3 premium tyres top Auto Bild summer test

3 premium tyres top Auto Bild summer test

Anyone searching for 205/55 R16 tyres online will be spoiled for choice. This tyre size has been a bestseller for many years, with popular compact cars such as the VW Golf, Audi A3, Vauxhall Astra and Seat Leon wearing 205/55 R16 tyres as standard equipment. The broad range of brands and models for this dimension can complicate the process of buying replacement tyres, but Auto Bild helps here with its 2024 summer tyre test.

Having already subjected 55 tyre brands to wet and dry braking tests and selected the 20 best performers, Auto Bild now more intensively evaluates these finalists. It declares three of these tyres to be ‘exemplary’ products and considers a further 12 to be ‘good tyres. Four are just ‘adequate’ while one tyre receives a ‘conditionally recommendable’ rating.

Rated ‘exemplary’

Test winner – Michelin Primacy 4+
+ Balanced high performance potential, good handling qualities, short dry braking distances, exemplary mileage & economy

Continental PremiumContact 7
+ Exemplary performance on wet & dry surfaces, shortest wet & dry braking distances, good mileage potential

Bridgestone Turanza 6
+ Balanced driving characteristics, safe wet/dry handling, short braking distances, very good mileage potential

Rated ‘good’

Economy champion – Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2
+ Outstanding mileage potential, stable safe driving behaviour, moderate price, very good price-performance ratio
– Moderate grip in wet conditions

Kumho Ecsta HS52
+ Convincing performance on wet & dry roads, short wet & dry braking distances, affordably priced
– Moderate ride comfort

Firestone Roadhawk
+ Sporty, dynamic handling, short dry braking distances, good price-performance ratio
– Elevated ride noise

Falken Ziex ZE310 Ecorun
+ Good safety reserves in aquaplaning, dynamic dry handling, short dry braking distances
– Limited mileage potential

Hankook Ventus Prime 4
+ Dynamic handling on wet & dry roads, short dry braking distances, low rolling resistance
– Moderate mileage potential

Toyo Proxes Comfort
+ Dynamic wet & dry handling, short braking distances, quiet rolling noise, moderate price level
– Low mileage potential

Dunlop Sport BluResponse
+ Good aquaplaning qualities, short dry braking distances, low rolling resistance
– Average grip on wet surfaces

Fulda EcoControl HP2
+ Short dry braking distances, low noise, outstanding mileage potential, good efficiency
– Moderate lateral control on dry roads

BF Goodrich Advantage
+ Dynamic dry handling, low ride noise, low rolling resistance, favourably priced
– Tendency to understeer in the wet

Kleber Dynaxer HP4
+ Good aquaplaning safety, short dry braking distances, good ride comfort
– Understeer, moderate mileage potential

GT Radial FE 2
+ Safe aquaplaning qualities, short dry braking distances, very favourable price level
– Average grip on wet & dry surfaces

Giti GitiSynergy H2
+ Safe wet handling, short dry braking distances, moderately priced
– Tendency to understeer on dry surfaces, very high rolling resistance

Rated ‘satisfactory’

Pirelli Cinturato P7
+ Short dry braking distances, dynamic steering & handling behaviour
– Mileage & economy just satisfactory, higher price level

Nexen N’Fera Primus
+ Good braking performance, dynamic wet handling
– Delayed steering response, limited mileage/economy

Uniroyal RainSport 5
+ Good aquaplaning qualities, safe wet handling
– Spongy handling & limited lateral control on dry roads

Maxxis Premitra 5 HP5
+ Good mileage potential, short dry braking distances
– Delayed steering response, moderate grip level on wet & dry surfaces

Rated ‘conditionally recommendable’

Vredestein Ultrac
+ Excellent driving dynamics, short wet & dry braking distances, very good aquaplaning properties
– Low mileage potential, elevated rolling resistance

Balanced performance is key

Auto Bild questions the safety of 13 tyre brands eliminated during the preliminary wet and dry braking testing. None of the 20 finalists give cause for similar concern, but the publication’s tyre testers conclude their test reportage by noting that “brilliant individual performances do not make a winner.”

As an example, the testers point to the Vredestein Ultrac, which finished 3rd from 55 tyres in the preliminary test round. Cost-related issues, in particular high rolling resistance and low mileage, resulted in the Vredestein tyre finishing the finals in last place. Real top talents, comments Auto Bild, “impress with balanced performance across the board.”

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