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

£127

88 Y

tyres.pneus.online.uk

Points total9.2

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

2

Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6

Rating: Very good

£117

88 V

tyres.pneus.online.uk

+2 More sizes →

88W · £121 88Y · £125

Points total8.6

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

3

Falken Azenis FK520

Rating: Very good

£92

88 Y

mytyres.co.uk

Points total8.6

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

4

Continental PremiumContact 7

Rating: Very good

£113

88 Y

mytyres.co.uk

Points total8.3

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

5

Michelin Pilot Sport 5

Rating: Good

£134

88 Y

mytyres.co.uk

Points total7.9

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

6

Linglong Sport Master

Rating: Good

Points total7.4

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

7

Firestone Roadhawk 2

Rating: Sufficient

£87

88 W

mytyres.co.uk

Points total5.7

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

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 98%	98%	Premium	£90 88 W +1 More
2	Premium Pirelli Cinturato P7 C2 89%	89%	Premium	£122 88 W +1 More
3	Premium Bridgestone Turanza T005 88%	88%	Premium	£124 84 V +7 More
4	Premium Bridgestone Potenza Sport 87%	87%	Premium	£125 88 Y
5	Premium Michelin Primacy 5 86%	86%	Premium	£129 88 H +2 More
6	Upper-middle Kumho Ecsta Sport (PS72) 85%	85%	Upper-middle	£82 88 Y
7	Premium Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF2 84%	84%	Premium
8	Premium Bridgestone Turanza 6 79%	79%	Premium	£105 88 W

9	Upper-middle Kumho Ecsta PS71 78%	78%	Upper-middle	£113 84 V +2 More
10	Upper-middle Nokian Powerproof 2 76%	76%	Upper-middle	£98 0 Y
11	Premium Pirelli Cinturato P7 75%	75%	Premium
12	Premium Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 K127 75%	75%	Premium	£96 88 W
13	Upper-middle Toyo Proxes Comfort 74%	74%	Upper-middle	£104 88 +1 More
14	Upper-middle Kumho Ecsta HS52 74%	74%	Upper-middle	£109 88 V
15	Premium Hankook Ventus Prime 4 73%	73%	Premium	£95 88 V +4 More
16	Premium Continental PremiumContact 6 71%	71%	Premium

17	Premium Michelin e.Primacy 71%	71%	Premium
18	Premium Dunlop SP Sport MAXX RT2 69%	69%	Premium	£100 88 W +1 More
19	Upper-middle BFGoodrich Advantage 68%	68%	Upper-middle	£125 88 V +2 More
20	Budget Fulda EcoControl HP2 67%	67%	Budget	£93 88 V
21	Upper-middle Falken ZIEX ZE310 ECORUN 67%	67%	Upper-middle	£98 88 W +2 More
22	Upper-middle Uniroyal RainSport 5 65%	65%	Upper-middle	£85 88 V +1 More
23	Budget Fulda SportControl 2 63%	63%	Budget	£91 88 Y +1 More
24	Budget Sailun Atrezzo ZSR 2 61%	61%	Budget

25	Budget Sava Intensa UHP 2 61%	61%	Budget	£76 88 Y +1 More
26	Upper-middle BF Goodrich Advantage 2 61%	61%	Upper-middle	£110 84 V +3 More
27	Budget Nexen N Fera Primus 60%	60%	Budget	£71 88 V +1 More
28	Upper-middle Nokian Wetproof 59%	59%	Upper-middle
29	Upper-middle Nokian PowerProof 1 57%	57%	Upper-middle	£117 88 Y
30	Premium Continental Ecocontact 6 56%	56%	Premium	£113 88 H +9 More
31	Upper-middle Cooper Summer 55%	55%	Upper-middle	£89 88 W +1 More
32	Budget Sava Intensa HP2 54%	54%	Budget

33	Premium Continental UltraContact 53%	53%	Premium	£113 88 V +1 More
34	Budget Maxxis Premitra HP6 52%	52%	Budget	£92 88 0
35	Upper-middle Firestone Roadhawk 52%	52%	Upper-middle
36	Upper-middle Kleber Dynaxer HP5 51%	51%	Upper-middle	£99 +3 More
37	Budget Semperit Speed-Life 3 51%	51%	Budget	£90 88 V +1 More
38	Budget Debica Presto UHP 2 51%	51%	Budget	£74 88 W
39	Upper-middle Kleber Dynaxer UHP 38%	38%	Upper-middle
40	Premium Goodyear Efficientgrip Performance 38%	38%	Premium	£151 88 V

41	Premium Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance 38%	38%	Premium
42	Budget Maxxis Premitra HP5 37%	37%	Budget	£106 88 W
43	Budget Superia Ecoblue UHP 34%	34%	Budget
44	- Leao Nova-Force Acro 32%	32%	-
45	Upper-middle Cooper Zeon CS8 28%	28%	Upper-middle	£119 0 W +2 More
46	Budget Barum Bravuris 5 HM 25%	25%	Budget
47	Premium Vredestein Ultrac 16%	16%	Premium	£83 88 Y
48	Budget Matador Hectorra 5 9%	9%	Budget

49	Budget Debica Presto UHP2 2%	2%	Budget