ACE have started the year off with their annual touring tyre test, covering 15 tyres in the popular 205/55 R16 size. The test covers a wide range of tyres, including a yet unreleased tyre and a number of budget options.
Results
In a rather strange twist, the tyre which has won the test is not yet available for purchase in the UK. The Continental Premium Contact 5 replaces the Continental Premium Contact 2 as the companies flagship premium touring tyre, and seems to pick up right where the PC2 left off by winning the test convincingly. The tyre is officially being launched at the end of March and should be available for sale shortly after.Second place is taken by the excellent Dunlop SP Sport Fast Response with a convincing all round performance, but it’s 3rd to 6th places where things get far more interesting.
Finishing 3rd is the Nokian V. Nokian are a company well known for their winter tyres, and have recently been making strides with their summer V, Z and Z G2 tyres. The V in this test managed to combine and excellent dry result with a good rolling resistance score to round out the top 3.
4th place was secured by Fulda, with the new Eco Control HP. Fulda are widely regarded as a premium brand in Europe, but their relatively unknown status in the UK means they’re a bit of a performance bargain. The Eco Control HP had the lowest rolling resistance on the test, yet still managed good dry and noise scores.
5th and 6th were taken by Semperit and Hankook, both brands which are making real strides up the midrange table, and along with Fulda and Nokian, are almost defining a new “premium midrange†sector.
At the bottom end of the table are the budget tyre, continuing the trend “you get what you pay forâ€. While a number of budget tyres can offer good rolling resistance scores, the tyre off in wet performance isn’t worth the small cost saving.
As always, the full results are below. Any questions please feel free to comment!
Total: 135
Dry
43
Wet
72
Rolling Resistance
14
Noise
6
Total: 133
Dry
44
Wet
71
Rolling Resistance
10
Noise
8
Total: 133
Dry
44
Wet
68
Rolling Resistance
12
Noise
9
Total: 130
Dry
44
Wet
59
Rolling Resistance
17
Noise
10
Total: 129
Dry
43
Wet
67
Rolling Resistance
10
Noise
9
Total: 129
Dry
43
Wet
63
Rolling Resistance
14
Noise
9
Total: 131
Dry
41
Wet
67
Rolling Resistance
17
Noise
6
Total: 127
Dry
42
Wet
67
Rolling Resistance
12
Noise
6
Total: 114
Dry
39
Wet
57
Rolling Resistance
12
Noise
6
Total: 112
Dry
38
Wet
59
Rolling Resistance
7
Noise
8
Total: 112
Dry
36
Wet
67
Rolling Resistance
3
Noise
6
Total: 94
Dry
27
Wet
59
Rolling Resistance
2
Noise
6
Total: 77
Dry
29
Wet
37
Rolling Resistance
10
Noise
1
Total: 65
Dry
22
Wet
17
Rolling Resistance
16
Noise
10