Goodyear beats Pirelli and Continental in Autozeitung summer tyre test

The third summer tyre test of the season is now in circulation, and like the previous two it comes to us from Germany. Motoring magazine Autozeitung compared 14 size 225/40 R18 92W/Y tyres. The rubber from European and Asian manufacturers was fitted to a 1.8 litre Audi A3 and evaluated for performance in wet and dry disciplines. With a score of 269 out of a possible 300 points, Goodyear’s Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 was rated the test winner.

The Goodyear tyre was described as “safe, fast and even economical,” even though it was beaten by Pirelli’s P Zero in the wet braking discipline. The Italian manufacturer’s tyre, in turn, was described as being “extremely grippy in the wet and very well-balanced on dry roads.” The P Zero scored 263 points and by doing so secured second place ahead of Continental’s ContiSportContact 5, which with 253 points was deemed by the Autozeitung testers to be “a very good all-rounder…(despite) slight losses in wet braking.”

The top three received a “highly recommended” rating together with joint fourth-placed tyres the Dunlop Sport Maxx RT and Nokian zLine, which were both awarded 246 points, and the Michelin Pilot Sport 3 and Bridgestone Turanza T001, which gained 245 and 244 points respectively. These tyres were followed by a mid-table of contenders that displayed some more or less pronounced strengths and weaknesses.

For example, Yokohama’s Advan Sport V105 (236 points) was described as living up to its promises in the dry and safe when it came to wet handling, while at the same time it was considered to only deliver acceptable braking performance. And the testers opined that Falken Azenis FK453 (233 points) “still had room for improvement in the areas of wet braking and rolling resistance.” The same applies in principle for Kumho’s Ecsta PS91 (223 points). Even the wet grip from Vredestein’s Ultrac Vorti (216 points) was described as being “abundantly improvable”, while the Fulda SportControl (201 points) was thought less than convincing, particularly in the wet.

The Cooper Zeon CS Sport (190 points) and Westlake SA07 (171 points) also fared poorly, both in this criterion and overall. “The Cooper Zeon CS Sport quickly reached its limit on wet surfaces,” commented the testers. And regarding the second of these tyres, they considered it to have “extremely weak wet characteristics.” – a very poor evaluation for a tyre that bears the M+S marking.