Behind the wheel: testing summer off-road tires size 235/65R17 (2016)

Testing twelve models of summer tires for crossovers!

For the tests, 215/65 R16 tires were chosen - the most common among “Crossover” tires, and many manufacturers offer two or even three models with varying degrees of “Off-Roadness”.
In order not to get bogged down in this diversity ourselves, we introduced tire manufacturers to our testing program - and shifted the burden of choice onto them. The approaches turned out to be different. The Pirelli company, for example, considered that the frankly road tires Scorpion Verde would perform better, although Pirelli also has more “toothy” Scorpion STR tires in its arsenal. Continental followed approximately the same path, providing CrossContact UHP road tires for testing. But Michelin was represented by the “toothy” Latitude Cross tires. Yokohama presented new universal tires Geolandar SUV, and Bridgestone and Dunlop declined our offer, which, of course, was not a reason to exclude tires from these popular brands from the test: we bought Bridgestone Dueler H/T 689 and Dunlop Grandtreck ATZ tires.

We also had Korean tires (Hankook DynaPro HP and Kumho Solus KN17), and Russian ones (Viatti Bosco A/T, Amtel Cruise 4X4 and Cordiant AII-Terrain), and the twelfth set were tires that included Continental CrossContact LX on the assembly line.

We assumed that the “weighted average” owner of a crossover will spend a maximum of 20% of the mileage on off-road driving, hence the share of “Off-road” ratings in the overall standings. The remaining 80% is on asphalt, and we paid more attention to safety on wet asphalt. With these priorities, the winners of the test are the Pirelli Scorpion Verde and Continental CrossContact LX tires. Moreover, if we recommend the first for those who rarely leave the asphalt, then the second are more universal. And the best tires for those who often have to stir up mud are the Yokohama Geolandar SUV.

1-2 place / 8.50 points

Continental CrossContact LX

Good grip on dry and wet asphalt combines with acoustic comfort and smooth ride.

These tires perform well in mud. The crossover confidently performs the “moose test” maneuver on both dry and wet asphalt

These are the kind of universal tires that most crossover owners need.

Handling on wet and dry asphalt, smooth ride, acoustic comfort.

High price.

1-2 place / 8.50 points

"Satisfactory" tires

Nexen N'Fera Sport

Overall rating 2.6 Dry asphalt 2.2 Wet asphalt 2.6 Noise/comfort 3.1 Fuel consumption 1.9 Tire consumption 2.0

Sava Intensa UHP 2

Overall rating 2.7 Dry asphalt 1.8 Wet asphalt 2.7 Noise/comfort 3.1 Fuel consumption 1.6 Tire consumption 2.0

Vredestein Ultrac Vorti

Overall rating 2.7 Dry asphalt 2.5 Wet asphalt 2.7 Noise/comfort 2.9 Fuel consumption 2.4 Tire consumption 2.0

Falken Azenis FK510

Overall rating 2.9 Dry asphalt 2.9 Wet asphalt 2.4 Noise/comfort 3.0 Fuel consumption 2.0 Tire consumption 2.0

Bridgestone Potenza S001

Overall rating 3.0 Dry asphalt 1.7 Wet asphalt 3.0 Noise/comfort 3.5 Fuel consumption 2.1 Tire consumption 2.5

Kumho Ecsta PS71

Overall rating 3.0 Dry asphalt 2.4 Wet asphalt 2.3 Noise/comfort 3.3 Fuel consumption 2.0 Tire consumption 3.0

Nokian Powerproof

Overall rating 3.0 Dry asphalt 2.4 Wet asphalt 2.4 Noise/comfort 2.8 Fuel consumption 2.0 Tire consumption 3.0

Pirelli P Zero

Overall rating 3.0 Dry asphalt 1.3 Wet asphalt 1.8 Noise/comfort 2.9 Fuel consumption 2.7 Tire consumption 3.0

Toyo Proxes Sport

Overall rating 3.0 Dry asphalt 2.0 Wet asphalt 2.8 Noise/comfort 2.9 Fuel consumption 2.0 Tire consumption 3.0

Hankook Ventus S1 evo3

Overall rating 3.1 Dry asphalt 2.0 Wet asphalt 3.1 Noise/comfort 3.4 Fuel consumption 1.8 Tire consumption 2.5

Cooper Zeon CS-Sport

Overall rating 3.3 Dry asphalt 2.0 Wet asphalt 3.3 Noise/comfort 3.2 Fuel consumption 2.5 Tire consumption 2.0

Pirelli Scorpion Verde

The best tires in terms of safety!

