What Are the Best High Performance Tires?

Looking for a high-performance summer tire for your car?

TireRack.com has released the fourth set of results from its 19th annual tire testing season which included a Max Performance Summer tire comparison. The company compared two of the newest tires in the category, the Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 and the Pirelli P Zero Nero GT along with two well-established models, the Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position and the Continental ExtremeContact DW.

Each tire’s testing was split into two categories: a six-mile Real World Road Ride followed by a Performance Test Track Drive at the company’s 11.7-acre test facility using a BMW 3 Series test car.

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As for the results, all four tires performed well but based on TireRack.com’s combined subjective rating, the Continental ExtremeContact DW had the best road manners on a dry and wet track with a score of 7.86. Following the Continental tire was the Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position with a score of 7.72 while the Pirelli P Zero Nero GT earned a 7.51 mark. Lastly, the Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 netted a 7.20 rating from the company.

That’s not to say that one tire performed significantly better than the other as each one had its own merits in various categories. According to TireRack.com, the Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position was “a capable tire that does everything well,” while the Continental ExtremeContact DW is “a great choice for anyone wanting solid overall capability.” The Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 was considered “a very good tire for drivers who want the feel of a sporty tire” and lastly the Pirelli P Zero Nero GT was described as “a very good all around performer.”