Test Summary
Wet Braking	Continental Premium Contact 6
Dry Braking	Nokian Hakka Black
Rolling Resistance	Continental Premium Contact 6
Noise	Nokian Hakka Black Hankook Ventus S1 evo2 SUV Dunlop SP QuattroMaxx Nexen N Fera RU1
Snow Handling	Continental Premium Contact 6 Nokian Hakka Black Hankook Ventus S1 evo2 SUV Dunlop SP QuattroMaxx Nexen N Fera RU1

With the SUV sector booming, tire manufacturers are starting to merge their car and SUV lines into one product. The latest, and according to this test by the Swedish magazine Vi Bilägare, greatest example of this, is the new Continental Premium Contact 6.

While only five patterns of tires were tested, it was a good mix of 235/40 R18 tires which are usually fitted to vehicles like the VW Tiguan and Volvo XC70.

The premium manufacturers were represented by Continental and Dunlop, the mid range by Hankook and Nokian, and the quickly improving Nexen represented the cheapest end of the market.

The results were surprisingly close overall. Nokian took the overall wet victory, and while the Continental was close in the wet handling test, the Nokian was in a league of its own during the wet braking tests. Hankook dominated the aquaplaning tests, with Nokian, Dunlop and Nexen close, and Continental performing the worse in the deep water testing.

During the dry tests, the new Continental showed how sacrificing a little aquaplaning performance can drastically change the dry results, where it dominated in both the dry braking and dry handling tests.

The difference in fuel consumption between the tires was only 0.15 litres per 100/km. While Nexen won this category, it wasn't enough of a difference to have the magazine recommend the Nexen above any other tire on test.

Lastly, all five tires had similar results in the noise tests, but the Continental struggled a little in the subjective comfort testing.

The Results

1st: Continental Premium Contact 6
235/50 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 83 Dry: 20 Wet: 43 Comfort: 6 Rolling Resistance: 10 Noise: 4 Very good handling and safest behaviour at the limit of grip on dry surfaces, good handling on wet surfaces Weakest resistance to aquaplaning, average comfort Read Reviews    Buy from £139.91
2nd: Nokian Hakka Black
235/50 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 82 Dry: 16 Wet: 46 Comfort: 8 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 4 Short braking distances, excellent handling and overall the best results in the wet, good handling on dry surfaces, quick steering response and predictable behaviour at the limit of grip in all conditions Worst fuel economy, most expensive tire on test Read Reviews
3rd: Hankook Ventus S1 evo2 SUV
235/50 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 78 Dry: 16 Wet: 42 Comfort: 8 Rolling Resistance: 8 Noise: 4 A very well balanced all round tire, highest resistance to aquaplaning, excellent grip and behaviour in the dry and wet, low fuel consumption, most comfortable tire on test. Only lost out to two more expensive tires None mentioned Read Reviews
4th: Dunlop SP QuattroMaxx
235/50 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 64 Dry: 16 Wet: 32 Comfort: 8 Rolling Resistance: 4 Noise: 4 Good dry handling time Tendency to sudden loss of grip on dry and wet surfaces (the tires react very quickly to the steering inputs but this causes unpredictably), lowest lateral stability on wet surfaces Read Reviews
5th: Nexen N Fera RU1
235/50 R18 3PMSF: no	Total: 56 Dry: 12 Wet: 26 Comfort: 8 Rolling Resistance: 6 Noise: 4 Low noise level, low fuel consumption Long braking distance and poor handling on wet surfaces Read Reviews    Buy from £120.01