Continental has a long history dating back to 1871 when they started out as a rubber manufacturer. The success of their rubber manufacturing lead them to start developing vehicle tires with a plain tread in 1898. This also proved to be extremely successful for the brand and in 1904, they became the first company to manufacture grooved vehicle tires. They are currently one of the top 4 tire brands in the industry.
Currently, they are a well-established tire manufacturer that has a strong focus on innovation, resulting in high-quality tires. They currently own General Tires – both these brands are ranked very high in both expert and customer reviews. They also own Uniroyal, Gislaved, Mabor, Matador, and Sportiva brands.
Below we’ve created a consumer buying guide to help you decide if Continental Tires are right for your vehicle. We’ve spent hours researching the best selling Continental Tires, compiled customer reviews, and answered some common FAQs. We hope this guide helps you find the answers you’re looking for!
Table of Contents
Why should you choose Continental Tires?
Choosing to buy Continental Tires means choosing to support a well-established brand with a long history of innovation. Decades of research and testing have paved the way for Continental to introduce many of the tire industries “firsts” including the first patterned tire tread, the first tubeless tire, and the first eco-friendly tire! Here are some other reasons why you should choose Continental.
Vigorous testing
Continental has a pretty vigorous testing process to ensure all of their tires perform to the highest standards. They currently test all of their tires on various proving grounds globally, and in-house, at the Contridrom in Hanover. At the Contridorm is the world’s first fully automated tire testing system, AIBA, where tests are done year-round on dry and wet road surfaces. On top of their in-house testing, Continental tires also pass hundreds of vehicle manufacturer tests before they are approved as Original Equipment.
Advanced tire technology
Not only does Continental pride themselves on providing extensive safety testing but they also pride themselves on their precise and efficient engineering. Here are some of Continental’s innovative technologies:
ContiSeal
- Immediately fixes 80% of punctures up to 5mm in diameter
- Provides unrestricted driving performance after tire damage
- No need for roadside assistance or a tire change
ContiSilent
- Absorbs noise by up to 9 db(A) on all road surfaces, in all weather conditions
- As easily mounted and stored as a standard tire
- Doesn't affect your vehicles driving performance
Deep product line
Continental offers a deep product line that offers a product for a variety of different users. They offer high-performance tires, all-season tires, summer tires, replacement tires, light truck tires, SUV tires, and more. Continental provides further value by designing tires built for specific seasons that are able to fight the elements, as well as specialty tires built for your motorcycle, bus, or even tractor! Here are some of their more popular models and utilities:
Continental Vanco 2
Light Truck & Van | Summer
The Vanco 2 is a safe & economical performance summer tire designed for transporter trucks, light trucks, and vans.
- Exceptional handling
- Excellent wet braking performance
- Outstanding protection against hydroplaning
Continental PureContact LS
Luxury Passenger Car | M+S Rated | All-Season
The PureContact LS is designed with improved grip on wet surfaces and tread life combined with high performance on light snow surfaces.
- Mileage Warranty: 112,000 km Limited Tread Wear Warranty
- Good braking performance on wet roads
- Lower rolling resistance for improved fuel efficiency
Continental WinterContact TS 850 P
Passenger Car & SUV | Winter
The WinterContact TS 850 P is designed for mid-sized and luxury vehicles & SUVs to provide great performance in the most extreme winter conditions.
- Improved snow traction given by the S-GRIP pattern layout
- Excellent handling on snow due to PrecisionPlus
- Better dry handling performance thanks to PowerSipes
Best Selling Continental Tires
Continental ExtremeContact Sport
Performance Ratings
Designed to be a direct competitor of Michelin’s Pilot Super Sport, the ExtremeContact Sport measures up quite well. If you’re looking for a high performance summer tire for your sports car, coupe, or sedan, you won’t go wrong picking the ExtremeContact Sport. Their advanced summer tread compound paired with their patented +Silance technology with a 6-rib asymmetric tread pattern provides excellent traction and handling on both dry & wet road conditions.
This popular tire also has large outside tread blocks with a continuous center rib, paired with their exclusive SportPlus Technology, provides quick and responsive steering. This and the cornering grip and stability you’d expect from an ultra-high-performance summer tire makes this one of the best tires on the market.
They also provide a 6-year or 30,000 mile tread life warranty which covers any material or workmanship defects. One thing to note is the mileage is reduced by half if you use two different tire sizes. There is also a 3-year flat changing warranty and a 60-day customer satisfaction guarantee where you can trade your Continental tires for another model. These tires come in a wide range of sizes from 15-20 inches and speed ratings of W and Y. The price range starts at $91, but you can find coupons, rebates and discounted prices at TireRack.com.
What We Like
- Excellent dry & wet braking, traction, and acceleration
- Great cornering grip and stability
- Responsive and quick steering
- A comfortable ride with low road noise
Continental WinterContact SI
Performance Ratings
The WinterContact SI was designed to be the ultimate winter tire. Enhanced with Continental PolarPlus technology, this tire has increased grip with outstanding efficiency in wet and snowy conditions. This tire is a replacement to the ExtremeWinterContact tire line, with a strong focus on improving performance when braking on snow & ice and increasing rolling resistance. The successor is a considerably improved winter tire which is available in a wide range of sizes and is suitable for passenger sedans, CUVs, and smaller SUVs.
