Continental Extreme Contact

[DavidPIL]

Hi everyone...I'm very new here. Just picked up my Mono-tone Abyss GT last Thursday. Talked to the salespeople about changing out the Dunlops for something a bit more "All Season". I know the Dunlops are a good tire but I don't want to be sliding into anything come Winter-season.I'm sure a lot of you will recommend an actual Winter tire for the snow but does anyone have an opinion on the Continental Extreme Contacts?They're WR Rated, a 400 wear rating, AA traction, look pretty cool too. Was considering the standard 215/50's on the stock 17" wheel then upgrading the wheel down the road but noticed the 235/45-17's were basically the same diameter. I'm open for suggestion here. These tires do seem to be a good deal and @ $86 for the 215's or $107 for the 235's, they shouldn't bust my budget...HELP!Dave

[Vibe]

I can't wait to wear out my Continental's.....I hate them!!!

[NSimkins]

quote:Do not go with Continentals.. They are junk... Need to find a different tire.I feel bad for the Continental haters out there. I've so far had no problems with my Conti's and I put a good 10k miles on them before I bought the summer wheels/tires. I plan on using the Conti's for winter until they wear out and get some good snow tires.Yesterday, an Audi A6 was next to me at my work parking lot and low and behold, they had the ContiTouringContacts (17" I believe).Also, it looks like they are still using both the Goodyear's and the Conti's on new '04 Vibes.

[ragingfish]

Don't go with Goodyear Eagle RS/A tires. They're crappy too. They don't wear fast, but they have minimal to no traction. I hate 'em. I'm intrigued by those tires silver mentioned above...Rob -- why do you feel so strongly abotu those tires, j/c?

[millster]

Mercedes Benz uses the Conti's on the E and S class cars as well. I wonder if Pontiac just got a bad batch for the early run of the Vibe.

[millster]

Huh, well I guess that blows my theory to bits.

[ragingfish]

They could just be made with inferior materials that aren't designed to hold up as well as other tires...

[Lorin]

I would say that the Conti's are a POS, but I gave up swearing a few weeks ago, so they are POJ (Pile of Junk). 8K miles on the Vibe and they are 1/2 gone already. Not bad in snow, but wet pavement is bad news.

[DavidPIL]

Hi all..I'm greatly appreciating all this input. I did go to Tirerack.com months before I even committed to buying a vehicle. Actually, that's where I researched for my previous tires on mt truck. One thing I do have to stress though is that I'm not interested in the "Touring Contacts" When I saw them on the 2 Vibes they had on the lot I just shook my head. The "Extreme Contacts" are actually rated the highest @ tirerack.com in the "Ultra High Performance All-Season" category with better that 8.5 ratings in everything. WR rated and gets an 8.5 in snow traction (Almost seems like an oxymoron for Ultra High Performance tires).I do appreciate all the advice on Continental in general though... More input is welcomed...Dave*It's not a car... It's an adventure!

[Stang2Vibe]

Continental is a German tire company. That's why you will see them as standard equipment on some German cars like Audi and Mercedes. However, I have to chime in on the side of those who also recognize these tires as junk. After 6 months and 5,000 miles, my front tires are worn past the treadbars, meaning they have to be replaced and will not pass inspection. I consider the warranty on them to be a joke, since I would have to bear most of the cost of replacing them myself since they are so worn out. I don't call that a warranty, I call that buying tires. And if I'm going to be buying tires, they sure won't be crappy Continentals that suck in the snow and in wet conditions and wear out every 5,000 miles so I have to replace them twice per year. I put about 8,500 miles on my Futura Ultra Z tires that were on my Mustang before I traded it and they look like they were hardly used. Not bad for a Pep Boys tire. They are ultra-high performance tires (Z-rated), provided excellent wet and dry traction, and come with a 40,000 mile warranty. I have yet to put 40,000 miles on any vehicle I have owned. The only catch is that they are not rated for snow, so I would have to use a snow tire (which is what I was planning to do anyway).

[lordyogi]

i had a long discussion with the people at tiresplus about the continental rubber. the thing is they are actually a decent tire, they have a low sound when you are on the road, they have good feel to them, thats why they are on luxury cars. but the thing is that any good all season, touring tire is going to wear out fast. i need new tires at 22k miles, and they all said that, that is about right for tires like that to wear out. not that i peel out in them, or drive hard on them, they just dont last, because they are not designed to. so for people expecting ZR rated tires, or really good street tires to last, go to a flea market, find a greek lamp somewhere, start to rub the side and make a wish if the djinni pops out.yogi

[DavidPIL]

Hi LordYogi,Does that also apply to the Extreme Contacts which are not the same as the standard Touring tire that is on some of the Base Vibes? Most of the suggestions are geared toward those Touring tires which have a fairly basic tread pattern where the Extreme Contacts have a more aggressive pattern, very high tread wear and traction rating 400 AA. These tires actually have a higher survey result for everything across the board over their Touring and Sport Contact tire, at Tirerack.com.My original post was to hopefully validate my decision on the specific Continentals but most of the comments were directed at experience on a different type of tire. I'm really just so unsure as to what is best right now but I do know that the OEM Dunlops aren't best for any Winter weather in Illinois.Yes, I should get Winter Tires but they tend to be even more expensive than high performance tires and usually don't come in low profile. In any case, they would be too expensive anyway. I'm also a bit miffed at my Pontiac dealer. I could have driven an hour to purchase my Vibe, they were more than willing to give me credit on whatever tire I had on my Vibe for whatever tire I wanted. My local dealer had to go through a 3rd party and wouldn't give me any credit for a trade. But I did get a better overall price on the vehicle so, I guess it's all a trade-off.I think I'll just wear these Dunlops out then try the Extreme Contacts. They offer a 30 day test drive on em anyway so maybe in that time I can come to my own conclusions. Who knows, maybe it'll be the right choice for my needs.Thanks everyone for the input!Dave

