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In the current tyres test by the European Automobile Club, including as usual also the Automobile Club of Luxembourg (ACL), two different sizes of summer tyres were critically reviewed: 175/65 R 14 and 205/55 R 16.
27 out of 30 models tested scored “good” or “satisfactory”. Three products receive the rating “sufficient”. Tyres were tested for all safety-relevant criteria so that they pass the "driver's daily" test both on dry and wet roads. The following are amongst the most important criteria: handling on dry and wet surfaces, wear, fuel consumption, noise and stability at high speed.
Result
Budget, or reasonably priced, secondary brands achieve equally or similarly good results as the parent company (brands). In Golf size 205/55 R 16, the Firestone Roadhawk - Bridgestone subsidiary - achieves the identical overall rating 2.3; Conti subsidary Semperit achieves a result only one tenth below this (2.4) with the Speed-Life. In Fiesta size 175/65 R 14 the Falken, a subsidiary of Japanese Sumitomo, even emerges as the test winner (rating 2.3), along with the once again “good” rated Conti secondary brand Semperit (2.4).
You can also make savings if you take into account the wear values of a tyre. For the test, the operational performance of each tyre was determined as approximately 15,000 kilometres, including around 60 percent main roads and around 40 percent motorway. A Golf VII 2.0 TDI with a half load was used as the test vehicle by the testers. At over 45,000 kilometres, test winner Michelin Primacy 3 drives nearly 20,000 kilometres further than the Infinity Ecosis rated “sufficient”.
Noteworthy in this year’s summer tyres test are also the differences in wet braking: in the 175 size category, the Continental PremiumContact 5 has a braking distance that is almost 10 metres shorter (42.7 metres when braking from 80 km/h on wet roads) than the lowest ranked, the Sava Perfecta, at 52.2 metres.
Results of the tests in detail
Size 175/65 R 14
Size 205/55 R 16