Seven good all-rounders in ADAC compact car tyre test

Our neighbours in Germany are gearing up for the seasonal changeover to summer tyres, and every year this rush to swap to the warm weather rubber is accompanied by a rash of tyre tests. ACE and GTÜ were two of the first to release their comparative summer tyre evaluations, and now high-profile German motoring organisation the ADAC has published tests of two different tyre sizes – the smaller of the two tested dimensions is size 185/65 R 15 H, a tyre suitable for small and compact cars such as the Citroën C3, Hyundai i20, Mazda 2, Nissan Note, Vauxhall/Opel Adam, Peugeot 208, Renault Clio and Toyota Verso. The ADAC used a Renault Clio as test vehicle.

The ADAC conducted some of its 2016 summer tyre tests at a Bridgestone proving ground in Italy

The motoring organisation reports that seven of the 16 tested tyres displayed “no weaknesses” and therefore received a rating of ‘good’. The best tyre in the wet, particularly when it came to wet braking and handling, was the Vredestein Sportrac 5. The Vredestein tyre headed the ADAC size 185/65 R 15 H table, but was given a run for its money by the Continental ContiPremiumContact 5, which gained the best result for dry road surface performance (as well as good wet performance). The Dunlop Sport BluResponse, Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance Hankook Kinergy Eco K425, Nokian Line and Kumho Ecowing ES01 KH27 were also lauded for their wet and dry results. It is necessary to look at values for tyre wear in order to find the biggest difference between these top-placed tyres. The Hankook, Nokian and Kumho tyres didn’t perform as well in the abrasion resistance criterion as their counterparts.

A further seven tyres gained a ‘satisfactory’ rating and showed mild to marked weaknesses on wet road surfaces. The ADAC notes that two tyres, the Michelin Energy Saver+ and the Bridgestone Turanza T001, finished the test with a rating of satisfactory rather than good as conflicting goals could be seen in both products: In the case of the Michelin tyre this was the conflict between wear and fuel consumption, while the Bridgestone rubber showed a conflict between dry and wet road surface performance. Other noted weaknesses include the Sava Intensa HP on dry road surfaces, the Infinity Ecosis on dry and wet road surfaces, and the Barum Brillantis 2, Nexen N Blue HD Plus and Semperit Comfort-Life 2 in the wet.

The Nankang Green-Sport Eco 2+ finished the test with a rating of ‘adequate’ due to its marked weakness in the wet disciplines. The tyre also gave the highest fuel consumption of any tyre in this test.

As a result of its “distinctly poor test results” on wet road surfaces, particularly in the braking test, the GT Radial Champiro VP1 was rated ‘inadequate’ and finished the ADAC size 185/65 R 15 H tyre test in last place. The tyre’s manufacturer points out that the Champiro VP1 has now been replaced by a new model, the Champiro FE1.

One further product, a Pirelli tyre, took part in the test, yet it does not feature on the final table. The ADAC says it chose not to publish the tyre’s test results as different individual tyres it tested produced such “marked variations” in performance in a number of categories. As a result the testers were “unable to determine which version customers would eventually receive” when making a purchase.