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Dunlop SP Sport Maxx 050 vs Michelin Primacy 4

Dunlop Sport Maxx 050 vs Michelin Primacy 4 [H2H Test Data]

Here are the key stats for the Dunlop SP Sport Maxx 050 and Michelin Primacy 4 tyres, at a glance.
SP Sport Maxx 050Primacy 4
Vehicle SuitabilityPassengerPassenger
Driving StyleMax Performance SummerPremium Touring Summer
SeasonSummerSummer
Release Date20102017
Run Flat?NoNo
Overall ScoreN/A84/100

Pricing

Enter your tyre size below to see the best prices for your specific size (if unsure, check placard on the driver's side door or your existing tyres).

Dunlop SP Sport Maxx 050 vs Michelin Primacy 4 in Australia

The SP Sport Maxx 050 has been around in Australia for about 14 years, whereas the Primacy 4 has been on the market for about 7 years

The SP Sport Maxx 050 is rated for max performance summer action, however the Primacy 4 tyres are classified as premium touring summer. Both tyres are designed for use with regular passenger (non-SUV) vehicles.

Both of these are considered summer tyres. Neither of them are runflat tyres. Both brands are considered to be in the premium part of the market.

Read on to see how each of these tyres stack up against each other!

How We Reviewed These Tyres

Unlike the Australian government, the European Union carries out standardised tests on all tyres sold in Europe. These tests are carried out in identical conditions, making them a reliable way to compare tyres.

For this review, we use averaged results from tests done on 127 sizes of these tyres by the European Union.

Fuel Efficiency

EU Grade
(A - E)
Compared to an A grade tyre?
SP Sport Maxx 050D0.3L/100km extra fuel consumption. ~$65 extra per year
Primacy 4C0.2L/100km extra fuel consumption. ~$36 extra per year

The US Department of Energy estimates that around 25% of the fuel consumption of a vehicle is attributable to the tyres. That's a lot, and it means that choosing fuel efficient tyres can save you quite a bit of money.

The SP Sport Maxx 050 tyres rank a D on a scale of A to E in the official fuel efficiency tests carried out by the EU (they call these rolling resistance tests).

The Primacy 4 tyres get a grade of C.

Expect the lower grade tyre to consume an extra 0.1L/100km. This works out to $29 extra spent on petrol per year, based on a typical 12,000 km driven per year.

Here's a graph comparing the SP Sport Maxx 050 and Primacy 4 tyres for fuel efficiency (1 = Grade E, 5 = Grade A).

Grip & Handling

EU Grade
(A - E)
Compared to an A grade tyre?
SP Sport Maxx 050B2.5 metre greater stopping distance when braking at 80km/h
Primacy 4AThis is an A grade tyre for wet grip

We'll now take a look at how these tyres compare in terms of grip and handling.

A good measure of this is 'wet grip', which is an indication of how well the tyres will allow the vehicle to come to a stop in wet conditions.

The SP Sport Maxx 050 tyres rank a B on a scale of A to E in the official fuel tests carried out by the EU.

The Primacy 4 tyres, on the other hand, get a grade of A.

Expect the lower graded tyres to require about an extra 3 metres to come to a complete stop when braking at 80km/h.

Here's a graph comparing the SP Sport Maxx 050 and Primacy 4 tyres for wet grip (1 = Grade E, 5 = Grade A).

Noise

EU Grade
(A - C)
Compared to an A grade tyre?
SP Sport Maxx 050A (68.6 dB)This is an A grade tyre for noise
Primacy 4B (69.0 dB)2 times as noisy

Another key factor to consider when choosing a tyre is road noise. Once you're over about 40 km/h, the dominant source of noise you hear is from the contact of your tyres on the road.

There is a surprisingly wide variation in the amount of noise each tyre makes.

The SP Sport Maxx 050 tyres produce 68.6 dB of road noise, which corresponds to a rank of A on a scale of A to C in the standardised testing done by the EU.

