2020 ViBilagare SUV Tyre Test

The excellent Swedish publication ViBilagare has just released their 2020 summer SUV tyre test. Testing seven of the most popular on-road 225/60 R18 tyres, ViBilagare also included the the mild all-terrain Continental CrossContact LX2 tyre as a very useful benchmark as to how much on-road performance you lose out on by fitting one of the very best mild off-road tyres on the market.

As usual, we'll summarise the important data from the test below, and recommend you head over to the brilliant ViBilagare website for a more in depth look.

Dry

Dry braking was led by the new Michelin Pilot Sport 4 SUV, stopping the test BMW X3 0.3 meters ahead of the second placed Bridgestone Turanza T005 and 0.7 meters ahead of the third placed Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5. The premium mild all-terrain tyre was considerably worse than even the worst pure on-road SUV tyre, stopping the vehicle a huge seven meters later than the test winning Michelin.

Dry handling was again led by Bridgestone, Goodyear and Michelin, but this time the Goodyear and Bridgestone SUV tyres had the advantage, tying on a 66.4 second lap time, with Michelin 0.4 seconds behind. Again, the mild all-terrain tyre struggled, early 2 seconds off the pace.

Wet

Wet braking was again won by Michelin, with a more significant advantage over the rest of the tyres than in the dry.

Michelins wet advantage continued to the wet handling and straight aquaplane testing, with Goodyear, Bridgestone and Nokian also performing well in all wet tests. Sadly, the mild off-road tyre didn't perform any better in the wet than it did in the dry, losing all three of the wet tests.

Environment

ViBilagare did an excellent job of rating each tyres subjective comfort rating, which is how the tyre feels and sounds in the cabin, rather than a simple drive by noise test.

All eight tyres were close, but as we've seen in other tests the Nokian Hakka Blue 2 SUV and Vredestein Ultrac Satin both provide excellent levels of comfort while driving on all surfaces. The mild all-terrain tyre finally excelled in a test, matching the very best of the on-road tyres in comfort levels.

The subjective noise test results were close. ViBilagare also tested objective drive-by external noise at two different speeds on two different surfaces, so head over to their website to see the full results.

The rolling resistance testing was also close, but as seen in other tests, the Bridgestone Turanza T005 has an advantage over its premium rivals.

Results

1st: Michelin Pilot Sport 4 SUV

Michelin Pilot Sport 4 SUV
  • 225/60 R18
  • 3PMSF: no
Test#ResultBestDifference%
Dry Braking1st33.9 M100%
Dry Handling3rd66.8 s66.4 s+0.4 s99.4%
Wet Braking1st21.5 M100%
Wet Handling1st71.59 s100%
Straight Aqua1st90.4 Km/H100%
Subj. Comfort4th3 Points4 Points-1 Points75%
Subj. Noise6th2 Points4 Points-2 Points50%
Rolling Resistance6th5.18 kg / t4.97 kg / t+0.21 kg / t95.95%
Near faultless performance in the dry and wet, good balance, safe driving characteristics.
Steering not as linear as the Bridgestone and Goodyear, a little noise, high price.

Read Reviews    Buy from £153.01

2nd: Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5

Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5
  • 225/60 R18
  • 3PMSF: no
Test#ResultBestDifference%
Dry Braking3rd34.6 M33.9 M+0.7 M97.98%
Dry Handling1st66.4 s100%
Wet Braking4th23.6 M21.5 M+2.1 M91.1%
Wet Handling2nd71.82 s71.59 s+0.23 s99.68%
Straight Aqua3rd88.1 Km/H90.4 Km/H-2.3 Km/H97.46%
Subj. Comfort4th3 Points4 Points-1 Points75%
Subj. Noise1st4 Points100%
Rolling Resistance3rd5.08 kg / t4.97 kg / t+0.11 kg / t97.83%
Good dry handling, excellent aquaplaning resistance, good wet performance.
Steering not as sharp as the Bridgestone, high price.

Read Reviews    Buy from £168.54

3rd: Nokian Hakka Blue 2 SUV

Nokian Hakka Blue 2 SUV
  • 225/60 R18
  • 3PMSF: no
Test#ResultBestDifference%
Dry Braking4th36.9 M33.9 M+3 M91.87%
Dry Handling4th67 s66.4 s+0.6 s99.1%
Wet Braking3rd22.9 M21.5 M+1.4 M93.89%
Wet Handling4th72.97 s71.59 s+1.38 s98.11%
Straight Aqua2nd88.4 Km/H90.4 Km/H-2 Km/H97.79%
Subj. Comfort1st4 Points100%
Subj. Noise1st4 Points100%
Rolling Resistance4th5.1 kg / t4.97 kg / t+0.13 kg / t97.45%
Very comfortable, low noise, well balanced and easy to drive.
Average dry braking.

