2020-01-29 - Which tyre is best: good year efg or conti premium 6 or hankook ventus prime3 or nokian wetproof or turanza t005?
If you look at the test results on the website, you will find both the Continental PremiumContact 6 and Bridgestone Turanza T005 have won multiple tests in the last few years.
Given 66%
while driving a
Ford Fiesta
(195/50 R16 V) on
mostly country roads
for 12,000
easy going miles
These replaced the OE Continental premium contact 2's that had lasted a considerable amount of time.
You do get a feeling of security in the wet conditions that we see all too often in the UK, though I'm not entirely convinced that this isn't subjective due to these being sold as a wet weather biased tyre.
I couldn't decide if the tread pattern on these was designed for LHD vehicles as it appears there is diagonal tread that would shed water from the verge to the road centre were you driving on the right hand side of the road. This tread isn't formed that deeply into the tyres though so as I found out doesn't last that long.
From the fitters these came inflated to 30psi, the manufacturers recommendations inside the door suggest something like 33psi on the front and 45psi rear with passengers and luggage. Needless to say this seemed excessive so the tyres weren't inflated to anywhere near this.
I was a bit surprised when there was appreciable signs of wear in the middle of the tyres of the driven wheels when the levels of the tread depth rapidly went down to 3mm. Perhaps its the new tread compound that nokian have developed, but the amount of wear was unexpected for a mid range tyre. I haven't seen tyres wear this quickly since the days when I used to run budget tyres.
I would really like to be able to say exactly how many miles these tyres have lasted, especially considering how gently they've been driven. It isn't straight forward though, as I ran them on the non driven wheels for a couple of thousand miles until I wore down the continentals, then do the swap to winter tyres annually. I would estimate the wear to be less than 12k miles though, and we are down to less than 3mm, I haven't noticed an awful lot of wear yet on the pair of tyres on the undriven wheels.
I do get it, if you want performance then it comes at the cost of longevity, but this level of wear surprised me and did make me wonder what to replace these with or if there was a similar compound in the WR snowproofs for when my winter tyres need replacing.
0 - tyre reviewed on November 13, 2020
Given 85%
while driving a
Peugeot 307
(195/65 R15 H) on
a combination of roads
for 3,000
average miles
Really really great tyres. Was a bit sceptical at first, because I know that Nokian makes great winter tyre, but didn't know how wold the summer tyres preform. And at last, now I can say that i wold definetly buy these tyres over any michelin od continentals again.
They especially excel in the wet. On the highway with a lot off rain - no problem.
Really good job Nokian!
1 - tyre reviewed on October 14, 2020
Trying to pick the very best winter tyre? Watch this!
Given 90%
while driving a
Skoda
(195/50 R15 V) on
a combination of roads
for 1,000
average miles
I have switched from GY EG Performance (reviewed) and had pretty good experience with winter WR D3 so my expectations were quite high. Since the Goodyear tyre is quite common and, in my opinion, still one of the best, I think their comparison would be handier than an attempt to become a new Melville.
Dry: excellent, the Wetproof is even better than GY, especially in terms of grip; braking distances, acceleration (yes, it's more because they are fresh, but they really are better even if compared to new GY). Noticeably lower rolling resistance. Handling-wise it's a draw.
Wet: as good as GY which had slightly lower rolling resistance in such conditions. Safe feeling and predictable behaviour, not prone to aquaplaning even in VERY heavy rain; deep puddles are felt but without loss of control. Tie again.
Noise: quieter than GY on almost any OK-ish surface, noisier on beaten rough low-quality tarmac (pattern-derived). Significantly quieter on concrete highways.
Fuel consumption / rolling resistance: personally, I don't care about fuel economy figures on EU-stickers (hardly any relation to real life experience) but I have to admit they are truly impressive in the dry and quite good in the wet.
Wear: no signs of any wear yet. And I don't really care, I'd rather replace a quickly worn tyre than a heavily aged one with plenty of tread but no grip. Sadly, Continental PC5 no longer available.
Positive: handling, performance in dry & wet conditions, price similar to Hankook; together cheapest among (semi-)premium tyres
Negative: no rim protection but struggling to find anything else
Made in St. Petersburg, not Nokia, but quality issues from WR D4 times should have been resolved long time ago, no worry then.
4 - tyre reviewed on July 14, 2020
Given 96%
while driving a
Toyota MR2 mk3 Roadster
(215/45 R16 V) on
a combination of roads
for 1,800
spirited miles
Toyota MR2 roadster 2004,
This is the second time I have purchased Nokian tyres and I am not disappointed, the car feels as if it’s on rails in wet weather and there is great steering feel, done about 1800 miles on them so far with no issues I previously had Nokian line which I loved and had done about 36000 on before changing but there was no stock of these when changing so bought wetproof instead. You can really transform the handling of a car by picking the correct tyre
6 - tyre reviewed on July 4, 2020
Given 96%
while driving a
Toyota rav
(235/55 R18 H) on
mostly country roads
for 1,000
spirited miles
I have bought winter tires from Nokian for my Toyota rav4 4x4 prior to buying these. Guess why .. because winter tires were insanely good. I bought my car with Bridgestone dueler tires that literally slipped over anything that was a little bit wet. In contrast, I was unable to slip these tires on wet, not to mention dry road. So far tried them on tarmac as well as gravel, dirt, grass and even mud. Never had any issues whatsoever. It's not that I am an expert in the subject, but have tested few different sets of tires from different manufacturers, and so far Nokians are my favs. Absolutely recommend.