The test we've all been waiting for is here, and it's round one to Continental.
The 2016 Auto Bild sports cars tire test places six maximum performance tires through their paces on a Jaguar F-Type, in 255/35 R20 front and 295/30 R20 rear sizes.
The new Continental Sport Contact 6 was tested against the reigning performance tire king, the Michelin Pilot Super Sport, and the result was surprising.
The previous Continental has always had the edge on the Michelin in the wet, but new the new Continental tire also has the better dry grip and steering feel, at least according to this test.
The one area they didn't test was wear, which is where Michelin usually claws back some marks, but for now the new Sport Contact 6 looks to be every bit the tire Continental have promised us!
It's also another strong performance for Hankook, with the Ventus S1 Evo 2. Hankook have been slowly improving this tire, and in the 19 inch and above sizes, it is now testing extremely well! As the cheapest tire on test, it has a price vs performance ratio that is hard to beat!
As we've yet to see the full article, we've summarised what we know in bullet points below. If you prefer this style of reporting, please let us know in the comment section at the bottom of the page.
Dry
- Dunlop Sport Maxx GT and Vredestein Ultrac Vorti have a slightly slower steering response than the best on test.
- The Yokohama steering is extremely quick, to the point of it unstabilising the car in the quicker corners.
- The new Continental is the fastest in dry and the best subjectively, with a good balance front to rear.
- Michelin is a close second in the dry, both in time and subjective feel.
- The Hankook matches the Vredestein to finish joint third.
Wet
- In the wet the Michelin aquaplaned early, something we're used to seeing from the dry optimized Pilot Super Sport.
- The Hankook is the best in the wet overall, winning the aquaplaning, wet circle and wet braking tests.
- The Yokohama and Vredestein have a good wet balance with a hint of understeer, but they can't match the Hankook under wet braking.
- The Continental almost matches the Hankook in wet grip and is subjectively very good again, with the Michelin is once again very close to the new Continental.
- The Dunlop has more oversteer in the wet than the other tires.
Update
We've a little more information on the dry and wet handling tests.
The average SPEEDS of the tires over a lap were (higher the better, ordered by dry speed, km/h)
| Tire | Dry | Wet |
| Continental | 122.4 | 79.7 |
| Michelin | 121.2 | 78.0 |
| Hankook | 120.3 | 82.1 |
| Yokohama | 119.8 | 80.5 |
| Vredestein | 119.5 | 79.7 |
| Dunlop | 119.1 | 78.7 |
As you can see, the difference between the best and worst in the group is small in both the dry and wet
Results
Continental Sport Contact 6
255/35 R20
All discipline results (2)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 9 |
| Wet | 6 |
Total: 15
Hankook Ventus S1 evo2
255/35 R20
All discipline results (2)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 6 |
| Wet | 9 |
Total: 15
Michelin Pilot Super Sport
255/35 R20
All discipline results (2)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 7 |
| Wet | 6 |
Total: 13
Yokohama Advan Sport V105
255/35 R20
All discipline results (2)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 5 |
| Wet | 7 |
Total: 12
Vredestein Ultrac Vorti
255/35 R20
All discipline results (2)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 6 |
| Wet | 6 |
Total: 12
Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT
255/35 R20
All discipline results (2)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 5 |
| Wet | 5 |
Total: 10
last three tests of summer tires published here are quite ridiculous, some of them are comparing UHP to touring tires and none has the "new" tires on the market. There are 3 new tires (PS4, F1 ASY 3, CS 6) that everybody wants to see in one test to compete against each other; and with P ZERO and some mid range brands.
The GTU test has all the new Goodyear, Dunlop, Falken, Toyo and GT Radial.
http://www.tirereviews.co.u...
The Continental is only made in 19 inches and above, and is featured in this test against it's peers. Goodyear don't see the Asymmetric 3 as a competitor tire to the CS6 or MPSS.
It's a shame the PS4 was missing from the GTU test as that would be been complete.
So the Conti in the dry is 3 times better than the PSS, than the PSS is to other performance tires. Allright Auto Bild, we get the message.
Hi,
The Autobild scoring system doesn't translate directly into percentage differences, so we've added the results from the dry and wet handling so you can get a better understanding of the relative performances.
As always, it's close!
Its not close is it? Its close between the Vorti and the PSS but the Conti's blow away everything else. They posses the dry grip and steering response of a semi-slick, they are more comfortable then a touring tire and if you behave they make you a cup of tea. Tirereview, you are extremely diplomatic and very forgiving but this does not change the fact that this test is dishonest motivated by $ rather then true facts. The scoring is simply not reasonable....
Hum... Here are the dif in avg speed :
Dunlop 119.1
Vredestein 119.5 (+0.34%)
Yokohama 119.8 (+0.25%)
Hankook 120.3 (+0.42%)
Michelin 121.2 (+0.75%)
Continental 122.4 (+0.99%)
So if the biggest gap is between the new SC6 and the old PSS, the PSS is still significantly better than the other ones.
The new PS4S should be even better than the SC6 :)
But honestly, the PSS and the SC6 don't compete with all the other tires on this test.
Autobuild I am surprised that VW Golf was not the winner of this test. Then I saw that continental was also part of the test so naturally they had to win. ADAC and Autobuild as well as the majority of other test makers are making money by the adds they publish and are dependent on the money that the auto manufactures give them. Naturally you are not going to twat a client who has given you 5 million EUR ....