2010 Auto Bild Ultra High Performance Tire Test

If you're interested in premium, ultra high performance sports tires this is the tire test to read. Germanys leading car publication Auto Bild has thoroughly tested no less than 7 premium ultra high performance road tires on a 457bhp 6.3 litre Mercedes C63 AMG.

Wearing 255/30 19 rubber on the rear and 235/35 19 up front, Auto Bild put each tire through a set of ten challenging tests in both the wet and dry. While results (below) speak for themselves, here are the key highlights from the group test:

• Continental can be proud of the new SportContact 5P. It wins with best dry braking, best dry handling, and best wet braking with an impressively strong showing.
• Pirelli place second with another excellent result for brand in the last 6 months. This further supports their recent turn of form in the group tests. Their latest compounds are working well.
• Hankook have a strong overall performance finishing 3rd despite being the second cheapest tire on test.
• Dunlop have a surprisingly average test with the Sport Maxx GT not excelling in any area. This is especially shocking in the dry performance tests where the tire is designed to excel.
• While the Goodyear Eagle F1 was relatively disappointing in the dry it was the strongest in the wet. It's reputation of being the wet weather king is secure and is a good safe tire for year round driving.
• The Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 had a poor overall showing but with the Pilot Sport PS3 recently launched it should perform much better in the wet, noise and rolling resistance tests next year.
• It was no surprise the cheapest tire, the Syron Race 1, placed last. It was however a surprise it had the strongest aquaplaning scores. Can't work that one out.

Here's the data from the tire test. As always it's worth checking out the original article at Auto Bild (if your German is good!)

Test Car: Mercedes C63 AMG (235/35 19 front 255/30 19 rear)

Overall
Continental SportContact 5P	(1050 euro)
Pirelli P Zero	(1100 euro)
Hankook Ventus S1 evo	(830 euro)
Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT	(930 euro)
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric	(840 euro)
Michelin Pilot Sport PS2	(1100 euro)
Syron Race 1	(700 euro)
Dry Handling (average speed in km/h)
Continental SportContact 5P	91.7
Pirelli P Zero	91.5
Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT	91.2
Michelin Pilot Sport PS2	90.7
Hankook Ventus S1 evo	90.2
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric	89.7
Syron Race 1	88.7
Dry Braking (from 100km/h in meters)
Continental SportContact 5P	35.7
Hankook Ventus S1 evo	36.8
Pirelli P Zero	36.9
Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT	37.3
Michelin Pilot Sport PS2	37.5
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric	38.9
Syron Race 1	39.6
Dry Comfort (Ride comfort determined subjectively)
No 19 inch wheels and tires will provide ultimate comfort, but on this test the Goodyear, Pirelli and Continental tires offer reasonable levels. The Dunlop and Michelin are less comfortable. The Hankook and Syron weren't mentioned.
Dry Noise (Drive-by at 50 and 80 km/h in dB)
Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT	63.3 / 69.7
Syron Race 1	63.7 / 69.7
Hankook Ventus S1 evo	63.0 / 71.3
Continental SportContact 5P	65.4 / 71.4
Michelin Pilot Sport PS2	65.4 / 72.3
Pirelli P Zero	66.1 / 72.3
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric	66.2 / 74.1
Rolling resistance (average consumption of 13 litres)
Hankook Ventus S1 evo	F 0.91 R 0.95
Continental SportContact 5P	F 0.98 R 0.95
Michelin Pilot Sport PS2	F 0.99 R 1.00
Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT	F 1.03 R 1.04
Pirelli P Zero	F 1.03 R 1.12
Syron Race 1	F 1.10 R 1.13
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric	F 1.14 R 1.11
Wet Curved Aquaplaning (average lateral acceleration in ms2)
Syron Race 1	3.71
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric	3.67
Continental SportContact 5P	3.56
Michelin Pilot Sport PS2	3.39
Pirelli P Zero	3.34
Hankook Ventus S1 evo	3.14
Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT	3.13
Straight Aquaplaning (speed in km/h)
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric	90.8
Syron Race 1	89.8
Continental SportContact 5P	89.7
Michelin Pilot Sport PS2	88.6
Pirelli P Zero	88.4
Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT	87.7
Hankook Ventus S1 evo	86.1
Wet Braking (from 100km/h in meters)
Continental SportContact 5P	58.4
Hankook Ventus S1 evo	59.2
Pirelli P Zero	61.9
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric	61.9
Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT	62.3
Michelin Pilot Sport PS2	63.7
Syron Race 1	69.7
Wet Circular Orbit (time in seconds)
Hankook Ventus S1 evo	11.2
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric	11.3
Continental SportContact 5P	11.5
Pirelli P Zero	11.5
Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT	11.6
Michelin Pilot Sport PS2	12.0
Syron Race 1	12.7
Wet Handling (average speed in km/h)
Hankook Ventus S1 evo	82.7
Pirelli P Zero	82.7
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric	81.3
Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT	80.9
Continental SportContact 5P	80.5
Michelin Pilot Sport PS2	79.7
Syron Race 1	78.5

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