tyre review - Continental Sport Contact 5 - 255/50/R20

[grand cherokee]

on a Range Rover 4.4 V8

mentioned this tyre choice some time ago - some neg comments including some from a Land Rover employee!

well after about 1000 miles your wrong - oh so bloody wrong

the level of grip in both handling and braking is simply stunning - in both wet and dry

some 'wise sage' said it would upset the DSC etc - well you better tell my car that?

its far quieter and even on 20" rims the ride is superb

Ok the tyres may not last more than say 20K miles - but at least its going to be 20K lovely miles with a smile on my face and the 'pedal to the metal'- lol!

[camel_landy]

Assuming all 4x changed at once, I can't see why DSC would have a problem???

My only reservation would be the width of the tyre vs width of the rim... i.e. the rim could be too wide!

M

[grand cherokee]

camel_landy said:

Assuming all 4x changed at once, I can't see why DSC would have a problem???

My only reservation would be the width of the tyre vs width of the rim... i.e. the rim could be too wide!

M

255/50/R20 is the standard sized tyre LR fit to 20" RR wheels

and all four tyres were changed - I always change all four with the RR

[camel_landy]

OK... I thought it was 275 or maybe that's just on the RRS.

M

[NomduJour]

Why put a tyre like that on a Range Rover though? Massively compromises any off-road ability.

[grand cherokee]

NomduJour said:

Why put a tyre like that on a Range Rover though? Massively compromises any off-road ability.

actually they perform fine off road - and I go off road in some form almost every day!

last sunday I was driving on long wet grass (aka green ice to the off road community) and the car was flawless

admittedly I have over 20 years off road experience in the 'real world' not on courses etc

[NomduJour]

Wet grass is, as you say, a killer, but my experience tells me that even the OEM M+S tyres (like a Scorpion Zero) can be marginal at best in the sort of off-road conditions you're likely to encounter here (grassy/muddy fields and tracks).

[grand cherokee]

NomduJour said:

Wet grass is, as you say, a killer, but my experience tells me that even the OEM M+S tyres (like a Scorpion Zero) can be marginal at best in the sort of off-road conditions you're likely to encounter here (grassy/muddy fields and tracks).

never been a fan of the Scorpion Zero tyres - but each to their own

i'm more than happy with my tyre choice - I do run Vredestein Wintrac 4 Xtremes on 19" rims in the 'winter'

if you ever near North Notts i'm more than happy to demonstrate the Conti's

[NomduJour]

The Scorpion Zeroes look to be the most aggressive-looking pattern they've come on recently, although the treads do clog very quickly. Something with a bit more off-road bias like a Scorpion ATR is an awful lot better in muddy fields.

I suspect off-road ability on a pure Summer tyre like the SportContact 5 is more about the car's capabilities than the tyre.

[grand cherokee]

NomduJour said:

The Scorpion Zeroes look to be the most aggressive-looking pattern they've come on recently, although the treads do clog very quickly. Something with a bit more off-road bias like a Scorpion ATR is an awful lot better in muddy fields.

I suspect off-road ability on a pure Summer tyre like the SportContact 5 is more about the car's capabilities than the tyre.

car/tyre? - maybe driver?

who knows - suffice to say i'm very happy with these tyres

the only reservation i'd have would be taking on wet/sticky clay - but that can be said about virtually any tyre

[camel_landy]

grand cherokee said:

...the only reservation i'd have would be taking on wet/sticky clay - but that can be said about virtually any tyre

Yeah, fun one clay!!!

Sometimes I find the combination of a less aggressive tread, auto gearbox and a crawl speed to be pretty effective but other times, 'Momentum is your friend!'.

M