2018 Wheels Tyre Test: Slalom

The swerve-and-recover test, or slalom – just like the skiing event – is an efficient way to gather meaningful data on a tyre’s transient grip level in less than 10 seconds. Across more than 50 runs (including control-tyre stints), Renato only spun the ESC-disabled Commodore once – a 180-degree slide wearing the Momo tyres before they’d been scrubbed in properly.

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Yet there was plenty of oversteer action as each brand-new set of tyres had their surfaces scuffed to enable the tabulation of consistent, meaningful results. A tyre’s slalom performance reflects its real-world ability to swerve to avoid an obstacle, however the feedback it gives us about confidence-inspiring feel, well-telegraphed handling responses – or otherwise – as well as steering consistency is invaluable.

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The GT Radial’s victory here was undisputed – it was more than 0.2sec ahead of second place – though barely a whisker separated the next five positions, and the top seven all matched or bettered the 5.99sec average. The BFGoodrich put in an unremarkable performance, despite its “consistent, predictable feel on the limit”, whereas the quicker Nexen felt a bit vague at the helm and “didn’t feel like it suited the car.”

At the lower end, the Vitora demonstrated “good slide warning on the limit”, while the even slower Momo gave “no slide awareness whatsoever”, with “very little warning of its limit of lateral grip”.

RESULTS

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GT Radial Sport Active - Winner

“Very quick in the slalom, even when brand new on scrubbing runs,” read Renato’s notes, which were backed up by the data. The GT Radial was convincingly quicker than the rest of the field, but it also impressed with its “all-round great driving performance and very consistent feel”, and was a tyre that allowed the driver to easily feel the limits of grip. The silver-medallist Hankook also garnered praise for being “super consistent” and “very direct and communicative”, while the Falken felt “immediately grippy on the slalom, with almost no sliding whatsoever (without serious provocation)”.