Test Summary
Wet Braking	Hankook Ventus Prime 3 K125
Dry Braking	Bridgestone DriveGuard
Rolling Resistance	Uniroyal RainSport 3
Noise	Uniroyal RainSport 3
Snow Handling	Bridgestone DriveGuard
Snow Handling	Nankang Eco 2 Plus Toyo Proxes CF2 Nexen N Blue HD Plus BFGoodrich gGrip Nokian Line

The first test featuring the new Bridgestone DriveGuard runflat tire has been published!

Testing ten 205/55 R16 touring tires on a VW Golf, Polish Motor magazine included the new generation Bridgestone DriveGuard runflat tire against the traditional non-runflat competition. 

In the past runflat tires have been criticised for low comfort, high noise and poor wet grip. During the launch of the Bridgestone DriveGuard last year, Bridgestone promised the latest generation runflat tire had made these issues a thing of the past, and this is the first independent test confirming the new tires abilities.

While Bridgestone were the only premium manufacturer included in the test, the very well regarded second tier brands from Continental (Uniroyal) and Goodyear (Fulda and Debica) were included to ensure Bridgestone didn't have an easy time of it.

Wet Braking

Uniroyal confirm their reputation as the wet masters, acing the wet braking test, and beating second placed Bridgestone by over a metre. Debica had a strong showing in third, with Nankang struggling in last place, a full 8.5 metres behind the winning Uniroyal.

Wet Handling

Bridgestone prove to be the fastest across a lap, with Nokian and Debica close behind in second and third place. Again, Nankang were totally off the pace and the slowest tire on test

Bridgestone won both the lateral and longitudinal aquaplaning tests.

Dry Braking

Hankook proved its near-premium credentials, winning the dry braking tests, with Nexen and Bridgestone close behind. This time Toyo struggled, finishing last, but just 1.4 metres behind the winning Hankook.

Dry Handling

Hankook also won the closely contested dry handling test, setting the fastest lap. Bridgestone were 1/10th second behind, with Fulda another 3/10ths slower than Bridgestone.

Noise / Comfort

The real challenge for runflat tires are the comfort and noise tests.

While the Bridgestone came joint last in the comfort assessment scoring 5.5 points, it tied with two well respected tires and was only 0.5 points away from five other patterns in joint third place with 6 points. Uniroyal had the clear comfort advantage scoring 7 points overall, and Fulda finished second with 6.1 points.

The magazine chose to noise test the tires twice, once at 50 km/h and once at 80 km/h. At both speeds Nankang won the test with Toyo second, with Bridgestone scoring third place at the slower speed, but tenth place at the quicker speed.

Result

1st: Bridgestone DriveGuard
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 197.5 Dry: 69.7 Wet: 99.3 Subjective: 15 Comfort: 1.6 Rolling Resistance: 4 Noise: 7.9 Very precise steering in wet and dry, good grip Noisy compared to the best in test (but good for a runflat!) Read Reviews
2nd: Uniroyal RainSport 3
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 194.3 Dry: 69.1 Wet: 97.1 Subjective: 13.3 Comfort: 2 Rolling Resistance: 5 Noise: 7.8 Good wet grip, well balanced tire Higher noise level compared to the best on test Read Reviews    Buy from £102.76
3rd: Debica Presto HP
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 191.4 Dry: 69.2 Wet: 94.3 Subjective: 13.9 Comfort: 1.6 Rolling Resistance: 4.6 Noise: 7.8 High grip in the wet, good braking in the dry An "unpleasant noise", slow steering in the wet Read Reviews
4th: Fulda EcoControl HP
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 191.1 Dry: 69.4 Wet: 92.5 Subjective: 14.9 Comfort: 1.8 Rolling Resistance: 4.7 Noise: 7.8 Good in the wet and dry None mentioned Read Reviews
5th: Nokian Line
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 190.9 Dry: 68.8 Wet: 93.4 Subjective: 14.5 Comfort: 1.7 Rolling Resistance: 4.5 Noise: 8 Very good handling in the wet None mentioned Read Reviews
6th: Hankook Ventus Prime 3 K125
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 188.4 Dry: 70 Wet: 89.7 Subjective: 14.5 Comfort: 1.7 Rolling Resistance: 4.6 Noise: 7.9 Good handling in the dry Difficult balance in the wet with oversteer and understeer Read Reviews    Buy from £76.69
7th: BFGoodrich gGrip
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 186.4 Dry: 69 Wet: 88.9 Subjective: 14.5 Comfort: 1.6 Rolling Resistance: 4.4 Noise: 8 Good levels of comfort Slow steering in dry and wet Read Reviews
7th: Nexen N Blue HD+
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 186.4 Dry: 69.5 Wet: 89.1 Subjective: 13.9 Comfort: 1.7 Rolling Resistance: 4.2 Noise: 8 Good balance in the dry Understeer in the wet, relatively weak dry grip Read Reviews
9th: Toyo Proxes CF2
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 185.1 Dry: 68.2 Wet: 89.1 Subjective: 13.9 Comfort: 1.7 Rolling Resistance: 4.2 Noise: 8 Good handling in the wet Relatively weak in the dry Read Reviews
10th: Nankang Eco 2+
205/55 R16 3PMSF: no	Total: 181.1 Dry: 68.7 Wet: 86 Subjective: 12.8 Comfort: 1.7 Rolling Resistance: 3.9 Noise: 8 Quiet Oversteer and understeer in the wet, relatively weak dry grip Read Reviews    Buy from £65.66