Summer tyre test 255/35 R19 - Sportscars 2026

Summer Track testing conducted on wet and dry handling circuits, including wet braking, aquaplaning, wet circle cornering, and dry braking/handling disciplines. Specific location not mentioned in the article.

2026

Year

8

Tyres

BMW Z4 (roadster), tested with mixed-width fitment: 255/35 R19 front and 275/35 R19 rear

Winner

Continental SportContact 7

Best Value

Vredestein Ultrac Pro

Test Vehicle

BMW Z4

Tested tyres

8

article

AutoBild Sportscars Summer Tyre Test 2026 (255/35 R19): Continental's SportContact 7 Dominates on the BMW Z4

AutoBild Sportscars tested eight sporty summer tyres in staggered fitment — 255/35 R19 96Y (front) and 275/35 R19 100Y (rear) — on a BMW Z4 roadster at the Wachauring proving ground in Austria. This dimension is also used on the BMW M3/M4 (F80/F82), Toyota GR Supra, and Lexus RC F. The field ranged from premium leaders Continental, Bridgestone, and Pirelli to challengers Kumho and Vredestein. The verdict: seven of eight tyres achieved "good" or better — an impressive quality level. But one established name struggled badly with the staggered setup.

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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

Continental SportContact 7 leads with just 34.2 meters from 100 km/h, followed closely by Bridgestone at ~34.4 m (only 20 cm behind). Vredestein, Kumho, and Hankook cluster around 35.4 m, while Pirelli, Goodyear, and Michelin all exceed 36 m — meaning even premium brands like Michelin trail the leader by nearly 2 meters in dry braking.

1

Continental SportContact 7

Rating: Exemplary

£154

96 Y

tyres-pneus-online.co.uk

+1 More sizes →

96Y · £167

Wet1-

Dry1-

Wet

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#1/8

Wet Braking#1/8

Wet Circle Cornering#1/8

Wet Handling#1/8

Dry

Dry Braking#1/8

Dry Handling#1/8

Comfort

Noise Exterior#2/8

Economy

Rolling Resistance#5/8

Summary

Published overall result: 1,2 · 1/8
Best discipline position: Longitudinal aquaplaning (1/8)
Lowest discipline position: Rolling resistance (5/8)

2

Bridgestone Potenza Sport Evo

Rating: Exemplary

£139

96 Y

tyres-pneus-online.co.uk

Wet2+

Dry2+

Wet

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#1/8

Wet Circle Cornering#1/8

Wet Braking#2/8

Wet Handling#2/8

Dry

Dry Braking#2/8

Dry Handling#4/8

Comfort

Noise Exterior#6/8

Economy

Rolling Resistance#5/8

Summary

Published overall result: 1,4 · 2/8
Best discipline position: Longitudinal aquaplaning (1/8)
Lowest discipline position: Exterior noise (6/8)

3

Pirelli P Zero (PZ5)

Rating: Good

£142

96 Y

tyres-pneus-online.co.uk

+1 More sizes →

96Y · £174

Wet2+

Dry2

Wet

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#1/8

Wet Circle Cornering#1/8

Wet Handling#2/8

Wet Braking#5/8

Dry

Dry Braking#2/8

Dry Handling#6/8

Comfort

Noise Exterior#2/8

Economy

Rolling Resistance#5/8

Summary

Published overall result: 1,6 · 3/8
Best discipline position: Longitudinal aquaplaning (1/8)
Lowest discipline position: Dry handling (6/8)

3

Vredestein Ultrac Pro

Rating: Good

£136

96 Y

mytyres.co.uk

Wet2

Dry2+

Wet

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#1/8

Wet Braking#3/8

Wet Circle Cornering#4/8

Wet Handling#4/8

Dry

Dry Braking#2/8

Dry Handling#3/8

Comfort

Noise Exterior#1/8

Economy

Rolling Resistance#1/8

Summary

Published overall result: 1,6 · 3/8
Best discipline position: Longitudinal aquaplaning (1/8)
Lowest discipline position: Wet handling (4/8)

5

Kumho ECSTA Sport S PS72

Rating: Good

£125

96 Y

mytyres.co.uk

Wet2

Dry2

Wet

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#1/8

Wet Braking#5/8

Wet Circle Cornering#5/8

Wet Handling#5/8

Dry

Dry Braking#5/8

Dry Handling#6/8

Comfort

Noise Exterior#6/8

Economy

Rolling Resistance#3/8

Summary

Published overall result: 1,9 · 5/8
Best discipline position: Longitudinal aquaplaning (1/8)
Lowest discipline position: Exterior noise (6/8)

5

Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S

Rating: Good

£179

92 Y

tyres-pneus-online.co.uk

+5 More sizes →

96Y · £197 96Y · £193 96Y · £187 +2

Wet2-

Dry2+

Summary

Published overall result: 1,9 · 5/8

7

Hankook Ventus S1 evo Z K129

Rating: Good

£146

96 Y

mytyres.co.uk

Wet2-

Dry2

Wet

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#1/8

Wet Braking#3/8

Wet Circle Cornering#5/8

Wet Handling#7/8

Dry

Dry Handling#4/8

Dry Braking#5/8

Comfort

Noise Exterior#2/8

Economy

Rolling Resistance#1/8

Summary

Published overall result: 2,0 · 7/8
Best discipline position: Longitudinal aquaplaning (1/8)
Lowest discipline position: Wet handling (7/8)

