0:02 In this test, I will be testing all 12
0:04 of these tires in the dry, wet, braking,
0:06 noise, comfort, and rolling resistance
0:07 to find out exactly which tire is best
0:09 for your own driving needs. As usual,
0:11 not only do I have tires from brands
0:13 like Michelin, Prely, Continental, and
0:15 Bridgestone, I have a good spread of
0:17 mid-range and budget tires to find out
0:20 whether in 2026, can we now fit a
0:22 cheaper tire and still get all the
0:24 performance of a premium tire, or do we
0:26 still really need to pay that money to
0:28 get the best quality possible? It should
0:30 be a really exciting test. So, let's get
0:32 on with the testing. Okay, how are these
0:34 tires in the wet? Now, as there are 12
0:36 sets, I'm going to go through these kind
0:38 of in groups and fairly quickly. I will
0:40 put more information as always on the
0:41 tire reviews website if you really want
0:44 to dig into how these are subjectively.
0:46 Now, the slowest tire on test award goes
0:50 to Dante. And this was in a group of its
0:52 own. It was its own little bubble,
0:55 significantly behind every other tire,
0:58 including the other cheap ones. It was
1:00 just difficult to drive. It slid around.
1:02 It had no bite and you really couldn't
1:03 get it into the corners or out of the
1:06 corners. So, uh, that's the definite one
1:10 to avoid of this group. Next up was
1:12 Bridgestone and Good Ride. Now, this
1:14 surprised me. Uh, the Good Ride
1:16 subjectively was not as nice as the
1:18 Bridgestone. the Bridgestone. So, when
1:20 we're talking about subjective handling
1:23 in the wet, it's mostly about it's less
1:25 about steering response and more about
1:27 how the vehicle feels in around the
1:29 limit. So, if you're in an emergency
1:31 situation like a lane change, is the
1:33 vehicle going to be predictable? And
1:35 with the Bridgestone, it was lovely and
1:37 predictable. The front axle was stable.
1:39 You kind of understood where it was
1:40 going. Whereas the good ride, although
1:42 it had a similar lap time, it just
1:45 wasn't quite as understandable and I did
1:47 almost fall off the track on the good
1:50 ride. It's the only tire I did. So, uh,
1:52 good ride is not yet a good ride, but
1:54 last time I tested it, it was a terrible
1:57 ride. And this time it's a below average
1:59 ride, so they're improving. So, that's
2:02 progress. Then we had the Clever and the
2:05 Redstein. Now, both these tires were
2:08 step up in grip. And on the good ride,
2:10 definitely a step up subjectively,
2:12 although the Bridgestone, like I said,
2:13 the Bridgestone was quite nice
2:14 subjectively. It just didn't have the
2:17 bite. Uh, the Clever and the Redstein,
2:18 they were both actually quite nice to
2:20 drive. These were like average/above
2:23 average subjectively. The Clever almost
2:25 felt sporty. I've never really enjoyed
2:27 driving Clever. They're a Michelin
2:29 subbrand and they've always kind of
2:32 taken on the Michelin ethos and that is
2:35 safe, boring, understos,
2:37 while it still felt safe. Obviously, it
2:38 wasn't a twitchy tire or anything like
2:40 that, it actually turned really nicely
2:42 on this GTI. I enjoyed it. Then we had
2:45 the Deba, which is a Goodyear subbrand.
