Which consumer magazine best buy tyres
Best Buys Michelin Pilot Sport PS 2 (225/45 R17 Y)
Price: £152
Score: 73%
Bridgestone Potenza RE050 A (225/45 R17 Y)
Price: £123
Score: 71%
This tyre offers wet grip that is among the best in this size and balanced overall performance.
Bridgestone Turanza ER300 (185/60 R14H)
Price: £56
Score: 70%
A well balanced tyre with excellent dry and good wet grip.
Bridgestone Turanza ER300 (195/65 R15H)
Price: £72
Score: 70%
Good for wet and dry grip, comfort, noise and wear.
Continental SportContact3 (225/45 R17 Y)
Price: £142
Score: 70%
Generally good for grip, comfort and noise, but poor for rolling resistance
Pirelli P3000 Energy (175/65 R14T)
Price: £51
Score: 70%
A balanced tyre with good grip scores. Very good wear rate, too.
BFGoodrich G-Force Profiler (225/45 R17 Y)
Price: £113
Score: 68%
This tyre is very good on dry roads, though it's a little weaker in the wet, particularly for resisting aquaplaning. It gets a good environmental rating.
Bridgestone Turanza ER300 (205/55R16V)
Price: £79
Score: 68%
The Best Buy 205/55R16V Bridgestone Turanza ER300 is a balanced performer, with excellent dry grip.
It wears quite well but is noisy. It is fitted to various medium and large cars
Continental EcoContact3 (155/70R13T)
Price: £40
Score: 68%
The Best Buy 155/70R13T ContiEcoContact 3 is the best tyre in this size and is fitted to various models of supermini and city car. It achieved four-star ratings in every performance category apart from noise, and even here it doesn't disgrace.
It isn't the best for its polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), but it's far from being the worst either.
Michelin Primacy HP (205/55R16V)
Price: £86
Score: 68%
The Best Buy 205/55R16V Michelin Primacy HP hugs the road, wears really well and gives long life.
It's not a cheap choice, as this brand commands a premium price - but it is widely available with nearly eighty per cent of retailers stocking it, so there may be scope to play them off against each other on price.
Pirelli P7 (205/55R16V)
Price: £76
Score: 68%
The Best Buy 205/55R16V Pirelli P7, is a hard-wearing tyre with great wet road performance. While dry braking isn't the best on test, it does stop you effectively.
It is fitted to various medium and large cars.
Pirelli Pzero Nero (225/45 R17 Y)
Price: £141
Score: 68%
A good performer on wet or dry roads. Let down by its poor wear rate.
Continental EcoContact3 (165/70 R14T)
Price: £50
Score: 67%
Highly balanced tyre with excellent wet grip and good dry grip.
Continental EcoContact3 (175/65 R14T)
Price: £52
Score: 67%
Good on wet and dry roads and acceptable or better in other areas.
Continental Premium Contact2 (205/55R16V)
Price: £82
Score: 67%
Best Buy 205/55R16V ContiPremium Contact2 tyres grip really well, and dry handling is second to none.
They are fairly quiet and the Eco-rating isn't bad either.
Bridgestone B 330 Evo (165/70 R14T)
Price: £55
Score: 66%
Well-balanced tyre with excellent wet grip and good dry grip.
Goodyear Hydragrip (195/65 R15H)
Price: £68
Score: 66%
A well-balanced tyre, just slightly weaker for wear than the rest of its performance.
Hankook Optimo K715 (155/70R13T)
Price: £30
Score: 66%
The Best Buy 155/70R13T Hankook Optimo K715's long life and low price make it the Best Value model in this size.
The tyre can't match the ContiEco Contact 3's road grip, but it's a good all-round performer.
Fulda Carat Progresso (205/55R16V)
Price: £65
Score: 65%
Best Buy 205/55R16V Fulda Carat Progresso tyres can be fitted to various medium and large cars. It doesn't match the best on test for grip, but is none the less a pretty good tyre.
It matches the best on test for long-lasting wear and combining this with its ultra-low price, it is the Best Value tyre in this size.
Michelin Energy E3A (165/70 R14T)
Price: £56
Score: 65%
Well-balanced tyre with excellent wet grip and good dry grip.
Pirelli P3000 Energy (155/70R13T)
Price: £37
Score: 65%
Pirelli's Best Buy 155/70R13T P3000 Energy is another high performer with sound handling, good wet grip and pretty reasonable wear.
It is fitted to various models of supermini and city car.
Pirelli P6 (185/60 R14H)
Price: £54
Score: 65%
Competes well for grip and wear, though slightly below the top ratings for dry braking.
Pirelli has a way to go towards meeting the new environmental requirements with this tyre.
Uniroyal Rallye 550 (205/55R16V)
Price: £73
Score: 65%
The Best Buy 205/55R16V Uniroyal Rallye 550 is a consistent four-star performer for grip.
It's quiet, but won't last as long as the best in this test. It is fitted to various medium and large cars.
Bridgestone B250 (155/70R13T)
Price: £37
Score: 64%
The Best Buy 155/70R13T Bridgestone B250 is fitted to various models of supermini and city car. It does as well as the best on test in the dry, though not quite for wet braking.
It won't give you as many miles wear as the very best either, but overall performance is still good. The tyre has a good Eco rating and we found it available in around one third of outlets, including national chains, regional independents and local retailers.
Dunlop SP 30 (155/70R13T)
Price: £36
Score: 64%
The Best Buy 155/70R13T Dunlop SP 30 is the quietest tyre we tested in this size. It wears well but is relatively weak for wet grip in bends.
The tyre is fitted to various models of supermini and city car.
Vredestein Sportrac3 (205/55R16V)
Price: £68
Score: 64%
The Best Buy 205/55R16V Vedrestein Sportrac3 has no major weaknesses - apart from the fact that we found no national retailer stocking it - only local and regional independents.
It's slightly noisier than the best in the batch. It is fitted to various medium and large cars.
Continental EcoContact3 (185/60 R14H)
Price: £58
Score: 63%
Handles really well in the dry, and it's good at holding on to a bend in the wet.
Not quite as resistant to aquaplaning in a straight line. Good environmental rating.
Hankook Ventus Prime K105 (205/55R16V)
Price: £56
Score: 62%
The Best Buy 205/55R16V Hankook Ventus Prime K105 performs competitively, with balanced grip, wet and dry.
It won't give the mileage of best wearing tyres, but Hankook seems to be up with competitors on its Eco rating. It is fitted to various medium and large cars.
