Europe, Korea, China. What to choose for summer?
The tire industry is one of many where preference is given to brands based on the country they belong to. At the same time, globalization has long mixed up both the countries of production of the tires themselves and the origin of individual components. Nevertheless, the buyer often wonders if he wants European MICHELIN or Korean KUMHO, despite the fact that they are both made in China at neighboring factories. Today we will analyze a fresh test from German experts ADAC and compare the characteristics of tires of European, Korean, and Chinese origin.
First of all, we ask you to accept our assumption, but we attributed the American Goodyear to the European brands. We understand that this brand cannot be called European, but we took into account its indicators for the team score of Europeans, since it is a brand with a long history. So to speak, a company of the Old World.
Braking on dry asphalt from a speed of 100 km/h
Europe: 36.9 m
Continental PremiumContact 7 35.4 m
Michelin Primacy 4+ 37.4 m
Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 37.9 m
Korea: 38.2 m
Kumho Ecsta HS52 38.1 m
Hankook Ventus Prime4 K135 38.1 m
Nexen N'Fera Primus (SU1 Plus) 38.4 m
China: 38.0 m
Linglong Sport Master (SA220) 37.3 m
Sailun Atrezzo ZSR2 37.7 m
Goodride Solmax1 1 38.9 m
As expected, the European team turned out to be the leaders in braking. Both in team and individual standings. It's worth noting that there is no difference between Chinese and Korean tires. The gap with Europeans is about a meter, which is already significantly less than before. There's no talk of 4-5 meters anymore.
Braking on wet asphalt from a speed of 80 km/h
Europe: 31.0 m
Continental PremiumContact 7 28.5 m
Michelin Primacy 4+ 31.1 m
Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 33.3 m
Korea: 32.9 m
Kumho Ecsta HS52 32.8 m
Hankook Ventus Prime4 K135 32.8 m
Nexen N'Fera Primus (SU1 Plus) 33 m
China: 33.7 m
Linglong Sport Master (SA220) 33.2 m
Sailun Atrezzo ZSR2 32.7 m
Goodride Solmax1 1 35.1
In braking on wet pavement, more technologically advanced tires traditionally win, with a more impressive margin of 2 and 3 meters from other teams. It's necessary to openly acknowledge that thanks to CONTINENTAL, which showed record braking, the result is exactly that. There's nothing surprising about this, since the previous model PremiumContact 6 was very outstanding, so we should expect such a gap from the new one.
Aquaplaning. The speed at which the tire loses contact with the road.
Europe: 75.0 km/h
Continental PremiumContact 7 74 km/h
Michelin Primacy 4+ 75.3 km/h
Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 75.7 km/h
Korea: 74.4 km/h
Kumho Ecsta HS52 73.8 km/h
Hankook Ventus Prime4 K135 74.3 km/h
Nexen N'Fera Primus (SU1 Plus) 75.1 km/h
China: 75.4 km/h
Linglong Sport Master (SA220) 74.2 km/h
Goodride Solmax1 1 75.7 km/h
Sailun Atrezzo ZSR2 76.4 km/h
Aquaplaning is the most important indicator. That's why it was surprising how the Chinese LINGLONG performed at the level of the European CONTINENTAL. The expression that Chinese tires are getting better every year has received excellent confirmation.
Based on the test results, we can make a bold conclusion that tires from Chinese brands have significantly improved and can be safely considered for purchase by our customers.