The recent tire test conducted by Motor magazine was characterized by extremely tough competition between the contestants.
List of models tested:
- Bridgestone Turanza T005
- Continental PremiumContact 6
- Debica Presto HP2
- Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2
- Hankook Ventus Prime3 K125
- Michelin Primacy 4
- Nokian Wetproof
- Zeetex ZT1000
Poland’s Motor magazine conducted its next tire test, using a facility in Germany to compare eight tire models in size 205/55 R16; the test involved both premium products, such as Continental PremiumContact 6 and Bridgestone Turanza T005, tires from the mid-price bracket — Hankook Ventus Prime3 and Nokian Powerproof — and budget models — Debica Presto HP2 and Zeetex ZT1000.
All of the tires were purchased online, and the test was conducted in the fall of 2021 in good weather under a temperature of 20°C. Neither rain, nor strong winds were observed during the week that it took to run all the tests.
Test results
Continental was the fastest to stop the car on wet pavement, while the Bridgestone and Michelin tires also showed quite decent results. The Hankook model came last, but it does not compromise driving safety either.
Wet Braking
- Continental
- Bridgestone
- Michelin
- Nokian
- Goodyear
- Zeetex
- Debica
- Hankook
Info! Wet braking in meters.
On a circular wet track with a diameter of 57.5m, the best lateral grip was shown by Goodyear, but the results demonstrated by the Bridgestone, Nokian, and Continental tires were only slightly worse. The other tires were also quite resistant to lateral skidding.
Lateral Stability
- Goodyear
- Bridgestone
- Nokian
- Continental
- Hankook
- Debica
- Michelin
- Zeetex
Info! Lateral acceleration, g.
The best straight hydroplaning resistance was shown by the Nokian model, closely followed by Debica. At the same time, the Continental tire showed a relatively weak result, performing on a level with the budget Zeetex model.
Straight Aquaplaning
- Nokian
- Debica
- Michelin
- Bridgestone
- Goodyear
- Hankook
- Continental
- Zeetex
Info! Float speed in km/h.
The lateral hydroplaning test was won by Debica, followed by Nokian, Goodyear, and Michelin. The performance of the Zeetex tires was on the verge of acceptable.
Lateral Aquaplaning
- Debica
- Nokian
- Goodyear
- Michelin
- Bridgestone
- Hankook
- Continental
- Zeetex
Info! Lateral acceleration, m/s2.
The wet handling test was dominated by the premium Continental and Bridgestone models, while the Zeetex tire and — surprisingly — Hankook had stability issues during the cornering.
Wet Handling
- Continental
- Bridgestone
- Michelin
- Nokian
- Goodyear
- Debica
- Hankook
- Zeetex
Info! Lap time, sec.
The best dry braking performance was demonstrated by the Bridgestone tire, while the worst — with a significant gap behind the competition — by the cheap Zeetex model.
Dry Braking
- Bridgestone
- Continental
- Hankook
- Michelin
- Nokian
- Debica
- Goodyear
- Zeetex
Info! Dry braking in meters.
The pilot also made subjective evaluations of the tires’ dry handling performance, and the top places were scored by Goodyear, Continental, and Bridgestone. All the other tires also received positive evaluations, the Zeetex model being the sole exception.
Dry Handling (Subjective)
- Goodyear
- Continental
- Bridgestone
- Michelin
- Nokian
- Debica
- Hankook
- Zeetex
Info! Points.
On a dry track 1,650m long, the best time was shown by Goodyear and Continental, Zeetex again falling short of the competition.
Dry Handling
- Goodyear
- Continental
- Nokian
- Hankook
- Bridgestone
- Debica
- Michelin
- Zeetex
Info! Dry handling time in seconds.
The noise level was measured on the outside, and the first place was scored by the Hankook model, Zeetex coming second. The noisiest ones were the Michelin, Continental, and Bridgestone models.
Noise
- Hankook
- Zeetex
- Nokian
- Goodyear
- Debica
- Michelin
- Continental
- Bridgestone
Info! External noise in dB.
The test also involved measuring rolling resistance, and the best fuel savers were pronounced to be the Bridgestone, Goodyear, and Michelin tires, all the others also demonstrating quite acceptable results.
Rolling Resistance
- Bridgestone
- Goodyear
- Michelin
- Nokian
- Continental
- Zeetex
- Debica
- Hankook
Info! Rolling resistance in kg/t.
The completion in the test turned out to be very stiff; the Bridgestone and Continental models eventually shared the first place, while in the other instances the differences in the tires’ performance rarely exceeded one point. Even though the Turanza T005 and the PremiumContact 6 scored an equal number of points in the final standings, their performances are totally different — the Bridgestone model scored a little less points on dry and wet pavement but redeemed itself thanks to low rolling resistance, while the Continental model, although devoid of such impressive fuel saving capabilities, ensured better levels of grip.
The Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 demonstrated an excellently balanced performance; next placed was the Nokian model, which was very good on wet pavement. With a lag of mere 0.1 points, the fifth place was scored by the Michelin Primacy 4 (the new Primacy 4+ model is already available), which lost to Nokian both on dry and wet pavement, but was rated very high for fuel efficiency. The Debica model came sixth this time around, and the Motor experts emphasized that this was quite a good result because the Presto HP2 was the cheapest tire on test, yet it was able to score high points in a few disciplines and even confidently surpassed the Hankook model that demonstrated a few weaknesses on wet pavement. The bottom line of the tournament bracket was scored by the Zeetex tire, about which the experts said that it had hardly any strong points, save for the relatively low noise level. The Zeetex tire became the worst in all of the disciplines; in addition it has a high rolling resistance.
«This year’s test showed that the tire technologists are as active as ever, and the tire performance is constantly improving — the Motor experts noted — Premium products, such as Bridgestone or Continental, ensure the highest level of driving safety, and another piece of good news is that even inexpensive tires, such as Debica, demonstrate acceptable performance. Actually, even the cheap Chinese tires are not all that dangerous to use.»
Verdict
1st place: Bridgestone / Turanza T005
Bridgestone Turanza T005
- Well-balanced performance
- Reliable behavior and excellent grip on dry and wet pavement
- Low rolling resistance
- Increased noise emission
1st place: Continental / PremiumContact 6
Continental PremiumContact 6
- Well-balanced performance
- Excellent grip and optimum safety on dry and wet pavement
- Relatively high rolling resistance
3rd place: Goodyear / EfficientGrip Performance 2
Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2
- Well-balanced performance and a high level of driving safety in any conditions
- Will not bring any unpleasant surprises to the driver in any situation
- Low rolling resistance
4th place: Nokian / Wetproof
Nokian Wetproof
- Very good wet performance, including very high hydroplaning resistance
- Good results on dry pavement
- Attractive price
- Low noise emission
- High rolling resistance
5th place: Michelin / Primacy 4
Michelin Primacy 4
- Stable behavior and a high level of safety in any conditions
- High rolling resistance
- High price
6th place: Debica / Presto HP2
Debica Presto HP2
- Low price
- Very good results on wet pavement
- Acceptable results on dry pavement
- Handling performance is only slightly worse than that of the more expensive tires
- High rolling resistance
7th place: Hankook / Ventus Prime 3 K125
Hankook Ventus Prime 3 K125
- Attractive price
- Low noise emission
- Long braking distance and a relatively poor wet performance
- High rolling resistance
8th place: Zeetex / ZT1000
Zeetex ZT1000
- Low price
- Relatively low noise emission
- Low grip, particularly in the wet
- High rolling resistance