2015 European Tyre Test 205/55 R16

The 2015 European tyre test by the German organisations ADAC and Stiftung Warentest is here, and this time it's a little more interesting than usual.

This year testing 205/55 R16, ADAC made their annual tyre test a little more in-depth by including a number of "low rolling resistance" ECO tyres. These tyres are designed to use less fuel than normal tyres, with a little trade in dry and wet grip.

Unfortunately for those of us looking to save a few pound on the annual fuel bill, not one of the ECO tyres offered a balance of performance ADAC were happy with, and they finished in the final five places. While all the tyres offered slightly improved rolling resistance scores, the trade off in wet grip wasn't worth the small saving.

While the ECO Michelin Energy Saver+ could only manage 15th place due to a poor wet performance, it's sister tyre, the Michelin Primacy 3, won the test by a large margin thanks to an excellent performance in the dry, wet, the best wear score and low rolling resistance.

The usual suspects filled places two to five, with Bridgestone making a suprise return to the top six with the Turenza T001 - apparently Bridgestone have finally got on top of the wet performance issues their tyres have faced in the past.