2:47 Now, this was an odd tire on its first
2:49 lap. So, I do an outlap and then two
2:50 fast laps and then I come in and the
2:52 outlap's fairly long. And on the outlap
2:55 and for half of the first lap, it felt
2:56 like a really cheap tire. It was sliding
2:58 at the back. It was difficult to get
3:00 into the corners. But once it had some
3:02 heat into it, it second lap was
3:04 significantly better and it was the only
3:07 tire like most of the time my delta
3:08 between laps is about a tenth of a
3:11 second. The Debaca was nearly a entire
3:12 second and it wasn't my driving. I
3:14 didn't make any mistakes. So on the
3:16 second lap it felt like a really good
3:18 tire. On the first lap, it felt like a
3:20 pretty below average tire and it
3:22 averaged out to be an okay tire, but I
3:24 think on the road, especially in cooler
3:26 conditions, it was about 15° when I
3:29 tested the Deba. Um, I think it's going
3:30 to struggle a little bit more. So, keep
3:31 that in mind if you're thinking about
3:34 that tire. It's lap time is probably
3:36 overpromising what you'll get from it on
3:38 the street. Then you had the Michelin
3:41 Primacy 5. And this tire was absolutely
3:43 classic Michelin. What does classic
3:44 Michelin mean? I just touched on that
3:47 with clever under steer and under steer
3:50 is very safe and easy to control and the
3:52 Michelin wasn't trying to fight you. It
3:54 wasn't trying to be sporty. It just does
3:57 the Michelin thing very well. As always
4:00 with the Primacy range, Michelin go for
4:01 total life performance and they go for
4:03 excellent tread life. And I do think
4:05 that often hurts them in the wet because
4:07 it's never the best tire in the wet. And
4:10 we've once again proven in this group it
4:12 was just average like the other tires
4:15 around it. but average and safe and very
4:17 Michelin. Next up was the Maxis
4:20 Perimeter HP6. And like other Maxis
4:21 products I've tested recently, it's done
4:24 well in the wet. My one quibble with the
4:26 HP6 was the fact it was just a little
4:28 bit peaky around the limit of grip. So
4:30 you'd be turning and suddenly you
4:32 wouldn't get a lot of notice about the
4:34 transition or the breakaway of the grip.
4:36 Um but it would just start sliding and
4:38 then took a little bit longer than the
4:40 average of the tires to recover. But its
4:43 actual grip was excellent. No complaints
4:47 about the grip. Then we had the Kumo
4:49 Extra Sport, the new one that everyone's
4:53 been asking me to test. Um, it was
4:56 it was a tire like it's obviously it's
4:58 fourth overall in lap time, so it did a
5:00 very good job. But subjectively, and
5:01 this is a good thing. I'm not being
5:03 negative about the Kumo. Subjectively,
5:04 it didn't give me anything to worry
5:06 about. I just got round the lap. I got
5:08 to the end of the lap. I was like,
5:10 "That's a good lap. Good job, Kumo. I'm
5:12 impressed with what you've done here.
5:14 Um, and yeah, good all round tire. No
5:16 real surprises, which is one of the
5:19 higher compliments I can pay for a tire.
5:21 However, the final three tires, the
5:24 Hanok, the Pirelli, and the Continental,
5:26 these three tires are in a bubble of
5:28 their own. Like, it's showing the Hanok
5:30 can definitely mix with the big boys.
5:33 And it's showing how much better the
5:35 very top premium tires are. Let's ignore
5:38 Bridgestone for a second. Next up, the
5:40 Hanook. Like, so I did it. I've
5:42 basically done it in the order I'm
5:44 telling you. I went from the Kumo to the
5:45 Hand Cook and I was like, "That was a
5:47 good lap on the Kumo." And then I got on
5:49 the Hand Cook and I was My voice note at
5:51 the end. I do voice notes to record my
5:53 subjective impressions as I get off the
5:56 track. My voice note was, "Oh my gosh,
5:59 that thing was incredible." Like, you
6:01 just got round the track. It's the Golf
6:03 GTI. And finally, I feel like I'm
6:04 actually driving and attacking the
6:06 surface and the car's going where I want
6:08 it to go. And yeah, I really enjoyed the
6:11 lap on the Hancock. It was fabulous.
6:13 Then I went to the Prely and I was like,
6:15 "Oh my god, this is even better
6:17 slightly." It was about half a second on
6:19 in time, but like the steering reaction
6:21 was just a little bit sharper and a
6:24 little bit better. But where the Hanok
6:26 had quite a wide window between grip and
6:29 no grip, the Prelies was quite narrow.
