Test Summary
Wet Braking	Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R
Dry Braking	Michelin Pilot Sport 4
Rolling Resistance	Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 Bridgestone Turanza T001 Evo Pirelli P Zero PZ4
Noise	Pirelli P Zero PZ4
Snow Handling	Toyo Proxes Sport

How much faster are track day tires compared to the best road tires? The German publication Sport Auto have produced the answer by taking seven of the best maximum performance road tires and three of the best track day tires, and placing them all through the same testing on a Toyota GT86 (225/40 R18).

Road VS Trackday Tires

The Toyota GT86 isn't the most powerful of cars, with the 2 litre NA engine producing just 197 bhp. This means the car won't take advantage of the higher grip levels of semi slicks as much as a more powerful heavy car, but the increase in performance was still noticeable.

The Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tire was the fastest semi slick in the dry lapping the handling course with an average speed of 87.1 km/h, an average of 2 km/h faster than the Michelin Pilot Sport 4. 

Dry braking is a key advantage for track day tires, which have a softer compound and less tread pattern to increase the tires contact patch with the road. The Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R proved best in this test, stopping the Toyota in 32.8 meters, where the road Pirelli P Zero took a further 2.4 meters, stopping the car in 35.2 meters. The biggest surprise of the dry braking test wasn't the advantage of the semi slick tires, but that the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 matched the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2, both stopping the car in 34.4 meters, an impressive result for the road bias Michelin.

Wet testing brings the advantage back to the road tires. All three semi slick tires finished at the bottom of the wet handling and aquaplaning tests, with the Michelin track day tire proving to be the most useful in the tests. Still not a tire we'd want to fit for year round use in the UK.

The wet braking tests reversed the dry braking tests, with the test winning Toyo Proxes Sport stopping the GT86 in 32 meters from 80 km/h, where the Toyo R888R track day tire took a further 2.5 meters, stopping in 34.5 meters.

The comfort, noise and rolling resistance tests were again dominated by the road tires, with the track day tires giving up noise and comfort for increased steering precision and speed.

The Results

Please note, due to limitations in our database, we've had to group the track day and "normal" tires together in the overall results. In the magazine they were rated separate, but they did undergo the same tests.

1st: Michelin Pilot Sport 4
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 43 Dry: 9.5 Wet: 9.5 Comfort: 8 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 8 Good steering feedback, stable behavior, excellent grip and very short braking on wet surfaces + short stopping distance on dry Slightly high levels of noise Particularly recommended Read Reviews    Buy from £107.84
1st: Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 33.3 Dry: 11 Wet: 4.3 Comfort: 7 Rolling Resistance: 4 Noise: 7 Excellent grip and accurate steering in the dry Poor wet grip Particularly recommended Read Reviews
2nd: Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 43.7 Dry: 9.1 Wet: 8.6 Comfort: 8 Rolling Resistance: 10 Noise: 8 Good handling on wet roads, short braking distances on dry roads Poor handling on dry roads Recommended Read Reviews    Buy from £87.22
2nd: Toyo R888 R
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 31.1 Dry: 10.6 Wet: 5.5 Comfort: 2 Rolling Resistance: 5 Noise: 8 Good wet traction for a semi slick, high grip and good steering in the dry Very nervous in wet handling, very noisy Particularly recommended Read Reviews
3rd: Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 36 Dry: 9.9 Wet: 5.1 Comfort: 7 Rolling Resistance: 6 Noise: 8 Balanced performance and accurate steering int he dry Poor wet grip Recommended Read Reviews    Buy from £138.79
3rd: Bridgestone Turanza T001 Evo
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 43.2 Dry: 8.3 Wet: 8.9 Comfort: 8 Rolling Resistance: 10 Noise: 8 High traction and good handling and stability on wet roads Inaccurate and slow steering the dry, poor resistance to aquaplaning Recommended Read Reviews
4th: Continental Sport Contact 5
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 35.7 Dry: 9.1 Wet: 8.6 Comfort: 6 Rolling Resistance: 5 Noise: 7 Excellent in the wet, high resistance to aquaplaning, short braking and good handling in the dry Poor comfort, high noise Recommended Read Reviews    Buy from £97.62
5th: Pirelli P Zero PZ4
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 43.6 Dry: 9.2 Wet: 7.4 Comfort: 9 Rolling Resistance: 10 Noise: 8 Short braking on dry roads, accurate steering and good stability in cornering on dry roads Relatively long stopping distance on wet roads Recommended Read Reviews    Buy from £132.91
6th: Toyo Proxes Sport
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 41.4 Dry: 8.4 Wet: 8 Comfort: 7 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 10 The shortest braking distance on a wet roads, high resistance to aquaplaning Slow reaction to steering, weak lateral stability on wet roads Recommended Read Reviews    Buy from £92.99
7th: Kumho Ecsta PS91
225/40 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 34.7 Dry: 8.4 Wet: 7.3 Comfort: 6 Rolling Resistance: 5 Noise: 8 Acceptable handling on dry surfaces (although nervous behavior), good resistance to aquaplaning Poor grip in the wet, low comfort Conditionally recommended Read Reviews