Inexpensive summer tires test by "Behind the Wheel" — 2026

Tire tests "Behind the Wheel" are back, and this time the Russian magazine conducted tests of inexpensive summer tires from Russian and Chinese developers in the popular size 205/55 R16, suitable for most C-class passenger cars.

The tests included well-known tires to Russian motorists, Cordiant Comfort 2, as well as recently released Bars Solarflexx, which, although produced at the Birinchi Reziniotexnika Zavodi plant in Uzbekistan, were designed by the Russian Ikon Tyres. From the rich assortment of Chinese tires, Triangle Sportex TH201 and Sailun Atrezzo Elite were chosen - both of these brands are among the most popular in the domestic market among Chinese brands - as well as Landsail LS588 UHP from Sentury.

The tests were conducted at an airfield in the stanitsa of Novotitarovskaya near Krasnodar at a temperature from +8 to +18 ºC in conditions of stable dry weather, and during the tests, the tires were installed on a Lada Vesta.

The most important characteristic of summer tires is braking efficiency, and the fastest to stop the car on both dry and wet surfaces were Landsail. Next came Cordiant and Bars, and the lagging behind were Triangle and Sailun, with the Sportex TH201 significantly lagging behind the leader on a wet surface.

In the "turn" discipline, the best in terms of maneuver speed were the same Landsail, while Sailun showed a weak result on dry, and Bars on wet surfaces.

Subjectively, the behavior of the tires during the turn, directional stability, as well as handling on a dry surface at high (90-130 km/h) and low speeds were evaluated, and the Landsail tires this time lost the lead, since they hold the course well on a straight line and respond accurately to the driver's actions at small steering wheel angles, however, then, as the experts noted, "and the already light steering wheel becomes empty, and the obvious understeer abruptly turns into oversteer".

The best in terms of handling were recognized as Bars, which in any situation respond adequately to steering turns, and skidding begins predictably and predictably, and regarding the disadvantages, the testers noted that the tires slightly deviate from the course when braking.

Cordiant require a lot of effort on the steering wheel, and understeer can "somewhat unexpectedly" change to oversteer, while Sailun have a certain tendency to skid on the rear axle when performing high-speed maneuvers, but overall their indicators were recognized as acceptable.

The last line in this part of the test is occupied by Triangle, on which the most significant corrections were required during emergency braking, and, in addition, it turned out that "on the highway and in sharp turns, sharp movements of the steering wheel can provoke a loss of traction of the rear axle".

In the subjective rating for comfort level, the first place was taken by Landsail, which effectively absorb vibrations and were recognized as the quietest among the tested tires, while the noisiest were Bars, the hum of which, as they said in ZR, cannot be ignored, especially when slowing down from 90-100 km/h.

Sailun and Triangle are not as noisy, but they have clearly reduced shock absorption qualities, which primarily applies to Sportex TH201.

Fuel efficiency was evaluated in two modes, and on the highway, Landsail and Sailun showed themselves best in this regard, and in the city - Sailun. The last line in both cases is occupied by Cordiant.

Verdict

The first place in the overall test was taken by the Landsail LS588 UHP tires, which not only outperformed all their competitors but also, according to the ZR rating, were able to receive an "Excellent" rating. The Landsail tires have high traction during braking and emergency maneuvering in any conditions, however, their behavior in certain situations was called "ambiguous", so it is necessary to improve the stability of handling.

Silver is awarded to Bars Solarflexx, which always behave calmly and reliably, although it would be possible to increase traction during maneuvering on a wet road, and besides, the tires in the test became the worst in terms of acoustic comfort due to the audible hum.

Cordiant Comfort 2 were presented in 2018, but, as the experts noted, they still show quite decent results: the tires have very balanced characteristics, and the only drawback can be considered increased rolling resistance.

The Sailun Atrezzo Elite tires were released a few years earlier than Cordiant, and in their case, age is already making itself felt, and the testers noted that handling is generally good, but the tires have a hard ride and "modest grip" on dry surfaces.

Triangle Sportex TH201 did not reach the "Good" rating and were recognized as "mediocre", and the claims were both to traction and handling, as well as to the level of comfort. However, these are also not new tires, and a model of the next generation is available under the name Triangle EffeXSport TH202.

Source: "Behind the Wheel". Photo: "Behind the Wheel" / Yan Segal