However, outstanding traction properties come at the price of comfort. On rough surfaces, the noise from the tires drowns out all other noise. And the rolling resistance is quite high.

However, crossover owners should be wary of something else: with these tires you are unlikely to be able to realize the off-road potential of your car.

Grip properties on wet and dry asphalt, handling on wet and dry asphalt.

Passability, smoothness, noise.

3rd place / 8.45 points

Winter tire test conditions

Testing of car tires takes place under conditions that are equal for all tested models.

The results are compared in the following categories: • vehicle behavior on dry asphalt; • on a wet road (as in rain); • on a snowy road; • on icy surfaces.

The main parameters are: • acceleration and braking; • maneuverability, response to steering wheel rotation; • speed of passing the distance; • absence/presence of aquaplaning; • comfort, acoustic effect.

Many European experts include cost-effectiveness and environmental safety in their list of tests.

Based on the research, expert groups compile a rating of winter tires 2018-2019 for crossovers, which car owners rely on.

Yokohama Geolandar SUV

The tread of these tires resembles a disc cutter - in theory, the toothed walls of the longitudinal grooves should work well off-road. And they work! The crossover confidently walks along a muddy country road and easily gets out of a deep rut. Even without connecting the rear wheel drive!

It is gratifying that the tires also provide a comfortable ride on asphalt - they delight with soft and almost silent rolling.

But when performing extreme maneuvers, they do not cause joy.

At the “rearrangement”, the crossover, although it develops good speed, goes into a skid, which has to be corrected by turning the steering wheel. And when entering a turn on a wet surface, you need to be on your guard - slipping begins noticeably earlier than on Pirelli or Contipental tires.

A good option for those who don’t mind getting off the asphalt.

Cross-country ability, smooth ride, acoustic comfort.

Lateral grip properties on wet asphalt.

4th place / 8.35 points

Viatti Bosco A/T V-237

Viatti tires are produced in Russia using off-take technology.

The tread structure and design were developed by an engineering firm organized by former Vice President of Contipental AG Wolfgang Holzbach.

Handling on wet asphalt is comparable to Pirelli and Continental tires. But on dry surfaces and off-road these tires are average.

In general, there is a good balance of consumer qualities, and if you compare them with the price, then these are almost the best tires in our test.

Performance on wet asphalt, handling on dry and wet asphalt.

Average comfort and cross-country ability.

5th place / 8.25 points

Bridgestone Turanza T005

The average price is 4,100 rubles.

If you are thinking about which summer tires are best to choose based on the comfort/handling ratio, then pay attention to the premium model from Bridgestone.

It is soft, but not rolly, confidently grips the road (including dirt roads and even sand) and is ideal for those for whom safety is important.

• Pros : good resistance to aquaplaning, high wear resistance, will last about 5 seasons.
• Cons : soft sidewall, noisy, gets dull at 9 degrees Celsius and below.

Review

Based on owner reviews, we can conclude that all characteristics are perfectly balanced. Excellent indicators of safety, low noise, strength, wear resistance, controllability, softness, comfort. Drivers consider soft sidewalls to be a disadvantage, as this makes them vulnerable to side cuts and scratches.

Continental CrossContact UHP

These tires were created with an eye toward powerful, high-speed cars. This is also evidenced by the range of dimensions, which even includes 23-inch tires that allow you to accelerate to 270 km/h!

But even at “Earthly” speeds, these tires demonstrate excellent grip on wet and dry asphalt. It’s just that the breakdowns in sliding occur too abruptly.

And the most noticeable drawback is increased rigidity and noise: driving on a bad road is unpleasant, and sometimes it’s impossible to drive off-road. Especially “Vnatyag” - the wheels continually break into useless slipping.

Good tires for good roads.

Performance properties on wet and dry asphalt, handling on wet asphalt.

Comfort, maneuverability, price.

6th place / 7.95 points

Kumho Solus KH17

The model is far from new, but so far it can withstand the competition.

Braking distances on wet surfaces are only slightly longer than with Pirelli or Coptinental tires. When performing “turn” and “reposition” maneuvers, the maximum speeds are higher than average, but there is a feeling of excessive weight - the car is difficult to “tuck” into a turn or shift into the next lane.

There are no special complaints about comfort, but the problem is with cross-country ability: even in all-wheel drive mode, the crossover flounders helplessly in a rut, unable to escape from it.

