2021 Tyre Reviews SUV Tyre Test

We have 8 of the most popular SUV tyres in 235/55 R18, including the Michelin Primacy 4, the brand new Goodyear EfficientGrip 2 SUV, the extremely popular Uniroyal RainSport 5, the new Hankook Ventus S1 Evo3 SUV, the Nokian WetProof SUV, the Vredestein Ultrac Satin, the Avon ZX7, the BFGoodrich Advantage SUV, and a budget tyre represented by Westlake.

As tyres like these aren't intended for serious off-road use, we'll be using a VW Tiguan and focusing on the dry, wet and comfort characteristics of the tyres, AND thanks to Goodyear allowing us to use their awesome off-road test facility in Texas, we'll also look at some of the basic off-road performances such as damp grass and gravel, meaning you'll have a complete picture of what SUV tyre is best at what, allowing you to make the ideal purchase choice for your own particular needs.

Vehicles which this size applies to are SUV and Crossover SUVs such as the BMW X3, BMW X5, Audi Q3, Volvo XC40 / XC60, Audi A8, Citroen C4 Aircross, VW Tiguan, Jeep Compass, Kia Sportage, Mercedes Benz EQA, GLA, S Class, Nissan Qashqai and many more.

Let's start with the dry and wet performance of the nine sets of SUV tyres.

Dry

Dry braking was led by the Michelin Primacy 4, having an impressive lead over the rest of the group. BFGoodrich, Goodyear and Hankook were also good performers, while the budget Westlake had a big deficit to the rest of the group.

Handling tests might not be the most important criteria for an SUV, but they do still show us the peak lateral grip of the tyres, how safe they will be in emergency maneuvers, and if you're really keen, just how quickly you can get your child to school on a wet or dry morning.

The VW Tiguan is set up for understeer, and in the dry, that's what we got from all the tyres, just to different degrees, with the slowest tyres also being those with the most understeer.

Avon, Hankook and Goodyear were the nicest tyres to drive quickly, having relatively good steering response and balance. Again, the budget tyre was the slowest, and the BFGoodrich and Uniroyal had a slow steering reaction and a heavy understeer balance.

Wet

The wet braking testing had the Uniroyal Rainsport 5 move to the front, narrowly beating the Michelin Primacy 4. Like in the dry, the Goodyear and Hankook were the best of the rest, with the budget tyre performing extremely poorly, with the Tiguan still travelling around 40 km/h at the point the Uniroyal had stopped the SUV.

The Uniroyal continued its impressive run in the wet by being the fastest over the wet handling, beating the Goodyear and Hankook.

The Michelin Primacy 4 had trouble with the deeper parts of the wet handling lap, costing the tyre important time.

The aquaplaning tests highlighted both the Uniroyal's excellent ability in standing water, and the difficulties the Michelin had on the wet handling lap.

The Vredestein Ultrac Satin also performed well in aquaplaning, winning the curved aquaplaning test.

Off Road

On the slightly moist grass, there was semi correlation with wet braking, with Hankook, Michelin and Goodyear being the best of the best and Avon, Nokian and Westlake struggling a little more. There was over 10% between the best and the worst, which could be the difference of sliding around or getting moving.

On gravel Goodyear narrowly beat Uniroyal, which is interesting as the Uniroyal was the most "off-road" looking tyre, but the Goodyear had the highest starting tread depth which might have helped. Vredestein and Nokian were also good on gravel. Sadly a storm broke just as we were getting to the last set, which is why the data is missing for Westlake.

Environment

Comfort is an important quality for an SUV tyre, and the BFGoodrich and Uniroyal led the group, narrowly ahead of the Goodyear EfficientGrip 2 SUV

Conversely, the BFGoodrich had the highest external drive-by noise.

The Michelin Primacy 4 had another impressive lead, this time in fuel use, having 7% lower rolling resistance than the second placed Goodyear.

