In Defense of Continental Tire

[Scott]

Not the stock tire (lol), but another model all-season (V rated 150mph) in the stock size of 225/60-18:
http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/us/en/continental/automobile/general/news/policevehicles_en.html (http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/us/en/continental/automobile/general/news/policevehicles_en.html)

Quote: “The new flagship tire for the Continental brand, the ContiProContact, has been selected as Original Equipment (OE) for Dodge’s much-anticipated police-pursuit vehicles, the 2006 Dodge Charger and Magnum.”

The website has the typical overused tire advertising verbiage that has become meaningless, e.g. “exceptional performance”, “superior traction” blah, blah. However, since these tires are intended for police duty, they probably have been tested for aggressive driving. Plus, Continental must have learned a lot from customer “feedback” on the stock tires. These ContiProContact’s would benefit from that testing and experience, er, right?

All tire manufacturers produce some good models, so it’s possible.

The ContiProContact’s have the same load rating as the stock tire, but I don't know enough about tire design to know if the same load spec necessarily indicates the same sidewall softness of the oem TouringContacts. Hopefully, the newer ProContacts have a better belt configuration for more lateral stability.

A Continental datasheet compares some performance characteristics of the ProContact with the OEM TouringContact. Wet performance and lower rolling resistance are the largest changes.
http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/us/en/continental/automobile/themes/pc_tyres/performance_touring/conti_pro_contact/printable_datasheet_en.pdf


Also of interest is the 150 mph rated winter tire, ContiWinterContact TS790V in a 225/60R18 (103V). At least one forum member reported being pleased with.

Not in the above linked article is another Conti performance tire in 255/55 size, 109 load rated.
http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/us/en/continental/automobile/themes/pc_tyres/uh_performance/conti_extreme_contact/printable_datasheet_en.pdf

As an aside, I’m not so pleased that the LX’s are going to be police vehicles. I think it detracts from the cool/unique quotient of our cars. However, I can see that LXs will perform this duty well and certainly contribute to profitability. They can take a big hit from the rear, tested at 50 mph. Crown Vic’s are weak from the rear, with fiery consequences.

Scott

P.S. If you’re still running the stock conti’s, be vigilant about keeping the tires inflated. Heavy RT’s need 38 to 40 psi or more for performance driving. For an AWD, 40/38 psi front/rear is a nice combination for performance and comfort.

[UnderTaker]

still... for a 34,000$ car. can't say i will be doing business with conti again.

[Scott]

A credit for early wear of the oem TouringContacts might easily be applied toward the ProContacts.

[Bandit]

I know many hate their Conti's, and the reasons are numerable as well as established.

But the Conti's on my old R/T held up better than my F1's on my SRT8. I never had any traction issues with the Conti's at all, but my F1's are downright scary in the rain.

[convbcuda]

I just got a set of Goodyears from The Tire Rack to replace the POS Continentals that wore out in 18,000 miles!

[FloridaRT]

I must be the only lucky one with Conti's, I have 19,000 miles on the self sealing tires and have enough thread left for another 6 months or so. They handle great in the rain, good traction also....only down side is the cupping on the edges. I look forward to replacing them with a higher speed rated tire, but am not about to replace them until they wear out.

Might go with the B F Goodrich KDW-NT, but am not in love with the thread design.........looking for something better.

Happy Conti owner,

Bob

[GoofyTimL]

Florida, you're not the only one... we have the original tires on both our "C"s and the '05 has over 24k miles with plenty of tread left, and no complaints for the 10k miles we've put on since purchasing the Chrysler Certified Pre-owned vehicle. The '06 H.E. also came with the self-sealers because of Protection Group II, and at 9k+ since purchase, no signs that they are performing poorly.

[67alecto]

I'm at around 20,500mi on my contiseals and they are doing fine.

[Phil Hunter]

I never kept the Conti Self Seals long enough for the tread to wear out. I replaced them at 6000 miles because of the rough ride over bumps. This is first set of Continentals I have ever owned, and likely the last. I do not understand why any name brand tire manufacturer would produce such a tire and damage its reputation. I realize the sometimes OEM tires are not the best tire from the manufacturer, but this is easily the worst tire I have ever had on a new vehicle.


Phil

[Scott]

my F1's are downright scary in the rain.

Unfortunately, Jaak can attest to this.

This is really a shame, since the LX's are otherwise great cars in the rain, predictable, controllable, and ESP helps as needed.

Scott

[cadzilla74]

I treated my OEM Conti's like babies. No burnouts. I did drive them aggressively when I had the opportunity and they weren't too bad except the car always felt like it had "weak ankles on hockey skates". Kept them inflated religiously to 36 psi and rotated every 6,000 miles. Never had any "pull" issues with my front end. After 17,000 miles I picked up a nail in one and the self-seal did NOT work. Neither did a couple of attempts to repair the leak because the dang goop wouldn't let the plug seat properly. Spent countless hours with my 12-volt pump trying to keep pressure in it and could NOT enjoy the car. Finally got a shop to plug the tire and HEAT the plug so it melted into place. No more pressure problems but are you willing to trust that tire at high speeds? I wasn't. So I drove cautiously and set up my plan to replace the Contis but they had a different idea. A week before they were going to be replaced, on a smooth interstate at 70mph one of them DESTROYED itself and left me on the side of the road on the rim! No tire left at all and it was NOT the plugged one. This was at 22,000 miles mostly highway driven. PATHETIC!!! These tires are NOT capable of handling the weight of the car nor high speed driving. They were a POOR choice for an OEM on this vehicle. I now run BFG KDW-NT 255-55-18's on my '05 RT Mag and it is a whole 'nother experience. The car sticks like glue in corners to the point where I now see the need for fatter sway bars (I think the coil-overs are a bit extravagant right now for my habits) but I also load up my Mag frequently and the 109R rating vs the 99R for the Conti's as far as weight bearing is concerned makes a lot of difference. The Conti's just got killed by the weight of the car and the tread got scrubbed off prematurely because of this. The BFG's may not last a long time either but they certainly will let me enjoy the full potential of the car during their life-span. I spent 5,000 miles of this car's life tiptoeing around on tires I didn't trust with my life just driving to work. Now I have confidence in a tire that has a tread compound designed for the Texas heat and also rated to support the weight of the vehicle even when loaded. I eased myself into this new relationship and have been pleasantly amazed by the way my year and a half old Mag has sprung to life with just a tire change! Change your ties, change your life! Your mileage may vary.