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4th: Bridgestone Turanza T005

Bridgestone Turanza T005
  • 225/60 R18
  • 3PMSF: no
Test#ResultBestDifference%
Dry Braking2nd34.2 M33.9 M+0.3 M99.12%
Dry Handling1st66.4 s100%
Wet Braking2nd22.7 M21.5 M+1.2 M94.71%
Wet Handling3rd72.84 s71.59 s+1.25 s98.28%
Straight Aqua6th80 Km/H90.4 Km/H-10.4 Km/H88.5%
Subj. Comfort7th2 Points4 Points-2 Points50%
Subj. Noise6th2 Points4 Points-2 Points50%
Rolling Resistance1st4.97 kg / t100%
Fun to drive with quick steering response, short dry braking, excellent dry handling, good wet handling, lowest fuel use.
Average aquaplaning resistance, high noise.

Read Reviews    Buy from £126.78

5th: Vredestein Ultrac Satin

Vredestein Ultrac Satin
  • 225/60 R18
  • 3PMSF: no
Test#ResultBestDifference%
Dry Braking6th37.1 M33.9 M+3.2 M91.37%
Dry Handling4th67 s66.4 s+0.6 s99.1%
Wet Braking6th24.8 M21.5 M+3.3 M86.69%
Wet Handling5th74.51 s71.59 s+2.92 s96.08%
Straight Aqua4th87.2 Km/H90.4 Km/H-3.2 Km/H96.46%
Subj. Comfort1st4 Points100%
Subj. Noise1st4 Points100%
Rolling Resistance5th5.17 kg / t4.97 kg / t+0.2 kg / t96.13%
Good aquaplaning resistance, high comfort levels, well priced.
Below average braking performance in the dry and wet.

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6th: Pirelli Scorpion Verde

Pirelli Scorpion Verde
  • 225/60 R18
  • 3PMSF: no
Test#ResultBestDifference%
Dry Braking4th36.9 M33.9 M+3 M91.87%
Dry Handling4th67 s66.4 s+0.6 s99.1%
Wet Braking5th24.5 M21.5 M+3 M87.76%
Wet Handling6th76.2 s71.59 s+4.61 s93.95%
Straight Aqua5th80.2 Km/H90.4 Km/H-10.2 Km/H88.72%
Subj. Comfort7th2 Points4 Points-2 Points50%
Subj. Noise6th2 Points4 Points-2 Points50%
Rolling Resistance2nd5.07 kg / t4.97 kg / t+0.1 kg / t98.03%
Low fuel consumption, well balanced in the dry.
Poor wet handling with sudden loss of grip, low aquaplaning resistance, poor comfort.

Read Reviews    Buy from £118.22

7th: Nankang AS1

Nankang AS1
  • 225/60 R18
  • 3PMSF: no
Test#ResultBestDifference%
Dry Braking7th38 M33.9 M+4.1 M89.21%
Dry Handling7th67.5 s66.4 s+1.1 s98.37%
Wet Braking7th25.6 M21.5 M+4.1 M83.98%
Wet Handling7th77.79 s71.59 s+6.2 s92.03%
Straight Aqua7th79.1 Km/H90.4 Km/H-11.3 Km/H87.5%
Subj. Comfort4th3 Points4 Points-1 Points75%
Subj. Noise5th3 Points4 Points-1 Points75%
Rolling Resistance7th5.19 kg / t4.97 kg / t+0.22 kg / t95.76%
Cheap to buy, progressive loss of grip with early warning.
Low grip level in all conditions, with oversteer balance.

Read Reviews    Buy from £108.32

8th: Continental ContiCrossContact LX 2

Continental ContiCrossContact LX 2
  • 225/60 R18
  • 3PMSF: no
Test#ResultBestDifference%
Dry Braking8th40.1 M33.9 M+6.2 M84.54%
Dry Handling8th68.1 s66.4 s+1.7 s97.5%
Wet Braking8th26.3 M21.5 M+4.8 M81.75%
Wet Handling8th78.01 s71.59 s+6.42 s91.77%
Straight Aqua8th76 Km/H90.4 Km/H-14.4 Km/H84.07%
Subj. Comfort1st4 Points100%
Subj. Noise1st4 Points100%
Rolling Resistance8th5.29 kg / t4.97 kg / t+0.32 kg / t93.95%
High levels of comfort, the grip releases progressively with early warning
[Tested against on-road tyres]Generally a lower level of grip compared to on-road specific tyres, poor steering feedback.

Read Reviews    Buy from £145.76


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