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Summer tyre review: Continental PremiumContact 6

You only have to look at the two braking test results to see why some people say motorists should change tyres with the seasons

You only have to look at the two braking test results to see why some people say motorists should change tyres with the seasons. In the dry, the PremiumContact 6 stopped a massive seven metres before the winning winter tyre; the gap over the worst tyre was 10 metres. Our wet-test temperatures favoured the summer tyre, where it enjoyed a three-metre advantage over the best winter, and seven over the last-placed design.

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These are significant differences, but nothing like the winter tyre’s advantage on snow, where it has two to three times the Contact 6’s grip. For optimum performance it has to be summer tyres for summer, and winter for winter.

Overall94%
Snow braking45.60%
Snow traction37.80%
Snow circle61.70%
Snow handling60.70%
Straight aquaplaning94.90%
Curved aquaplaning93.10%
Wet braking116.30%
Wet handling95.30%
Wet circle100.50%
Dry braking119.70%
Dry handling101.60%
Rolling resistance93%
Cabin noise92.40%
Price£92.57
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Products editor

Kim has worked for Auto Express for more than three decades and all but a year of that time in the Products section. His current role as products editor involves managing the section’s content and team of testers plus doing some of the tests himself. 

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