TYRE 2024 TEST

Want to fit the very best tyres to your performance car? The annual evo Tyre Test identifies the cream of the current crop

- JOHN BARKER

THE EVO TYRE TEST HAS A NEW LOOK FOR 2024. It's as thorough as ever, combining objective test results with subjective assessment of each tyre's qualities, but presented in a way that we believe makes the information easier to find and digest.

The scoring remains as it was, including its weighting towards wet performance because you're more likely to find the limit of a tyre on slippery roads.

The subject of this year's test is the popular 235/35 R19. The field includes the top three from our previous test of this size, in 2022: the winning Bridgestone Potenza Sport, second-placed Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport and third-placed Pirelli P Zero.

However, in such a competitive sector of the market tyre makers keep evolving their offerings, so the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S, Continental SportContact 7 and Falken Azenis FK520 can't be discounted, and nor can the new Vredestein Ultrac Pro, which competes in this important size for the first time.

THE CAR

A car with communicative, adjustable handling and good feedback is important for our tests given the value we attach to subjective assessment, so while a Golf Mk8 was used for the objective tests, we used a more tactile Mk7 Golf GTI for the handling tests and the road route. This example was usefully fitted with super-supportive bucket race seats, all the better to feel what was going on at the tread blocks.

THE TRACK