It's not often you get the opportunity to try different tyres on identical cars one after the other, so when we were presented with 3 Audi A7's wearing 3 different max performance summer tyres in 255/40 R19 there was only one thing on our mind - a subjective handling shootout!
The A7s were fitted with 3 of the newest max performance summer tyres, the Bridgestone Potenza S001, Continental Sport Contact 5P and Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2. With the raw performance of such tyres being extremely close, we were more concerned with how they felt during turn in, pushing hard mid corner, how they reacted past the limit, and under braking and what sort of feedback they provided.
Armed with a notebook and data logger, we hit 2 different sections of track. One warm and dry, and the other artificially wet with various levels of standing water from a damp surface to 1cm of water.
The Results? As expected the raw grip was extremely close, leaving the scores primarily based based on subjective feel and handling, rather than outright laptime.
On the Audi A7 at least, the new Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 was the clear winner in both performance and subjective feel. In the dry the feedback through the wheel was detailed, the turn in sharp, and the linearity of the cornering extremely positive. Once past the limit the car was controllable with the tyres quickly regaining grip with a slight lift. In the wet the advantage was less pronounced but still obvious in both feel and performance.
If there was one draw back it would be that hard braking felt a little squirmy, but as the only tyre to consistently pull over 1.1G under braking (1.13g peak) it might have been the cars chassis struggling more than the tyre.
Total: 200
Dry
100
Wet
100
While the Continental matched the Goodyear for lateral grip, it couldn't match the Asymmetric 2 under braking or more importantly, subjective feel.
In the dry the Conti offered a reasonable level of feedback but poor turn in. Initial bite was good, but then the car seemed to pause for a split second as the tyre rolled under the car and obtained required slip angle - this also caused mid corner corrections to be somewhat vague. In the wet, with reduced cornering forces the Conti was much closer to the Goodyear and was extremely close. Past the limit, the 5P felt easy to control, and was an enjoyable tyre to slide.
Total: 187
Dry
93
Wet
94
On changing to the S001 the Audi A7 felt instantly more numb, with the lack of feedback instantly leading to more understeer as you reached the limit of grip. Braking was good, and initial turn in and bite was better than the Conti in the dry, but on the wet circuit both the driver and the car struggled with understeer. On both the dry and wet surface once you'd passed the limit of grip it was hard to regain control without a big lift of throttle leading to this being the least enjoyable tyre on the Audi.
Total: 176
Dry
90
Wet
86
Great test but at the same time a missed opportunity to report and the noise from these tyres (tires). Shame
Why cant we have all current high performance tyres tested back to back?
Apart from the obvious cost involved, not all ultra high performance tyres are made in the same sizes.
German Magazines such as http://www.tyrereviews.co.u... do a good job of testing most of them!
It would have been more scientific to swap the wheels and use the same car for all the tests. How can you possibly say your results are due to the tyre alone when you had 3 different cars?
Hi,
Thanks for your comments. While they were 3 different vehicles they were brand new, of identical specification and were setup exactly the same as each other, so the vehicle factor involved should have been minor.
When using the same vehicle and swapping the tyres there's a gap between the driving. When using 3 vehicles you can literally jump out of one and into another, giving you a much better mental impression of the subtle tyres differences.
Neither the Conti 5P or B'Stone S001 are available in 225/40 R18 Y 92 XL. Continental has delayed by nearly a year the release of the 5P tyre in this size.
The Goodyear has just been released and hopefully it will soon be available soon in this size.