On the other hand, the Primacy 4 tyres produce 69.0 dB of road noise, which means a grade of B.

Expect the lower graded tyre to produce about 1.3 times as much noise as the higher grade tyre (the decibel scale is logarithmic).

Here's a visual representation of how the SP Sport Maxx 050 and Primacy 4 tyres stack up for noise (1 = Grade C, 3 = Grade A).

Comfort

Based on the results of a number of tyre benchmarks, the Primacy 4 scores 5 out of 5 for comfort. We don't have any comfort data for the SP Sport Maxx 050 tyres.

UTQG Data

Introduced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the USA, the Uniform Tire Grading System (UTQG), is a system for comparing one tyre product to another on the basis of some standardised tests.

SP Sport Maxx 050Primacy 4
Treadwear280340
Traction
(AA - C)
AA
Temperature Resistance
(A - C)
AA

Treadwear

As per the UTQG guidelines, the SP Sport Maxx 050 tyres have a treadwear rating of 280, whereas the Primacy 4 tyres have a rating of 340. This means that the SP Sport Maxx 050 tyres will theoretically last only 82% as long as the Primacy 4 tyres.

Traction

The UTQG system measures traction as straight-line braking in dry conditions. The scale is AA, A, B, C, with AA being the best grade, and C the worst.

As per the, the SP Sport Maxx 050 and Primacy 4 tyres both have a traction grading of A.

Temperature Resistance

The UTQG temperature resistance tests measure how well tyres can dissipate heat that builds up due to friction with the road. The scale is A, B, C, with A being the highest grade.

As per the UTQG system of tyre grading, the SP Sport Maxx 050 and Primacy 4 tyres both have a temperature resistance grading of A.

Warranty

The Primacy 4 tyres have a warranty of 6 years. There is no time-based warranty available for the SP Sport Maxx 050.

Comparisons With Similar Tyres

Still on the fence about these tyres? Check out how they compare to other similar tyres on the market in Australia!

Summary

Let's now take a look at the main differences between these two sets of tyres.

For fuel efficiency, SP Sport Maxx 050 score a grade of D, which is below average. Primacy 4 end up with a grade of C, which is more or less average.

More important is the wet grip, which gives you an indication of their traction and handling. In this regard, SP Sport Maxx 050 get a score of B, which is above average. Primacy 4 end up with a grade of A, which is outstanding.

More important is the wet grip, which gives you an indication of their traction and handling. In this regard, SP Sport Maxx 050 get a score of A, which is excellent. Primacy 4 end up with a grade of B, which is about typical.

The SP Sport Maxx 050 tyres have a UTQG treadwear rating of 280, whereas the Primacy 4 tyres have a rating of 340.This means that you can expect the SP Sport Maxx 050 to last only 82% as long as the Primacy 4 tyres.

The SP Sport Maxx 050 have a UTQG traction grading of A, while the Primacy 4 tyres having a grading of A.

The SP Sport Maxx 050 have a UTQG temperature grading of A, while the Primacy 4 tyres having a grading of A.

Full Size List (click to show)

Below is a list of all 21 sizes of the SP Sport Maxx 050, and all 143 sizes of the Primacy 4 tyres sold in Australia, sorted by tyre width.

SP Sport Maxx 050 Sizes

Size
215/55 R18 95H
225/45 R17 91W
225/55 R17 97V
225/35 R18 90Y
225/50 R18 95V
225/60 R18 100H
225/50 R18 95W
235/40 R19 96Y XL
235/45 R18 94Y
235/65 R18 106V
235/60 R18 103H
235/55 R20 102V
245/45 R19 98Y
245/45 R19 102Y
245/40 R19 94W
245/40 R21 96Y
255/35 R18 90Y
255/40 R19 96Y
265/35 R19 94W
265/35 R19 94Y
275/35 R21 99Y

