Cheap & cheerful: No bad tyres in 195/55 R16 test

Safe, efficient motoring shouldn’t be the preserve of the wealthy, and anyone seeking excellent value can find this amongst the compact cars available today. The same applies when it comes to the tyres that these cars wear. To help drivers find good but affordable footwear, European motoring associations ACE and ARBÖ, together with vehicle monitoring organisation GTÜ, looked at the popular small car tyre dimension 195/55 R16.

Reflecting the price-conscious nature of the compact car segment, ACE/ARBÖ/GTÜ spurned the premium brands that usually dominate tyre tests and instead selected examples of the premium manufacturers’ second brand products as well as a couple of budget brands.

Using an 81 kW (115 hp) Seat Ibiza and a VW Polo fitted with the same engine, the ACE/ARBÖ/GTÜ testers examined the eight H speed rated tyre brands to find out how they perform on wet and dry surfaces, as well as for noise and rolling resistance. They factored purchase price into the final score as well.

The testers gave one of the eight candidates their top “highly recommendable” rating. A further five tyres were “recommendable” and two “conditionally recommendable.” Significantly, they deemed none of the tyres they evaluated products to avoid.

Wet road testing

ACE/ARBÖ/GTÜ consider testing in wet conditions the most relevant measure of safety, and the most important of these is arguably the 80 to 0 km/h stopping distance test. The Kleber Dynaxer HP4 provided the shortest stopping distance of just 31.4 metres. The eighth-placed tyre was the Tristar Ecopower 4, which took a further 6.0 metres to stop.

All tyres provided acceptable handling. The testers judged the Kleber tyre and the Uniroyal RainSport 5 best in these disciplines, with both displaying only slight and easily correctable understeer when cornering. These two tyres also provided good grip and lateral control, with the other candidates just a little below their standard. The testers report that all the tyres are easy to drive with under normal conditions, and the Falken Ziex ZE310 Ecorun and Fulda EcoControl HP2 offer particularly good response and traction.

Water on the road is a danger that many drivers underestimate, especially on motorways. ACE/ARBÖ/GTÜ thus evaluated how affordably-priced tyres handle aquaplaning situations. The Falken performed best in the longitudinal aquaplaning test, followed by the Milestone Green Sport. The Tristar tyre gained the wooden spoon in this discipline, but the testers point out that its performance was still okay. Milestone came up smelling of roses in the lateral aquaplaning test, gaining more points than its rivals.

Dry road testing

Braking performance in dry conditions was good to average, with the Kleber Dynaxer HP4 giving the best result and the Barum Bravuris 5HM the worst. Handling and grip was generally better on dry roads, and there was not much between the eight tyres. The testers name the Falken, Fulda, Kleber and Tristar tyres as displaying good characteristics, with slight and easily controllable understeer when cornering in sharp bends. The other tyres were only slightly worse.

Economy testing

According to ACE/ARBÖ/GTÜ, most of the tested tyres performed well in the rolling resistance test, with only the Falken achieving a lower but still acceptable score. Drive by noise was a mixed bag, with the Kleber being the quietest tyre of all.

Conclusion

ACE/ARBÖ/GTÜ consider the Kleber Dynaxer HP4 to be “clearly ahead” in the test, followed not too far behind by most of the test field. “Surprisingly, the Milestone also scores slightly better than the Tristar and offers good value for money,” comment the testers.