6:32 So, uh, that's where the PL slightly
6:34 falls back subjectively. It just wasn't
6:37 quite the window between uh grip and no
6:40 grip and sliding and not sliding was a
6:41 little bit smaller than the Hancock. And
6:43 then I went to the Continental, the
6:45 Premium Contact 7. Well, I've tested
6:48 this a number of times. It's great.
6:52 Again, the tire performs admirably. It
6:56 was a blend of the PL and the Hanok in
6:58 that maybe it wasn't quite as direct and
7:00 as sporty feeling as the PL, but it was
7:02 slightly more than the Hank. Again, I'm
7:04 talking tiny margins. Uh, but then it
7:07 had quite a wide window of sliding. So,
7:09 it was the best all round in terms of
7:11 lap time. It was one of the best
7:14 subjectively and Continental back at the
7:16 front in a wet test. Shock horror. But
7:18 honestly, the Continental Prey and the
7:21 Hanook, these three tires are
7:23 incredible. We kind of expect it from
7:25 Continental. The new Prey stuff is
7:27 always at the front in the wet and Hank
7:29 Cooker once again proving they are a
7:31 legit premium tire manufacturer. Uh and
7:33 the Kuma did pretty well as well.
7:36 Anything below that was fineish. Um but
7:38 I would like to see more grip to really
7:40 be a excellent tire in the way. But
7:42 interesting test. Sorry I've taught for
7:43 so long. Let's get on with something
7:45 else. The top four and wet braking were
7:46 the same as the top four and wet
7:48 handling just in a slightly different
7:49 order which happens when everything is
7:51 this close to the top. I also ran a wet
7:53 circle test which further confirmed the
7:54 top four. You can see the data on the
7:57 Tarafuse website. In the deeper water of
7:59 the aquiplaning test, the Hanukkin and
8:00 Continental all performed excellently
8:02 with a shout out to the Deba winning the
8:05 curved aquiplaning test. Okay, dry
8:06 handling. Now, I'm going to try and talk
8:08 about this very, very quickly as I talk
8:10 so much on wet handling. I'm very sorry
8:13 about that. The short version is the
8:16 good ride and the Devante were bad. Now,
8:18 the good ride should in time I averaged
8:20 two laps. It should have been a little
8:22 bit quicker than the Devante, but I made
8:23 a big mistake on my first lap because
8:25 the tire just heated out so quickly and
8:27 gave you no information about what it
8:29 was doing. It was unpredictable.
8:30 Usually, I would have done a third lap,
8:32 but the tire was already too hot. And
8:34 honestly, subjectively, it was that
8:36 difficult to drive. It kind of deserves
8:37 that negativity.
8:40 The rest of the tires, well, they were
8:42 fine. There was basically a big group
8:45 from Bridgestone to Debaca. Now, this is
8:48 a 17in touring summer tire segment, so
8:50 none of them are particularly designed
8:53 to be on track, so I'm not degrading any
8:55 of them hugely based on their track
8:58 performance. Uh, but these this group of
8:59 tires was they were all pretty much as
9:01 you would expect from a touring tire
9:03 that's designed more for comfort and low
9:05 rolling resistance. They all just felt a
9:07 little bit soft on the steering. Now,
9:09 the standout of that group was the Deba.
9:12 Actually, I really enjoyed the DebA. And
9:14 maybe I'm imagining it, but Debba, if
9:15 you don't know, is a subbrand of
9:18 Goodyear. And Goodyear make very good
9:20 tires, especially the asymmetric. I'm
9:21 very sad it's not in this test. Couldn't
9:24 get it in time, but maybe Debra using
9:26 some previous generation Goodyear
9:28 technology. So maybe I'm imagining it,
9:31 but yeah, enjoyable tire on track. And
9:34 then from fifth to first was separated
9:36 by less than a percent, which is
9:39 incredibly close. Now, speaking of
9:41 punching above the weight, you had the
9:43 Maxis as the fastest tire around the
9:46 track, but it didn't have the most grip.
