2019 Tire Reviews UHP Summer Tire Test

As this is the worlds first full video tire test, I encourage you to watch rather than read, and if you have any comments or suggestions please leave them on the YouTube page. If you'd rather read, all the glorious tire test detail can be found below the video!

Here it is, the 2019 Tire Reviews UUHP tire test! This is a HUGE tire test, which includes the first test of the new Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport, and its two current top rated rivals, the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, and the Continental SportContact 6, plus five other maximum performance summer tire patterns.

This test was conducted at Continentals test facility in Uvalde texas, and has the added advantage of all the tires (other than Goodyear) being available to both the European and American markets! 

The test car is a BMW M2 wearing 245/35 R19 fronts and 265/35 R19 rears. This is a full tire test, so all the usual categories are on test including dry and wet handling, dry and wet braking, aquaplaning, rolling resistance, noise and comfort. Where this test is slightly different from other tests is we've put a greater emphasis on subjective handling scoring in the dry and wet, as we believe on a car like the BMW M2, how the car feels and how it's balanced is as important as saving a few tenths of a second.

Sadly Pirelli, Hankook, Yokohama and Nokian only made one of the two tire sizes we needed for this test in aftermarket fitment, testing mixed fitment like on the M2 is always difficult.

Dry

The gap in dry handling was extremely close between the Continental, Michelin and Goodyear, with all three tires being separated by just 0.3 seconds. Subjectively, the Continental felt the most exciting tire on test, with the quickest steering and most feedback through the front axle. The Goodyear and Michelin offered a very similar balance, which gave the M2 a little more understeer than on the Continental.

The midrange battle was won by the Vredestein, which subjectively felt as good as the Continental but was on average, 0.6 seconds behind across the lap. Falken have managed to produce a tire with good grip, but the more comfort bias of the tire made it subjectively too soft. Kumho was very fast on its first lap, but the grip fell away quickly as the tire overheated, as did the Toyo, but to a lesser degree.

Dry braking was dominated by the three premium manufacturers.

Wet

By using a BMW M2, wet handling became as much about rear grip as about front. This is where the new Goodyear excelled, offering a really neutral balance between the front and the rear of the car, while providing excellent grip across the lap. While the Vredestein couldn't match the best during wet braking, the extra rear grip it had over its rivals meant it finished the second fastest time, and it was a similar story for Toyo. Continental and Michelin were fourth and fifth, and while they both had excellent grip, both struggling more at the rear than the Goodyear to get the power down. The Falken was another tenth of a second slower, and the Kumho and the budget struggle in the wet with a lack of grip.

There was no issue with rear grip during wet braking, which highlighted the Contnental and Michelins raw grip in shallow water.

During aquaplaning testing, the Michelin showed the best balance betwen braking and aquaplaning results.

Environment

The Continental offered an excellent low rolling resistance result in the 265 fitment.

The subjective comfort of all tires on test was incredibly close, however there were a couple of patterns at the extremities of the results. The Falken proved to be the most comfortable tire on test, appearing to transmit the least amount of tire noise into the cabin, and round off the bumps and road imperfections in a way other tires couldn't match. The Michelin, Continental and Toyo all had good levels of comfort, while the Goodyear and Vredestein transmitted slightly more noise, and higher levels of discomfort when hitting obstacles such as potholes.

The Continental proved to be quietest during drive by noise testing in the rear 265 fitment.

There was an interesting correlation between tire weight, and the overall results.

Results

Score weighting - dry 55%, wet 40%, comfort and env 5%