| Test Summary | |
| Wet Braking |
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 |
| Dry Braking |
Continental Sport Contact 5 |
| Rolling Resistance |
Dunlop Sport BluResponse Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance |
| Noise |
Continental Sport Contact 5 Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 |
| Snow Handling |
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 |
Every tyre on test was an A label under wet braking, which is the highest label score currently possible. With the difference in label scores A and B being 3 meters stopping distance, you'd have expected the wet braking test to have been fairly close. This wasn't the case.
The winning Continental stopped in 29.1 meters, with the second placed Uniroyal needing two meters more. Nothing surprising here, other than the lead Continental have under wet braking over their sister brand, Uniroyal. What was surprising was the Bridgestone and Kumho wet braking scores, 34.1 and 35.3 meters respectively which puts the Kumho 6.2 meters behind the winning Continental, yet still displaying the same A label score for wet braking.
There was a similar story for noise. The Hankook was the quietest tyre on test at 66 dB, and the worst tyres on test scored 70 dB. It might not sound a lot, until you realise the decibel is a logarithmic scale, and a 4 dB increase means twice the noise produced!
The Results
With a near flawless performance, the Continental Sport Contact 5 took top place with only a slightly high rolling resistance and the highest price as a negative points. The Dunlop Sport BlueResponse, Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance and Hankook Ventus V12 Evo2 placed second to fourth respectively, all with a very similar balance of qualities, and despite the best aquaplaning score and second best wet braking result , the Uniroyal Rainsport 3 ended in fifth thanks to an average dry performance.
The overall weighting of the results is 35% dry, 45% wet, 15% comfort / noise and 5% based on price.
High grip and short braking distances in all conditions, balanced behavior on wet roads, good handling on dry roads
Slightly high rolling resistance, expensive
Total: 42.8
Dry
9.2
Wet
9.6
Comfort
9
Rolling Resistance
7
Noise
8
Good handling on wet surfaces, good handling and very short braking distances in the dry, very low rolling resistance
Relatively weak resistance to aquaplaning, relatively long braking distances on wet surfaces
Total: 43.8
Dry
8.9
Wet
8.9
Comfort
8
Rolling Resistance
10
Noise
8
Good handling on wet surfaces, balanced behavior and short braking distances in the dry, very low rolling resistance
relatively weak resistance to aquaplaning, somewhat slow steering response on dry roads
Total: 43
Dry
8.7
Wet
8.3
Comfort
8
Rolling Resistance
10
Noise
8
Good performance on wet roads, short braking distance in the dry
Relatively weak resistance to aquaplaning, high rolling resistance
Total: 42.7
Dry
9.4
Wet
8.3
Comfort
9
Rolling Resistance
6
Noise
10
Excellent resistance to aquaplaning, good handling and predictable behavior at the limit of grip on dry surfaces
Long braking distance on dry surface, relatively high noise level
Total: 39.1
Dry
7.5
Wet
8.6
Comfort
8
Rolling Resistance
8
Noise
7
Good steering and handling on both dry and wet roads
Poor resistance to aquaplaning, average comfort, noisy, relatively high rolling resistance
Total: 36.3
Dry
8.1
Wet
8.2
Comfort
6
Rolling Resistance
7
Noise
7
Good handling on dry roads
Long braking distances on wet roads, poor resistance to aquaplaning
Total: 37.2
Dry
8.4
Wet
7.8
Comfort
7
Rolling Resistance
7
Noise
7
Good resistance to aquaplaning, good handling and feel
Long braking distances and slow steering response in the wet, high rolling resistance, high noise level
Total: 36.4
Dry
7.6
Wet
8.8
Comfort
6
Rolling Resistance
7
Noise
7
Short braking distance on dry roads
Poor resistance to aquaplaning, poor dry handling, high rolling resistance
Total: 33.1
Dry
6.4
Wet
6.7
Comfort
6
Rolling Resistance
6
Noise
8
The most useless test so far comparing tyres from different categories. You see the premium touring Goodyear against the UHP Uniroyal and the max performance continental... What is the point? Like comparing a sports car to a pickup truck. And also, the Michelin seem to be absent from every test. I can't believe anymore that there never is a set available. Just order it online or something, it will be there in 3 to 5 days...
And another thing is that continental tyres wear wayyyy to fast, compared to the other brands. That for most buyers is THE most important factor when buying new tyres... Do we really need to continue complaining about all these things? As the biggest user based tyre reviewing site, could you please at least transfer to them what I and a lot other users want to see in the reviews?
And where is the Michelin Primacy 3? or Michelin PS3?
A good question, one we don't have the answer to. The most likely reason is stock availability at the time of testing.
Whatever the reason for excluding the Michelins renders the whole test biased and therefore untrustworthy. Were they really so afraid of the Michelins and the results they would get? Phew
?? It's hard to see either Michelin being anything but a mid-ranker in this field. Whatever the reason for their non-appearance (CIA plot or . . . .) I don't think the SC5 would have been troubled by Michelin's presence.