9:48 So, what am I what's going on? Well, the
9:50 Maxis was just lovely to drive. It was
9:52 responsive on the steering. Once you
9:54 were in the corner, you still had the
9:56 ability to adjust it. It gave good
9:58 feedback. And I know a lot of people
9:59 watch the tire reviews channel really
10:03 longing for a good value street tire in
10:05 below 18 in that you can actually use on
10:07 track and have fun with. And honestly, I
10:09 think this Maxis might be the new tire.
10:11 So, if you go out and try it, um, please
10:13 let me know by reviewing it on the
10:15 website or leaving a YouTube comment or
10:17 messaging me on Instagram. Um, I think
10:21 this Maxis might be the new fun 16, 17in
10:23 tire that you can use on track. As for
10:25 the rest of them, well, I do want to
10:27 give a specific nod to the Kumo as well,
10:30 the Esta Sport. I've seen this tested a
10:32 couple of times and it's had good
10:33 results. I've seen some reviews saying
10:36 it's very good subjectively, and yes, it
10:37 wasn't the fastest, but it might as well
10:39 have been. It was so close. Uh, but the
10:42 subjective nature of this tire, even
10:44 sublim, which I'll talk about later, um,
10:46 it was excellent. It was a very well
10:48 balanced tire, good reactions, good
10:51 steering. Uh, good job by Kumo. Uh,
10:53 Prely and Continental were obviously
10:55 very high grip and very fast. Uh, but
10:57 they did in this little bubble at the
10:59 top, they did feel a little bit more
11:02 touring optimized in that the steering
11:04 reaction wasn't the very quickest of the
11:05 group, especially the Continental. There
11:07 is a slight elasticity to the steering
11:09 that I'm not a huge fan of on track and
11:11 it's not designed to be a track tire.
11:12 And also, the Handcook was a very nice
11:16 tire. So, Kumo, Handook, and Maxis, um,
11:18 incredible job. Obviously, Prey and
11:19 Continental, their latest and greatest
11:21 stuff is always going to have remarkable
11:23 grip. But if you're looking for this
11:26 sort of 16 17inch fun track, um I would
11:29 steer more towards the Maxis and the
11:30 Hanker and Kumo are also excellent. So,
11:32 good job by all of them. This has been
11:34 less than 4 minutes. So, good job by me
11:36 this time. And let's move on with dry
11:38 braking. Pretty led dry braking.
11:40 Continental was a close second with Kumo
11:43 third. Interestingly, the Maxis, which
11:45 did so well in the dry handling test,
11:48 only placed ninth in dry braking, 7%
11:50 behind the best. Sadly, I didn't have
11:51 the time to really dig into the
11:53 subjective comfort levels of the tires
11:56 too much. I did do noise. I did one
11:57 quick lap of the comfort lanes before
12:00 going off to dry handling. However, a
12:02 colleague did run the test a few days
12:04 earlier to my visit, so I'm using his
12:06 scoring, which I do trust very much.
12:08 Overall, if comfort is your focus, the
12:11 Michelin Premacy 5 is the best choice,
12:13 which we've seen before, and the Deba is
12:15 also a solid allrounder. Though the
12:17 Continental does have strong comfort, if
12:20 not a little bit noisier in the EU label
12:22 external noise test. Basically, as
12:24 always, they are all incredibly close.
12:25 On my brief run around the comfort
12:27 course, I did find it quite difficult to
12:29 notice any major differences, even with
12:32 the firm GTI suspension. The only two
12:33 tires that really did stand out in
12:35 comfort, and not in a good way, was the
12:37 Good Ride, ironically, and the Devante.
12:39 But both of these did have the lowest
12:41 external noise level. So, if noise is
12:43 your thing, they are the tires to buy.
