Conti Sport Contact 2 vs. Sport Contact 3
Discussion
Hello all,
Currently running Toyo T1R's on my 156 and very happy with them, except that they seem to have worn very quickly so looking to perhaps put something different on when i change them (unless wearing down to 3mm in 9 months/12,000mi is normal for a 150bhp FWD? )
As the Conti Sport Contacts 3's won the EVO tyre test i thought these would be a good bet, however they dont seem to be available in my required size. The Sport Contacts 2's are however, and are only a few £ per corner more then the Toyo's. Are they nearly as good as the 3's, or is there a reason they got replaced?
TIA James
Currently running Toyo T1R's on my 156 and very happy with them, except that they seem to have worn very quickly so looking to perhaps put something different on when i change them (unless wearing down to 3mm in 9 months/12,000mi is normal for a 150bhp FWD? )
As the Conti Sport Contacts 3's won the EVO tyre test i thought these would be a good bet, however they dont seem to be available in my required size. The Sport Contacts 2's are however, and are only a few £ per corner more then the Toyo's. Are they nearly as good as the 3's, or is there a reason they got replaced?
TIA James
The 5s are the newest ones.
I've had the 3s and they were fantastic. Never suffered aquaplanning, gripped well regardless of weather. They were beaten (imo) by the Federals I was running before that.
Have recently gone from the 3s to the 5s (price difference was £10 a tyre) and they are head and shoulders above the 3s but that could be placebo effect of going from very worn to new rubber.
Can't comment on how effective the 2s are but judging from the difference going from 3s to 5s the 2s probably aren't as good as the 3s.
I've had the 3s and they were fantastic. Never suffered aquaplanning, gripped well regardless of weather. They were beaten (imo) by the Federals I was running before that.
Have recently gone from the 3s to the 5s (price difference was £10 a tyre) and they are head and shoulders above the 3s but that could be placebo effect of going from very worn to new rubber.
Can't comment on how effective the 2s are but judging from the difference going from 3s to 5s the 2s probably aren't as good as the 3s.
Run Sport Contact 3 and Sport Contact 5 on the A6... grip for grip both are absolutely fine tyres but the 5 is quieter and I got an extra 35% of life out of them... of the two that's the ones I'd go for. I'm currently running Bridgestone RE050A's hoping to improve tyre life on the A6 and they are definitely less grippy than the Sport Contacts but seem to be wearing better.
I don't know exactly how they compare to the 3s, as I ran into the same thing with the newer ones not being available in that size - but they're very good.
Wet performance seemed to be about as good as the Uniroyals I'd had before, but much better feel and dry performance. Worn moderately quickly, but I think I just need to get some fancy wheel alignment done
Wet performance seemed to be about as good as the Uniroyals I'd had before, but much better feel and dry performance. Worn moderately quickly, but I think I just need to get some fancy wheel alignment done
HustleRussell said:
I know this isn't what you were asking OP, but if ultimate durability is what you're after, Contis aren't your best bet in my experience.
Not after ultimate durability, just something that lasts a bit longer then the toyo's, which are renown for being relatively soft. Obviously grip and braking performance come above durability in my priorities. Looks like not a lot of love for the Conti Sport Contact 2's then, unfortunately i don't think the 3's or 5's are available in the size required.
Hmm back to the drawing board then!
I've run:
Falken 452
Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas
On the same car that had the contis on, both are better than the contis. The vredestein is better than the falken.
Falken now have a new tyre out to replace the 452, excitingly named the 453.
If you don't want to spend too much but get a decent tyre I'd look at both of those.
Falken 452
Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas
On the same car that had the contis on, both are better than the contis. The vredestein is better than the falken.
Falken now have a new tyre out to replace the 452, excitingly named the 453.
If you don't want to spend too much but get a decent tyre I'd look at both of those.
I've run Sport Contact 2 tyres for about 4 years now and on my 2nd set. In my opinion they perform well, but then again I don't have a performance car. The main problem with them is that they wear quickly, I can usually only get about 12-14k miles out of the fronts. I drive fairly sedately as well.
Jon - as the poster above mentioned the size is 205 55 16, thanks for the suggestion of michellin ps3's, they are about £10 per corner more then the toyo's, so if they last a bit longer there as good a buy. They also score better in these new ratings that tyres have, not sure how much use they are in the real world though!
Something that this thread seems to highlight is that different people with different cars have varying opinions on the same tyre. That's what makes picking one so tricky as you can read all the tyre tests that you like but if the wheel size/car type isn't the same then your experience of the tyre could vary wildly.
Something that this thread seems to highlight is that different people with different cars have varying opinions on the same tyre. That's what makes picking one so tricky as you can read all the tyre tests that you like but if the wheel size/car type isn't the same then your experience of the tyre could vary wildly.
Edited by jimmy156 on Monday 3rd December 17:18
jimmy156 said:
Something that this thread seems to highlight is that different people with different cars have varying opinions on the same tyre. That's what makes picking one so tricky as you can read all the tyre tests that you like but if the wheel size/car type isn't the same then your experience of the tyre could vary wildly.
Perhaps not surprisingly Pirellis usually work well on Alfas. This time of year I'd look at: http://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?details=...(ALthough I'm happy with the Alpins on mine.)
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