Putting the Avon Tech M500 to the Test

Tires tested:
Goodyear Eagle RS-A High Performance All-Season 205/50R17
Avon Tech M500 Ultra High Performance Summer 225/45R17
Bridgestone Potenza RE750 Ultra High Performance Summer 225/45R17
Yokohama AVS ES100 Ultra High Performance Summer 225/45R17

Vehicles used:
2003 BMW 330Ci

While Avon Tyres may be a new name to many North American drivers, Avon is not new to the tire business - they've been manufacturing automotive tires for over 100 years. Based in Engl&, their global experience with Original Equipment fitments, the replacement market & some of the highest levels of motorsports combines to bring a wealth of experience to the process of developing tires for today's North American driver.

The Tire Rack team conducted a Real World Road Ride & Performance Track Drive to evaluate road manners & h&ling characteristics of the Avon Tech M500 Ultra High Performance Summer tire. We compared it against several popular tires in the category, the Bridgestone Potenza RE750 & the Yokohama AVS ES100.

We used 2003 BMW 330Ci coupes, & installed 225/45R17 tires mounted on 17x8" wheels. This is a common Plus Zero tire & wheel package for the 330Ci coupe, & a popular Plus One package for st&ard 3 Series BMWs. Our evaluation used new, full tread depth tires.

We also included a fourth 2003 BMW 330Ci fitted with the Original Equipment 205/50R17 Goodyear Eagle RS-A High Performance All-Season tires mounted on factory 17x7.0" wheels. We have included this vehicle/tire combination in other tire evaluations, & have found it helpful to have an OE-equipped vehicle to evaluate the impact of installing the other products in the test.

Goodyear Eagle RS-A

The Goodyear Eagle RS-A is a High Performance All-Season tire produced with several speed ratings & in a wide variety of sizes. Its design is heavily influenced by its use as an Original Equipment tire by BMW, Volkswagen, General Motors, Chrysler & others. The Eagle RS-A features a subtle asymmetric tread design with larger tread elements in the outside shoulder intended to deliver more responsive h&ling, cornering, & steering. Smaller tread blocks on the inside shoulder combined with wide tread & lateral grooves are intended to enhance wet & snow traction.

Out on the road, the Eagle RS-A exhibited good road manners, providing levels of ride comfort & road noise that were appropriate for tires in the High Performance All-Season tire category.

While delivering a somewhat smoother ride & less noise than the Ultra High Performance Summer tires in this evaluation, the Eagle RS-A could not match the road h&ling & crisp steering response of the other tires tested.

On the track in the dry, the Eagle RS-A offered h&ling that was appropriate for tires in the High Performance All-Season tire category. The Eagle RS-A has proven it delivers respectable performance when compared to other tires in its own category, but it could not match the sure-footed feel or quick average lap times of the other three Ultra High Performance Summer tires.

Under wet conditions, the Eagle RS-A High Performance All-Season tire proved to be at an even bigger disadvantage. The compromise of its all-season compound & tread design could not match the performance from dedicated designs of the other three Ultra High Performance Summer tires in the test.

Avon Tech M500

The Avon Tech M500 is the Ultra High Performance Summer tire member of Avon Tyres' family of Tech performance tires. The attractively priced Tech M500 is designed to deliver confidence to the drivers of sports cars, sports coupes & performance sedans by providing traction, h&ling & control in dry & wet road conditions.

On the outside, the Tech M500 features a silica-enhanced summer tread compound molded into an asymmetric, five-rib tread design to increase the tread rigidity of the outer half of the tire & help it resist deformation, which increases traction, steering response & cornering stability. The tread design's continuous center rib provides constant rubber-to-road contact to enhance straight line tracking while reducing noise levels. The width & location of the four wide circumferential grooves blend dry road performance with wet weather traction & hydroplaning resistance.

On the inside, the Tech M500 features twin steel belts reinforced by spirally wrapped nylon, along with a carcass that s&wiches a hard sidewall filler between polyester cord plies to help resist distortion at high speeds & while cornering.

Out on the Real World Road Ride, the Tech M500 delivered a nice blend of performance & comfort for tires in the Ultra High Performance Summer category. Compared to the Original Equipment comparison tire, the Tech M500 did feel a bit firmer over the bumps & expansion joints & generated some additional tread noise, as was expected. This moderate tradeoff paid back with crisper h&ling & a more connected feel through the steering wheel, leaving our team feeling they gained more than they lost.

