2010 Autocar Tire Test - FWD

It's always nice to have a tire test from British Magazine, and this week the Auto Car have provided us with not one, but two excellent tests.

Testing both 205/55 r16 tires on a FWD VW Golf and 225/45 r17 tires on a RWD Mercedes C280, Auto Car visited Uvalde test track in Texas, USA to put the chosen tires through seven different disciplines.

On test were tires from Bridgestone, Continental, Dunlop, Goodyear, Michelin and Vredestein echoing Auto Cars message from 2008 - budget tires aren't worth the risk, especially in a wet climate like the UK.

If you'd like the full reaction, pick up a copy of Auto Car dated 18th August 2010. The FWD results are below, and you can see the RWD results here!

FWD Highlights:

  • Less than a second covered the 6 tires during dry handling lap
  • 4.3 metres, or 11% covered the 6 tires in the dry braking test
  • During the wet lap the field was covered by 3 seconds
  • 6.2 metres, or 23% covered the tires in the wet braking test

1st: Vredestein Ultrac Cento

Vredestein Ultrac Cento
  • 205/55 r16
  • 3PMSF: no
  1. Total: 30.5
  2. Dry: 7
  3. Wet: 19.5
  4. Rolling Resistance: 4
Read Reviews

2nd: Bridgestone Turanza ER300

Bridgestone Turanza ER300
  • 205/55 r16
  • 3PMSF: no
  1. Total: 29
  2. Dry: 11.5
  3. Wet: 14.5
  4. Rolling Resistance: 3
Read Reviews

2nd: Continental Premium Contact 2

Continental Premium Contact 2
  • 205/55 r16
  • 3PMSF: no
  1. Total: 29
  2. Dry: 8.5
  3. Wet: 19.5
  4. Rolling Resistance: 1
Read Reviews

4th: Goodyear OptiGrip

Goodyear OptiGrip
  • 205/55 r16
  • 3PMSF: no
  1. Total: 22
  2. Dry: 4
  3. Wet: 16
  4. Rolling Resistance: 2
Read Reviews

5th: Michelin Primacy HP

Michelin Primacy HP
  • 205/55 r16
  • 3PMSF: no
  1. Total: 18.5
  2. Dry: 5.5
  3. Wet: 7
  4. Rolling Resistance: 6
Read Reviews

6th: Dunlop SP Sport Fast Response

Dunlop SP Sport Fast Response
  • 205/55 r16
  • 3PMSF: no
  1. Total: 18
  2. Dry: 5.5
  3. Wet: 7.5
  4. Rolling Resistance: 5
Read Reviews

Click to read the results of the RWD tire test
comments powered by Disqus