For 2019, Sport Auto Magazine has tested eight ultra high performance summer tyres in 245/30 R20 using a Civic Type R.
Sadly the new Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport wasn't included in the test, and instead the twice replaced Asymmetric 2 was left representing Goodyear. This meant the Continental SportContact 6 and Michelin Pilot Sport 4S could fight it out for the top spot overall.
The data below is interesting, as it shows in this size at least the Continental SportContact 6 is the better handling, and faster tyre in the dry, and has a significant advantage in the wet when compared to the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S. This once again proves that the gaps between the very best tyres on the market are extremely close, and the winner can be affected by choices such as size, vehicle used, and even driving style!
Dry
The Michelin Pilot Sport 4S was the best tyre during the dry braking testing, with a 0.4 meter advantage over the second placed Continental SportContact 6.
Dry Braking
Spread: 3.00 M (8.7%)|Avg: 36.01 M
Dry braking in meters (Lower is better)
Dry Braking: Safety Impact: Best vs Worst Tyre
During dry handling, the Continental proved to be both the fastest tyre, and have the best steering feel and handling. The usual dry-dominant Michelin could only manage the sixth fastest lap.
Dry Handling
Spread: 3.20 Km/H (2.8%)|Avg: 114.40 Km/H
Dry Handling Average Speed (Higher is better)
Continental Sport Contact 6
115.80 Km/H
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2
115.00 Km/H
Vredestein Ultrac Vorti R
115.00 Km/H
Falken Azenis FK510
114.80 Km/H
Bridgestone Potenza S001
114.30 Km/H
Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S
114.00 Km/H
Hankook Ventus S1 evo 3
113.70 Km/H
Toyo Proxes Sport
112.60 Km/H
Subj. Dry Handling
Spread: 4.00 Points (40%)|Avg: 8.00 Points
Subjective Dry Handling Score (Higher is better)
Continental Sport Contact 6
10.00 Points
Bridgestone Potenza S001
9.00 Points
Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S
9.00 Points
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2
8.00 Points
Vredestein Ultrac Vorti R
8.00 Points
Falken Azenis FK510
7.00 Points
Hankook Ventus S1 evo 3
7.00 Points
Toyo Proxes Sport
6.00 Points
Wet
During wet braking, the Continental had a significant advantage, which is extremely unusual for this type of testing.
Wet Braking
Spread: 5.70 M (18.8%)|Avg: 33.49 M
Wet braking in meters (Lower is better)
Wet Braking: Safety Impact: Best vs Worst Tyre
The wet braking advantage the Continental had didn't carry over to wet handling, this time with the aging Goodyear being the fastest tyre on test.
Wet Handling
Spread: 5.80 Km/H (6.4%)|Avg: 87.90 Km/H
Wet Handling Average Speed (Higher is better)
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2
90.90 Km/H
Continental Sport Contact 6
89.20 Km/H
Falken Azenis FK510
88.50 Km/H
Toyo Proxes Sport
87.80 Km/H
Bridgestone Potenza S001
87.70 Km/H
Vredestein Ultrac Vorti R
87.00 Km/H
Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S
87.00 Km/H
Hankook Ventus S1 evo 3
85.10 Km/H
The Continental remained the best handling tyre on test subjectively.
Subj. Wet Handling
Spread: 3.00 Points (33.3%)|Avg: 7.00 Points
Subjective Wet Handling Score (Higher is better)
Continental Sport Contact 6
9.00 Points
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2
8.00 Points
Bridgestone Potenza S001
7.00 Points
Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S
7.00 Points
Toyo Proxes Sport
7.00 Points
Vredestein Ultrac Vorti R
6.00 Points
Falken Azenis FK510
6.00 Points
Hankook Ventus S1 evo 3
6.00 Points
The Toyo, the worst tyre in the dry, proved to have the best aquaplaning resistance.
Straight Aqua
Spread: 7.30 Km/H (9%)|Avg: 76.10 Km/H
Float Speed in Km/H (Higher is better)
Toyo Proxes Sport
80.80 Km/H
Bridgestone Potenza S001
76.80 Km/H
Falken Azenis FK510
76.50 Km/H
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2
75.60 Km/H
Continental Sport Contact 6
75.40 Km/H
Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S
75.20 Km/H
Vredestein Ultrac Vorti R
75.00 Km/H
Hankook Ventus S1 evo 3
73.50 Km/H
Environment
The Continental also did an excellent job of blending outright grip and low rolling resistance, low noise and acceptable levels of comfort.