12:44 But hopefully by now you've seen enough
12:46 data not to buy them. The rolling
12:48 resistance levels of the tires or the
12:49 energy use of the tires was another
12:51 interesting test. For some reason, the
12:54 Bridgestone had a 10% lead over the next
12:56 best tire, which was the Michelin
12:58 Premacy 5. And that in itself was nearly
13:00 10% better than the average of the rest
13:02 of the tires. There are clearly some
13:04 different opinions on what kind of
13:06 levels of rolling resistance this
13:08 category of tire should have. And that
13:09 does also explain Bridgestone's
13:11 relatively weak wet grip as low rolling
13:13 resistance and good wet grip are
13:14 opposing performance qualities. You can
13:16 see the rolling resistance differences
13:18 calculated on the tire reviews website
13:19 linked in the description. There's also
13:21 a fuel use calculator there now to show
13:23 you exactly what these numbers mean. The
13:25 reality of rolling resistance data and
13:27 the real world fuel usage is actually
13:28 closer than you would imagine. As for
13:30 the overall results, I've used the
13:32 standard score waiting I've always used
13:33 for this category of tires to keep it
13:35 fair and consistent. But as always, you
13:36 can go back to the tire reviews website
13:38 and adjust the score waiting for your
13:40 own driving needs. Eg, if you would
13:42 prefer more comfort bias tires or lower
13:44 rolling resistance or better wet grip,
13:45 you can go and do that. I've actually
13:47 improved this functionality a lot in the
13:48 past few months, so it's well worth
13:50 checking out and leave a review while
13:51 you're there. I did start this video
13:53 asking whether cheap tires are now good
13:55 enough to replace premium options and at
13:57 least in the case of the Dante Pura
13:59 Sport, the answer is a resounding no. It
14:01 was impressive in one regard and that
14:03 was consistency. Sadly for the tire, it
14:04 was consistently last in six of the
14:07 tested metrics, one place from last in
14:08 four of the tested metrics, but it did
14:10 have an okay rolling resistance and
14:12 excellent external noise levels. So,
14:14 it's got that going for it. The big
14:15 issue was getting the car stopped where
14:17 in both the dry and the wet, it was
14:19 significantly behind even the next worst
14:21 tire. want to avoid based on this data
14:23 alone. The next worst tire was the Good
14:25 Ride Soulmax one which did finish
14:26 significantly ahead in this score
14:28 waiting. However, like the Devante, it
14:29 finished near the back of the pack in
14:31 almost every test apart from noise and
14:33 it was difficult subjectively too.
14:35 Another tire to avoid. The next three
14:38 tires were separated by just 0.6%
14:40 overall. The Reddit Ultra Plus finished
14:42 in 10th place. The tire struggled more
14:44 than usual in the braking test where it
14:46 was around 9% off the best in both the
14:47 dry and the wet and it wasn't as
14:49 balanced as I've previously experienced
14:51 either. It was good in the deeper water
14:53 of aquaplaning and it had a
14:54 comparatively low rolling resistance but
14:56 that doesn't make up for the grip
14:58 disadvantage. The Deba Presto UHP2 was
15:00 let down by its braking performance in
15:02 the dry and wet though was very good in
15:03 the deeper water of aquiplaning having
15:05 the best curved aquiplaning resistance
15:07 and it had the best subjective comfort
15:09 score too. It was a nice steering tire
15:11 when warm and is usually priced well.
15:14 The Max's Perimeter HP6 standout result
15:15 was the dry handling test where it was a
15:17 nice steering tire and showed potential
15:19 to be a wellpriced enthusiast product at
15:21 least in this size. Its wet braking was
15:24 only okay, seventh overall, 6.3% behind
15:26 the best and it finished fifth in wet
15:28 handling. It even had above average
15:29 rolling resistance even if it wasn't the
15:31 most comfortable tire in the test. A
15:33 good showing overall from Maxis
15:34 considering the other tires in this
15:36 test. Hopefully, it's priced
15:38 competitively. The clever Dinaxa HP5
15:40 only standout result was subjective
15:42 comfort, but it didn't really have any
15:44 major weaknesses either, finishing
15:46 midpack in almost every test. I think a
15:47 solid all round performance like the
15:49 Clever had is worth celebrating. And if
15:51 you can find this tire for a good price,
15:53 it would be an interesting proposition.
