Continental PremiumContact 7 vs Maxxis Premitra HP6
Across six shared 2026 tests (16-inch to 18-inch fitments), the pattern is remarkably consistent: the PremiumContact 7 keeps taking overall wins (6/6), largely by building decisive margins in wet safety (braking/handling/aquaplaning) while also repeatedly stopping shorter on dry roads. The Maxxis occasionally flashes genuine sportiness-especially in dry handling-and often counters with lower rolling resistance, but it struggles to match the Continental's confidence and predictability when conditions are slick or when pushed to the limit.
Test Results
Independent comparison tire tests are the best source of data to get tire information from, and the good news is there have been six tests which compare both tires directly!
| Tire | Test Wins | Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Continental PremiumContact 7 | six |
While it might look like the Continental PremiumContact 7 is better than the Maxxis Premitra HP6 purely based on the higher number of test wins, tires are very complicated objects which means where one tire is better than the other can be more important in real world use.
Let's look at how the two tires compare across multiple tire test categories.
Key Strengths
- Consistently shortest braking distances on both dry and wet roads (wins 6/6 in dry and wet braking)
- Top-tier wet safety: strong wet handling and aquaplaning performance, with large margins in several tests (e.g., +14% wet braking in Auto Zeitung; +23% curved aquaplaning in ADAC)
- Predictable, balanced limit behaviour with high driver confidence (repeatedly described as neutral/calm/easy to control)
- Stronger longevity and environmental balance in the data: higher predicted mileage and lower abrasion (e.g., +52.6% wear advantage in Auto Zeitung; +20% in ADAC)
- Lower rolling resistance / better efficiency potential (wins rolling resistance in all reported shared tests)
- Can be very quick in dry handling and offers sharp steering response (including a dry-handling win and strong subjective dry scores in one test)
- Generally mid-pack objective performance in several disciplines-rarely catastrophic in raw numbers in some tests
- Often competitive on wet circle/curve grip metrics (wins wet circle in 2/4 reported cases), suggesting decent lateral grip when conditions suit
Dry Braking
Looking at data from six tire tests, the Continental PremiumContact 7 was better during six dry braking tests. On average the Continental PremiumContact 7 stopped the vehicle in 5.71% less distance than the Maxxis Premitra HP6.
Best In Dry Braking: Continental PremiumContact 7
See how the Dry Braking winner was calculated >>
Dry Handling [s]
Looking at data from three tire tests, the Continental PremiumContact 7 was better during two dry handling [s] tests. On average the Continental PremiumContact 7 was 0.46% faster around a lap than the Maxxis Premitra HP6.
Best In Dry Handling [s]: Continental PremiumContact 7
See how the Dry Handling winner was calculated >>
Subj. Dry Handling
Looking at data from four tire tests, the Continental PremiumContact 7 was better during three subj. dry handling tests. On average the Continental PremiumContact 7 scored 18.11% more points than the Maxxis Premitra HP6.
Best In Subj. Dry Handling: Continental PremiumContact 7
See how the Subj. Dry Handling winner was calculated >>
Wet Braking
Looking at data from six tire tests, the Continental PremiumContact 7 was better during six wet braking tests. On average the Continental PremiumContact 7 stopped the vehicle in 8.57% less distance than the Maxxis Premitra HP6.
Best In Wet Braking: Continental PremiumContact 7
See how the Wet Braking winner was calculated >>
Wet Braking - Concrete
Looking at data from one tire tests, the Continental PremiumContact 7 was better during one wet braking - concrete tests. On average the Continental PremiumContact 7 stopped the vehicle in 8.4% less distance than the Maxxis Premitra HP6.
Best In Wet Braking - Concrete: Continental PremiumContact 7
See how the Wet Braking - Concrete winner was calculated >>
Wet Handling [s]
Looking at data from four tire tests, the Continental PremiumContact 7 was better during four wet handling [s] tests. On average the Continental PremiumContact 7 was 4.35% faster around a wet lap than the Maxxis Premitra HP6.