Rolling Resistance
Spread: 1.10 kg / t (12.2%)|Avg: 9.59 kg / t
Rolling resistance in kg t (Lower is better)
Hankook Ventus S1 evo 3
9.00 kg / t
Continental Sport Contact 6
9.10 kg / t
Falken Azenis FK510
9.40 kg / t
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2
9.50 kg / t
Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S
9.60 kg / t
Vredestein Ultrac Vorti R
10.00 kg / t
Toyo Proxes Sport
10.00 kg / t
Bridgestone Potenza S001
10.10 kg / t
19,000 km
£1.45/L
8.0 L/100km
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Annual Difference
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Lifetime Savings
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Extra Fuel/Energy
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Extra CO2
Estimates based on typical driving conditions. Rolling resistance accounts for approximately 20% of IC vehicle fuel consumption and 25% of EV energy consumption. Actual savings vary based on driving style, vehicle weight, road conditions, and tyre age. For comparative purposes only. Lifetime savings based on a 40,000km / 25,000 mile tread life.
I'm looking to replace my Continental Sport Contact 6 tyres in a 2017 Honda Civic Type R. At 14,000 miles they are practically done, so I'm looking for a tyre that's comfortable, resistant with potholes and other road irregularities, that has low wear and excellent grip in the dry and wet. My options are the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S and the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5. Which one do you recommend the most?
I've been reading several reviews where people complain about the 4S's sidewalls being too soft compared with the Conti SC6, especially from Type R owners. That's making me have second thoughts about the Michelin. Should I take that into consideration or is it just hearsay?
Hi. I'm after new tyres for my leon cupra 300 and priority number 1 is best possible traction! Read every review/test and seems to be simply down to PS4S or Sport contact 6. Many are saying the conti's are softer/wear quicker, but would this also translate to a better warm up and wider usable ambient temperature window? My drive to work and back has some nice bits of road to boot it, but is not that long a drive and often sat in slow traffic for most of it, so tyres not getting much energy put in to warm up. And of course it's often not that hot out in the 1st place. Can you offer any insight? Thanks
Hi, I’d like to ask a contrasting question to Mario’s. What recommendation would you give for those wanting the best wet grip performance? Living in the UK means wet, damp, cold conditions are common, even in the summer, so the quality I am most interested in is wet grip/handling (especially so in my case since I drive a BMW M4 which is well known for lighting up the rear!). Having looked through the various tests and feedback, it seems the commonly lauded Michelin PS4S is primarily a winner in the dry handling categories and is often much lower down for wet handling. Besides which, I am almost never going to be pushing UHP tyres to their dry limits on a public road so happy to accept some compromise in favour of wet handling. Just wondering what you would recommend?
The trio of Michelin, Conti and Goodyear seem to trade places for wet grip in tests, depending on sizes, vehicle, test location etc. As a rule, Conti usually has the edge in the wet, just, at the price of slightly higher wear. This is a generalisation though.
Hello, with this I miss an important question for my C63 Amg 235/35 19 and 255/30 19 .. Continantal Sport Contact 6 or Michelin Pilot Sport 4s? The most important thing for me is the dry grip and steering precision, and I like the feeling of hardness. What do you think is more appropriate? This summer I'll take a few laps at the Nurburgring .. Thank you regards
Thank you very much for the reply!! But please tell me something more concrete .. you have tried the SC6 in a C63, which do you think will have better time in Nurburgring, better feeling in curves to the limit, better tact of direction, harder and more communicative? Apologies for my insistence, but one day I am convinced to mount PS4s and another day I am convinced in SC6 ... and you are some experts ..
I've not back to backed the PS4S and SC6 on the same car at the same time yet, so i would also be guessing. If you can wait until the end of June I will have done the test though. One thing worth thinking about is wear, the SC6 is meant to wear quicker on track and the PS4S so for serious track work that would steer me to Michelin.
Ok, thank you very much for the response, I will be careful as I will travel to the Nurburgring in mid July and I'm not sure which one to take ... I do not care much about the wear this time, I want to take the one that offers me the best grip, better handling and better feeling of the direction and suspension to the limit .. For this time I would put Sport Cup 2 but I do not have it in 255.30.19 and I would have to put 265.30.19 and I do not know if it would cause an imbalance in the car, that's why I have to decide for SC6 or Ps4s.
