Rolling Resistance: 7.8 Noise: 6.2 Wear: 8.4 Overall: 6.6 Low wear Not as good as the best in the wet Read Reviews
8th: Hankook Ventus Prime2
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 42.2 Dry: 8.2 Wet: 6.6 Rolling Resistance: 7 Noise: 6.4 Wear: 7.4 Overall: 6.6 Good in the dry A little weak in the wet, slightly high fuel consumption Read Reviews Buy from £154.99
9th: Semperit Speed Life
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 41 Dry: 6.6 Wet: 6.6 Rolling Resistance: 8.2 Noise: 6 Wear: 7 Overall: 6.6 Low fuel consumption Slightly weak in the dry and wet Read Reviews
10th: Vredestein Sportrac 5
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 43.6 Dry: 8.6 Wet: 6.6 Rolling Resistance: 8.2 Noise: 6.2 Wear: 7.4 Overall: 6.6 Good in the dry, low fuel consumption A little weak in the wet Read Reviews
11th: Falken ZE914
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 42.4 Dry: 8.8 Wet: 6.8 Rolling Resistance: 7.2 Noise: 6.8 Wear: 6.4 Overall: 6.4 Very good in the dry High wear Read Reviews
12th: Nokian Line
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 42 Dry: 8.4 Wet: 7.2 Rolling Resistance: 7.4 Noise: 6.2 Wear: 6.4 Overall: 6.4 Good in the dry High wear Read Reviews
13th: Bridgestone Ecopia EP001S
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 42.4 Dry: 8.2 Wet: 6 Rolling Resistance: 8.8 Noise: 7 Wear: 6.4 Overall: 6 Top marks in fuel consumption, good in the dry Somewhat weak in the wet, slightly high wear Read Reviews
14th: Continental Eco Contact 5
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 43.4 Dry: 8.4 Wet: 5.6 Rolling Resistance: 8.2 Noise: 7.2 Wear: 8.4 Overall: 5.6 Good on dry roads, relatively low fuel consumption and wear, top marks in noise Weak in the wet Read Reviews Buy from £79.02
15th: Michelin Energy Saver+
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 45.4 Dry: 8.6 Wet: 5.6 Rolling Resistance: 8.2 Noise: 6.4 Wear: 11 Overall: 5.6 Top marks in wear, relatively low fuel consumption, good on dry roads Weak in the wet Read Reviews
16th: Hankook K425 Kinergy Eco
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 40 Dry: 6.8 Wet: 5.4 Rolling Resistance: 8.8 Noise: 7.2 Wear: 6.4 Overall: 5.4 Top marks in fuel consumption and noise Weak in the wet, high wear Read Reviews
17th: Kumho Solus HS51 Harmony Sports
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 39.8 Dry: 7.4 Wet: 7.8 Rolling Resistance: 7.4 Noise: 6.4 Wear: 5.4 Overall: 5.4 Good in the wet High wear Read Reviews
18th: Kleber Dynaxer HP 3
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 39.4 Dry: 7 Wet: 5 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 5.4 Wear: 9 Overall: 5 Low wear Weak in the wet Read Reviews
19th: Nankang Green Sport Eco 2
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 29.8 Dry: 5.6 Wet: 1 Rolling Resistance: 7.8 Noise: 6.4 Wear: 8 Overall: 1 Low wear Very weak in the wet. Weak on dry roads Read Reviews