Summer tyre test 225/45 R17 - TYRE REVIEWS 2026

Summer All tyres purchased anonymously from the open market. Test conducted on closed circuits under controlled conditions.

2026

Year

12

Tyres

Volkswagen Golf GTI

Winner

Pirelli Cinturato (C3)

Continental PremiumContact 7

Test Vehicle

VW Golf GTI

Tested tyres

12

article

Tyre Reviews Summer Test 2026 (225/45 R17): Pirelli and Continental Share the Crown

Tyre Reviews has released its big summer tyre test for 2026, putting 12 tyres through a comprehensive evaluation in the popular 225/45 R17 size on a Volkswagen Golf GTI. All tyres were purchased anonymously from the open market. Nine individual disciplines were tested across four main categories: wet, dry, comfort/noise, and economy.

read the full article

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

Pirelli Cinturato C3 leads dry braking with the maximum score (100), marginally ahead of Continental PremiumContact 7 (99.2). Davanti Protoura Sport is the worst by a significant margin (84.1, #12), with a clear gap below the rest of the field. Actual lap-based dry handling tells a different story: Maxxis Premitra HP6 posts the fastest dry handling time in the entire test at 72.83 seconds, outpacing every premium brand.

1

Pirelli Cinturato (C3)

Rating: Test winner

£91

94 Y

tyres-pneus-online.co.uk

Wet

Wet Braking#2/12

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#3/12

Aquaplaning Cross#10/12

Dry

Dry Braking#1/12

Comfort

Noise Exterior#12/12

Economy

Rolling Resistance#8/12

Summary

Published overall result: — · 1/12
Best discipline position: Dry braking (1/12)
Lowest discipline position: Exterior noise (12/12)

Hankook Ventus Evo records the best wet braking distance in the test at 27.66 m, with Pirelli Cinturato C3 (99.9 score) and Continental PremiumContact 7 (99.7) close behind. The safety-critical finding: Davanti Protoura Sport stops in 34.27 m — a gap of 6.61 m from the best tyre, which at 130 km/h represents approximately 1.47 car lengths of additional stopping distance. Debica Presto UHP2 also underperforms in wet braking (#11, 91.5 score) despite leading curved aquaplaning.

1

Continental PremiumContact 7

Rating: Test winner

£87

91 V

tyres-pneus-online.co.uk

+4 More sizes →

91W · £92 91Y · £87 94V · £95 +1

Wet

Aquaplaning Cross#2/12

Wet Braking#3/12

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#6/12

Dry

Dry Braking#2/12

Comfort

Noise Exterior#10/12

Economy

Rolling Resistance#10/12

Summary

Published overall result: — · 1/12
Best discipline position: Cornering aquaplaning (2/12)
Lowest discipline position: Rolling resistance (10/12)

Maxxis Premitra HP6 records the fastest dry handling lap time in the entire test (72.83 seconds, #1 objective score) — outperforming every premium brand including Continental, Pirelli, and Hankook on dry track — yet finishes only 8th overall due to weaker wet confidence and below-average noise. A dry-specialist budget tyre beating premium rivals at their own game.

#	Name	Our rating	Segment	Price
1	Premium Dunlop Blue Response TG 98%	98%	Premium	£77 91 W +1 More
2	Premium Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S 95%	95%	Premium
3	Premium Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 94%	94%	Premium	£77 91 Y +3 More
4	Premium Bridgestone POTENZA SPORT EVO 93%	93%	Premium	£92 94 Y
5	Premium Pirelli P ZERO PZ4 89%	89%	Premium
6	Premium Michelin Pilot Sport 5 88%	88%	Premium	£103 94 Y
7	Premium Bridgestone Turanza T005 88%	88%	Premium	£88 91 V +18 More
8	Premium Pirelli Cinturato P7 C2 88%	88%	Premium	£93 91 Y +6 More

9	Upper-middle Kumho Ecsta PS71 86%	86%	Upper-middle	£88 91 W +9 More
10	Premium Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance 2 86%	86%	Premium	£87 91 W +1 More
11	Premium Bridgestone Potenza Sport 85%	85%	Premium	£96 94 Y +1 More
12	Budget Giti GitiSport S2+ 85%	85%	Budget
13	Upper-middle Nokian Powerproof 2 84%	84%	Upper-middle	£84 0 Y +1 More
14	Upper-middle Firestone Roadhawk 2 83%	83%	Upper-middle	£77 91 Y +1 More
15	Premium Continental PremiumContact 6 83%	83%	Premium	£94 91 V +4 More
16	Premium Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 K127 81%	81%	Premium

17	Premium Pirelli Cinturato P7 80%	80%	Premium	£97 91 V +21 More
18	Upper-middle Falken Azenis FK520 80%	80%	Upper-middle	£75 91 Y +3 More
19	Upper-middle Yokohama ADVAN A052 79%	79%	Upper-middle	£215 94 W
20	Premium Michelin Primacy 4+ 78%	78%	Premium	£98 91 V +5 More
21	Upper-middle Toyo Proxes Comfort 78%	78%	Upper-middle	£83 91 W +2 More
22	Premium Continental Ecocontact 6 77%	77%	Premium	£85 91 V +6 More
23	Budget Linglong Sport Master 77%	77%	Budget
24	Premium Dunlop SP Sport MAXX RT2 77%	77%	Premium	£121 91 Y +2 More