Outright grip there's going to be so little between them. For all the things you describe, you'd be better off finding any track day tyre in your sizes.
Hi,
I'm looking to replace my Continental Sport Contact 6 tyres in a 2017 Honda Civic Type R. At 14,000 miles they are practically done, so I'm looking for a tyre that's comfortable, resistant with potholes and other road irregularities, that has low wear and excellent grip in the dry and wet. My options are the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S and the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5. Which one do you recommend the most?
Thank you.
Not compared the Asym 5 to 4S directly, the 4S has good levels of comfort though
Thanks for the reply!
I've been reading several reviews where people complain about the 4S's sidewalls being too soft compared with the Conti SC6, especially from Type R owners. That's making me have second thoughts about the Michelin. Should I take that into consideration or is it just hearsay?
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Hi. I'm after new tyres for my leon cupra 300 and priority number 1 is best possible traction! Read every review/test and seems to be simply down to PS4S or Sport contact 6. Many are saying the conti's are softer/wear quicker, but would this also translate to a better warm up and wider usable ambient temperature window? My drive to work and back has some nice bits of road to boot it, but is not that long a drive and often sat in slow traffic for most of it, so tyres not getting much energy put in to warm up. And of course it's often not that hot out in the 1st place. Can you offer any insight? Thanks
In a test I've just conducted the PS4S had slightly better braking than the Conti, so should mean better traction too. That said it was VERY close.
Thanks that's terrific to hear as I'm a bit of a pilot sport fan boy lol.
Hi, I’d like to ask a contrasting question to Mario’s. What recommendation would you give for those wanting the best wet grip performance? Living in the UK means wet, damp, cold conditions are common, even in the summer, so the quality I am most interested in is wet grip/handling (especially so in my case since I drive a BMW M4 which is well known for lighting up the rear!). Having looked through the various tests and feedback, it seems the commonly lauded Michelin PS4S is primarily a winner in the dry handling categories and is often much lower down for wet handling. Besides which, I am almost never going to be pushing UHP tyres to their dry limits on a public road so happy to accept some compromise in favour of wet handling. Just wondering what you would recommend?
The trio of Michelin, Conti and Goodyear seem to trade places for wet grip in tests, depending on sizes, vehicle, test location etc. As a rule, Conti usually has the edge in the wet, just, at the price of slightly higher wear. This is a generalisation though.
Thank you, really appreciate the reply. Loving the site / content ?
Hello, with this I miss an important question for my C63 Amg 235/35 19 and 255/30 19 .. Continantal Sport Contact 6 or Michelin Pilot Sport 4s? The most important thing for me is the dry grip and steering precision, and I like the feeling of hardness. What do you think is more appropriate? This summer I'll take a few laps at the Nurburgring ..
Thank you
regards
Both very similar, you'll be happy with either!
Thank you very much for the reply!! But please tell me something more concrete .. you have tried the SC6 in a C63, which do you think will have better time in Nurburgring, better feeling in curves to the limit, better tact of direction, harder and more communicative? Apologies for my insistence, but one day I am convinced to mount PS4s and another day I am convinced in SC6 ... and you are some experts ..
thank you very much for the quick response
regards
I've not back to backed the PS4S and SC6 on the same car at the same time yet, so i would also be guessing. If you can wait until the end of June I will have done the test though. One thing worth thinking about is wear, the SC6 is meant to wear quicker on track and the PS4S so for serious track work that would steer me to Michelin.
Ok, thank you very much for the response, I will be careful as I will travel to the Nurburgring in mid July and I'm not sure which one to take ... I do not care much about the wear this time, I want to take the one that offers me the best grip, better handling and better feeling of the direction and suspension to the limit .. For this time I would put Sport Cup 2 but I do not have it in 255.30.19 and I would have to put 265.30.19 and I do not know if it would cause an imbalance in the car, that's why I have to decide for SC6 or Ps4s.
thank you
regards
Outright grip there's going to be so little between them. For all the things you describe, you'd be better off finding any track day tyre in your sizes.
Thank you very much for the reply. I will be attentive to our future tests and I will write my impressions of the SC6 or PS4s.
Thank you
regards
Hello, can I ask when you are going to publish the test of CSC6 and PS4S? Will it be in a few days?
Thank you very much!!
regards
If all goes smoothly, Monday!
Thank you very much for the reply!! I wait impatiently for Monday .. I have my tires totally flat, just like slicks ...
regards