Summer tyre test 205/55 R16 - Autoexpress 2026

Summer Testing was conducted at the Continental Contidrom proving ground near Hannover in northern Germany, with all tyres bought anonymously from retail.

2026

Year

8

Tyres

Audi A3, driven by Auto Express expert tester John Barker.

Winner

Falken ZIEX ZE320

Best Value

Maxxis Premitra HP6

Test Vehicle

Audi A3

Tested tyres

8

article

Auto Express Summer Tyre Test 2026 (205/55 R16): Falken Ziex ZE320 Scores Shock First Win, Budget Dynamo Fails in the Wet

Auto Express tested 8 summer tyres in the hugely popular 205/55 R16 91V size at the Continental Contidrom proving ground near Hannover, Germany, with expert tester John Barker behind the wheel of an Audi A3. All tyres were bought anonymously from retail. Prices ranged from £53.77 (Dynamo) to £124.58 (Pirelli).

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Price vs Quality

See how tyre price relates to test performance at a glance

Results

Agenda:

Best value in test

Better than average value

Worse than average value

Worst value in test

The Falken Ziex ZE320 won dry braking, stopping almost 0.5 metres sooner than the second-placed Continental; the budget Dynamo was worst.

1

Falken ZIEX ZE320

Rating: Test winner

£62

91 V

mytyres.co.uk

+3 More sizes →

94V · £69 94V · £69 94W · £75

Wet91.9

Dry100

Rolling resistance87

Noise98.7

Wet

Wet Handling#1/8

Aquaplaning Cross#3/8

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#3/8

Wet Circle Cornering#3/8

Wet Braking#6/8

Dry

Dry Braking#1/8

Dry Handling#1/8

Comfort

Noise Interior#3/8

Economy

Rolling Resistance#4/8

Summary

Published overall result: 100 · 1/8
Best discipline position: Dry braking (1/8)
Lowest discipline position: Wet braking (6/8)

2

Continental PremiumContact 7

Rating: Highly recommended

£86

91 V

mytyres.co.uk

+2 More sizes →

91H · £86 91V · £89

Wet100

Dry99.1

Rolling resistance83

Noise99.4

Wet

Wet Braking#1/8

Wet Circle Cornering#2/8

Wet Handling#4/8

Aquaplaning Cross#6/8

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#6/8

Dry

Dry Braking#2/8

Dry Handling#3/8

Comfort

Noise Interior#2/8

Economy

Rolling Resistance#6/8

Summary

Published overall result: 99.7 · 2/8
Best discipline position: Wet braking (1/8)
Lowest discipline position: Rolling resistance (6/8)

3

Firestone Roadhawk 2

Rating: Highly recommended

£67

91 V

mytyres.co.uk

+3 More sizes →

91H · £67 91W · £71 94V · £73

Wet92.3

Dry98.7

Rolling resistance88.9

Noise100

Wet

Aquaplaning Cross#1/8

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#1/8

Wet Handling#3/8

Wet Circle Cornering#4/8

Wet Braking#5/8

Dry

Dry Handling#4/8

Dry Braking#7/8

Comfort

Noise Interior#1/8

Economy

Rolling Resistance#3/8

Summary

Published overall result: 98.9 · 3/8
Best discipline position: Cornering aquaplaning (1/8)
Lowest discipline position: Dry braking (7/8)

4

Maxxis Premitra HP6

Rating: Recommended

£62

91 V

mytyres.co.uk

+1 More sizes →

94W · £65

Wet92.6

Dry99.6

Rolling resistance92.9

Noise97.5

Wet

Wet Circle Cornering#1/8

Wet Braking#4/8

Wet Handling#5/8

Aquaplaning Cross#7/8

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#7/8

Dry

Dry Handling#2/8

Dry Braking#6/8

Comfort

Noise Interior#6/8

Economy

Rolling Resistance#2/8

Summary

Published overall result: 97.8 · 4/8
Best discipline position: Wet circle cornering (1/8)
Lowest discipline position: Longitudinal aquaplaning (7/8)

5

Pirelli Cinturato (C3)

