Summer test – Auto Bild selects 20 finalists from 55 tyres

Size 205/55 R16 is the most frequently purchased tyre dimension in Europe, primarily due to its fitment on compact class vehicles such as the VW Golf, Audi A3, Skoda Octavia, Peugeot 308, BMW 1 Series, Vauxhall Astra, and Seat Leon. Recognising this, Auto Bild has selected this size for its comprehensive 2024 summer tyre test. The motoring publication is examining 55 tyres; it hasn’t finished testing but tells its readers that the preliminary round of braking tests in wet and dry conditions has delivered “noteworthy data” for each evaluated tyre.

To separate the wheat from the chaff early on, Auto Bild subjects all tyres to a safety check at the beginning of the tyre test. In this qualifying process, the publication’s test team uses hundreds of measurements and tyre changes to determine the braking distances of each tyre, stopping from 100 km/h on a dry road and from 80 km/h on a wet road. Auto Bild then adds both braking distances to determine how each tyre compares with its peers. Only the 20 tyres with the shortest combined braking distance make it to the final round.

The finalists

The Continental PremiumContact 7 (91 V) took first place in the qualifying round with the shortest braking distances both in wet and dry conditions. Its combined braking distance of 61.2 metres is more than 20 metres shorter than the stopping distance achieved by the last-placed tyre.

Eliminated from the test

In 55th and last place is where we find the Triangle AdvanteX TC101. Auto Bild shares that this tyre achieved an overall braking distance of 81.8 metres. While it took 6.7 metres longer to stop from 100 km/h on a dry road that the PremiumContact 7, the AdvanteX TC101 needed an additional 13.9 metres in the wet.

According to Auto Bild, the tyres occupying the final 13 places of its preliminary test round have “far too long braking distances” and for this reason it does not recommend these products.