[convbcuda]

I'm much happier with the Goodyear Assurance tires I had installed yesterday. I only got 18,000 miles out of the Continental self-sealers.

My brother reminded me that our mother only got 12,000 miles out of the Continentals that came on her Avalon.

Continental is dead to me.

[MomsR/T]

at 16K my wife needed tires.........she drives like a friggen granny. I complained to Dodge and Conti. Conti wanted to give us credit towards more Contis....Bwaaaaaahahahahahaha! Yeah right!

We switched to Cooper and thus far love the larger 255 size and performace of the V-rating (also 420 wear rating).

[gshell661]

I have 40k on my conti's and they look like slicks except for the cupping nubs on the outer edge that make my car shake like crazy. The dealer claims they sould have been rotated more often, Rotated!? Does that keep them from prematurly balding???? I rotated them at least every 6000 when I started feeling the cupping.
These tires are junk!

[merklitl]

Forgive my ignorance, but how are you guys moving from a 225/60-18 up to a 255/55-18 without changing wheels? I always understood that you could move 10 up or down (215-235) without adverse effects, but more than that was trouble.

Any help on other options for tires on the stock rims would be great, because I'm not happy with the 6 choices tirerack.com shows in that size.

Thanks.

[FloridaRT]

255X55X18 is the biggest tire that you can put on the stock rim.

So if you are buying new tires, why not upgrade to a bigger tire?

Bob

[dchemi]

I must be the only lucky one with Conti's, I have 19,000 miles on the self sealing tires and have enough thread left for another 6 months or so. They handle great in the rain, good traction also....only down side is the cupping on the edges. I look forward to replacing them with a higher speed rated tire, but am not about to replace them until they wear out.

Might go with the B F Goodrich KDW-NT, but am not in love with the thread design.........looking for something better.

Happy Conti owner,

Bob

No disrespect intended, but 66 years young and living in Florida leads me to believe that you are a much more responsible driver than most other Magnum RT owners. With my youthful exuberance I managed to burn out the Conti's with 3,000 mile rotations in under 10,000 miles.

Another comment, the cupping. Take them back to the dealer. Complain to Chrysler. There are many of us having the same issue. My tires have been cupping since day one. It is an issue that more people need to address with Chrysler so a fix can be issued.

[dchemi]

I have 40k on my conti's and they look like slicks except for the cupping nubs on the outer edge that make my car shake like crazy. The dealer claims they sould have been rotated more often, Rotated!? Does that keep them from prematurly balding???? I rotated them at least every 6000 when I started feeling the cupping.
These tires are junk!

Take a stand.

The cupping issue has been well documented on these forums.

Since the tires are so bald you probably will get nothing from the dealer.

Replace the tires and at the first sign of cupping take it in and complain. My dealer has replaced the front tires 5 time becasue of the cupping issue. It really pisses me off that they are not offering a solution. They are just throwing me free tires until the warranty runs out. At my most recent visit I was told to stop bringing in the car for the cupping issue. Everyone having this problem with the tires needs to complain to DCX Customer Service. If enough people complain they might actually find a fix for the problem. Don't be afraid to complain, the worst they can do is turn you away.

Also call Continental, if they get enough grief from LX owners about the tires wearing out they might step up and help us out. They don't want bad publicity because the LX's chew up their tires.

[FloridaRT]

I may be 66 and living in Florida, but I have always had a heavy right foot. Us seniors do burnouts also..................LOL
I take it easy in my neighborhood, but you can see my tire marks elsewhere.
Heck, I even put in a switch on my dash so I can disable fuse #17 and do longer burnouts!
There is a 4-way stop near my house, I always turn off the traction control and do a nice burnout there.........he he he

Bob ..................old leadfoot

[dchemi]

FloridaRT

You rock. I hope I still am able to drive it hard when I am your age.:grin:

I now understand your statement 66 years young.

[FloridaRT]

Did I mentioned that I am licensed to carry a concealed weapon?

Lot's of us seniors like to carry a gun, better treat us nice!

I have a nice Taurus .357 Magnum snub nose with no hammer...........

And I carry it in my special fanny pack with a hidden compartment...LOL

Bob...............shot first, ask questions later..............

[Praetorian]

My Magnum had the Goodyear Integrity's on it new from the factory .... had to be replaced at 13K miles.....I got the Conti Touring Contacts to replace the Good Years....now at 27K on the Contis and still going great...I have no complaints with the Conti's

[PaulFix]

I have Conti TV790 winter tyres and they are waaaay better than the OEM rubbish that where fitted (conti4x4contact). I use Geneal Grabber UHP 255-55-18 for summer tyres, I like them, give good grip, look nice, great price, really good in the wet, but maybe a little noisy.


I called conti and they gave me the tv790 under warrenty after 20k ( I had to pay $50 per tyre pro rate though )