Rating: Recommended

£97

94 V

mytyres.co.uk

Wet95.4

Dry98.6

Rolling resistance81.3

Noise98.1

Wet

Wet Braking#2/8

Wet Handling#2/8

Aquaplaning Cross#4/8

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#4/8

Wet Circle Cornering#8/8

Dry

Dry Braking#3/8

Dry Handling#6/8

Comfort

Noise Interior#5/8

Economy

Rolling Resistance#7/8

Summary

Published overall result: 97.2 · 5/8
Best discipline position: Wet braking (2/8)
Lowest discipline position: Wet circle cornering (8/8)

6

Michelin Primacy 5

Rating: Recommended

£92

91 W

mytyres.co.uk

+5 More sizes →

91H · £97 91V · £96 91V · £92 +2

Wet93.3

Dry97.5

Rolling resistance100

Noise97.4

Wet

Wet Braking#3/8

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#4/8

Aquaplaning Cross#5/8

Wet Circle Cornering#5/8

Wet Handling#7/8

Dry

Dry Braking#5/8

Dry Handling#8/8

Comfort

Noise Interior#7/8

Economy

Rolling Resistance#1/8

Summary

Published overall result: 97.1 · 6/8
Best discipline position: Rolling resistance (1/8)
Lowest discipline position: Dry handling (8/8)

7

Nokian Powerproof 2

Rating: Recommended

£69

0 V

mytyres.co.uk

Wet90.3

Dry98.6

Rolling resistance86.8

Noise97.4

Wet

Aquaplaning Cross#2/8

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#2/8

Wet Handling#6/8

Wet Braking#7/8

Wet Circle Cornering#7/8

Dry

Dry Braking#4/8

Dry Handling#6/8

Comfort

Noise Interior#7/8

Economy

Rolling Resistance#5/8

Summary

Published overall result: 97 · 7/8
Best discipline position: Cornering aquaplaning (2/8)
Lowest discipline position: Wet circle cornering (7/8)

8

Dynamo Street-H MH01

Rating: Not recommended

£50

91 V

tyres-pneus-online.co.uk

Wet78

Dry98.7

Rolling resistance74.7

Noise98.4

Wet

Wet Circle Cornering#6/8

Aquaplaning Cross#8/8

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#8/8

Wet Braking#8/8

Wet Handling#8/8

Dry

Dry Handling#4/8

Dry Braking#8/8

Comfort

Noise Interior#4/8

Economy

Rolling Resistance#8/8

Summary

Published overall result: 92.4 · 8/8
Best discipline position: Dry handling (4/8)
Lowest discipline position: Wet handling (8/8)

Detailed results

Same size tyres not featured in the test

Tests usually don't cover the whole market - here is our selection what not to miss when shopping for tyres in this size.

#	Name	Our rating	Segment	Price
1	Premium Dunlop Blue Response TG 98%	98%	Premium	£75 91 H +3 More
2	Premium Continental UltraContact NXT 96%	96%	Premium	£102 94 W
3	Premium Pirelli Cinturato P7 C2 88%	88%	Premium	£118 91 V +4 More
4	Premium Bridgestone Turanza T005 88%	88%	Premium	£86 91 H +18 More
5	Premium Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance 2 86%	86%	Premium	£69 91 H +5 More
6	Upper-middle Kumho Ecsta PS71 86%	86%	Upper-middle	£74 91 W +2 More
7	Premium Continental PremiumContact 6 83%	83%	Premium
8	Premium Pirelli Cinturato P7 80%	80%	Premium	£83 91 H +17 More

9	Upper-middle Yokohama ADVAN A052 79%	79%	Upper-middle	£198 94 W
10	Upper-middle Toyo Proxes Comfort 78%	78%	Upper-middle	£68 +8 More
11	Premium Michelin Primacy 4+ 78%	78%	Premium	£92 91 V +4 More
12	Premium Hankook Ih61 Ion St As 77%	77%	Premium	£88 94 V
13	Premium Continental Ecocontact 6 77%	77%	Premium	£80 91 W +20 More
14	Budget Linglong Sport Master 77%	77%	Budget
15	Premium Hankook Ventus Prime 4 76%	76%	Premium	£74 91 V +5 More
16	Premium Bridgestone Turanza 6 76%	76%	Premium	£83 91 V +3 More

