| Test Summary | |
| Wet Braking | Continental Premium Contact 6 |
| Dry Braking | Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 Hankook Ventus S1 evo2 SUV |
| Dry Handling | Hankook Ventus S1 evo2 SUV |
| Rolling Resistance | Maxxis Premitra HP5 Vredestein Ultrac Satin Continental Premium Contact 6 |
| Noise | Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 Dunlop SP QuattroMaxx Continental Premium Contact 6 |
| Snow Handling | Kumho Crugen HP91 Michelin Primacy 3 Continental Premium Contact 6 |
Auto Bild put the ten tyre patterns through the usual wet, dry, comfort and economy tests, and also tested the tyres on grass, gravel, sand and mud, should you wish to take your crossover SUV for some light offroading.
The Top Three
Even though the new Continental PremiumContact 6 featured in the test, it didn't make the top three due to a weak aquaplaning performance. Instead, Goodyear took the top spot with the Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3. The latest tyre in the Asymmetric range by Goodyear boasted an excellent balanced performance, with the only negative points slightly weak traction on grass, and an expensive purchase price.
Hankook took second place with the Ventus S1 Evo2 SUV K117A, which also has the most number of words in its name of any tyre on test. The Hankook had the best result in the aquaplaning tests, an excellent dry and wet performance, and was only marked down for average comfort and a high rolling resistance.
The top three was rounded out by Goodyear's sister company, Dunlop. Like the winning Goodyear, the the Dunlop SP QuattroMaxx showed a very balanced performance, with good traction in mud. Sadly, like the Goodyear it was an expensive tyre on test, and had the highest rolling resistance.
The Rest
Michelin took fourth place with the Primacy 3. As we've learnt from other sizes of the Primacy 3, it performs very well in the dry with good grip and fast steering, but struggles in aquaplaning tests (a design choice by michelin, see the launch report). Like the Goodyear and Dunlop, it was a very expensive tyre.
The biggest surprise of test must come from the Continental PremiumContact 6 only managing fifth place in its first test. The tyre had very high grip in the dry and wet, a low rolling resistance and was good in the mud tests, but like the Michelin was poor in the aquaplaning tests, had the highest price, and was noisier than some of the best tyres on test.
Maxxis must be very proud with the HP5 scoring sixth place overall, and beating brands such as Bridgestone and Kumho. While the HP5 wasn't great on grass, gravel, and had a poor steering feel, it scored well in the wet and dry tests, had excellent rolling resistance and was extremely well priced.
The seventh placed Bridgestone Dueler HP Sport had Bridgestones usual wet grip issues but scored well in the aquaplaning tests, the Kumho Crugen HP91 in eighth place was average in the wet and dry but quiet and comfortable, and the ninth placed Vredestein Ultrac Satin scored well in rolling resistance and aquaplaning, but had poor wet and dry grip and low traction offroad.
Last place was awarded to the Star Performer SUV-1. This tyre was by far the cheapest on test, and had good traction on gravel, but unsurprisingly for a budget tyre is struggled in the wet and dry, and had a poor steering response.
To put some figures to the budget VS premium debate, the Hankook was the best tyre in the wet, stopping the VW in 46.5 meters from 62 mph, where the Star Performer took another 12 meters at 58.5 meters. In the dry the results were closer, with the best on test stopping the car in 34.8 meters and the Star Performer 3.6 meters further on at 38.4 meters. While 3.6 meters doesn't seem overly far, the best six tyres in dry braking were grouped by under 1 meter difference, and 3.6 meters is still the difference between no accident, and a fairly big crash!
The Full Results
1st: Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 | |
| Good performance balance, very good results on dry and wet roads, high resistance to aquaplaning Low traction on grass, expensive Read Reviews |
2nd: Hankook Ventus S1 evo2 SUV | |
| The best resistance to aquaplaning, high braking performance, high grip on wet surfaces, good results on dry roads Average comfort, high rolling resistance Read Reviews |
3rd: Dunlop SP QuattroMaxx | |
| A good balance of performance, good results in wet conditions, good traction in the mud Highest rolling resistance, expensive Read Reviews |
4th: Michelin Primacy 3 | |
| Very short braking distances on dry roads, fast, accurate steering response, low noise Low resistance to aquaplaning, very expensive Read Reviews |
5th: Continental Premium Contact 6 | |
| Very high grip on dry and wet roads, low rolling resistance, good traction in the dirt Worst aquaplaning result, highest price, a little noisy Read Reviews Buy from £139.91 |
6th: Maxxis Premitra HP5 | |
| Good traction on wet roads, low rolling resistance, surprisingly good traction in sand and mud, cheap Very low traction on wet grass and gravel, inaccurate response to steering, noisy Read Reviews |
7th: Bridgestone Dueler HP Sport | |
| Good resistance to aquaplaning, high traction on gravel and grass Long braking distance on wet roads, relatively weak lateral stability on wet surfaces, high rolling resistance Read Reviews Buy from £115.71 |
8th: Kumho Crugen HP91 | |
| Good comfort and low noise, high traction on grass and dirt, low price Average grip on wet and dry roads Read Reviews Buy from £100.39 |
9th: Vredestein Ultrac Satin | |
| Low rolling resistance, good resistance to aquaplaning, surprisingly high traction on grass Low braking performance on dry roads, slow response to steering, low traction on sand, gravel and mud Read Reviews |
10th: Star Performer SUV 1 | |
| Surprisingly high traction on gravel, cheapest tyre on test Poor braking performance in dry and wet, low grip on wet surfaces, inaccurate response to steering, uncomfortable, low grip in mud Read Reviews |
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