15:54 Next up was the Clever's cousin, the
15:57 Michelin Primacy 5, which is clearly
15:59 focused on low energy use and good noise
16:01 and comfort levels. Sublimit. As always,
16:03 the Michelin was a lovely steering tire,
16:04 but I would like to see a little bit
16:05 more wet grip from the French
16:07 manufacturer. But it is hard not to
16:09 recommend this product for an
16:12 energyefficient focused driver. The Kumo
16:14 Esther Sport was another lovely driving
16:16 tire, but with the grip to back it up,
16:18 finishing third overall in dry braking
16:19 and handling and fourth overall in wet
16:21 braking and wet handling. It was one of
16:23 the worst tires, if not the worst, in
16:25 the deep water of the aquiplaning test,
16:27 which cost it a higher finish overall,
16:29 but otherwise it is a solid product.
16:30 recommended the Bridgestone Transer six.
16:32 Finishing in fourth place overall does
16:34 highlight the weakness of my scoring
16:36 system. Other publications that don't
16:37 have such an open transparent scoring
16:40 system can decide to penalize a tire in
16:41 the background that's dragged up by one
16:43 good overall result, which in this case
16:45 was the rolling resistance of the Trans
16:47 6. It wasn't that far off the mark in
16:49 dry and wet braking, but it really
16:50 struggled in wet handling and even dry
16:52 handling. And it wasn't great in the
16:54 deeper water of the aquiplaning test
16:56 either. The monumental rolling
16:57 resistance advantage it had over the
16:58 pack means it finishes in fourth place
17:00 overall and is definitely the tire to
17:02 buy if energy consumption is your
17:04 primary concern. But in this size,
17:06 honestly, I'm not thrilled with its wet
17:08 grip, especially wet handling. So, keep
17:10 that in mind. The Hank Ventus Evo
17:12 finishes in a very well-deserved third
17:14 place overall and is a tire I highly
17:15 recommend. Like all of the top three
17:17 tires, it was a tire without any major
17:19 weaknesses. My only grumble would be I'd
17:21 like a tiny bit more dry braking and its
17:22 rolling resistance was relatively high
17:24 in the group. But other than that, it
17:25 was just a very strong product
17:27 highlighting just how far Hanukkok have
17:29 come as a brand. I do now classify
17:31 Hanukk as a premium manufacturer and I
17:33 think you should too. As for the top two
17:35 tires, technically in the scoring
17:38 system, the PL Citrato C3 just beat the
17:40 Continental Premium Contact 7, but it
17:42 was by such a tiny fraction of a percent
17:43 that I'm calling them joint test
17:45 winners. The Continental Premium Contact
17:48 7, as always, has outstanding grip in
17:50 the dry and the wet. It's really hard to
17:52 fault the tires raw grip. It also had
17:53 excellent comfort levels, although it
17:55 was a little bit louder on the external
17:57 noise test, and its rolling resistance
17:59 was pretty average. In the real world,
18:00 the rolling resistance between the top
18:02 three tires is essentially going to be
18:04 the same. And if you want the very best
18:05 grip, the Continental is certainly up
18:07 there as one of the best. As for the PL
18:10 Citrato C3, we've now seen in many tests
18:11 it can match any tire in terms of raw
18:13 grip, having the best overall grip in
18:15 the dry and pretty much matching the
18:17 Continental in the wet. It did struggle
18:19 a little bit more in the deep water of
18:20 curved aquiplaning, although it was
18:23 great in straight aquaning. Its noise
18:24 and comfort levels were a tiny amount
18:26 down on the Continental and its rolling
18:29 resistance was a little bit up. But if
18:30 you're trying to decide between the
18:31 Preli and the Continental, I think the
18:33 PL is the one to purchase if you value
18:36 slightly more dynamic handling, and the
18:38 Continental is the one to purchase if
18:40 raw grip and comfort are your priority.
18:42 But honestly, you will be very happy
18:44 with any of the top three tires. They
18:46 are all excellent, excellent tires. As
18:48 always, please go review your tires over
18:50 at tirereviews.com. It really does help
18:51 out the channel. Let me know what summer
18:53 tires you'll be picking this year. Any
18:55 questions, please ask below. And as
18:57 always, safe motoring. Heat. Heat. N.
