| Test Summary | |
| Wet Braking | Maxxis Premitra HP5 |
| Dry Braking | Continental Premium Contact 6 |
| Wear | Continental Premium Contact 6 Semperit Speed Life 3 |
| Rolling Resistance | Kumho Ecsta HS51 BFGoodrich Advantage |
| Snow Braking | Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 |
| Snow Handling | Fulda EcoControl HP2 Pirelli Cinturato P7 C2 Uniroyal RainSport 5 Nokian WetProof |
As usual with ADAC tests there is little raw data provided, instead the testers grading each tyre with a score, but this year we do get wear data (below) and even some of the testers subjective thoughts on the tyres, which is an excellent addition.
As with the 2020 18” ADAC, Continental have taken first place with the PremiumContact 6. As we’ve found, this tyre is excellent in the dry and wet and offers sharp handling and predictable behaviour in all conditions. Wear, which the tyre came second in 2020, has dropped off a little, with the tyre only placing mid pack.
The new Semperit Speed-Life 3 finishes a strong second place. The overall scores and testers notes put the new tyre almost on par with the test winning Continental, which is an interesting result considering Continental own and manufacturer the Semperit brand.
Third and fourth places awarded to the Bridgestone Turanza T005 and Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2. The Bridgestone performed well in all categories, other than mid pack wear and slightly loud external noise, while the Goodyear was good in the wet, had low rolling resistance, by far the best wear on test, but was de-ranked due to poor dry handling.
Other notable results were good performances by Pirelli and Nokian, but both being hugely de-ranked because of very poor wear, the Uniroyal RainSport 5 struggled again in the dry and in wear.
As always with tyre testing, the two cheapest tyres had by far the worst results, with the re-treaded King Miller performing poorly.
Wear
The difference between the best and worst tyres on the wear test was over 100%! The Nokian Wetproof was predicted to last just 24,800 km (15,410 miles), while the Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 should be good for a huge 55,300 km (33,120 miles). It’s a shame there was no Michelin in this test, as it would have been interesting to see who would win between the two wear masters, Goodyear and Michelin.
Results
ADAC applied the following score weighting to the overall results - Dry 20% / Wet 40% / Noise 10% / Fuel 10% / Wear 20%
1st: Continental Premium Contact 6 | |
| Well-balanced summer tyres with top marks in the wet, very good on dry roads. Slightly high fuel consumption. The Continental PremiumContact 6 is amongst the best on dry roads, with precise steering and good control. In the wet, the PremiumContact 6 was the best tyre on test and has low fuel consumption. Read Reviews Buy from £79.99 |
2nd: Semperit Speed Life 3 | |
| Very balanced, especially good in the wet, good on dry roads. Mid pack wear results. The Semperit Speed-Life 3 is a very balanced midrange tyre. It was impressive in the dry with good steering and short braking distances and excellent in the wet, leading wet braking. Read Reviews |
3rd: Bridgestone Turanza T005 | |
| Very balanced, good on dry and wet surfaces, low fuel consumption. Slightly loud external noise. The Bridgestone Turanza T005 delivers good grip in the dry, with particularly short braking distances. In the wet, it again excels in braking, but could only manage an average curved aquaplaning result. Read Reviews Buy from £67.94 |
4th: Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 | |
| Lowest wear, good in the wet, low fuel consumption. Slightly weaker on dry roads. The Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 has average steering and can feel imprecise during dry handling, though the dry braking result was good. The tyre performs well in the wet, has a low fuel consumption and a big margin in wear, doubling the worst tyre on test. Read Reviews Buy from £70.62 |
5th: Kumho Ecsta HS51 | |
| Top marks for fuel consumption, good in the wet, relatively low wear. Slightly weaker on dry roads. The Kumho Ecsta HS51 feels less precise in the dry compared to its peers, and only has an average dry braking result. It's better in the wet, with high aquaplaning resistance, and has reasonable levels of noise. Read Reviews |
6th: Apollo Alnac 4g | |
| Relatively little wear, relatively low fuel consumption. Average dry and wet grip. The Apollo Alnac 4G has imprecise steering in the dry with an oversteer balance, but a short dry braking distance. Read Reviews |
7th: Hankook Ventus Prime 3 K125 | |
| Very good in the dry, relatively low fuel consumption. Average wet performance. The Hankook Ventus Prime3 is a dry specialist, up there with the best in dry braking and good levels of control and grip in dry handling. In contrast, the Hankook is average in the wet, finishing midpack. Low noise and low fuel consumption. Read Reviews Buy from £76.69 |
8th: Fulda EcoControl HP2 | |
| Relatively low wear and good fuel consumption. Weakness in the wet. The Fulda EcoControl HP2 has an average dry performance with an oversteer balance, and struggled in the wet, losing grip early. Good aquaplaning resistance, low noise, low fuel consumption. Read Reviews |
9th: BFGoodrich Advantage | |
| Lowest fuel use, good in the dry, low wear. Weak in the wet. The BF Goodrich Advantage is balanced on dry roads. In the wet, it still received a good rating when braking, but on the wet handling course,it had poor grip and a significant loss of cornering forces when accelerating and braking. Low noise, very low fuel use and good wear. Read Reviews |
10th: Maxxis Premitra HP5 | |
| Very good in the dry, good in the wet. Relatively high fuel consumption, high wear. The Maxxis Premitra 5 is a specialist on dry roads, with excellent grip and precise handling. It also performs well in the wet, with good handling and short braking distances. The negatives, it has high internal noise, high fuel consumption and poor wear. Read Reviews |
11th: Nokian WetProof | |
| Good in the dry and wet. Relatively high fuel consumption, high wear. The Nokian Wetproof impresses in the wet with short braking distances and precise handling. It's also good in the dry. It has an average noise and fuel consumption, but most importantly, the highest wear on test. Read Reviews |
12th: Pirelli Cinturato P7 C2 | |
| Good in the dry and wet. Relatively high fuel consumption, high wear. The Pirelli Cinturato P7 C2 is very good in the dry and wet, with very short dry braking distances and strong handling, and has a low level of cabin noise. Sadly, it scored very poorly on the wear test, deranking its overall result. Read Reviews Buy from £88.09 |
13th: Uniroyal RainSport 5 | |
| Good in the wet, relatively low fuel use. Weak in the dry, high wear. The Uniroyal Rainsport 5 has significant weaknesses in the dry with imprecise steering, low grip, and long dry braking distances. The RainSport 5 is still good in the wet, with short wet braking and high aquaplaning resistance. The tyre also has low noise, low rolling resistance, but high levels of wear. Read Reviews Buy from £63.54 |
14th: Petlas Imperium PT515 | |
| Relatively low wear. Weak in the dry and wet. The Petlas Imperium PT515 is particularly during dry braking, stopping the car a full 4.5 meters after the best on test. The tyre also has poor handling. The trend continues in the wet, with long wet braking and weak handling results. The PT515 also has high levels of noise and high rolling resistance. Read Reviews |
15th: King Meiler Sport 1 KM | |
| Retreaded tyre (raw material recycling.) Weak in the dry, very weak in the wet, noisy. The King Meiler Sport 1 is the only retreaded tyre in the group, and could not keep up with the competition. Low levels of grip in the dry, with imprecise steering, and very low levels of grip in the wet. The Sport 1 is also the noisiest tyre on test, and has an average fuel consumption. Read Reviews |
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