Results

View Results as a single table and adjust the score weighting

1st: Michelin Primacy 4
235/55 R18 EU Label: B/A/69 Weight: 11.43kgs Tread: 6.76mm	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 1st 100% Dry Handling 5th +1.26 s 98.8% Subj. Dry Handling 3rd -0.5 Points 95% Wet Braking 2nd +0.17 M 99.52% Wet Handling 7th +0.84 s 98.8% Subj. Wet Handling 4th -1.5 Points 85% Straight Aqua 9th -13.66 Km/H 84.65% Curved Aquaplaning 9th -0.68 m/sec2 72.08% Gravel Traction 6th +1.02 M 95.34% Grass Traction 2nd +0.02 M 99.56% Subj. Comfort 4th -0.8 Points 92% Noise 5th +1.7 dB 97.61% Rolling Resistance 1st 100% Shortest dry braking by a margin, very short wet braking, good on damp grass, lowest rolling resistance by some margin. Lowest aquaplaning resistance on test, which also cost the tyre time on the wet handling lap, average gravel traction. The Michelin Primacy 4 is an excellent tyre with very low fuel use and an excellent braking ability. Unfortunately the tyre has the shallowest tread depth on test, and while that's unlikely to be a wear issue for the French tyre, it did mean the tyre scored poorly in aquaplaning test, and struggled in the deeper parts of water on the wet handling lap. Read Reviews    Buy from £123.89
2nd: Goodyear EfficientGrip 2 SUV
235/55 R18 EU Label: B/A/70 Weight: 11.97kgs Tread: 8.78mm	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 3rd +1.11 M 96.81% Dry Handling 3rd +0.52 s 99.5% Subj. Dry Handling 1st 100% Wet Braking 4th +2.02 M 94.6% Wet Handling 2nd +0.24 s 99.65% Subj. Wet Handling 1st 100% Straight Aqua 4th -5.27 Km/H 94.08% Curved Aquaplaning 5th -0.27 m/sec2 88.98% Gravel Traction 1st 100% Grass Traction 3rd +0.12 M 97.41% Subj. Comfort 3rd -0.5 Points 95% Noise 1st 100% Rolling Resistance 2nd +0.52 kg / t 92.71% Very well balanced tyre, no real weakness in any of the tests, good in the dry and wet with good steering response, short braking distances, good levels of comfort, highest traction on gravel and very good on grass, low rolling resistance, lowest noise on test. Slightly weaker curved aquaplaning resistance compared to the best. Once again Goodyear is proving they can develop tyres with seemingly no weaknesses. While the new EfficientGrip 2 SUV only won a single test, it was rarely out of the top three in every other test making it an EXCELLENT all round tyre. Read Reviews    Buy from £107.99
3rd: Uniroyal RainSport 5
235/55 R18 EU Label: C/A/71 Weight: 11.52kgs Tread: 8.5mm	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 5th +1.57 M 95.55% Dry Handling 8th +1.85 s 98.24% Subj. Dry Handling 6th -1.5 Points 85% Wet Braking 1st 100% Wet Handling 1st 100% Subj. Wet Handling 4th -1.5 Points 85% Straight Aqua 1st 100% Curved Aquaplaning 2nd -0.08 m/sec2 96.71% Gravel Traction 2nd +0.04 M 99.81% Grass Traction 5th +0.19 M 95.89% Subj. Comfort 2nd -0.2 Points 98% Noise 6th +1.8 dB 97.47% Rolling Resistance 5th +1.32 kg / t 83.35% Excellent wet performance with the shortest wet braking distances, fastest wet handling, high levels of comfort, good grip on gravel, and best aquaplaning resistance overall. Relatively poor performance in the dry with extended dry braking and heavy understeer in dry handling. The Uniroyal RainSport 5 is living up to its name by having a class leading performance in the wet, regardless of water depth, and as always, very good levels of comfort. Unfortunately, as we've found previously with the RainSport range, that comes at the expense of performance in the dry where the tyre has lower levels of grip and a heavy understeer handling balance. Read Reviews    Buy from £89.79
4th: Hankook Ventus S1 evo 3 SUV
235/55 R18 EU Label: C/A/72 Weight: 12.7kgs Tread: 7.94mm	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 4th +1.25 M 96.43% Dry Handling 1st 100% Subj. Dry Handling 1st 100% Wet Braking 3rd +1.54 M 95.83% Wet Handling 3rd +0.38 s 99.45% Subj. Wet Handling 1st 100% Straight Aqua 6th -7.5 Km/H 91.57% Curved Aquaplaning 4th -0.15 m/sec2 94.04% Gravel Traction 7th +1.45 M 93.5% Grass Traction 1st 100% Subj. Comfort 5th -1.2 Points 88% Noise 2nd +1 dB 98.58% Rolling Resistance 7th +1.76 kg / t 78.97% Fastest dry handling lap, very good in wet handling, short braking distances in the dry and wet, low noise, good traction on damp grass. Average straight aquaplaning resistance, high rolling resistance, low traction on gravel. The Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 3 SUV is another well balanced tyre from the Korean manufacturer, performing well in all the grip tests. The tyres only major weakness was rolling resistance, where it was 20% off the leading tyre. Read Reviews
5th: BFGoodrich Advantage SUV
