2010 Sport Auto Ultra High Performance Tire Test

Mix eleven 235/35 r19 ultra high performance summer tires, one 300bhp Ford Focus RS and a large dose of German attention for detail and you end up with one awesome tire test!

In 2010 Sport Auto have tested 3 of the newest big brand tires (Potenza S001, Sport Contact 5P and the new P Zero), Korea latest darling (S1 EVO) and 7 other of the usual max performance contenders - it should be a good shoot out!

Unlike a lot of the European tests where the results bias towards wet performance, Sport Auto knows we buy these sort of UHP tires for dry performance and ultimate laptimes and have weighted the results accordingly!

The results? It's extremely close at the top with few surprises, but further down the table things get interesting.

Key points:

• The new Bridgestone Potenza S001 and Continental Sport Contact 5P both have excellent all round performance to place first and second respectively. It's always good when new tire technology drives the market forward.
• The Pirelli P Zero has the fastest dry laptime, with the Hankook S1 EVO and Michelin Pilot Sport 2 just 0.1 seconds behind. The Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric, winner of 2 tests in 2007 actually had the slowest dry laptime.
• The Michelin Pilot Sport 2 is still the tire to beat in the dry, with only the P Zero matching its performance when the tarmac wasn't wet.
• The Hankook S1 EVO continues to show it's excellent capabilities, winning the wet performance tests and extremely strong in the dry.
• The Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric's had a poor performance, largely due to this test being bias towards dry grip. It actually had a decent wet showing only 0.5 seconds off the fastest tire and ranking 4th overall in the wet.
• Another previous test winner, the Vredestein Sessanta Ultrac won the aquaplaning test but then showed average performance for the rest of the test, finally placing just 9th.
• The new Toyo T1 Sport isn't that sporty.
• The Nokian Z G2 is quite sporty, placing 5th which is excellent for a company that until recently specialised in winter tires.

On to the full results...

			Dry						Wet
		EU	HA	CL	DR	ST	BR	Total	HA	DR	ST	BR	AQ	Total	Total
Bridgestone Potenza S 001	1st	244	47 65.0s	16	22	23	30 35.5m	138	30 64.4s	20	18	17 44.6m	10 78.6mph	95	233
	The S001 is a very balanced tire in the wet with neutral handling and excellent grip. In the dry, the grip is excellent, the only drawback is a slight lack of steering precision from the front wheels
Continental Sport Contact 5P	2nd	253	49 64.6s	12	24	24	30 35.4m	139	29 64.5s	16	18	20 43.4m	8 76.7mph	91	230
	The Sportcontact 5P has taken a good step forward from it's predecessor, the Sportcontact 3. It is more sporty with great steering feel and excellent braking qualities in the dry or wet. It's extremely consistent in all ten tests.
Hankook S1 Evo	3rd	221	49 64.5s	15	22	23	28 36.0m	137	30 64.3s	18	19	20 43.4m	6 73.8mph	93	230
	The Hankook is the best wet weather tire in the test, offering the highest levels of grip. It also offers excellent performance in the dry, but like the R001 it has a slight vague feeling through the steering compared to the Conti, P Zero and Michelin.
Pirelli P Zero	4th	255	50 64.4s	16	23	25	30 35.5m	144	29 64.7s	16	20	14 46.3m	5 72.3mph	84	228
	While the P Zero is the most expensive tire on test, it underpins this with very good performances. It offers consistent, excellent handing in both the wet and dry with quick reaction to steering inputs. Slightly let down by braking.
Michelin Pilot Sport 2	5th	249	49 64.5s	17	25	25	28 35.9m	144	25 66.0s	12	20	14 46.3m	8 76.9mph	79	223
	The Pilot Sport 2 is the oldest tire on test, but still one of the best tires for dry performance offering an excellent direct steering feel. The Pilot Sport 2 is let down slightly by its wet handling on the limit with the Focus RS getting a little oversteer. The Pilot Sport 3 was introduced to address these wet weather weaknesses.
Nokian ZG 2	6th	223	47 65.0s	20	19	22	27 36.2m	135	27 65.3s	17	16	14 46.1m	8 75.9mph	82	217
	A good safe tire in the dry and wet. The Nokian Z G2 isn't the sportiest tire on test, but at the same time it isn't the worst tire on test. A good long term option.
Dunlop SportMaxx GT	7th	234	47 65.0s	19	23	22	25 36.7m	136	24 66.3s	16	17	13 46.7m	8 75.8mph	78	214
	The Dunlop SportMaxx GT is a tire of two minds. It is excellent in the dry, but let down by it's wet performance.
Toyo T1 Sport	8th	209	48 64.8s	13	19	22	26 36.3m	128	26 65.6s	16	16	14 46.0m	6 73.7mph	78	206
	The Toyo T1 Sport responds well to initial steering input, but then changes to understeer. In the wet, the braking is disappointing.
Vredestein Sessanta Ultrac	9th	203	47 64.9s	18	21	21	20 37.8m	127	24 66.2s	15	14	13 46.8m	10 79.1mph	76	203
	The Ultrac Sessanta convincingly wins the aquaplaning test but then disappoints in wet handling by offering little feedback through the wheel and strong understeer.
Kumho Ecsta KU39	10th	194	46 65.2s	18	19	18	23 37.1m	124	24 66.4s	14	15	16 45.1m	8 76.2mph	77	201
	While the KU39 offers strong braking characteristics it gives very little feedback to the driver resulting in a doughy steering feel. It also lacks traction in the wet.
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric	11th	216	43 65.7s	15	15	17	21 37.7m	111	28 64.8s	18	18	15 45.6m	9 77.6mph	88	199
	The Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric is a great feeling in the wet with neutral behavior on the limit and gentle load change reactions. Let down by numb feeling in the dry.