It is well-known in the industry that Continental serves as a benchmark in safety-related disciplines. The current summer tyre test of ADAC and its partners offers a further proof. The Continental PremiumContact 6 gets the best rating on wet roads. The testers are thrilled because of the areas “braking” and “handling”. They only criticize the “slightly loud exterior noise” and the slightly weaker performance on dry roads when compared with the other top tyres. Nonetheless, it has the total rating of 2.1 to offer.
There are two further treads with a ‘good’ rating in the dimension 225/40 R18, which the automobile club considers as very balanced: the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 (“Extremely good on wet and also on dry roads. Low fuel consumption”) and the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 (“Extremely good on dry roads, also good in wet conditions. Low fuel consumption”). Surprisingly, the Maxxis Victra Sport 5 can be found in this category too (“Good on dry and wet roads”).
There is a broad range of rubbers in the area of “satisfactory”: The Nexen N'Fera Sport, Sava Intensa UHP 2 and Vredestein Ultrac Vorti are all downgraded because of their wet performance features. Moreover, the testers criticize the dry performance of the Falken Azenis FK510, the Kumho Ecsta PS71 receives a downgrading because of its wear. Although Bridgestone Potenza S001 is “extremely good on dry roads”, it shows a “relatively weak performance on wet roads” according to the ADAC. The Pirelli P Zero gets the “top rating on dry roads – in all the separate subcategories”, nonetheless the total rating is only for a midfield position due to weaknesses in the areas of fuel consumption and wear.
The dimension 235/55 R17 is the second size that was tested by the most popular tyre test in Europe. Four tyres are in the rating category “good”: The Michelin Primacy 4 (“Very balanced with best ratings in wet conditions”), the Bridgestone Turanza T005 (“Very balanced, especially good on dry and wet roads”), the Pirelli Cinturato P7 (“Very balanced with top rating on dry roads”) and the Maxxis Premitra 5 (“Extremely good on dry roads”).
According to the ADAC, the performance of the Laufenn S-Fit EQ is considerably alarming. The testing team explains that the secondary brand of the Hankook Group is “very weak in wet conditions – above all concerning handling”. It is the only tyre of both test dimensions getting the overall rating “deficient”. Luckily, Hankook has already launched its successor, the Laufenn S Fit EQ+. (kle)
