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

£114

88 Y

mytyres.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

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

3

Falken Azenis FK520

Rating: Very good

£101

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

4

Continental PremiumContact 7

Rating: Very good

£128

88 Y

tyres.pneus.online.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

5

Michelin Pilot Sport 5

Rating: Good

£154

88 Y

mytyres.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

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

7

Firestone Roadhawk 2

Rating: Sufficient

£87

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

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	£113 88 W +1 More
2	Premium Bridgestone Potenza Sport 87%	87%	Premium	£154 88 Y
3	Premium Michelin Primacy 5 84%	84%	Premium	£133 88 H +2 More
4	Upper-middle Kumho Ecsta Sport (PS72) 84%	84%	Upper-middle	£84 88 Y
5	Premium Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF2 84%	84%	Premium
6	Premium Pirelli Cinturato P7 C2 84%	84%	Premium	£127 88 W +1 More
7	Premium Bridgestone Turanza T005 83%	83%	Premium	£114 84 V +7 More
8	Upper-middle Nokian Powerproof 2 82%	82%	Upper-middle	£97 0 Y

9	Upper-middle Kumho Ecsta PS71 78%	78%	Upper-middle	£110 84 V +2 More
10	Premium Bridgestone Turanza 6 78%	78%	Premium	£117 88 W
11	Premium Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 K127 75%	75%	Premium	£103 88 W
12	Upper-middle Toyo Proxes Comfort 74%	74%	Upper-middle	£88 88 +1 More
13	Upper-middle Kumho Ecsta HS52 74%	74%	Upper-middle	£81 88 V
14	Premium Hankook Ventus Prime 4 73%	73%	Premium	£103 88 V +4 More
15	Premium Continental PremiumContact 6 71%	71%	Premium
16	Premium Pirelli Cinturato P7 70%	70%	Premium

17	Premium Dunlop SP Sport MAXX RT2 69%	69%	Premium	£107 88 W +1 More
18	Upper-middle BFGoodrich Advantage 68%	68%	Upper-middle	£129 88 V +2 More
19	Budget Fulda EcoControl HP2 67%	67%	Budget	£90 88 V
20	Premium Michelin e.Primacy 66%	66%	Premium
21	Budget Nexen N Fera Primus 66%	66%	Budget	£85 88 V +1 More
22	Upper-middle Uniroyal RainSport 5 65%	65%	Upper-middle	£93 88 V +1 More
23	Budget Fulda SportControl 2 63%	63%	Budget	£98 88 Y +1 More
24	Upper-middle Falken ZIEX ZE310 ECORUN 62%	62%	Upper-middle	£109 88 W +2 More

25	Budget Sailun Atrezzo ZSR 2 61%	61%	Budget	£64 +2 More
26	Budget Sava Intensa UHP 2 61%	61%	Budget	£78 88 Y +1 More
27	Upper-middle BF Goodrich Advantage 2 61%	61%	Upper-middle	£99 84 V +3 More
28	Upper-middle Nokian PowerProof 1 57%	57%	Upper-middle	£118 88 Y
29	Premium Continental Ecocontact 6 56%	56%	Premium	£121 88 H +9 More
30	Upper-middle Cooper Summer 55%	55%	Upper-middle	£89 88 W +1 More
31	Budget Sava Intensa HP2 54%	54%	Budget
32	Upper-middle Nokian Wetproof 54%	54%	Upper-middle

33	Premium Continental UltraContact 53%	53%	Premium	£124 88 V +1 More
34	Upper-middle Firestone Roadhawk 52%	52%	Upper-middle
35	Budget Maxxis Premitra HP6 52%	52%	Budget	£81 88 0
36	Budget Semperit Speed-Life 3 51%	51%	Budget	£89 88 V +1 More
37	Budget Debica Presto UHP 2 51%	51%	Budget	£83 88 W
38	Upper-middle Kleber Dynaxer HP5 51%	51%	Upper-middle	£98 +3 More
39	Upper-middle Kleber Dynaxer UHP 38%	38%	Upper-middle
40	Budget Maxxis Premitra HP5 37%	37%	Budget	£95 88 W

41	Budget Superia Ecoblue UHP 34%	34%	Budget
42	Premium Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance 33%	33%	Premium
43	Premium Goodyear Efficientgrip Performance 33%	33%	Premium	£123 88 V
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	£137 88 Y
48	Budget Matador Hectorra 5 9%	9%	Budget

49	Budget Debica Presto UHP2 2%	2%	Budget