Continental Sport Contact 6 tyres for V8 Vantage
Discussion
Following some very useful feedback from others on here over a month ago regarding replacing my OEM Bridgestone Potenza tyres, I thought I'd give a follow-up which is hopefully useful for other V8 Vantage owners.
My Vantage is a 2014 V8 non-S. Apart from the 10bhp lower spec (before the secondary de-cat), lack of carbon fibre trim and door card design difference, the 2012.25+ MY spec is basically the same as the S model. It has all the steering and suspension improvements, etc. Importantly for this topic, it also has the V8VS spec alloys which were wider than the original 4.3 and 4.7 Vantage models at 245/40 R19 front, 285/35 R19 rear.
At 14k miles, my OEM Bridgestone Potenza tyres were not worn evenly. Even though still legal, I decided to change all 4 to be safe.
The common recommendation is to fit Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S. HOWEVER, these were sadly not available for the the 245/40 AND 285/35 sizes. I wasn't looking to mix tyre spec front to rear, fit under/oversize tyres or change alloys. This means that apart from a the OEM Bridgestones and a couple of budget brands, my choice at the time of buying was:
Still, the OEMs were older in design and tyres move on quickly, so I decided to eventually opt for:
The tracking was a fair whack out which explains the bad wear patterns on the original tyres. I do live in the country, so potholes probably don't help. But I'm sure the tracking wasn't great for some time as the previous MOT alerted to this (but being very much legal).
So... what are the Continentals like?
I know you're all expecting me to say that they are a revelation. Sadly, I can't really tell the difference! Is that a bad thing? Well, I have "spirited" drives, but never "hang the back out", track it or otherwise feel the impulse to excessively transfer rubber from tyre to Tarmac.
I've now had them on for a few weeks, have done motorway miles, fast A-roads, country lanes in both torrentially wet and sunny days. Even though the traction control light can still flicker when pressing on with some dusty lanes, the Vantage remains completely faithful, dependable, comfortable, beautifully controlled and stops on a dime (for our US cousins
). But then I also found the originals did too.
Perhaps the original Bridgestones hadn't "gone off" with time as may be the case with slightly older examples. (This would apply to any tyre brand.) Also, being a weekly used example (summer and winter) doing about 5k miles/year, but under cover to keep the worst off, there has been no significant tyre cracking that can occur in low humidity storage or environments.
Am I happy I changed over? Yes! The prices aren't eye watering. I have better peace of mind with deeper treads in standing water. They seem to stick out marginally more (see photos) to protect the as-yet-unkerbed alloys.
Would I shy away from a Bridgestone-fitted car? Nope.
Your mileage may vary...
Thanks again to everybody who Kindly gave advice earlier
For reference, here's the original Bridgestones v Michelin Pilot Sport 4S thread.
My Vantage is a 2014 V8 non-S. Apart from the 10bhp lower spec (before the secondary de-cat), lack of carbon fibre trim and door card design difference, the 2012.25+ MY spec is basically the same as the S model. It has all the steering and suspension improvements, etc. Importantly for this topic, it also has the V8VS spec alloys which were wider than the original 4.3 and 4.7 Vantage models at 245/40 R19 front, 285/35 R19 rear.
At 14k miles, my OEM Bridgestone Potenza tyres were not worn evenly. Even though still legal, I decided to change all 4 to be safe.
The common recommendation is to fit Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S. HOWEVER, these were sadly not available for the the 245/40 AND 285/35 sizes. I wasn't looking to mix tyre spec front to rear, fit under/oversize tyres or change alloys. This means that apart from a the OEM Bridgestones and a couple of budget brands, my choice at the time of buying was:
- Continental Sport Contact 6
- Yokohama Advan Sport V105S
Still, the OEMs were older in design and tyres move on quickly, so I decided to eventually opt for:
- Continental Sport Contact 6 245/40 R19 Y (98), Asymmetrical (£146.28 per tyre)
- Continental Sport Contact 6 285/35 R19 Y (103), Asymmetrical (£211.87 per tyre)
The tracking was a fair whack out which explains the bad wear patterns on the original tyres. I do live in the country, so potholes probably don't help. But I'm sure the tracking wasn't great for some time as the previous MOT alerted to this (but being very much legal).
So... what are the Continentals like?
I know you're all expecting me to say that they are a revelation. Sadly, I can't really tell the difference! Is that a bad thing? Well, I have "spirited" drives, but never "hang the back out", track it or otherwise feel the impulse to excessively transfer rubber from tyre to Tarmac.
I've now had them on for a few weeks, have done motorway miles, fast A-roads, country lanes in both torrentially wet and sunny days. Even though the traction control light can still flicker when pressing on with some dusty lanes, the Vantage remains completely faithful, dependable, comfortable, beautifully controlled and stops on a dime (for our US cousins
). But then I also found the originals did too.Perhaps the original Bridgestones hadn't "gone off" with time as may be the case with slightly older examples. (This would apply to any tyre brand.) Also, being a weekly used example (summer and winter) doing about 5k miles/year, but under cover to keep the worst off, there has been no significant tyre cracking that can occur in low humidity storage or environments.
Am I happy I changed over? Yes! The prices aren't eye watering. I have better peace of mind with deeper treads in standing water. They seem to stick out marginally more (see photos) to protect the as-yet-unkerbed alloys.
Would I shy away from a Bridgestone-fitted car? Nope.
Your mileage may vary...
Thanks again to everybody who Kindly gave advice earlier
For reference, here's the original Bridgestones v Michelin Pilot Sport 4S thread.
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