Wide tyres good for braking, bad for aquaplaning - ADAC test

Munich, Germany - Wide tyres perform better in braking tests than narrow tyres, but narrow tyres are better when it comes to aquaplaning performance. The results may seem common sense, but the repected German Motoring club, ADAC now has figures to prove it.

ADAC took five sizes of Michelin tyre and fitted them to a Kia Cee'd vehicle and then performed six tests, covering wet handling, aquaplaning, dry handling, comfort, noise and rolling resistance.

The narrowest tyre, A Michelin Energy E3A 185/65 R15T produced excellent results in aquaplaning, comfort and noise, but performed badly in wet and dry handling.

The widest tyre, a Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 225/40 R18Y performed very well on the handling cirduit (wet and dry) but badly in the other four tests.

For a good compromise, the mid-range tyre, Michelin's Primacy HP in 205/55 R16V delivered above-average results across the board, except in rolling resistance, where it was average.

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Press release from Source

Eine Frage der Größe (A question of size) ADAC (Germany) German language only