BRAKING AND ROLLING RESISTANCE

ALL THREE TYRES ARE RATED ‘A’ for wet grip – the best – and the Bridgestone and Michelin performed well, hauling down from 80kph (50mph) to zero in 34.9 and 35.7m respectively. However, the Continental was in a different league, averaging just 31.9m and bettering the Bridgestone by a full three metres, which is an astonishing amount.

The Continental set the standard in the dry braking test, too, though not as emphatically. Stopping from 100kph (62mph) to zero on warm asphalt took it 33.8m, pipping the second-placed Michelin by just half a metre. The Bridgestone was decent but at 35.8m was a full 2m off the Continental.

For rolling resistance, all three tyres are declared in band ‘C’, the mid-point in the EU labelling, and our tests correlate that. The best tyre is the Michelin, which is at the lower end of the band, while the Bridgestone and Continental are close to the middle of the range.