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Who likes or dislikes Continental Tires?

11K views 21 replies 18 participants last post by  2442 
#1 ·
I've read lots of comments on the forum about replacing those horrible Cont tires. I've got the OEM 175's on all four and less than 10K on the car. Being a very moderate, fair weather, driver I can't see anything wrong with them...but then I have had no other tires to compare. My 07 Altima has Conti's with over 40K and still looking good. No complaints with them. This is being asked just out of curiosity.

Will some of you more knowledgable chime in on this subject as I know lots of you have/are running diff brands.
 
#2 ·
Here's the skinny from Tire Rack.

Opinions on tires are like a lot of things - very subjective. Personally, I've got nothing against the OEM Contis. Considering the capabilities of the stock fortwo, they are fine. Had the chance to push them hard in the rain at the first Outsmarting the Dragon and they held their own without any scary surprises. Good bang for the buck IMHO. :)
 
#4 ·
Will some of you more knowledgable chime in on this subject as I know lots of you have/are running diff brands.
Most of those who are talking down the Continentals likely have modded their smart (to include suspension changes) and were looking to get rid of the factory (pigeon-toed) staggered wheel setup.



IMHO, Continentals are O.K. but on such a light vehicle will likely last upwards of 40K. While we are running the factory setup, two years later they remain (boringly) only O.K. and I would welcome a lower profile performance tire.

When you look at changing out the wheels/tires at all four corners you get into a myriad of questions - wheel size, width, offset combined with tire width and profile. Add to that a rather short list of brands making tires for our niche vehicle and there may not be a "right" decision process.

Then it becomes a "bling" decision - zero in on a wheel design of your choice then choose your tire from the short list of available tread designs and rubber compounds.

Then again, as a "moderate, fair weather, driver" you can drive them another 30k and postpone that decision and expense another couple years.
 
#5 ·
I'm a Fan

FWIW, I've got a fair number of years of gymkhana and rallye driving under my belt. I'm no Ken Block, but I know how to throw a car around a corner in "spirited fashion." I've had my Cabrio flying around some corners in the Lost Coastline of Humbolt County, CA and in the Tennessee mountains that would make the Dragon of Deal's Gap look like the bloody Bonneville Salt Flats, and I'm here to tell ya the bone-stock Contis aquitted themselves just fine. I'm running them at 32-34psi on all four corners, and still have the OEM staggered sizes on the car, with almost no complaints. This, after pushing the car hard enough around the Lost Coast near Petrolia and the PCH to have left bruises on my shoulder from the seatbelts.

Conti has nothing to apologize for, with respect to the OEM shoes on our cars. I'm due for another set of tires now, at ~26,000 miles, but the way I drive, I'm not surprised or disappointed in the least.
 
#6 ·
Looking for alternatives

I really don't like the sidewalls. They are too loose for me. The problem is I can't find anyone other than Conti that makes the 155's. ( and no, I'm not trying to bling-up the car. The wife won't stand for that.)

Does ANYONE know of alternatives to the Contis???
 
#7 ·
Continentals in general? They don't have the reputation of Michelin or Pirelli, or even Bridgestone or Yokohama, but they are good tires, especially for the money. OEM on almost all German cars; they came on my M3, E-class, and 997. Replaced them with another set on all three cars when the time came, and that included plenty of track time with the M3 and 997. On the E-class they lasted 45k miles, and that was using the nearly 400lb/ft of torque on a regular basis.

The Continentals on the smart? Different story. Very different model of tire with no performance pretentions whatsoever; they are made to be long lasting, ride well, and probably have low rolling resistance for decent EPA numbers. If I keep my smart, I will upgrade them to something more sporting and meaty.
 
#8 ·
I'm a hard driver and no complaints here. I really had great experiences with X-Fusion tires on my VW (they are Bridgestone's off-brand) but since they don't make it for the smart, I'm just sticking with the conti's. They have lasted a long time so far (coming up on 30,000 and the fronts are still fine, rears were replaced after SmartMadness found an iffy repair job from a flat I'd had before. These aren't performance tires, but with wheels this skinny/small, I wouldn't expect them. If you want grippy tires then you'll need to get some 17's on there and go low-profile.
 
#9 ·
The Eco-contact is a hard-wearing, low rolling-resistance tire made specifically for fuel economy and long life. Its design and compounds are not optimized for traction or handling, or really even for ride comfort.

I demand more traction and compliance (safety, basically) from my car's tires than these OEM eco-tires provide.

My $0.02
 
#10 ·
had no issues with the Continentals on my smart, but on the Pontiac G6 I had, they were terrible. I found that they lacked traction in the wet and after sitting for a day or two, would be 'flat-spotted' and would take a few miles to smooth them out. :(

after checking 'tirerack.com', I think MY next tires will be the General Altimax's, as they have a great rating and are priced really reasonable. :)
 
#14 ·
The Tweel is a long way away, at least according to Michellin. The initial application is in industrial situations, where heat and physical damage to the tire is common. Such applications as very large front end loaders used in the slag areas of steel mills are an ideal application for them, as the loader's tires in that application are very large (15' diameter or larger), exposed to extreme temperatures (the hot slag being handled) through materials that are very abrasive as well (small particles of the hot slag). In such applications, where expense is secondary to preventing downtime of critical path equipment, they are already cost-effective.

The inside figure I was given for them to be available for automotive applications is ten years down the pike. Maybe if you offer to pony up for a full production run (circa 50,000 units or so), they might see it differently...
 
#16 ·
It is weird that there are so few tires available. I got the Blizzaks for the winter, along with some new chains, and they are great! They run smoother and quieter than the OEM Contis.

I would like to get a nice set of Bridgestone or Pirelli performance tires for the summer but they only have ths standard OEM All-season tires.

Anyone else find anything out there?

DR
 
#18 ·
Thaks ulflyer.

I am not quite ready yet myself as I had some snow tires on for a few months. I will check out what others are doing in the other forums as well and see what I find.

With the Smart being in more than 35 countries, I am sure some others have already investigated this.

DR
 
#19 ·
Conti's not bad, but....

The Conti's are not bad, but I bought two rear rims, and put the back on the front, and bought two 205/50/15's for the rear. I wanted Generals, but they were back ordered. I got Gt Champerios from Tires Easy.

Ride is much better,, bumps are handled better, and it handles the gears better, first does not shift until I am through the corner, not in the middle.

It was expensive, $$350 to $400 for tires and rims, but I can sell (and am selling) one tire and rim, and now have a spare tire.

Getting a bag for the spare from the NJ Bag Lady.




Saved the front tire and rim as a spare.
 
#20 ·
That is interesting. I had heard of people changing tire sizes (usually on the front) and then not being able to get the car to move at all. It had to do with the circumference being different, or maybe it is the ratio from the rear circumference to the front circumference.?

Did you experience any of that in your tests?

DR
 
#21 ·
At about 17 or 18k I started noticing tire noise at low speed on smooth blacktop. I had read of other people with the same complaint and said they noticed inside corner wear. Checked mine out and sure enough that was the culprit....not all that noticible to the eye, but if you rub your hand over them, forward, then backward, you can easily feel the little cupped portions between each sipe.Take them to a shop and have them turned inside out and the noise goes away. Hopefully until the tire is worn out. Don't know it this is a characteristic of the tire, the car, or both. But it seems to happen pretty regurlarly. I'm thinking I'll probably try another brand next time.
 
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