Bridgestone Turanza T005 vs Continental Premium Contact 6: We saw previously how well the latest Michelin Pilot Sport 5 performed against Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 in our previous head to head coverage. This time around we would like to bring out the other 2 premium tire manufacturers in the form of Bridgestone’s Turanza T005 & Continental’s Premium Contact 6. Premium Contact 6 is a fairly old tire as it was launched in 2016 and has participated in a huge number of press tests over the years. Turanza T005 on the other hand was launched in 2018 and has also achieved success in the press test circuit over the years. Without further ado, let’s put them head to head and see who comes out on top !
Table of Contents
Results
Results below were taken from the 2022 Tyre Reviews 17 Inch Summer Tyre Test. A total of 9 tires were tested on the Goodyear’s track in France. The graph below shows the comparison between Bridgestone Turanza T005 vs Continental Premium Contact 6 based on the relevant performance category. The Turanza T005 was set as a reference hence at the 100% mark.
Note that for subjective comfort evaluation, we equate 1 point as 5%. Hence for example if tire A is graded 7 while tire B is graded 6, A is better than B by 5%. The tire size of interest is 225/45 R17 which is a common tire size for Audi A3 and Hyundai Elantra. You can check out our latest tire size table for more information. The testing vehicle of choice is the highly sporty Volkswagen Golf GTI.
Dry
One of the most important performances when it comes to the ultra ultra high performance segment is to have a very strong dry showing. In dry braking, Premium Contact 6 managed to out brake Turanza T005 by 0.6m. Both tires finished in the middle pack when it came to the leaderboard standings. Premium Contact 6 really shines when it comes to dry handling by topping the charts as it was 2.4 seconds faster compared to Turanza T005. When it came to the subjective scores, things were really torn out of proportion as Premium Contact 6 was rated +2.5 points better than Turanza T005.
Premium Contact 6:
I had my suspicions it was the Conti when testing as it had excellent dynamic steering with a nice weight, really quick sharp reactions, and great levels of grip across the three laps. The Premium Contact 6 might be getting on in its years, but it’s still totally fabulous as a dry handling tire!
Test driver feedback on Premium Contact 6
Turanza T005:
Had high levels of understeer, once they were sliding they took a long time to recover, and it gave up all their grip on the first lap then started getting too hot and lost about a second a lap.
Test driver feedback on Turanza T005
Overall from the results, it is clear that Premium Contact 6 dominated the dry category !
Premium Contact 6:
- +1.8% in dry braking
- +2.6% in dry handling (lap time)
- +12.5% in subj dry handling
Wet
Safety has always been the main theme when it comes to the need for wet performances. In objective wet braking, the Premium Contact 6 once again took the initiative by out braking Turanza T005 by 3.7m. Premium Contact 6 finished 2nd in the wet braking leaderboard just behind Hankook Ventus S1 evo 3. Similar trend followed in aquaplaning as Premium Contact 6 had a better slipping speed of 85.7 km/h against Turanza T005’s 83.67km/h.
With such dominating performance in objective wet, we would expect Premium Contact 6 to continue its dominance in wet handling. However this was proven not true as Turanza T005 was 0.77 seconds faster in terms of lap time while having a higher subjective wet handling rating of +0.5 point compared to Turanza T005. Overall, Premium Contact 6 showed a clear advantage in objective wet while Turanza T005 has a slight edge when it comes to wet handling.
Premium Contact 6:
- +12.3% in wet braking
- -1.2% in wet handling (lap time)
- -2.5% in subj wet handling
- +2.4% in straight aquaplaning
Noise & Comfort
In the noise vibration & hardness criteria, Turanza T005 was the best comfort tire with a maximum subjective rating of 10/10 while Premium Contact 6 only managed a 8.5/10 score. In exterior noise, Premium Contact 6 was 1 dB quieter than Turanza T005. This is definitely something that you should consider if noise is one of your main requirements.
Premium Contact 6:
- -7.5% in comfort
- +1.4% in exterior noise (+1 dB)
Rolling Resistance
When it comes to extreme sporty tires, rolling resistance is definitely not something the user has in mind when purchasing the tire. However with the sustainability topic being more prevalent, it is good to know where they stand. This is where we witness the biggest percentage margin as Turanza T005 was way better with a rolling resistance coefficient of 7.01 N/kN against 9.06 N/kN of Premium Contact 6. As pointed out in the test notes, Turanza T005 is a touring segment tire which understandably has a higher requirements in rolling resistance than a ultra high performance tire.
Premium Contact 6:
- -22.6% in rolling resistance
Price
Tire price for both tires are as below:
Tire size: 225/45 R17
Premium Contact 6: €86
Turanza T005: €91
Difference: -6% more cheaper for Premium Contact 6.
Summary
Overall, Premium Contact 6 showed great strengths in wet, dry objective & noise while Turanza T005 was good in wet handling, comfort & rolling resistance. As mentioned earlier, as we are comparing 2 different segments it is hard to determine a winner. If wet & dry performances are your top priority, Premium Contact 6 would be perfect. However if rolling resistance and comfort is required, Turanza T005 would be recommended.