Summer tyre test 205/45 R17 - Sportauto 2026

Summer Testing was conducted on roads and handling tracks in southern France, near the Mediterranean coast.

2026

Year

7

Tyres

Mazda MX-5 with 184 PS naturally aspirated four-cylinder, rear-wheel drive, 50:50 weight distribution, manual transmission, kerb weight ~1000 kg.

Winner

Bridgestone Potenza Sport Evo

Best Value

Falken Azenis FK520

Test Vehicle

Mazda MX-5

Tested tyres

7

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

Falken shortest at 33.6 m from 100 km/h, Bridgestone close behind at 33.8 m. Firestone longest at 35.4 m.

1

Bridgestone Potenza Sport Evo

Rating: Outstanding

£115

88 Y

tyres-pneus-online.co.uk

Wet9.2

Dry9.5

Enviromental impact7.7

Wet

Wet Circle Cornering#1/7

Wet Handling#1/7

Wet Handling Measured#1/7

Aquaplaning Cross#3/7

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#3/7

Wet Braking#3/7

Dry

Dry Braking#1/7

Dry Handling#1/7

Dry Handling Measured#1/7

Dry Lane Change#1/7

Dry Steering Reaction#3/7

Comfort

Noise Exterior#4/7

Ride Comfort#6/7

Economy

Rolling Resistance#3/7

Summary

2

Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6

Rating: Very good

Wet8.1

Dry9.0

Enviromental impact9.3

Wet

Wet Circle Cornering#2/7

Wet Handling#2/7

Wet Handling Measured#2/7

Aquaplaning Cross#3/7

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#3/7

Wet Braking#4/7

Dry

Dry Handling Measured#1/7

Dry Lane Change#1/7

Dry Steering Reaction#1/7

Dry Braking#3/7

Dry Handling#3/7

Comfort

Noise Exterior#1/7

Ride Comfort#1/7

Economy

Rolling Resistance#2/7

Summary

3

Falken Azenis FK520

Rating: Very good

£90

88 Y

mytyres.co.uk

Wet8.3

Dry9.0

Enviromental impact8.0

Wet

Wet Braking#1/7

Wet Handling#2/7

Wet Circle Cornering#3/7

Wet Handling Measured#4/7

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#6/7

Aquaplaning Cross#7/7

Dry

Dry Braking#1/7

Dry Handling#3/7

Dry Lane Change#3/7

Dry Handling Measured#4/7

Dry Steering Reaction#5/7

Comfort

Noise Exterior#2/7

Ride Comfort#2/7

Economy

Rolling Resistance#3/7

Summary

4

Continental PremiumContact 7

Rating: Very good

£119

88 Y

mytyres.co.uk

Wet8.1

Dry8.5

Enviromental impact7.7

Wet

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#1/7

Aquaplaning Cross#2/7

Wet Handling#2/7

Wet Handling Measured#2/7

Wet Circle Cornering#3/7

Wet Braking#4/7

Dry

Dry Braking#3/7

Dry Handling#3/7

Dry Handling Measured#3/7

Dry Lane Change#3/7

Dry Steering Reaction#3/7

Comfort

Ride Comfort#2/7

Noise Exterior#4/7

Economy

Rolling Resistance#3/7

Summary

5

Michelin Pilot Sport 5

Rating: Good

£144

88 Y

tyres-pneus-online.co.uk

Wet7.3

Dry8.5

Enviromental impact7.7

Wet

Wet Braking#4/7

Wet Handling Measured#4/7

Wet Circle Cornering#5/7

Wet Handling#5/7

Aquaplaning Cross#6/7

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#6/7

Dry

Dry Handling#1/7

Dry Steering Reaction#1/7

Dry Braking#3/7

Dry Lane Change#3/7

Dry Handling Measured#4/7

Comfort

Noise Exterior#4/7

Ride Comfort#5/7

Economy

Rolling Resistance#3/7

Summary

6

Linglong Sport Master

Rating: Good

Wet8.1

Dry6.9

Enviromental impact7.3

Wet

Wet Braking#1/7

Aquaplaning Cross#3/7

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#3/7

Wet Handling Measured#4/7

Wet Circle Cornering#5/7

Wet Handling#6/7

Dry

Dry Handling Measured#4/7

Dry Braking#6/7

Dry Handling#7/7

Dry Lane Change#7/7

Dry Steering Reaction#7/7

Comfort

Noise Exterior#2/7

Ride Comfort#2/7

Economy

Rolling Resistance#7/7

Summary

7

Firestone Roadhawk 2

Rating: Sufficient

£94

88 W

mytyres.co.uk

Wet6.3

Dry6.6

Enviromental impact8.8

Wet

Aquaplaning Cross#1/7

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#2/7

Wet Circle Cornering#5/7

Wet Handling#6/7

Wet Braking#7/7

Wet Handling Measured#7/7

Dry

Dry Lane Change#3/7

Dry Handling#6/7

Dry Steering Reaction#6/7

Dry Braking#7/7

Dry Handling Measured#7/7

Comfort

Ride Comfort#6/7

Noise Exterior#7/7

Economy

Rolling Resistance#1/7

Summary

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 Hankook Ventus Evo 99%	99%	Premium	£112 88 W +1 More
2	Premium Dunlop Blue Response TG 98%	98%	Premium	£102 88 W
3	Premium Pirelli Cinturato P7 C2 88%	88%	Premium	£117 88 W +1 More
4	Premium Bridgestone Turanza T005 88%	88%	Premium	£107 84 V +7 More
5	Upper-middle Kumho Ecsta Sport (PS72) 87%	87%	Upper-middle	£88 88 Y +1 More
6	Premium Bridgestone Potenza Sport 87%	87%	Premium
7	Premium Michelin Primacy 5 86%	86%	Premium	£127 88 H +2 More
8	Upper-middle Kumho Ecsta PS71 86%	86%	Upper-middle	£86 84 V +2 More

