It's not often you see a tire test where the highest placed premium manufacturer is placed in fifth place, and often test winning Goodyear and Michelin brands are eighth and ninth respectively, but that's exactly what the 2018 ACE / GTU 235/45 R18 tire test shows.
Sadly, ACE / GTU haven't provided any data to show how they came to this result, instead choosing to score the various tests such as dry braking with a relative score, so we can't be sure exactly how they came to this order.
What we do know is that the test was done using a heavy, all wheel drive, 280 bhp VW Passat Estate, which might have had an impact on the overall results, but it would have still been useful to see things like braking distances and lap times to enable us to make our own judgement.
With this in mind, make sure you look at other tire tests and user reviews to get a bigger picture of the market place, as the lessons from this test are somewhat limited.
Results
Falken Azenis FK510
235/45 R18
All discipline results (7)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 35 |
| Wet | 57 |
| Subjective | 11 |
| Wet Subjective | 9 |
| Rolling Resistance | 16 |
| Noise | 9 |
| Cost | 13 |
Total: 150
Kumho Ecsta PS71
235/45 R18
All discipline results (7)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 35 |
| Wet | 59 |
| Subjective | 9 |
| Wet Subjective | 8 |
| Rolling Resistance | 14 |
| Noise | 9 |
| Cost | 15 |
Total: 149
Nokian zLine
235/45 R18
All discipline results (7)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 37 |
| Wet | 55 |
| Subjective | 10 |
| Wet Subjective | 8 |
| Rolling Resistance | 18 |
| Noise | 7 |
| Cost | 14 |
Total: 149
Hankook Ventus S1 evo2
235/45 R18
All discipline results (7)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 35 |
| Wet | 57 |
| Subjective | 11 |
| Wet Subjective | 8 |
| Rolling Resistance | 15 |
| Noise | 9 |
| Cost | 11 |
Total: 146
Continental Premium Contact 6
235/45 R18
All discipline results (7)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 37 |
| Wet | 55 |
| Subjective | 11 |
| Wet Subjective | 8 |
| Rolling Resistance | 18 |
| Noise | 7 |
| Cost | 9 |
Total: 145
Maxxis Premitra HP5
235/45 R18
All discipline results (7)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 38 |
| Wet | 50 |
| Subjective | 7 |
| Wet Subjective | 7 |
| Rolling Resistance | 16 |
| Noise | 7 |
| Cost | 17 |
Total: 142
Pirelli P Zero
235/45 R18
All discipline results (7)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 39 |
| Wet | 50 |
| Subjective | 12 |
| Wet Subjective | 8 |
| Rolling Resistance | 16 |
| Noise | 8 |
| Cost | 9 |
Total: 142
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3
235/45 R18
All discipline results (7)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 34 |
| Wet | 51 |
| Subjective | 11 |
| Wet Subjective | 8 |
| Rolling Resistance | 17 |
| Noise | 8 |
| Cost | 10 |
Total: 139
Michelin Primacy 3
235/45 R18
All discipline results (7)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 35 |
| Wet | 49 |
| Subjective | 11 |
| Wet Subjective | 8 |
| Rolling Resistance | 17 |
| Noise | 8 |
| Cost | 9 |
Total: 137
Semperit SpeedLife 2
235/45 R18
All discipline results (7)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 29 |
| Wet | 49 |
| Subjective | 10 |
| Wet Subjective | 6 |
| Rolling Resistance | 20 |
| Noise | 8 |
| Cost | 13 |
Total: 135
Vredestein Ultrac Satin
235/45 R18
All discipline results (7)
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Dry | 32 |
| Wet | 49 |
| Subjective | 11 |
| Wet Subjective | 8 |
| Rolling Resistance | 15 |
| Noise | 8 |
| Cost | 11 |
Total: 134
I love my Zlines on Mercedes CLK V8 Cabrio. In NE USA, I don't drive it in winter, but sometimes in cold/wet, so it's perfect....performance tire w/all-season compound.
"It's not often you see a tire test where the highest placed premium manufacturer is placed in fifth place, and often test winning Goodyear and Michelin brands are eighth and ninth respectively..."
While that's true, it is probably slightly modified by the following:
-a Michelin PS4 or PS4s would have probably been a rather better scorer in this sort of test than a rather middle-of-the-road Prim 3. Doesn't make them 'better' tires but in what is largely a performance test sporty tires would score better. And, if you are going Primacy, why not Prim 4 rather than 3?
-Similarlry for Conti, a SportContact would surely have been a better scorer.
(Which all raises questions about what the Marketing depts at those companes were thinking when they selected whch tires to submit.)
And then there is wear. There does not appear to be a score for wear and I'd be prepared to bet that both the Conti and the Michelin would move up the order a bit if their wear scores were included with a reasonable weight..