On the dry h&ling course, which is designed to test the limits of performance & simulate what might be experienced during an accident avoidance maneuver, the Tech M500 proved to be comfortable to drive at the limit. Steering response was not quite as crisp as the Yokohama AVS ES100, but the grip level allowed the vehicle to carve nicely through the sweeping turns. In the steady state cornering of our circular skid pad, the vehicle equipped with the Tech M500 quickly settled into a balanced state, with no tendency to over- or under-steer excessively.

Under wet conditions, the Tech M500 continued to inspire confidence with its sure-footed feel. The complete h&ling package was very balanced; steering response was very linear, grip level always equal to responsiveness, & the rear end felt planted under acceleration thru the lane change/slalom. This combination provided faster lap times & greater driver confidence than the OE comparison tire, or the other two Ultra High Performance Summer tires in this test.

Bridgestone Potenza RE750

The Bridgestone Potenza RE750 is an Ultra High Performance Summer tire that was developed to provide traction on wet & dry roads. It uses Bridgestone's UNI-T network of technologies to improve three primary factors of the tire's performance: bead, casing & tread compound.

Inspired by the Bridgestone Potenza racing tire, the Potenza RE750 uses a tread compound designed to enhance dry traction, while its directional tread pattern enhances wet traction & reduces the possibility of hydroplaning. The Potenza RE750 has been engineered to help reduce the possibility of irregular heel/toe & alternate block wear by combining interconnected shoulder blocks with continuous circumferential ribs in the center of the tread design, intended to prevent the road noise generated by irregular wear patterns. Our evaluation used new tires, & did not provide the opportunity to evaluate long-term wear & noise characteristics.

Internally, the Potenza RE750's casing & twin steel belts are reinforced with spirally wound nylon to provide high speed durability while improving ride qualities, along with responsive h&ling & cornering stability.

Out on the road, the modestly firm ride of the Potenza RE750 rewarded our drivers with good steering response. Overall road h&ling received good marks, & noise comfort level was rated as appropriate for tires in this category, but closer to the AVS ES100 than the quieter Tech M500 & Eagle RS-A.

On the test track in the dry, the Potenza RE750 offered a blend of grip & h&ling balance that made it easy to drive at the limit. Steering response was very linear, responding directly to driver inputs.

On the track in the wet, the Potenza RE750 provided smooth, precise steering response & a reasonably large envelope of grip to work with, allowing the driver the confidence to reach for the limits of traction.

Yokohama AVS ES100

The AVS in the Yokohama AVS ES100 radial's name identifies that this tire is a member of Yokohama's Advanced Vehicle System flagship family of performance tires, designed to deliver ultra high performance looks & h&ling.

On the outside, the AVS ES100 features a high-tech, silica tread compound molded into a directional tread design with long tread blocks & a continuous center rib to provide traction, responsive h&ling, & high-speed stability. Its two, wide circumferential center channels & "high angle" lateral tread grooves effectively pump water to the sides of the tire's footprint to enhance wet traction & minimize hydroplaning. Internally, the AVS ES100 features twin steel belts reinforced by jointless, wrapped nylon stabilizing the tread area to elevate h&ling & high-speed capability while minimizing weight. The AVS ES100 radial's polyester cord body & steel wire-reinforced sidewalls help blend ride quality with lateral stability.

Out on the road, our team praised the AVS ES100 for its responsive steering feel & overall h&ling. Ride quality was a bit firm, but not rated as excessively so. Some additional road noise was present, but appropriate for tires in the Ultra High Performance Summer category.

On the test track in the dry, the AVS ES100 felt very much at home. Steering response was rated highly by our team, making the slalom portion of the track easy to negotiate. Lateral grip at the limit was good, with the AVS ES100 easily tracking around the 200' diameter circular skid pad.

On the track in the wet, the AVS ES100 felt somewhat skittish & slippery, limiting its average overall lap times to third overall. The tread pattern's large outside shoulder blocks & durable compound may have helped the ES100 perform in the dry, but also may have proven to hinder wet h&ling performance. Speeds & water depth were not great enough to truly test the tire's ability to resist hydroplaning, which places a greater emphasis on the tread depth & design rather than compound.