185/50 R16 Tires

The following tires have been reviewed in 185/50 R16.

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Tire Reviewed Dry Grip Wet Grip Feedback Handling Wear Comfort
Continental WinterContact TS 870 (17) 88% 93% 71% 81% 86% 86%
Kumho Ecsta HS51 (37) 87% 83% 77% 80% 79% 85%
Nexen N Fera SU1 (132) 83% 76% 76% 77% 74% 81%
Continental Premium Contact 2 (198) 84% 77% 75% 73% 62% 73%
Toyo T1R (288) 83% 69% 75% 75% 63% 70%
Kumho Ecsta KH11 (5) 72% 64% 68% 66% 83% 73%
Bridgestone Turanza T001 (107) 80% 70% 69% 67% 63% 72%
ESA Tecar Super Grip 7 (1) 70% 60% 60% 60% 80% 90%
Hifly HF805 (60) 75% 61% 65% 64% 55% 64%

185/50 16 Tire Review Highlights

Continental WinterContact TS 870 rated 41% while driving a Smart Fortwo EQ
Driving on a combination of roads for 200 easy going miles
I replaced the TS860s I had for these TS870 in my Smart EQ. A very bad tire IMHO. My electric range has reduced in at least 10%. Feedback is non existent. On hard snow it has absolutely no grip. On dry it is very good but what’s the point if it is very bad in snow and wet?
tire reviewed on 2024-11-23 00:20:50
Bridgestone Turanza T001 rated 59% while driving a SEAT Mii
Driving on a combination of roads for 15000 average miles
These were fitted from new on seat Mii fr line. When new they are Ok for grip in dry and poor in the wet. Wear rate is high on such a small and light car which is only driven modestly and us never pushed. More of a concern is they started to crack within the tread pattern after only around 10 months from production. I think forr the money they are a poor quality tire and I wouldn't buy again as they just don't measure up to the other tires I have used in the past. My other car has Goodyear eagle vector 4 season tires which are better in every way than the Bridgestone and I would highly recommend those without hesitation.
tire reviewed on 2021-10-12 12:50:30
Toyo T1R rated 40% while driving a Nissan Micra
Driving on a combination of roads for 30000 average miles
Regretted buying them from the first day, they understeer in the wet badly. In the dry they were acceptable but noticeably not as sharp as the previous Continentals. I only had to do one emergency stop in just under 30,000 miles and they just barely stopped the car in time in the damp, they did not skid but even now with new Kumho's fitted, I can instantly tell that the Toyo's were a bad tire. They lacked grip. They did fantastic for milage (just under 30,000 miles with just over 3mm tread left, ~7mm on the rear) but that is likely due to a hard compound. I will never buy a Toyo again, which I had considered a decent brand. It isn't like the price was value for money either, the tires had to be changed before they reached the end of their tread and my new (cheaper) Kumho's are much sharper than the Toyo's ever were. In fact these Kumho Ecsta HS51's are comparable to the Continentals in the dry and the wet and are more comfy over bumps. But my understanding is that Kumho have come a long way recently, seeing the have come first in the tire tests. I paid £58.87 for Kumho's, £74.29 for the Toyo's previously (per corner).
tire reviewed on 2021-06-06 04:32:06
Continental Premium Contact 2 rated 100% while driving a Volkswagen Volkswagen Up! White Up! 75PS/95NM
Driving on a combination of roads for 43882 easy going miles
Fitted for 8 seasons / 70622km / 43882mi, still 3 mm profile left on our Volkswagen Up! White Up! 75PS/95NM MY2013. I am completely astonished from those tires' performance! Maybe it is because of the small car and its tiny weight - during the last 8 seasons i found our citycar very reliable and confident on every wet or dry road we drove. This is the best summer tire I've driven so far. I will speak out only superlatives for Continental Premium Contact 2. Now I am really unsure which one should I pick for the next couple of years: Michelin Primacy 4 185/50R16 81H or Continental Premium Contact 2 185/50R16 81T. Higher price, higher speed index, newer model, newer technology versus the old but well known, reliable and confident Conti model...?
tire reviewed on 2021-01-16 17:36:03
Toyo T1R rated 30% while driving a Volkswagen up!
Driving on mostly town for 3000 average miles
Bought 4 to replace Continental Premium Contact 2s and been disappointed from the start. Car slides when taking corners wet or dry to the point that worry about lose control. Regret selecting these and if could get money back I would but tires don’t come with that. Have had to modify driving style because of these. Already showing signs of wear after 3000 miles.
tire reviewed on 2018-07-19 21:32:58
Toyo T1R rated 69% while driving a Nissan Micra
Driving on a combination of roads for 14000 easy going miles
No comments left
tire reviewed on 2018-02-09 00:55:53
Kumho Ecsta HS51 rated 89% while driving a Nissan Micra
Driving on a combination of roads for 0 easy going miles
Original fit was continental fitted set of these four years ago and just replaced with latest kumho ecsta tires had 2mm. Left even wear across tread I travel mixed roads a and motorway daily .
tire reviewed on 2018-02-01 08:01:48
Nexen N Fera SU1 rated 0% while driving a Nissan Micra
Driving on mostly motorways for 1500 easy going miles
Bought these budget tires for a Nissan Micra and was compelled to write this review as this tire is so un frickin believeably quiet. Honestly it's like driving a different car. Great tire for the price.
tire reviewed on 2015-08-04 06:53:31
ESA Tecar Super Grip 7 rated 66% while driving a Mercedes Benz A
Driving on a combination of roads for 3000 easy going miles
Very comfortable tire, good aquaplaning resistance, quiet. Wear seems good to. The only thing it does very bad is the grip in snow. Absolutely inconsistent, absolutely no traction even with 2 cm. of snow. Keep away from such products.
tire reviewed on 2015-02-21 19:22:18
Hifly HF805 rated 97% while driving a Nissan Note 1.5 dci
Driving on a combination of roads for 600 spirited miles
To be honest I didn't really check these out before buying them but what a great choice!
Grip in the dry is very good but in the wet they are fantastic. Yes they will lose traction eventually but you have to go quite mental to do so.

I previously had continental tires on the car & they honestly didn't grip as well as these, especially in the wet.

They also have very good integrated rim protection.

I have a set of Infinity tires on my other car (BMW 5 series) which are quite bad in the wet so I'll be replacing them with these!
tire reviewed on 2014-10-24 20:53:02
Continental Premium Contact 2 rated 55% while driving a Nissan Micra
Driving on mostly country roads for 11000 easy going miles
With very little options open to me with the size of tire fitted to my Micra I am struggling to find an alternative make of tire to replace these with that have worn out after just 11,000. They were fitted on the car from new and all four now need replacing. The car has been driven sensibly so I am at a loss as to why the wear is so bad. So
tire reviewed on 2013-09-30 15:35:36
Kumho Ecsta KH11 rated 90% while driving a Audi A2
Driving on a combination of roads for 40000 average miles
Bought this car 2nd hand with these tires fitted all round and dealer agreed to replace the front ones for the same tires which lasted just short of 40,000 miles!! on 'A' class and country roads. And, over the 3 years of life returned an average 69mpg.
'Comfort' and 'Grip' are difficult to measure objectively in this car as it has a firm suspension, drives like a go-kart round corners and roundabouts and, sticks to the road like glue in all but icy conditions.
Would I buy it again? - unfortunately, the KH11 is no longer made...
tire reviewed on 2013-04-04 15:01:12
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