8

Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersport

Rating: Satisfactory

£147

96 Y

mytyres.co.uk

+2 More sizes →

96Y · £147 96Y · £199

Wet3

Dry2-

Wet

Aquaplaning Longitudinal#1/8

Wet Braking#8/8

Wet Circle Cornering#8/8

Wet Handling#8/8

Dry

Dry Braking#5/8

Dry Handling#8/8

Comfort

Noise Exterior#6/8

Economy

Rolling Resistance#5/8

Summary

Published overall result: 3,3 · 8/8
Best discipline position: Longitudinal aquaplaning (1/8)
Lowest discipline position: Wet handling (8/8)

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 Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 94%	94%	Premium	£132 96 Y +2 More
2	Premium Pirelli P ZERO lx. 89%	89%	Premium	£162 96 Y +5 More
3	Premium Pirelli P ZERO PZ4 89%	89%	Premium	£150 96 Y +4 More
4	Premium Michelin Pilot Sport 5 88%	88%	Premium	£162 96 Y +1 More
5	Premium Bridgestone Turanza T005 88%	88%	Premium	£192 96 Y +3 More
6	Upper-middle Kumho Ecsta PS71 86%	86%	Upper-middle	£139 96 Y +1 More
7	Premium Bridgestone Potenza Sport 85%	85%	Premium
8	Upper-middle Nokian Powerproof 2 84%	84%	Upper-middle	£124 0 Y

9	Upper-middle Firestone Roadhawk 2 83%	83%	Upper-middle	£122 96 Y
10	Premium Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 K127 81%	81%	Premium
11	Upper-middle Firestone Firehawk Sport 78%	78%	Upper-middle	£134 96 Y
12	Premium Continental Ecocontact 6 77%	77%	Premium
13	Budget Linglong Sport Master 77%	77%	Budget
14	Budget Sailun Atrezzo ZSR 2 76%	76%	Budget
15	Premium Bridgestone Turanza 6 76%	76%	Premium	£139 96 W +1 More
16	Premium Hankook Ventus Evo 76%	76%	Premium	£133 96 Y +3 More

17	Upper-middle Cooper Summer 76%	76%	Upper-middle	£126 96 Y
18	Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 K127B 75%	75%		£141 96 Y
19	Upper-middle Kumho Ecsta Sport (PS72) 75%	75%	Upper-middle	£117 96 Y +1 More
20	Budget GT radial Sport Active 2 71%	71%	Budget
21	Upper-middle BFGoodrich Advantage 70%	70%	Upper-middle	£155 96 Y
22	Upper-middle Nokian PowerProof 1 69%	69%	Upper-middle	£127 96 Y
23	Upper-middle Uniroyal RainSport 5 69%	69%	Upper-middle	£125 96 Y
24	Premium Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2 67%	67%	Premium	£145 96 Y +1 More

25	Upper-middle BF Goodrich Advantage 2 67%	67%	Upper-middle	£120 92 Y +1 More
26	Upper-middle Toyo Proxes Sport 2 67%	67%	Upper-middle	£130 +1 More
27	Budget Sava Intensa UHP 2 65%	65%	Budget	£108 96 Y +2 More
28	Budget Fulda SportControl 2 64%	64%	Budget	£118 96 Y +2 More
29	Upper-middle Firestone Roadhawk 60%	60%	Upper-middle
30	Upper-middle Yokohama Advan Sport V107 59%	59%	Upper-middle	£121 96 Y
31	B Ceat SportDrive 57%	57%	B
32	Upper-middle Kleber Dynaxer HP5 56%	56%	Upper-middle	£130 92 Y +1 More

33	Budget Semperit Speed-Life 3 55%	55%	Budget	£108 96 Y
34	Upper-middle Nokian Hakka Black 3 54%	54%	Upper-middle
35	Budget Debica Presto UHP2 52%	52%	Budget
36	Premium Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 49%	49%	Premium	£209 96 Y +2 More
37	Premium Pirelli Powergy 48%	48%	Premium	£147 96 Y +1 More
38	- Leao Nova-Force Acro 44%	44%	-
39	Budget Syron Premium Performance 44%	44%	Budget
40	Budget Barum Bravuris 5 HM 44%	44%	Budget

41	B Landspider Sportraxx UHP 42%	42%	B
42	Upper-middle Cooper Zeon CS8 38%	38%	Upper-middle
43	Upper-middle Kumho Ecsta PS91 36%	36%	Upper-middle
44	Budget Radar Dimax R8+ 36%	36%	Budget
45	Budget Barum Bravuris 6 30%	30%	Budget	£101 96 Y
46	B Event Potentem UHP 27%	27%	B
47	Budget Tracmax X-Privilo TX-3 23%	23%	Budget
48	Budget Matador MP47 Hectorra 3 22%	22%	Budget

49	Budget Landsail RapidDragon 19%	19%	Budget
50	Budget Kormoran Ultra High Performance 18%	18%	Budget
51	Budget Tomason Sportrace 17%	17%	Budget
52	A Sentury Qirin 990 14%	14%	A
53	Budget Firemax FM601 14%	14%	Budget
54	Budget Lanvigator Catch Power Plus 8%	8%	Budget	£76 96 Y