2016 Off Road Summer SUV Tyre Test

For this reason, the German "Off Road" magazine have chosen to test six 215/65 R16 tyres on an Audi Q3, which are designed to spend 99% of their life on the road.

The Top Three

Continental win this test with the CrossContact UHP. The Continental tyre offers the best balance between dry and wet braking, excellent handling in the wet and a low rolling resistance. It is however the most expensive tyre on test, the nosiest tyre on test, and has a tendency to understeer in the dry at the limit.

Second place is awarded to Nokian with the Line SUV. The Nokian boasts the shortest wet braking, but can only manage an average result in the dry braking test.  It has excellent rolling resistance and is just half a decibel louder than the quietest tyre on test.

Goodyear round out the top three places with the EfficientGrip SUV. The Goodyear proves to be a very strong all round tyre, and the quietest tyre on test, with the only negatives a high rolling resistance and a slight balance instability under extreme load changes.

Fourth to Sixth

Pirelli placed fourth with the Scorpion Verde. The Pirelli couldn't quite match the top three tyres in the handling or aquaplaning tests, but was the strongest tyre under dry braking.

Hankook could only manage fifth place. The Dynapro HP2 RA33 had excellent wet braking, but the worst dry braking on test, and while it was a quiet tyre it had a high rolling resistance.

Last place went to the budget Star Performer SUV-1. While it scored well in the rolling resistance and aquaplaning tests, the low cost Star Performer scored extremely badly under wet braking, dry braking and the noise tests.

Full Results

With five of the six tyres recommended, the gap between the best tyres on the market is ever shrinking. The full results are below with further details.

1^st

Continental Cross Contact UHP

215/65 R16

• 3PMSF: no

Short braking distances and good handling on wet surfaces, low rolling resistance

Tendency to understeer on dry surfaces, high price

Highly recommended

Total: 35

Dry 7

Wet 10

Rolling Resistance 9

Overall 9

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2^nd

Nokian Line SUV

215/65 R16

• 3PMSF: no

Good dry and wet balance with a hint of understeer. Shortest wet braking

Longer dry braking

Highly recommended

Total: 36

Dry 9

Wet 9

Rolling Resistance 9

Overall 9

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3^rd

Goodyear EfficientGrip SUV

215/65 R16

• 3PMSF: no

Good in all conditions

High rolling resistance, poor lateral stability during emergency turns

Recommended

Total: 28

Dry 6

Wet 9

Rolling Resistance 6

Overall 7

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4^th

Pirelli Scorpion Verde

215/65 R16

• 3PMSF: no

Good braking

And oversteer balance, high wear

Recommended

Total: 27

Dry 7

Wet 7

Rolling Resistance 6

Overall 7

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5^th

Hankook Dynapro HP2 RA33

215/65 R16

• 3PMSF: no

Low noise, short braking distances in the wet

Poor resistance to aquaplaning, poor dry braking performance

Recommended

Total: 25

Dry 6

Wet 7

Rolling Resistance 6

Overall 6

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6^th

Star Performer SUV 1

215/65 R16

• 3PMSF: no

Cheap, high resistance to aquaplaning, low rolling resistance

Poor braking in the dry and wet, poor handling and grip in the dry and wet

Satisfactory

Total: 21

Dry 4

Wet 4

Rolling Resistance 9

Overall 4

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