9	Premium Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF2 84%	84%	Premium
10	Upper-middle Nokian Powerproof 2 84%	84%	Upper-middle	£97 0 Y
11	Premium Continental PremiumContact 6 83%	83%	Premium
12	Premium Bridgestone Turanza 6 81%	81%	Premium	£117 88 W
13	Premium Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 K127 81%	81%	Premium	£106 88 W +1 More
14	Premium Pirelli Cinturato P7 80%	80%	Premium
15	Upper-middle Toyo Proxes Comfort 78%	78%	Upper-middle	£95 88 +1 More
16	Premium Continental Ecocontact 6 77%	77%	Premium	£114 88 H +9 More

17	Budget Sailun Atrezzo ZSR 2 76%	76%	Budget
18	Premium Hankook Ventus Prime 4 76%	76%	Premium	£99 88 V
19	Upper-middle Kumho Ecsta HS52 76%	76%	Upper-middle	£87 88 V
20	Upper-middle Cooper Summer 76%	76%	Upper-middle	£89 88 W +1 More
21	Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 K127B 75%	75%		£115 88 W
22	Premium Michelin e.Primacy 74%	74%	Premium
23	Budget Nexen N Fera Primus 74%	74%	Budget	£71 88 V +2 More
24	Premium Hankook K135 Ventus Prime4 74%	74%	Premium	£89 88 V

25	Budget Fulda EcoControl HP2 74%	74%	Budget	£92 88 V
26	Budget Nexen N Fera Sport 72%	72%	Budget	£92
27	Budget GT radial Sport Active 2 71%	71%	Budget
28	Upper-middle Toyo Proxes Sport 2 71%	71%	Upper-middle
29	Premium Continental UltraContact 70%	70%	Premium	£116 88 V +1 More
30	Upper-middle BFGoodrich Advantage 70%	70%	Upper-middle
31	Upper-middle Uniroyal RainSport 5 69%	69%	Upper-middle	£98 88 V +1 More
32	Upper-middle Falken ZIEX ZE310 ECORUN 69%	69%	Upper-middle	£110 88 W +2 More

33	Upper-middle Nokian PowerProof 1 69%	69%	Upper-middle	£99 88 Y
34	Premium Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2 67%	67%	Premium	£97 88 W +1 More
35	Upper-middle BF Goodrich Advantage 2 67%	67%	Upper-middle	£96 84 V +3 More
36	Upper-middle Nokian Wetproof 66%	66%	Upper-middle
37	Budget Sava Intensa UHP 2 65%	65%	Budget	£76 88 Y +1 More
38	Budget Superia Ecoblue UHP 64%	64%	Budget
39	Upper-middle Kleber Dynaxer HP5 64%	64%	Upper-middle	£93 +3 More
40	Budget Fulda SportControl 2 64%	64%	Budget	£88 88 Y +1 More

41	Budget Maxxis Premitra HP6 64%	64%	Budget	£85 88 0
42	Budget Sava Intensa HP2 63%	63%	Budget
43	Upper-middle Firestone Roadhawk 60%	60%	Upper-middle
44	Upper-middle Kleber Dynaxer UHP 56%	56%	Upper-middle
45	Budget Semperit Speed-Life 3 55%	55%	Budget	£80 88 V +1 More
46	Budget Maxxis Premitra HP5 52%	52%	Budget
47	Budget Debica Presto UHP2 52%	52%	Budget	£80 88 W +1 More
48	Premium Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance 50%	50%	Premium	£108 88 V +1 More

49	Budget Delinte DS2 46%	46%	Budget
50	- Leao Nova-Force Acro 44%	44%	-
51	Budget Barum Bravuris 5 HM 44%	44%	Budget
52	Premium Vredestein Ultrac 43%	43%	Premium
53	B Landspider Sportraxx UHP 42%	42%	B
54	Upper-middle Cooper Zeon CS8 38%	38%	Upper-middle
55	Budget Goodride Solmax 1 33%	33%	Budget
56	Budget Landsail RapidDragon 30%	30%	Budget

57	B Event Potentem UHP 27%	27%	B
58	Budget Westlake Z-107 23%	23%	Budget
59	Budget Tracmax X-Privilo TX-3 23%	23%	Budget
60	Budget Matador Hectorra 5 22%	22%	Budget
61	Budget Matador MP47 Hectorra 3 22%	22%	Budget
62	Budget Ovation VI-588 Sport 21%	21%	Budget
63	Budget Barum Bravuris 6 19%	19%	Budget	£75 88 V +1 More
64	Budget Tomason Sportrace 17%	17%	Budget

65	Budget Kormoran Ultra High Performance 15%	15%	Budget
66	A Sentury Qirin 990 14%	14%	A
67	Budget Windforce Catchfors UHP PRO 9%	9%	Budget
68	Budget Lanvigator Catch Power Plus 8%	8%	Budget	£48 88 W