2017 ADAC 195/65 R15 Summer Tyre Test

Test Summary
Wet Braking	Dunlop Sport BluResponse
Dry Braking	Continental Premium Contact 5
Wear	Pirelli Cinturato P1 Verde
Rolling Resistance	GT Radial Champiro FE1
Snow Braking	Michelin Energy Saver Plus
Snow Handling	GT Radial Champiro FE1

After testing the unusually large size of 225/45 R17 in 2016, normal service has been resumed for the 2017 ADAC Summer tyre test, this time testing sixteen tyre patterns in 195/65 R15.

ADAC tests are no toriously data driven and they write very little commentry of their own, so here's our take on the test.

The Top Three

The first full test for 2017 shows a small dent in Continentals usual German test domination. The Continental Premium Contact 6, launched in late 2016 might have faired better, but as the new pattern is only manufactured in 16" and above, Continental were instead represented by the now-aging Premium Contact 5. The older tyre could only manage (a still respectable) third place, which left the top two spots open for another manufacturer to step up and win some glory.

Surprisingly, it's Pirelli and Bridgestone who took the first and second places. Pirelli have been making some fantastic tyres in the larger sizes recently, so it's good to see the P1 matching the Pirelli quality we know. The real surprise is Bridgestone, they've struggled in testing recently, particuarly in the wet, so it's nice to see Bridgestone making progress with a mid-life update of the T001.

The Rest

There wasn't a huge amount of surprise for the other thirteen places.

Goodyear and Dunlop scored well with balanced performances and took fourth and sixth overall, split by a new ESA Tecar tyre pattern taking fifth. Sadly we know nothing about this brand as they're not availabile in the UK market, but they consistently test well.

Nokian and Vredestein finished a few points apart overall with Nokian taking seventh place, and Vredestein eighth, and Michelin were the worst of the premium brands down eleventh place. As usual, the Energy Saver+ offered incredible wear and low fuel use, but suffers in the wet as a result.

Unusally Hankook struggled with the Prime 3. This tyre won a number of tests in 2016, so it will be interesting to see if this is a quirk of the smaller size, or a mid life update has caused a problem.

The full results are below. As usual, ADAC weight their overall test results towards wet grip.

The Results

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

1st: Pirelli Cinturato P1 Verde
195/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 46.2 Dry: 7.8 Wet: 8 Rolling Resistance: 7.4 Noise: 6.2 Wear: 9 Overall: 7.8 Very balanced summer tyre, especially good in the wet, relatively low wear and low noise None mentioned Read Reviews Buy from £61.18
2nd: Bridgestone Turanza T001 Evo
195/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 44.4 Dry: 8.6 Wet: 7.8 Rolling Resistance: 8.2 Noise: 5.2 Wear: 7 Overall: 7.6 Very balanced, particularly good on dry and wet roads, relatively low fuel consumption None mentioned Read Reviews
3rd: Continental Premium Contact 5
195/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 44.2 Dry: 8.4 Wet: 8.2 Rolling Resistance: 7.2 Noise: 5.8 Wear: 7 Overall: 7.6 Very balanced tyre, top marks in the wet. Good in the dry None mentioned Read Reviews
4th: Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance
195/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 44.4 Dry: 8.8 Wet: 7.8 Rolling Resistance: 8.2 Noise: 5 Wear: 7 Overall: 7.6 Very balanced, particularly good in the dry, good in the wet, low fuel consumption None mentioned Read Reviews
5th: ESA Tecar Spirit 5 HP
195/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 42 Dry: 7 Wet: 7.4 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 5.6 Wear: 7 Overall: 7 Balanced summer tyre, relatively good in the wet, relatively low fuel consumption None mentioned Read Reviews
6th: Dunlop Sport BluResponse
195/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 43.4 Dry: 9 Wet: 6.8 Rolling Resistance: 8.2 Noise: 5.6 Wear: 7 Overall: 6.8 Top marks on dry roads, low fuel consumption Compared to the best, a little weak in the wet Read Reviews Buy from £61.46
7th: Nokian Line
195/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 41.6 Dry: 7.6 Wet: 6.8 Rolling Resistance: 7.4 Noise: 5 Wear: 8 Overall: 6.8 Good in the dry Compared to the best, a little weak in the wet and noise tests Read Reviews
8th: Vredestein Sportrac 5
195/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 43.2 Dry: 6.8 Wet: 6.4 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 5.6 Wear: 10 Overall: 6.4 Low wear, relatively low fuel consumption Slightly weak on both wet and dry roads Read Reviews Buy from £76.58
9th: Aeolus PrecisionACE2
195/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 39.4 Dry: 7 Wet: 7.6 Rolling Resistance: 7 Noise: 5.8 Wear: 6 Overall: 6 Slightly weak on both wet and dry roads Relatively high wear and fuel consumption Read Reviews
10th: Kumho Ecowing ES01 KH27
195/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 40 Dry: 7.4 Wet: 6.6 Rolling Resistance: 8.4 Noise: 5.6 Wear: 6 Overall: 6 Low fuel consumption Slightly weak in the wet, high wear Read Reviews
11th: Michelin Energy Saver+
195/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 45.2 Dry: 8.2 Wet: 6 Rolling Resistance: 8.4 Noise: 5.6 Wear: 11 Overall: 6 Top marks in wear, low fuel consumption, good in the dry Weak on wet roads Read Reviews
12th: Sava intensa hp
195/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 42 Dry: 7.6 Wet: 6 Rolling Resistance: 7.8 Noise: 5.6 Wear: 9 Overall: 6 Relatively low wear Weak on wet roads Read Reviews
13th: Semperit Comfort Life 2
195/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 39.8 Dry: 6.2 Wet: 6 Rolling Resistance: 8.4 Noise: 5.2 Wear: 8 Overall: 6 Low fuel consumption Weak in the wet, noisy Read Reviews
14th: Hankook Ventus Prime 3 K125
195/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 39.8 Dry: 8.4 Wet: 5.4 Rolling Resistance: 7.6 Noise: 6 Wear: 7 Overall: 5.4 Good in the dry Relatively weak in the wet Read Reviews Buy from £70.94
15th: Maxxis Premitra HP5
195/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 38.6 Dry: 8.2 Wet: 7.4 Rolling Resistance: 7.4 Noise: 5.6 Wear: 5 Overall: 5 Good in the dry and wet High wear Read Reviews
16th: GT Radial Champiro FE1
195/65 R15 3PMSF: no	Total: 38.4 Dry: 6.2 Wet: 4 Rolling Resistance: 8.8 Noise: 6.4 Wear: 9 Overall: 4 Top marks on fuel consumption, low wear, very quiet Weak in the wet and on dry roads Read Reviews