Test Summary
Wet Braking	Nokian Line SUV
Dry Braking	Continental Cross Contact UHP
Wear	Continental Cross Contact UHP Nokian Line SUV
Rolling Resistance	Continental Cross Contact UHP Nokian Line SUV Star Performer SUV 1

Off road vehicles don't always spend all their time off road, and the new generation of "soft-road" vehicles can go their entire lives without seeing so much as a muddy verge.

For this reason, the German "Off Road" magazine have chosen to test six 215/65 R16 tires on an Audi Q3, which are designed to spend 99% of their life on the road.

The Top Three

Continental win this test with the CrossContact UHP. The Continental tire offers the best balance between dry and wet braking, excellent handling in the wet and a low rolling resistance. It is however the most expensive tire on test, the nosiest tire on test, and has a tendency to understeer in the dry at the limit.

Second place is awarded to Nokian with the Line SUV. The Nokian boasts the shortest wet braking, but can only manage an average result in the dry braking test.  It has excellent rolling resistance and is just half a decibel louder than the quietest tire on test.

Goodyear round out the top three places with the EfficientGrip SUV. The Goodyear proves to be a very strong all round tire, and the quietest tire on test, with the only negatives a high rolling resistance and a slight balance instability under extreme load changes.

Fourth to Sixth

Pirelli placed fourth with the Scorpion Verde. The Pirelli couldn't quite match the top three tires in the handling or aquaplaning tests, but was the strongest tire under dry braking.

Hankook could only manage fifth place. The Dynapro HP2 RA33 had excellent wet braking, but the worst dry braking on test, and while it was a quiet tire it had a high rolling resistance.

Last place went to the budget Star Performer SUV-1. While it scored well in the rolling resistance and aquaplaning tests, the low cost Star Performer scored extremely badly under wet braking, dry braking and the noise tests.

Full Results

With five of the six tires recommended, the gap between the best tires on the market is ever shrinking. The full results are below with further details.

1st: Continental Cross Contact UHP
215/65 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 35 Dry: 7 Wet: 10 Rolling Resistance: 9 Overall: 9 Short braking distances and good handling on wet surfaces, low rolling resistance Tendency to understeer on dry surfaces, high price Highly recommended Read Reviews
2nd: Nokian Line SUV
215/65 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 36 Dry: 9 Wet: 9 Rolling Resistance: 9 Overall: 9 Good dry and wet balance with a hint of understeer. Shortest wet braking Longer dry braking Highly recommended Read Reviews
3rd: Goodyear EfficientGrip SUV
215/65 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 28 Dry: 6 Wet: 9 Rolling Resistance: 6 Overall: 7 Good in all conditions High rolling resistance, poor lateral stability during emergency turns Recommended Read Reviews    Buy from £117.20
4th: Pirelli Scorpion Verde
215/65 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 27 Dry: 7 Wet: 7 Rolling Resistance: 6 Overall: 7 Good braking And oversteer balance, high wear Recommended Read Reviews    Buy from £103.97
5th: Hankook Dynapro HP2 RA33
215/65 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 25 Dry: 6 Wet: 7 Rolling Resistance: 6 Overall: 6 Low noise, short braking distances in the wet Poor resistance to aquaplaning, poor dry braking performance Recommended Read Reviews    Buy from £116.99
6th: Star Performer SUV 1
215/65 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 21 Dry: 4 Wet: 4 Rolling Resistance: 9 Overall: 4 Cheap, high resistance to aquaplaning, low rolling resistance Poor braking in the dry and wet, poor handling and grip in the dry and wet Satisfactory Read Reviews