What Are The Differences Between The Top Summer Tires In Terms Of Grip?

Summer tires are often an option on sportier cars. But most cars come shod with all-season tires, in part because that rubber is good at what you might face throughout the year. That includes summer heat, winter ice, and all the muck and mire in between. And all-seasons tend to have taller sidewalls that make for a more forgiving ride than lower-profile summer tires. 

But maybe you'd give up comfort for stickier grip. That's why we're looking to the comparison tests at Tire Rack, an online retailer, and Consumer Reports, the products testing and review site. 

While their ratings of best summer tires differ, with Consumer Reports testing 14 models and Tire Rack only evaluating six, both include these five: The Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02, General G-MAX RS, Bridgestone Potenza Sport, and Firestone Firehawk Indy 500. Tire Rack also evaluated the Yokohama ADVAN Apex V601, which Consumer Reports skipped. 

Still, when these tires were evaluated on subjective and objective metrics, such as overall handling, road noise, as well as both wet and dry performance, you get a very tight contest. If you only look at grip, for instance, Tire Rack found the tiniest edge for the Michelin: 1.01g of cornering force versus .99g for the Continental. 

Look beyond any single standard and the picture's more nuanced. In fact, in terms of lap times, the Continental nipped the Michelin in both dry and wet conditions, with the Continental and Yokohama tying for first in Tire Rack's Road Overall Rating. Factor in comfort and predictable stickiness, and there's even more to consider. Here, one dark horse emerged from both Consumer Reports and Tire Rack, and represents a great value, too. 

Even if you daily drive a hot car, like the BMW M2 that Tire Rack used on a race track to test six ultra-high performance and max performance summer tires, it probably has a big advantage over you. Namely, regular access to said race track. 

Luckily, both Tire Rack and Consumer Reports consider other facets of driving performance beyond lap times. For raw grip, we already know the Michelin won that contest by a nose. But one reason Tire Rack cites for the Continental winning on the track in both rainy and dry conditions was that it was predictable, requiring less correction than the Michelin.

But the General G-MAX RS was another overall strong performing tire in both tests. Tire Rack tabulates a "Real World Road Ride Ratings," index, which includes factors such as noise, ride quality, as well as steering and road handling. Judged this way, which is going to be more of what you experience daily, the General scores nearly as well as the winning Continental, especially for ride quality, steering and road handling. While the General comes 10th out of 14 tires in Consumer Reports, CR still recommends it and says it performs well in both wet and dry conditions.

Historically, if there's one constant beef from Formula 1 drivers, it's about tires. What the drivers want — predictability — also translates to street tires. The ideal tire behaves consistently and safely right up to and slightly beyond the limit. Which explains why Tire Rack dings the Bridgestone Potenza Sport for grip loss that's "abrupt," which is definitely not what you want.

By contrast, Tire Rack characterized the Continental's moment of breakaway as "a gentle fade into oversteer," enabling an easy steering correction. The General performed reasonably well, too, letting testers push the tire to its edge and then recover.

But the broader reason that the General's worth considering is that although it doesn't lead in grip or in any single category, it delivers reasonable performance for less money. The $212.99 Continental costs 27% more than the $167.99 General, while the $241.99 Michelin costs 44% more than the General. 

Yes, the Continental is superior. So is the Michelin and even the Yokohama. But if grip isn't your ultimate yardstick and you want to save some money on a great value tire, a set of four General G-MAX RS tires can save you roughly $300 versus the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S. And even if you want to splurge, the Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02 is the better bet and will save you $116 compared to the Michelins.