But these tires have the least rolling resistance.

Braking properties on wet and dry asphalt, low rolling resistance.

Patency.

7th place / 7.90 points

Amtel Cruise 4X4

After Amtel-Vredestein went bankrupt in 2009, Russian tire factories in Kirov and Voronezh produced old Amtel tire models out of inertia. At the end of 2011, they got a new owner - the Italian company Pirelli, and new tires with asymmetric tread Amtel Cruise 4X4, created under its supervision.

Good behavior on both wet and dry asphalt. At the extreme turn and at Perestavka on a wet surface, the crossover gently goes into a controlled drift, and yet the speed of maneuvers is low.

Decent economy class tires.

Smooth ride, balanced behavior of the car on wet asphalt, price.

Increased rolling resistance.

8-9 place / 7.85 points

Summer tires R16 (205/55)

Click on the photo to enlarge the test chart for 205/55 r16 tires.
Za Rulem pilots traditionally carry out tests of summer tires at the AVTOVAZ testing ground. To get into the top ten, tires must be selected for a variety of parameters: from directional stability, efficiency and wet braking to noise emission, extreme maneuvering and behavior on unpaved roads.

It turned out that the noisiest tires are Kumho, and the quietest are Continental, Cordiant and Hankook. By the way, Continental and Cordiant will be a good choice for those who often drive on country roads at a speed of 90 km/h, as they are the most economical in terms of gasoline consumption.

If you often drive on dirt roads, then it is best to “shod” your car in Viatti tires. They seem to be created for fast and confident movement on the dirt road.

After all the tests, the top three were:

Continental PremiumContact 6

Mexican-made tires have become the most economical when driving at a speed of 90 km/h. They demonstrated excellent braking properties, but received minor criticism for handling during extreme maneuvering on dry road surfaces.

Nokian Hakka Blue 2

The Finnish tires were liked by the Behind the Wheel pilots because they clearly follow the course and behave ideally when changing lanes (changing lanes from one lane to another) and extreme maneuvers. But on dry roads their braking performance is average.

Hankook Ventus Prime 3

Hungarian-made rubber is a leader in comfort and braking on wet asphalt. And it performed well on dry asphalt. However, during extreme maneuvers there may be minor problems with the car's handling.

Hankook DynaPro HP

Hankook tires look more and more worthy in Autoreview tests and even took prizes (AP Nb6, 7, 2012), but it seems that advanced technologies have bypassed the HP DynaPro model.

Tires begin to slip early on wet asphalt, and these slips are extended and in a real situation can cause panic.

Braking on dry asphalt is good, but there are again problems with avoiding obstacles - sluggish reactions to steering turns and prolonged slides hinder the maneuver.

Just tires, round and black.

Braking properties on dry asphalt.

Grip properties on wet asphalt.

8-9 place / 7.85 points

Toyo Proxes CF2

The average cost is 4,180 rubles.

Another tire that was lucky to be included in the top 10 best summer tires of 2020 (size R15) according to Za Rulem magazine.

It is characterized by increased comfort, excellent directional stability and low fuel consumption at a speed of 60 km/h.

However, the Toyo Proxes CF2 does not have the best braking on dry pavement and there are some minor complaints about handling on dry pavement. But if you take these tires for a quiet ride around the city, then we will only say: “Excellent choice!”

• Pros : quiet, good grip.
• Cons : the sides are a bit thin.

Michelin Latitude Cross

The aggressive tread pattern turned out to be a bad help on wet asphalt. When performing the “rearrangement” maneuver, extended slides occur.

On dry asphalt it’s already better - sliding starts smoothly, and it’s easier to control them. But grip in the longitudinal direction is not enough - on dry asphalt the braking distance is six meters longer than on Pirelli tires.

Despite wide grooves in the central part of the tread and developed lugs in the shoulder area, these tires perform worse in mud than Yokohama.

The title of "King of Off-Road" is lost. But in comfort, Michelin tires have no equal.

Smooth ride, acoustic comfort.

Handling on wet asphalt, braking properties on dry asphalt.

10th place / 7.70 points

Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V2 – studless tires for crossovers and SUVs

To ensure safety while driving in winter, owners of jeeps, crossovers, and SUVs prefer studless tires from a well-known brand - Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V2. Driving on such cars is often more aggressive, on ruts, potholes, and different surfaces. The tires behave well on wet asphalt and dry surfaces, and feel confident in slushy snow. Cup protectors allow you to walk in the snow without slipping.

