Premium summer tyre tests 2015

'ADAC' a German motoring association along with 'Stiflung Warentest' a consumer organisation have just published the results of their testing of 35 size 185/60 R14 H and 205/55 R16v tyres for their 2015 summer tyre tests.

The 205/55R16 tyre is one of the most commonly sold tyres in the UK, so their results are of interest to the UK market.

They tried to compare Eco tyre compared with Comfort tyres and were disappointed with the results of the Eco tyres. According to ADAC, the so called eco models only offered slight advantages, yet in the in wet conditions they consistently showed disadvantages when compared with the comfort tyres".

Performance in the areas of wear and fuel economy are inconsistent with top grip and aquaplaning.

ADAC named Michelin's Energy saver+ tyre as an example, this tyre is described as a high-mileage, economical model and as such scores 'very good' & 'good' ratings in these categories, but despite these good results the tyre ended the test in the bottom quarter of the table due to receiving only 'satisfactory' results in the wet grip category.

The other three eco tyres tested performed similarly. In the 205/55 R16v category the Michelin Primacy 3 finished first ahead of its 18 competitors, leaving the energy saver + in its wake. The Goodyear efficientgrip performance tyre and Continentals PremiumContact 5 tyres secured second and third places. Ultimately this also shows that premium tyres are worth the additional costs if you want to get the best overall performance.

In the 14"h rated tyre category the Continental and Goodyear tyres finished in first and second with third place going to Nokian's Line.

See ADAC results below.