Auto Express – August 07, 2019

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk 7August2019 59

HANKOOKisanotherfirmtoproduce
atyrejustforSUVs,butyouhaveto
askquitehowmuchisafreshdesignand
howmuchmarketing,becausenon-specific
rivalswillhavebeendevelopedforthe
sameweightratingsandotheraspects.
Asitis,theVentusS1isaclosematch
fortheplainoldPremiumContact6.Deep
wateristheS1’sforte,becauseittooka
firstandsecondintheaquaplaningtests.
Andthedeeperthebetter:inthe8mmon

thestraighttestithit58mphbeforeslip

topped15percent–around4mphbetter

thantheworsttyre.Itwasalsocloseto

theGoodyearinthecurvedassessment.

Asthewaterdepthreduced,sodidthe

Hankook’seffectiveness.Acrossthewet

testsitwasthird,thankstoclosetothe

bestresultsinhandlingandbraking.It

couldhavebeensharperonthewetcircuit,

butitwasnearthepaceandworkedwell

inthefastersections.Itwaslessassured

inthetighterstuff,whereitstruggled

fortractiononsomeexits.

Thetotallackofwaterinthedrytests

sawtheslideincompetitivenesscontinue

andtheHankookwasaprettydistantlast.

Itfeltlikeit,too,withagenerallackofgrip.

Cornersotherscouldtakeflatoutneededa

liftofthrottlewiththis,sowehadtoapply

morelocktogetthroughturnsatthesame

speed.Whereitdidscorewellinthedry

wasforcabinnoise,winningaclosetest.

WEstruggletoknowwheretostart
withthisperformance.It’sallthe
moresurprisinggiventhistyrewasfirst
lastyearandContinentalalsotookvictory
intheall-seasonandwintertests.
Theresultsarealsocontrarytothose
weusuallyseefromtheGermanbrand.
Itnormallystarsinthewet,particularlyin
braking,whilefueleconomyisnotatthe
topofitsperformancetargets.However,
herethePremiumContact6isthemost

fuel-efficient,yetinsmaller17-inchcarform

itwasmid-pack,behindseveralrivals.

Itwasalsothebestinthewet,whilethis

SUVversionwasonlysixthacrossthe

handling,brakingandaquaplaningtests.

Itstruggledinthebraking,whereitusually

excels,andwasoffthepaceonthewet

circuit.Noteverythinghaschangedwith

theswitch tothebiggersize,becausethe

sharpnesswefeltwiththecarversionwas

stillthere.Itfeltoneofthebest,butitjust

didn’tdeliverthelaptimesonthecircuit

andthecircle.Inthebrakingtestitwas

justundertwometresoffthebest.Dry

performancewasmuchasweexpected,

withthesamesharpnessandgrip.

Overall,thechangeishardtoexplain.

It’salmostasifthecompanyhasaltered

itsdesignphilosophy, emphasisingfuel

economyratherthanwetperformance.

Butwedoubtthat’sthecaseandwe’re

sureContinentalwilllookatthistyreagain.

Wesay...

Wesay...

Blackcircles.comsays...

Blackcircles.comsays...

Quietandverysafeinpoorconditions,

althoughdrygripneedswork.

Awinneratthepumpsandeasyonthe

wallet,butyoupayapriceinthewet.

Notaspopularassomeothertyresinthetest.

But,ithasoverallpositivereviewsfromcustomers,

withreliablebrakingandquietridebeingpraised.

Over450reviewsfromcustomershaveearnedan

impressive4.7/5score.Theyremarkedonreliable

wetgripperformanceandresponsivehandling.

OverallOverall 99%

OverallOverall 99.1%

Price £120.44

Wethandling 99.4% 5th

Wetbraking 99% 4th

Wetcornering97.3% 6th

Straightaquaplaning 100% 1st

Curvedaquaplaning 97.6% 2nd

Dryhandling 98.7% 8th

Drybraking 94.6% 8th

Rollingresistance80.4% 5th

Cabinnoise 100% 1st

Price £134.70

Wethandling 98.3% 6th

Wetbraking 95.5% =6th

Wetcornering96.5% 7th

Straightaquaplaning 94.1% 7th

Curvedaquaplaning 83.6% 7th

Dryhandling 99.6% 2nd

Drybraking 98.1% 4th

Rollingresistance100% 1st

Cabinnoise99.1% 5th

6 Hankook VentusS1evo2SUV

5 Continental PremiumContact6

QUIETPLEASE

Hankook’s tyre

came out on

topinour cabin

noise evaluation

FULL STOP

Continental didn’t

perform as well as

it usually does in

our braking tests

TYRE TEST 2019