The Test World ultra high performance summer tyre test puts thirteen 225/40 R18 tyre patterns through the usual array of wet, dry and environment testing using a VW Golf GTI.
Sadly, there's no Michelin Pilot Sport 4 in this test, with Test World testing the older Pilot Sport 3 pattern, but they have included the new Goodyear and Dunlop tyres.
Premium VS Budget
The most interesting aspect of this test was the inclusion of the Jinyu, Delinte and Aptany budget brands of tyres. Jinyu is now sold as a "premium budget" in the UK, so comparing the results against the best premiums gives an insight into how much progress the big Chinese budget manufacturers are making. The answer is "some".
Under wet braking, the winning Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 stopped the car from 50 mph in 24 meters, where as the worst tyre on test, the Jinyu, stopped the car in 27.4 meters. While this could still mean the difference of "no accident" and a "large accident" under emergency wet braking from high speeds, the gap is markedly closer than it was a few years ago, and the three budget tyres on test all performed all performed on par with the Toyo T1 Sport Plus, which is a well regarded mid range brand.
Under dry braking the results were even closer. The test winning Hankook stopped the car from 60mph in 33.5 meters, and the Jinyu finished in eigth place at 35.6 meters, beating the Michelin and Toyo and stopping the car just 0.2 meters behind the Goodyear.
Does this now mean budget tyres are a viable safe option? This year you're still certainly better off choosing a midrange tyre, however the gap is closing all the time, and soon the budget Chinese tyre manufactures will be making excellent products. The question is, when the Chinese tyres are as good as the premium tyres, will they still be a cheaper option?
Results
1st: Continental Sport Contact 5 | |
| Good handling and a high level of safety on wet roads, high resistance to aquaplaning High rolling resistance Read Reviews Buy from £97.62 |
2nd: Nokian Hakka Black | |
| Consistently good results in all the tests on wet roads Slightly weak handling on dry roads Read Reviews |
3rd: Dunlop SportMaxx RT 2 | |
| Good grip on wet and dry roads, low rolling resistance Slightly weak handling on wet roads Read Reviews Buy from £88.32 |
3rd: Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 | |
| Good handling on wet surfaces, low rolling resistance None mentioned Read Reviews Buy from £87.22 |
5th: Hankook Ventus S1 evo2 | |
| Short braking distances on dry surfaces High rolling resistance, relatively poor grip on wet surfaces Read Reviews Buy from £115.09 |
6th: Pirelli P Zero | |
| (Original P Zero) Short braking distances and good handling on wet surfaces (Original P Zero) Poor resistance to aquaplaning, high noise level Read Reviews Buy from £113.87 |
7th: Michelin Pilot Sport 3 PS3 | |
| High resistance to aquaplaning Poor lateral grip on wet surfaces, longer braking distance on dry roads Read Reviews Buy from £143.99 |
8th: Nankang Sportnex AS2+ | |
| Read Reviews Buy from £87.26 |
9th: Maxxis Victra Sport VS01 | |
| Short braking distances on dry roads, low noise Weak grip and not enough good handling on wet roads Read Reviews |
10th: Jinyu YU63 | |
| Good handling on dry roads, low rolling resistance Long braking distances and poor handling on wet surfaces, poor resistance to aquaplaning Read Reviews |
11th: Delinte DH2 | |
| Acceptable braking on dry roads, sufficiently low rolling resistance Poor traction on wet surfaces, low resistance to aquaplaning Read Reviews |
12th: Toyo Proxes T1 Sport plus | |
| Low noise level, low rolling resistance Weak results in tests on wet roads, long braking distances in the dry Read Reviews |
13th: Aptany RA301 | |
| Low noise level, low rolling resistance Long braking distances and poor handling on dry and wet roads Read Reviews |
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