[lordyogi]

fair enough,i understand that they are a different tread pattern, i hope you have good luck in finding tires for your car. Right now since i live in florida, and dont really need to worry about winter weather, i am getting new rims, Quantum Tek S-16's 17" with the Dayton Daytona ZR performance rubber put on. I am thinkin that for racing purposes i might put on some nitto 555's on the stock rims and if i go to the track use those, but it depends on which are lighter, i would assume the 16's because of the amount of less material. but thats just me, to each their own, but as for performance tires i stand by my statement of dont expect em to last much longer than 20k miles.yogi

[wildvibe]

My Contis are terrible! On rainy days traction is terrible.On a light covered snow day with just a tiny bit of cross wind I put my car in a ditch. I will be definetly purchasing a different brand of tire

[DavidPIL]

Hello all...Well, my quest for better tires have come to a short delay. Working free-lance, I'm not getting payments from projects in when I had planned. Actually, this is what caused to to have to wait till last week to actually pick out and get my Vibe. It's a pain in the A** having to wait like this.Anywho, I'm now strongly considering the Sumitomo HTR+ for my replacement tire. The Continentals are still in the running mainly because most negative comments have been toward the Touring Contacts and not the Extreme Contacts. I don't always base a lot of my decisions off of what someone tells me to get, I usually research and find out for myself what I feel is best. I know most of the people here use Tirerack.com as a source for information and to actually purchase tires and wheels. This is where I started my quest some 2 or 3 months before I actually bought my Vibe. It's also where I spent countless hours, days and weeks finding my tires for my, now traded in, truck. I think if anyone really knows what they need, that is a very good resource to verify what you want will stack up. I'm being stubborn to an n'th degree about my choice but my next obstacle and question is, no matter what tire I get, will I be better off going with a 235/45-17 (25.4") over the OEM size 215/50-17. I don't think I want to go up to an 18" wheel so those really are my only 2 choices if I don't want to screw up the speed-o-meter any. I think I'm looking at about a $25 difference between the 2. Any thoughts?Dave.

[Bad_Manors]

I had older Contis on my Audi, and absolutely loved them, but these TouringContacts are a whole 'nother thing! Not particularly good in the dry, horrid in the wet and hopeless in winter -- and then totally worn out after 30,000 km (less than 20,000 miles) of mostly low speed driving, with an automatic and my wife at the wheel! I've never seen anything short of F1's on a Greenwood Corvette wear out this fast. Must be the overwhelming torque on the Vibe .... lol btw, the ads for Tire Rack (I think) in Car & Driver show 2 different Contis in that size -- one marked "To" (for Toyota I think) at $60 and another apparently identical at $75. Might explain a lot.

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[Gim67]

David(and everyone else) C'mon people. Different tires, different cars, diff. manufacturers, dif. qualities?!?!?!? OEM. tires are there for a reason.(cost, intended ride quality etc) Because alot of different people will be buying a car, the tire must do many things well but none great. If you want to change your OEM tires there willl be trade-offs. Tread wear(440-200) this figure supposedly tells you how long the tread will last(the higher the better) but it is determined by the manufacturer not a world wide governing body and varies widely. Also longer treadwear generaly means harder rubber compound which is deadly in winter because it can't stay soft. Width (205-215-235) the wider the tire the more dry traction/less wet traction because of hydroplaning. Narrow tires are better in winter because they cut through the snow. Also wider tires tend to follow the wear lanes in the road which requires more attention and correction when driving. Large block tread - Great for warm/hot pavement and cornering not so good for rain( no siping-small cut in the tread). Also tend to be noisy especialy toward the end of their useful life. Lots of siping great for rain but feel squishy( technical term) in corners and generally wear faster when driven hard. Generally quiet. Low(er) profile - great for corners but harsher ride, could damage your nice new high$ rims more easily. Cost - You ususally get what you pay for!!! All-Season tires do nothing really well but satisfy the majority of the population, if you want your tires to work really well you have to get specific and accept the trade-offs. Accept reality, accept the trade-offs, make an informed decicion. P.S. These are general comments based my experiences, I know they are not hard fast rules but the laws of physics and $$$ rule my world. Hope this helps someone!? J.S.D.

[DavidPIL]

Hiya Gim67,I understand what ya mean... That's why I'm really trying to find the best combination for both worlds. I found a great tire for my truck which had a 640 wear rating but was all-season... well, really wasn't all that great on the snow but it was a rear wheel drive anyway. There seems to be a few tire manufacturers who try to place a combination of several tread styles (Usually, it seems, something more wet/snow grippy in the center with more block tread toward the outside) and also use a combination of softer and harder rubber. Ok, I'm sure you know this but I'm looking at the tread design to see what I believe will be the best for my situation, along with asking the advice of fellow GenVibe members.I'm not turned off from the Continentals even though most have made negative remarks about them. I think the ContiExtremeContacts have a good combination of what I had mentioned above. I do notice a lot of the more popular tires on here don't seem to have a big tread design change between 3 season and All-season tires, I'm assuming there that the change is mainly in the rubber hardness.I can't find Nitto tires locally and these seem to be the tires most used here. Pirelli's don't seem to last and are fairly expensive. Sumitomo's just seem too inexpensive, Goodyear, eh nothing too fabulous in a high performance all-season. The Continentals are a mixed bag, so it seems. I just don't know what I'll get but I have decided to use the Dunlops as much as I can and just eat the cost of the trade-in.Dave