17	Upper-middle Cooper Summer 76%	76%	Upper-middle	£56 91 H +4 More
18	Budget Sailun Atrezzo ZSR 2 76%	76%	Budget
19	Upper-middle Kumho Ecsta HS52 76%	76%	Upper-middle	£55 91 V +10 More
20	Upper-middle Kleber Dynaxer HP4 75%	75%	Upper-middle	£89 91 V +9 More
21	Budget Nexen N Fera Primus 74%	74%	Budget	£59 91 W +2 More
22	Premium Hankook K135 Ventus Prime4 74%	74%	Premium	£72 91 H +6 More
23	Budget Fulda EcoControl HP2 74%	74%	Budget	£57 91 V +3 More
24	Budget Nexen N Fera Sport 72%	72%	Budget	£81

25	Upper-middle BFGoodrich Advantage 70%	70%	Upper-middle	£72 91 H +9 More
26	Premium Continental UltraContact 70%	70%	Premium	£79 91 H +4 More
27	Upper-middle Uniroyal RainSport 5 69%	69%	Upper-middle	£63 91 W +3 More
28	Upper-middle Falken ZIEX ZE310 ECORUN 69%	69%	Upper-middle	£72 91 V +8 More
29	Upper-middle BF Goodrich Advantage 2 67%	67%	Upper-middle	£73 91 V +3 More
30	Premium Michelin e.Primacy 67%	67%	Premium	£96 91 W +5 More
31	Upper-middle Nokian Wetproof 66%	66%	Upper-middle
32	Budget Debica Presto HP2 64%	64%	Budget	£59 91 H +3 More

33	Budget Sava Intensa HP2 63%	63%	Budget	£53 91 H +3 More
34	Budget Kenda Kenetica Pro KR210 62%	62%	Budget
35	Premium Dunlop Sport BluResponse 61%	61%	Premium	£72 91 H +8 More
36	Upper-middle Firestone Roadhawk 60%	60%	Upper-middle
37	Upper-middle Kleber Dynaxer HP5 56%	56%	Upper-middle	£75 91 H +4 More
38	Budget Semperit Speed-Life 3 55%	55%	Budget	£67 91 H +3 More
39	Budget Maxxis Premitra HP5 52%	52%	Budget	£79 91 V +1 More
40	Premium Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance 50%	50%	Premium	£71 91 V +16 More

41	Budget Lassa Revola 49%	49%	Budget
42	Budget Linglong Comfort Master 48%	48%	Budget
43	Budget Delinte DS2 46%	46%	Budget
44	- Leao Nova-Force Acro 44%	44%	-
45	Budget Barum Bravuris 5 HM 44%	44%	Budget
46	Premium Vredestein ULTRAC 43%	43%	Premium	£85 +4 More
47	B Landspider Sportraxx UHP 42%	42%	B
48	Budget Viking Protech NewGen 40%	40%	Budget	£72 91 V +3 More

49	Budget Apollo Alnac 4G 39%	39%	Budget
50	Upper-middle Cooper Zeon CS8 38%	38%	Upper-middle	£68 0 V +9 More
51	B Triangle Effexsport TH202 33%	33%	B
52	Budget Avon ZV7 31%	31%	Budget	£63 +10 More
53	Budget Barum Bravuris 6 30%	30%	Budget	£59 91 W +3 More
54	B Event Potentem UHP 27%	27%	B
55	Budget Gislaved Ultra Speed 2 25%	25%	Budget
56	Budget Westlake Z-107 23%	23%	Budget

57	Budget Matador Hectorra 5 22%	22%	Budget
58	Budget Matador MP47 Hectorra 3 22%	22%	Budget
59	Budget Ovation VI-588 Sport 21%	21%	Budget
60	Budget Landsail RapidDragon 19%	19%	Budget
61	Budget Delinte DH2 17%	17%	Budget
62	Budget Tomason Sportrace 17%	17%	Budget
63	Budget Imperial EcoDriver 5 15%	15%	Budget	£77 91 H +3 More
64	Budget Radar RPX-800 14%	14%	Budget

65	Budget Firemax FM601 14%	14%	Budget
66	A Sentury Qirin 990 14%	14%	A
67	B Yartu ZuperEco Z-107 13%	13%	B
68	Budget Windforce Catchfors UHP PRO 9%	9%	Budget
69	Budget Atlas Green HP 5%	5%	Budget