Many of us focus our tire desires on the hottest, shiniest models–the ones that deliver the fastest laps at the pointy end of the field. But what about the masses who value streetability as much as durability and ultimate pace?
There’s a subset of the Endurance 200 category that can provide exactly that: performance …
Yokohama Advan Neova AD09
As a veteran of several of our recent comparisons, the Yokohama Advan Neova AD09 served nicely as a baseline to properly rank the acquired data from our two newcomers. It’s the latest in a long line of category-leading products that began with 2005’s launch of the AD07.
On the Road: The AD09’s focus on street performance was immediately apparent, as it was the most athletic-feeling of the bunch here. Responsive but not overly so–very natural. And while some washboard surfaces did elicit harshness, elsewhere the ride was typical of a 200tw tire.
On the Track: The AD09 required a lot of steering input and was edgy at the limit–but recovery was quick and intuitive. Taking a full lap to come in, ultimate grip was strong, but that edginess made it hard to hit all of our marks every circuit. You can see this in the lap time progression as we dialed in our driving over the session. Still, the tire itself hung in there, losing no performance throughout.
Audible feedback was ever-present once the tire was up to temp, clearly announcing pushes to the limit. Toward the end of the session, the intensity of the feedback increased as energy built up in the tire.
Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02
Continental has been making one of the best do-it-all tires for many years now. It all began with the ExtremeContact DW back in 2009. The DW stands for Dry-Wet, with its unique molded tread void design featuring an indicator that wears away to signal when the tread is at a depth where wet performance is no longer optimal.
The original DW found a home on performance cars for street duty with occasional track or autocross use. It was also perfect for competition wet use, either on track or around cones. All that excess traction meant it was the tire we chose to install on our kids’ cars to keep them safe in a variety of conditions.
Twice now, Continental has revised that tire with new technology to…
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