The Test World ultra high performance summer tire test puts thirteen 225/40 R18 tire patterns through the usual array of wet, dry and environment testing using a VW Golf GTI.

Sadly, there's no Michelin Pilot Sport 4 in this test, with Test World testing the older Pilot Sport 3 pattern, but they have included the new Goodyear and Dunlop tires.

Premium VS Budget

The most interesting aspect of this test was the inclusion of the Jinyu, Delinte and Aptany budget brands of tires. Jinyu is now sold as a "premium budget" in the UK, so comparing the results against the best premiums gives an insight into how much progress the big Chinese budget manufacturers are making. The answer is "some".

Under wet braking, the winning Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 stopped the car from 50 mph in 24 meters, where as the worst tire on test, the Jinyu, stopped the car in 27.4 meters. While this could still mean the difference of "no accident" and a "large accident" under emergency wet braking from high speeds, the gap is markedly closer than it was a few years ago, and the three budget tires on test all performed all performed on par with the Toyo T1 Sport Plus, which is a well regarded mid range brand.

Under dry braking the results were even closer. The test winning Hankook stopped the car from 60mph in 33.5 meters, and the Jinyu finished in eigth place at 35.6 meters, beating the Michelin and Toyo and stopping the car just 0.2 meters behind the Goodyear.

Does this now mean budget tires are a viable safe option? This year you're still certainly better off choosing a midrange tire, however the gap is closing all the time, and soon the budget Chinese tire manufactures will be making excellent products. The question is, when the Chinese tires are as good as the premium tires, will they still be a cheaper option?

Results

1st: Continental Sport Contact 5
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 9.4 Overall: 9.4 Good handling and a high level of safety on wet roads, high resistance to aquaplaning High rolling resistance Read Reviews    Buy from £97.62
2nd: Nokian Hakka Black
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 9.3 Overall: 9.3 Consistently good results in all the tests on wet roads Slightly weak handling on dry roads Read Reviews
3rd: Dunlop SportMaxx RT 2
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 8.9 Overall: 8.9 Good grip on wet and dry roads, low rolling resistance Slightly weak handling on wet roads Read Reviews    Buy from £88.32
3rd: Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 8.9 Overall: 8.9 Good handling on wet surfaces, low rolling resistance None mentioned Read Reviews    Buy from £87.22
5th: Hankook Ventus S1 evo2
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 8.7 Overall: 8.7 Short braking distances on dry surfaces High rolling resistance, relatively poor grip on wet surfaces Read Reviews
6th: Pirelli P Zero
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 8.6 Overall: 8.6 (Original P Zero) Short braking distances and good handling on wet surfaces (Original P Zero) Poor resistance to aquaplaning, high noise level Read Reviews    Buy from £124.54
7th: Michelin Pilot Sport 3 PS3
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 8.5 Overall: 8.5 High resistance to aquaplaning Poor lateral grip on wet surfaces, longer braking distance on dry roads Read Reviews
8th: Nankang Sportnex AS2+
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 8.1 Overall: 8.1 Read Reviews    Buy from £86.70
9th: Maxxis Victra Sport VS01
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 7.5 Overall: 7.5 Short braking distances on dry roads, low noise Weak grip and not enough good handling on wet roads Read Reviews
10th: Jinyu YU63
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 7.4 Overall: 7.4 Good handling on dry roads, low rolling resistance Long braking distances and poor handling on wet surfaces, poor resistance to aquaplaning Read Reviews
11th: Delinte DH2
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 7.1 Overall: 7.1 Acceptable braking on dry roads, sufficiently low rolling resistance Poor traction on wet surfaces, low resistance to aquaplaning Read Reviews
12th: Toyo Proxes T1 Sport plus
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 7 Overall: 7 Low noise level, low rolling resistance Weak results in tests on wet roads, long braking distances in the dry Read Reviews
13th: Aptany RA301
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 6.5 Overall: 6.5 Low noise level, low rolling resistance Long braking distances and poor handling on dry and wet roads Read Reviews