Primacy 4 Sizes

Size
165/65 R15 81T
175/65 R15 84H
185/50 R16 81H
185/60 R15 88H XL
185/65 R15 88T
185/65 R15 92T XL
185/65 R15 88H
185/60 R15 84H
185/55 R15 82V
185/60 R15 84T
195/55 R15 85V
195/60 R18 96H XL
195/60 R17 90W
195/65 R16 92V
195/55 R16 91V XL
195/60 R15 88H
195/60 R15 88V
195/50 R15 82V
195/55 R16 87H
195/55 R16 87V
195/65 R15 91V
195/55 R16 87T
195/45 R16 84V XL
195/55 R16 87W
195/65 R15 95H XL
195/65 R15 91H
195/55 R16 91T XL
205/55 R16 94V XL
205/55 R16 94H XL
205/50 R17 89V
205/60 R16 92V
205/45 R16 83W
205/55 R17 95V XL
205/45 R16 83H
205/55 R19 97V XL
205/50 R17 93H XL
205/65 R15 94H
205/55 R17 91W
205/45 R17 88V XL
205/55 R17 95W XL
205/55 R16 91H
205/55 R19 97H XL
205/65 R15 94V
205/60 R16 92H
205/55 R16 91W
205/60 R16 96W XL
205/55 R16 91V
205/50 R17 93W XL
205/55 R17 91V
205/60 R16 92W
205/60 R16 96H XL
205/50 R17 93V XL
205/45 R17 88H XL
205/60 R16 96V
205/60 R16 96V XL
215/55 R18 99V XL
215/55 R17 94W
215/65 R16 102H XL
215/45 R17 91W XL
215/45 R17 87W
215/55 R16 93W
215/55 R16 97W XL
215/55 R16 93V
215/50 R17 91W
215/50 R18 92W
215/60 R16 99H XL
215/60 R16 95H
215/50 R17 95W XL
215/60 R17 96V
215/65 R16 102H
215/65 R17 103V XL
215/60 R16 95V
215/45 R17 91V XL
215/55 R17 94V
215/60 R16 99V XL
215/55 R17 98W XL
215/60 R17 96H
215/65 R17 99V
225/50 R16 92W
225/55 R18 102Y XL
225/45 R17 91Y
225/45 R17 94W XL
225/50 R17 98Y XL
225/60 R17 99V
225/55 R17 101W XL
225/55 R16 95W
225/45 R18 95Y XL
225/50 R17 94Y
225/60 R16 102W XL
225/45 R17 94Y XL
225/55 R17 97Y
225/50 R18 99W XL
225/45 R17 91V
225/55 R18 102V XL
225/55 R17 101V XL
225/50 R17 94W
225/40 R18 92Y XL
225/55 R17 101Y XL
225/55 R16 99W XL
225/65 R17 102H
225/45 R17 91W
225/55 R16 99Y XL
225/45 R18 95W XL
225/45 R17 94V XL
225/55 R17 97W
225/50 R17 94V
225/50 R17 98W XL
225/50 R17 98V XL
235/55 R18 100W
235/40 R19 96W XL
235/50 R18 101Y XL
235/55 R17 103W XL
235/45 R20 100V XL
235/55 R18 100V
235/55 R18 104V XL
235/60 R17 102V
235/60 R18 103V
235/45 R18 98Y XL
235/45 R18 98W XL
235/45 R17 94W
235/40 R18 91W
235/45 R17 97W XL
235/50 R18 97V
235/50 R19 103V XL
235/55 R17 99V
235/50 R18 101H XL
235/55 R17 103Y XL
235/45 R17 94Y
235/55 R19 105W XL
245/40 R18 97Y XL
245/45 R17 99Y XL
245/40 R18 93H
245/45 R19 102V XL
245/45 R17 99W XL
245/45 R18 96W
245/45 R18 100W XL
245/45 R18 100Y XL
255/40 R19 100W XL
255/40 R18 99Y XL
255/45 R18 99Y
255/50 R18 106Y XL
255/45 R20 105V XL
255/45 R20 101V
Louis from Tyre Geek

Louis

I'm Louis, an engineer passionate about helping Australians choose better tyres for their vehicles!