Test Summary
Wet Braking	Vredestein Ultrac Vorti
Dry Braking	Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3
Rolling Resistance	Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 Dunlop SportMaxx RT 2
Noise	Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 Dunlop SportMaxx RT 2 Hankook Ventus S1 evo2 Toyo Proxes T1 Sport plus Falken FK453
Snow Handling	Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 Dunlop SportMaxx RT 2 Vredestein Ultrac Vorti
Snow Handling	Falken FK453

This year Sport Auto have chosen 235/40 R18 as their ultra high performance tyre test size. Sadly, this resulted in a couple of the key new tyres being left out, so Sport Auto also tested the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 in 225/40 R18 and the Continental Sport Contact 6 in 235/35 R19 to get an approximate idea of how they compared, but excluded them from the final results.

 

Sport Auto did manage to get four new tyre patterns in the tested size - The new Goodyear Eagle F2 Asymmetric 3, Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2, Toyo Proxes T1 Sport+, and the Cooper Zeon CS Sport are all new for the 2016 summer season, and are being tested against the slightly older, but still updated for 2016 Pirelli P Zero, Hankook Ventus S1 Evo2, Vredestein Ultrac Vorti and Falken Azenis FK453.

Braking

Wet braking was close. Hankook took the top place stopping from 50 mph in 25.7 meters. Toyo was next at 26.2 meters, then Goodyear and Pirelli in 26.5 and 26.7 meters. Dunlop, Cooper and Falken were all in the 27 meter range, stopping in 27.3, 27.5 and 27.8 meters, and Vredestein was the only tyre to break in the 29 meters, stopping in 29 meters dead.

Dry braking was just as close, with Hankook winning once again stopping the Ford Focus ST in 33.7 meters from 62mph. Dunlop and Goodyear tied for second in 33.8 meters, and Vredestein made up for a poor wet result, stopping the car in 33.9 meters for fourth place. Falken and Pirelli tied for fifth place in 34.5 meters, Toyo finished seventh in 36.1 meters and Cooper finished last, nearly 3 meters behind the Hankook, stopping the car in 36.3 meters

Vredestein issue

Despite an excellent dry result, where the Vredestein Ultrac Vorti proved to be one of the most agile and well balanced tyres in the test, it was excluded from the final result due to delamination during high speed endurance testing. Vredestein were contacted to explain the cause, and the official reason was a curing issue in that particular batch of tyres which caused a weakness in the rubber...

The Continental and Michelin

With the Continental Sport Contact 6 replacing the 19" and above Sport Contact 5P, and not the smaller-sized Sport Contact 5, it seems a little strange the Sport Contact 5 wasn't included in the test, especially when you consider the 6 is aimed at high powered RWD performance cars. Fortunately in 235/35 R19 on the Focus ST, the new Sport Contact 6 proved to be an excellent tyre, with razor sharp steering and excellenty grip on both dry and wet roads.

While the new Michelin is made in the test size of 235/40 R18, it wasn't available at time of test, so Sport Auto tested in 225/40 R18. Like the Continental, the Michelin proved to be a match for the best tyres on test in both the dry and wet, and while it wasn't quite as single focused as the Sport Contact 6, it looks like it will be an excellent all round tyres for hot hatches and medium sized cars and would have troubled Goodyear and Dunlop had it been tested properly.

The Results

The weight of the overall results are: Dry 40%, Wet 50%, and environmental 10%.

1st: Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3
235/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 53.9 Dry: 9.3 Wet: 9.6 Subjective: 9 Comfort: 8 Rolling Resistance: 10 Noise: 8 Excellent overall grip in the wet, high resistance to aquaplaning, good balance in the wet and dry, very low rolling resistance None noted Particularly recommended Read Reviews
2nd: Dunlop SportMaxx RT 2
235/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 52.7 Dry: 8.8 Wet: 8.9 Subjective: 9 Comfort: 8 Rolling Resistance: 10 Noise: 8 Good balance with quick steering response, short wet braking, good dry handling, very low rolling resistance Relatively poor resistance to longitudinal aquaplaning Particularly recommended Read Reviews    Buy from £116.99
3rd: Hankook Ventus S1 evo2
235/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 48.8 Dry: 8 Wet: 8.8 Subjective: 7 Comfort: 8 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 9 Very short braking distances in the dry and wet, good handling in the dry Oversteer balance on the limit can make the tyre a little nervous, but fast Recommended Read Reviews
4th: Pirelli P Zero
235/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 45.9 Dry: 8.3 Wet: 8.6 Subjective: 8 Comfort: 7 Rolling Resistance: 7 Noise: 7 Balanced safe handling on wet and dry roads, quick steering response with good accuracy Relatively weak aquaplaning resistance, high rolling resistance, high level of noise Recommended Read Reviews    Buy from £120.10
5th: Toyo Proxes T1 Sport plus
235/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 46.9 Dry: 7.5 Wet: 8.4 Subjective: 7 Comfort: 8 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 8 Very short wet braking distances, good handling in the wet, very comfortable Long dry braking and poor dry stability when making sudden maneuvers Recommended Read Reviews
6th: Falken FK453
235/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 46.5 Dry: 8 Wet: 7.5 Subjective: 7 Comfort: 8 Rolling Resistance: 6 Noise: 10 Good braking performance on wet and dry roads, quick reaction to steering and good handling in the dry, low noise Average wet performance, high rolling resistance Cost:Conditionally recommended Read Reviews
7th: Cooper Zeon CS Sport
235/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 45.1 Dry: 8 Wet: 7.1 Subjective: 8 Comfort: 7 Rolling Resistance: 7 Noise: 8 Good balance in the dry, good wet grip Long braking in the dry, poor resistance to aquaplaning, poor comfort Conditionally recommended Read Reviews
8th: Vredestein Ultrac Vorti
235/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 45.1 Dry: 10 Wet: 8.1 Subjective: 9 Comfort: 6 Rolling Resistance: 5 Noise: 7 Excellent dry handling, short dry braking, good steering response in both the dry and wet Long braking distances in the wet, high rolling resistance, failed the strength test (see above) Not recommended Read Reviews