This studless winter tire uses PolarPlus technology which contains a state-of-the-art tread compound that remains flexible in winter conditions and provides great traction in snow, slush, or rainy conditions. It also features a directional tread design with a zig-zag sipe pattern and ridged grooves that increase grip performance on snow and icy roads.
This popular and highly rated tire provides a comfortable ride with surprisingly low road noise – except on dry roads. It is available in sizes ranging from 15″ to 20″ with a T or H speed rating. The warranty isn’t too bad either. The company offers a 30-day trial and a 90 000 miles tread wear warranty for members of their Total Confidence Plan.
What We Like
- PolarPlus Technology provides outstanding grip in snow, ice, and slush
- Great handling on dry roads
- Wide variety of sizes
Continental CrossContact LX20 Eco Plus
Performance Ratings
The Continental CrossContact LX20 Eco Plus is designed to provide performance all-season tires to light trucks, crossovers, and SUVs. This tire utilizes EcoPlus Technology built into the tread to provide all-season traction and great wet braking even on roads with light snow – all while providing increased fuel economy. This highly rated tire’s continuous center rib and independent tread blocks increase grip performance on dry roads, while also providing responsive steering – something that is frequently mentioned among customer reviews.
This tire comes with an additional four circumferential grooves to a symmetrical tread design that improves traction on both wet and slippery roads. On top of that, the grooves are meticulously placed to help reduce road noise and improve overall ride quality. This tire is available in sizes ranging from 16 – 18 inches, and a rim protector to prevent accidental curb damage. They also provide a 70,000 mile tread wear warranty.
What We Like
- Great traction on wet, dry, and snowy roads
- Steering is responsive and cornering ability is good
- Quiet, comfortable ride
- 70,000 mile tread wear warranty
Cost of Continental Tires
So you’ve read about the benefits of the company and their best selling tire models – but you’re probably wondering, how much do they cost? Based on your research, these tires can range anywhere from $70 per tire to $420. For example, a replacement Continental ContiProcontact tire for your Honda Civic can cost you $124.73 per tire.
Continental tires can be expensive, but they’re not as price as Michelin tires. Considering the companies vigorous testing standards, quality materials, customer ratings, tread life warranty and industry standard – the price point is definitely worth it.
Continental Tire: Customer Reviews
Positive Continental Tire Reviews
[Continental ExtremeContact Sport]
"I bought these to replace the Stock set that come from factory. Let me tell you, night and day difference. When I give it WOT these tires just hook and book, considering that I have an open differential, that is phenomenal. Cornering confidence is awesome, However, I have yet to take them to a road course track, this is just city/highway driving. I will follow up once I take them to a track, right before I am gonna replace them."
[Continental WinterContact SI]
"This is our 3rd winter on these tires. We run winter tires/wheels on both our vehicle from late October to May. They are an excellent winter tire, great grip in both winter conditions and dry roads. Tire noise is slightly higher than the OEM, but nothing obnoxious like studded tires. The CRV is a tank in the snow with these tires, not so much on the OEM tires. Probably have 2 more winters left so the wear is outstanding. Very pleased with this tire set."
Negative Continental Tire Reviews
[Continental WinterContact SI]
"Excellent traction in the snow, ice, and wet conditions.BUT this tire is garbage in the dry. Hard braking on the hwy due to someone cutting you off or traffic suddenly slowing down ahead, the rear end gets very squirrelly!! Cornering hard, it understeers. I'm looking to get rid of this set after just one season of winter use."
[Continental ExtremeContact Sport]
"Only got 8000 miles out of these tires. Extremely high wear, poor response and stability and uncomfortable despite my 3x air suspension settings.Worst tires ever owned over the past 40 years!! Absolute garbage and dangerous. Should have stayed with Pirelli or Michelin, Run away from these tires as fast as you can!!" - Tire Rack
Who should buy Continental Tires?
If you’re looking for a top-tier brand who directly competes with Michelin, but offers a more affordable product line – look no further. Over the past couple of decades, Continental has been buying brands to take more market share – in fact, one of their brands, General, actually manufactures some tires that are better than their own brand!
Continental tires perform just as well as top performing tires, in almost every category. Their winter tire models definitely stand out as the Continental tire that is the best value, while their all-season models tend to be on the pricier side.
If you live in a climate that doesn’t have severe winters, we would recommend just sticking with an all-season. However, if you live in Canada and have to deal with four season, we recommend getting a pair of summers and winters just to be safe.
Continental Tire Review: FAQs
Are Continental tires good?
Overall, Continental provides high quality tire models available for a variety of different applications. They are currently competing with Michelin to be the world’s top leading tire brand – but they are lacking on motorsport experience. Industry ratings indicate that most of their 62 all-season variants performed well in three-season driving categories, and most of those also performed well in winter traction and ice braking.
Other Continental Tire Reviews