If you’re serious about your driving, tyres ought to be a considered choice, not a distress purchase based mainly on price. Every dynamic characteristic of your car, from the quality of its steering feel to its ultimate cornering grip, depends on its tyres. It really does pay to fit the best, and that’s what this test aims to find.

Having tested 17in tyres on the rear-drive Mazda MX-5 earlier in the year (evo 146), this time we’ve chosen to test with front-wheel drive and the 235/35 R19. This is the second biggest-selling size in this diameter and is used by a number of front-drive cars specified with 19in rims, including VW’s Golf and Scirocco and the SEAT Leon.

Once again we’ve used the excellent facilities at the Contidrom near Hannover in Germany, the principal proving ground of Continental Tyres in Europe. As well as measuring the performance of the tyres objectively we will also make subjective assessments of their performance and characteristics – how they make the car feel.

The tyre that performs best in each test will be rated at 100 per cent and the rest will earn a percentage of this. Subjective assessment makes up 40 per cent of the total score, with measured tests and price making up the rest. The winning tyre is simply the one with the highest percentage score.

The test car

The Renaultsport Mégane 250 Cup is a very capable, crisp-handling hatch. Its front tyres do most of the work, aided by the limited-slip differential that comes with the Cup chassis, and the steering has an uncorrupted feel thanks to front suspension designed to reduce the torque reaction you might expect with 247bhp and 251lb ft. The rears play a crucial part too, though, particularly in on-limit behaviour.