A tyre that’s great on a hatchback or a saloon will be just as good on an SUV, right?
Well, not necessarily. Faced with the challenges posed by SUV design, some brands perform better than others.
In particular, tyres for SUVs have to deal with their greater height. This may not seem a big deal, but a taller vehicle means a higher centre of gravity. That in turn increases the forces on the tyre whenever the vehicle corners or brakes.
Then there’s the weight. SUVs are notoriously lardy, which contributes to poorer fuel efficiency and greater emissions, and also places far more stress on tyres.
All of which begs the question — if you want a great tyre for your SUV, what should you go for?
A proper tyre comparison
To find the answer, you could look at buyers’ reviews – but there are all sorts of problems with those. Reviewers have their own loyalties and usually aren’t very systematic in their assessments.
What you need, then, is a proper test, under controlled conditions, carriesd out by driving experts. And fortunately, that’s exactly what Auto Express did back in the summer.
They compared seven contenders, looking carefully at:
- Wet Performance, including braking, handling and aquaplaning.
- Dry performance, inclduing braking and lap times.
- Cabin noise at 32 and 50mph.
- Fuel economy.
They then converted the rankings into a final score.
And the winner is…
Out of the seven tyres tested, their overall winner was the Bridgestone Turanza T005.
It didn’t beat its competitiors in every single measure (this is pretty rare in tyre tests), but it did enough to clinch the overall top spot. One area where it did excel was fuel economy, “winning by a clear margin in a key area for the heavyweight cars.”It also won the dry performance test and came a close second in the wet.
The Turanza T005 has been around since 2018 and has garnered a lot of online praise from users.
BK Tyres can supply and fit competitively priced Turanza Too5s to your SUV — and for maximum convenience, we fit them at your home or place of work.
Simply enter your correct tyre size in our Bridgestone range and look for the Turanza T005 — alternatively, get in touch and we can help.
Plenty of other good options
Just because the Bridgestone came out on top doesn’t mean that other brands are rubbish. Other brands performed very competently, even beating the T005 in certain categories. The Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 SUV and Continental PremiumContact 6 had particularly strong showings, placing second and third.
With thanks to Auto Express – we encourage you to check out their full report.
The BK Tyres blog carries news, views and information on tyres and related subjects. BK Tyres supplies and fits tyres throughout South Oxfordshire, including the communities of Abingdon, Didcot and Henley on Thames. As an independent, family run mobile provider, we provide exceptional levels of service and affordable prices. Contact us today.