Maxxis Premitra HP5 High Performance Tyre Collection Page

What it is built to do

A performance road tyre for hatches and saloons that get driven properly, built to grip in the wet without giving up comfort.

Maxxis builds the Premitra HP5 around a full silica tread cap, which is the compound choice that buys wet traction and braking, on an asymmetric tread with a centre rib for steering stability and four main grooves to clear water. A sound reduction bar in the tread and curved shoulder blocks are there for cabin comfort, and the sidewall carries a rim protector. Tyre Reviews classes it as an ultra high performance summer tyre; in New Zealand that means a year round road tyre for a car that is driven hard, not a track tyre and not an SUV tyre. We list it in 205/60R16 96V.

The test record, including the bad bit

Most tyres at this price have never been in an instrumented comparison test. The HP5 has been in 35 of them between 2017 and 2024, against Continental, Michelin, Goodyear, Bridgestone and Pirelli, and it averages ninth. That is a more useful number than any brochure line.

The good bit is the wet. Across the 26 tests that measured wet braking, the HP5 stopped 4.1 percent longer than the premium tyres, 0.4 percent longer than the mid range ones and 6.3 percent shorter than the budget ones. Tyre Reviews' own 2020 summer test in 205/55R16 placed it eighth of twelve and gave it a Recommended award, and the ACE mid range test the same year put it first of nine in 215/55R17. Owners rate dry grip highest at 8.3 out of 10 and wet grip 7.5.

The bad bit is wear and noise. The latest test, Auto Zeitung 2024 in 225/45R17, placed it eighth of nine: strong in straight line aquaplaning, marked down for noise and rolling resistance. Owners rate wear lowest at 6.3 out of 10, and the recurring complaints are faster wear than expected, a drop in wet grip and steering once the tread is half gone, and noise on coarse surfaces, which describes most New Zealand roads. We would rather say so here than have you find out.

Read the label for your size, not for the pattern

The European label is measured size by size, so the same tread can grade differently on a different casing. These are the grades on our listings on 22 September 2026. Across the 127 sizes Maxxis registers, the most common label is C for fuel, A for wet grip and 70 decibels, but yours may differ.

Where the Premitra HP5 fits and where it does not