235/55 R18 EU Label: C/A/70 Weight: 11.15kgs Tread: 7.15mm	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 2nd +1.08 M 96.9% Dry Handling 7th +1.79 s 98.3% Subj. Dry Handling 6th -1.5 Points 85% Wet Braking 6th +3.42 M 91.19% Wet Handling 8th +2 s 97.18% Subj. Wet Handling 7th -1.8 Points 82% Straight Aqua 3rd -4.93 Km/H 94.46% Curved Aquaplaning 3rd -0.14 m/sec2 94.33% Gravel Traction 5th +0.73 M 96.62% Grass Traction 4th +0.13 M 97.16% Subj. Comfort 1st 100% Noise 9th +2.6 dB 96.38% Rolling Resistance 3rd +0.74 kg / t 89.93% Short braking in the dry, good aquaplaning resistance, good off road performance, very good levels of comfort, low rolling resistance. Extended braking distances in the wet, slow handling in the dry and wet with high levels of understeer, highest external pass by noise. The BF Goodrich Advantage SUV is a tyre with good levels of comfort, short dry braking distances, and good aquaplaning resistance in deeper water. The tyre struggles a little more in shallow water, with longer wet braking distances and understeer handling. Read Reviews    Buy from £129.66
6th: Nokian Wetproof SUV
235/55 R18 EU Label: C/A/70 Weight: 12.53kgs Tread: 8.01mm	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 6th +1.57 M 95.55% Dry Handling 4th +0.83 s 99.2% Subj. Dry Handling 6th -1.5 Points 85% Wet Braking 5th +2.06 M 94.5% Wet Handling 6th +0.77 s 98.9% Subj. Wet Handling 8th -2 Points 80% Straight Aqua 5th -7.37 Km/H 91.72% Curved Aquaplaning 6th -0.3 m/sec2 87.75% Gravel Traction 4th +0.33 M 98.44% Grass Traction 8th +0.42 M 91.46% Subj. Comfort 6th -1.5 Points 85% Noise 6th +1.8 dB 97.47% Rolling Resistance 6th +1.42 kg / t 82.32% A balanced performance with good grip in the dry and on gravel. Not leading in any test, relatively poor grip on damp grass. The Nokian Wetproof SUV is a balanced tyre, and while it doesn't excel in any particular area, it's not drastically bad in any either. Read Reviews    Buy from £93.99
7th: Vredestein Ultrac Satin
235/55 R18 EU Label: C/B/71 Weight: 12.24kgs Tread: 7.93mm	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 8th +2.3 M 93.62% Dry Handling 6th +1.42 s 98.65% Subj. Dry Handling 5th -1 Points 90% Wet Braking 7th +4.07 M 89.69% Wet Handling 5th +0.73 s 98.95% Subj. Wet Handling 3rd -0.5 Points 95% Straight Aqua 2nd -3 Km/H 96.63% Curved Aquaplaning 1st 100% Gravel Traction 3rd +0.17 M 99.19% Grass Traction 6th +0.36 M 92.53% Subj. Comfort 8th -1.8 Points 82% Noise 3rd +1.2 dB 98.3% Rolling Resistance 4th +1.29 kg / t 83.67% Very good aquaplaning resistance, relatively low rolling resistance, good grip on gravel. Long braking distances in the dry and wet, lower levels of comfort. The Vredestein Ultrac Satin is a tyre we'd like to see trade some of its aquaplaning performance for some more rubber on the ground for improvements in the grip tests, as subjectively the tyre was nice to drive on, it just lacked grip. Read Reviews    Buy from £101.79
8th: Avon ZX7
235/55 R18 EU Label: C/A/69 Weight: 12.73kgs Tread: 7.68mm	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 7th +1.82 M 94.88% Dry Handling 1st 100% Subj. Dry Handling 3rd -0.5 Points 95% Wet Braking 8th +4.24 M 89.3% Wet Handling 4th +0.41 s 99.41% Subj. Wet Handling 4th -1.5 Points 85% Straight Aqua 7th -10.64 Km/H 88.04% Curved Aquaplaning 7th -0.54 m/sec2 77.88% Gravel Traction 8th +2.25 M 90.26% Grass Traction 7th +0.39 M 92.08% Subj. Comfort 6th -1.5 Points 85% Noise 8th +1.9 dB 97.33% Rolling Resistance 9th +2.11 kg / t 75.8% Excellent handling in the dry, with sporty direct steering, good in wet handling. Longer braking distances in the dry and wet, poor aquaplaning resistance, low grip on gravel and grass, highest rolling resistance on test. The Avon ZX7 was an enjoyable tyre to drive in the dry and wet, feeling even sporty at times, however the braking and aquaplaning performance of the tyre couldn't match the best on test. Read Reviews    Buy from £93.00
9th: Westlake SU318 HT
235/55 R18 Weight: 13.61kgs Tread: 8.23mm	Test # Difference % Dry Braking 9th +5.77 M 85.39% Dry Handling 9th +2.17 s 97.95% Subj. Dry Handling 9th -2.5 Points 75% Wet Braking 9th +12.03 M 74.64% Wet Handling 9th +3.11 s 95.69% Subj. Wet Handling 9th -3 Points 70% Straight Aqua 8th -13.4 Km/H 84.94% Curved Aquaplaning 8th -0.6 m/sec2 75.29% Grass Traction 9th +0.58 M 88.61% Subj. Comfort 9th -2 Points 80% Noise 4th +1.5 dB 97.88% Rolling Resistance 8th +2.07 kg / t 76.15% Relatively quiet external pass by noise. Low grip in all tests, extremely long wet braking distances, poor aquaplaning resistance, low levels of comfort, high rolling resistance. Once again the cheapest tyre on test, performed the worst, however it's worth noting, while this tyre was sold as a summer tyre when shopping for the test, it is marketed as an all season tyre in north america, meaning it's likely to have a higher level of snow performance than the other eight tyres which could explain some of the offset in the dry and wet. Read Reviews