25	Budget Sailun Atrezzo ZSR 2 76%	76%	Budget
26	Premium Hankook Ventus Prime 4 76%	76%	Premium	£83 91 W +3 More
27	Upper-middle Kumho Ecsta HS52 76%	76%	Upper-middle	£67 91 W +2 More
28	Upper-middle Cooper Summer 76%	76%	Upper-middle	£71 91 W +3 More
29	Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 K127B 75%	75%		£96 94 Y
30	Hankook K135 Ventus Prime4 74%	74%		£86 91
31	Budget Nexen N Fera Sport 72%	72%	Budget	£61 +6 More
32	Premium Continental UltraContact 70%	70%	Premium	£90 91 V +1 More

33	Upper-middle BFGoodrich Advantage 70%	70%	Upper-middle	£95 91 W +4 More
34	Upper-middle Nokian PowerProof 1 69%	69%	Upper-middle
35	Upper-middle Falken ZIEX ZE310 ECORUN 69%	69%	Upper-middle
36	Upper-middle Uniroyal RainSport 5 69%	69%	Upper-middle	£77 91 Y +2 More
37	Premium Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2 67%	67%	Premium	£97 91 Y +1 More
38	Upper-middle BF Goodrich Advantage 2 67%	67%	Upper-middle	£76 91 V +5 More
39	Upper-middle Toyo Proxes Sport 2 67%	67%	Upper-middle	£76 +1 More
40	Premium Michelin e.Primacy 67%	67%	Premium

41	Upper-middle Nokian Wetproof 66%	66%	Upper-middle
42	Budget Sava Intensa UHP 2 65%	65%	Budget	£61 91 Y +3 More
43	Budget Fulda SportControl 2 64%	64%	Budget	£69 91 Y +3 More
44	Premium Dunlop Sport BluResponse 61%	61%	Premium	£78 91 W +2 More
45	Upper-middle Firestone Roadhawk 60%	60%	Upper-middle	£332 91 Y +2 More
46	Upper-middle Kleber Dynaxer UHP 56%	56%	Upper-middle
47	Budget Semperit Speed-Life 3 55%	55%	Budget	£71 91 Y +1 More
48	Upper-middle Nokian Hakka Black 3 54%	54%	Upper-middle	£157 94 Y

49	Budget Maxxis Premitra HP5 52%	52%	Budget	£82 91 W +2 More
50	Budget Petlas Imperium PT515 51%	51%	Budget
51	Premium Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance 50%	50%	Premium
52	Premium Michelin Pilot Sport CUP 2 49%	49%	Premium
53	Premium Pirelli Powergy 48%	48%	Premium	£155 94 Y
54	Budget Delinte DS2 46%	46%	Budget
55	Budget Syron Premium Performance 44%	44%	Budget
56	- Leao Nova-Force Acro 44%	44%	-

57	Budget Barum Bravuris 5 HM 44%	44%	Budget
58	B Landspider Sportraxx UHP 42%	42%	B
59	Budget Lassa Driveways Sport 42%	42%	Budget
60	Budget Apollo Aspire 4G 41%	41%	Budget
61	Upper-middle Cooper Zeon CS8 38%	38%	Upper-middle	£71 0 W +7 More
62	Budget Radar Dimax R8+ 36%	36%	Budget
63	Budget Avon ZV7 31%	31%	Budget	£94 91 Y +6 More
64	Budget Barum Bravuris 6 30%	30%	Budget	£66 91 Y +2 More

65	B Event Potentem UHP 27%	27%	B
66	Budget Westlake Z-107 23%	23%	Budget
67	Budget Tracmax X-Privilo TX-3 23%	23%	Budget
68	Budget Matador Hectorra 5 22%	22%	Budget
69	Budget Matador MP47 Hectorra 3 22%	22%	Budget
70	Budget Ovation VI-588 Sport 21%	21%	Budget
71	Budget Landsail RapidDragon 19%	19%	Budget
72	Budget Kormoran Ultra High Performance 18%	18%	Budget

73	Budget Tomason Sportrace 17%	17%	Budget
74	Budget Windforce Catchfors UHP PRO 9%	9%	Budget
75	Budget Lanvigator Catch Power Plus 8%	8%	Budget	£52 94 W +1 More
76	Budget Marshal MU12 6%	6%	Budget

Summer tyre test 225/45 R17 - TYRE REVIEWS 2026

Tyre Reviews Summer Test 2026 (225/45 R17): Pirelli and Continental Share the Crown

Price vs Quality

Results

Detailed results

Aquaplaning - cross

Aquaplaning - longitudal

Wet braking

Dry braking

Comfort

Exterior noise

Dry-handling-objective

Rolling resistance

Wet-handling-objective

Same size tyres not featured in the test

Cars with 225/45 R17 tyres