The tires remain soft at any temperature, which allows them to remain silent in any weather.

“Swallows” small cracks and potholes on the asphalt. On clean and smooth ice, the Velcro has a fairly long braking distance; at temperatures above -10, it is very slippery on ice and compacted snow and can skid. But in frosts of -15 or more, the grip is more confident on ice, on compacted snow, and on any surface.

value for money; holds any road; excellent grip; behaves well in the snow, in slush; soft at any temperature; silent.

drifts on compacted ice; it’s hard to get out of a rut; long braking distance on ice.

Cordiant AII-Terrain

Even before the road tests began, these tires set a record - it took more than half a kilogram of lead weights to balance a set of four wheels.

A clear sign of far from the best workmanship. We can only hope that these are flaws in pre-production production - after all, we received the tires for testing even before their official premiere.

On wet asphalt the tires show average results, but on dry asphalt they are inferior to most competitors. During emergency braking, they are the worst tires in the test.

But on the country roads they are good, they allow you to move confidently both under tension and with slipping. We were pleased with these tires for their comfort.

Smooth ride, acoustic comfort.

Grip properties and handling on dry asphalt, high rolling resistance.

11th place / 7.10 points

About the results and tests. Wet track

After balancing each set of tires, we received the first test results. Less lead was used to balance Amtel, Kumho, Hankook and Yokohama rubber brands; Dunlop and Cordiant required the most for this process. This was a test to measure mass heterogeneity. The fewer weights used for balancing, the better the quality of the tire. We then conducted tests on wet asphalt created artificially using hoses and garden sprayers. Each set was tested 6 times. In the braking test from 80 km/h, we did not stand on ceremony and pressed the brake pedal to the floor, since the Duster has ABS. Having summed up the results and received an overall figure, it became clear that Pirelli tires can be considered the best in this test, and Dunlop tires the worst. Interestingly, when evaluating tires for handling lateral loads on a wet track, we received similar results. The winner is Pirelli, and the worst performer in the test was the Dunlop tire model. What was the test? We tried to determine at what maximum speed our Duster could be maintained when driving through a specially marked turning arc (radius 35 m). The last exercise on wet asphalt was to go around an obstacle that, according to the terms of the task, suddenly appeared on our way. And there are no surprises here. On Pirelli tires you can “dodge” at a speed of about 72 km/h, and on Dunlop tires only at 66.5 km/h.

Bridgestone Dueler N/T 689

Why did we take the old Dueler H/T 689 model for testing, and not the new Dueler A/T 697? Yes, because the new product did not have “our” size! But the model with index 689 is still very popular.

Most likely, buyers will be attracted by the “Made in Japan” inscription. No wonder it attracts! Low grip properties, both on wet and dry asphalt.

The steering wheel jerked a little sharper and the front wheels went into a prolonged slide. When off-road, these tires slip early and do not cope well with driving out of ruts.

All that remains is to enjoy the good ride quality and low rolling resistance.

Smooth running, low rolling resistance.

Low grip on wet and dry asphalt, handling on wet and dry asphalt.

12th place / 6.85 points

Summer tires R16 (215/65)

Click on the photo to enlarge the test chart of tires 215/65 r16
For crossovers that drive not only on roads, but also off-road, you need the most reliable tires. To select them, the “Behind the Wheel” pilots visited AVTOVAZ’s Togliatti training ground, where they conducted rigorous tests on a Renault Duster, which was operated in front-wheel drive 2WD mode.

The Toyo Proxes CF2 SUV tires turned out to be the most comfortable and economical, and experts recommended the relatively inexpensive Viatti Bosco A/T for those who often drive on dirt roads.

Here's what the winning trio looks like:

Nokian Hakka Blue 2 SUV

Everything about this tire is good: reliable road grip, increased comfort and excellent handling. If only it weren’t so “gluttonous” at a speed of 90 km/h... But there is no perfection in the world.

Pirelli Scorpion Verde

These summer tires are suitable for those who value cross-country ability and handling. But with comfort things are not so good.

Continental ContiPremiumContact 5

Rounding out the top three in the 2020 R16 summer tire rating “Behind the Wheel” is a model that is distinguished by the highest traction properties. It has an impressive ride and comfort.

Just don’t make extreme maneuvers on a dry surface, the ContiPremiumContact 5 has problems with this.