Best In Wet Handling [s]: Continental PremiumContact 7
See how the Wet Handling winner was calculated >>
Subj. Wet Handling
Looking at data from two tire tests, the Continental PremiumContact 7 was better during two subj. wet handling tests. On average the Continental PremiumContact 7 scored 50% more points than the Maxxis Premitra HP6.
Best In Subj. Wet Handling: Continental PremiumContact 7
See how the Subj. Wet Handling winner was calculated >>
Wet Circle
Looking at data from one tire tests, the Continental PremiumContact 7 was better during one wet circle tests. On average the Continental PremiumContact 7 had 8.75% higher lateral wet grip than the Maxxis Premitra HP6.
Best In Wet Circle: Continental PremiumContact 7
See how the Wet Circle winner was calculated >>
Straight Aqua
Looking at data from five tire tests, the Continental PremiumContact 7 was better during five straight aqua tests. On average the Continental PremiumContact 7 floated at a 1.99% higher speed than the Maxxis Premitra HP6.
Best In Straight Aqua: Continental PremiumContact 7
See how the Straight Aqua winner was calculated >>
Curved Aquaplaning
Looking at data from three tire tests, the Continental PremiumContact 7 was better during three curved aquaplaning tests. On average the Continental PremiumContact 7 slipped out at a 9.21% higher speed than the Maxxis Premitra HP6.
Best In Curved Aquaplaning: Continental PremiumContact 7
See how the Curved Aquaplaning winner was calculated >>
Subj. Comfort
Looking at data from four tire tests, the Continental PremiumContact 7 was better during four subj. comfort tests. On average the Continental PremiumContact 7 scored 18.55% more points than the Maxxis Premitra HP6.
Best In Subj. Comfort: Continental PremiumContact 7
See how the Subj. Comfort winner was calculated >>
Subj. Noise
Looking at data from one tire tests, the Continental PremiumContact 7 was better during one subj. noise tests. On average the Continental PremiumContact 7 scored 60% more points than the Maxxis Premitra HP6.
Best In Subj. Noise: Continental PremiumContact 7
See how the Subj. Noise winner was calculated >>
Noise
Looking at data from three tire tests, the Maxxis Premitra HP6 was better during one noise tests. On average the Maxxis Premitra HP6 measured 0.14% quieter than the Continental PremiumContact 7.
Best In Noise: Maxxis Premitra HP6
See how the Noise winner was calculated >>
Rough Noise
Looking at data from one tire tests, the Continental PremiumContact 7 was better during one rough noise tests. On average the Continental PremiumContact 7 measured 1.49% quieter than the Maxxis Premitra HP6.
Best In Rough Noise: Continental PremiumContact 7
See how the Rough Noise winner was calculated >>
Wear
Looking at data from two tire tests, the Continental PremiumContact 7 was better during two wear tests. On average the Continental PremiumContact 7 is predicted to cover 25.58% miles before reaching 1.6mm than the Maxxis Premitra HP6.
Best In Wear: Continental PremiumContact 7
See how the Wear winner was calculated >>
Value
Looking at data from one tire tests, the Continental PremiumContact 7 was better during one value tests. On average the Continental PremiumContact 7 proved to have a 5.18% better value based on price/1000km than the Maxxis Premitra HP6.
Best In Value: Continental PremiumContact 7
See how the Value winner was calculated >>
Rolling Resistance
Looking at data from three tire tests, the Maxxis Premitra HP6 was better during three rolling resistance tests. On average the Maxxis Premitra HP6 had a 8.17% lower rolling resistance than the Continental PremiumContact 7.
Best In Rolling Resistance: Maxxis Premitra HP6
See how the Rolling Resistance winner was calculated >>
Fuel Consumption
Looking at data from two tire tests, the Continental PremiumContact 7 and Maxxis Premitra HP6 performed equally well in fuel consumption tests.
Best In Fuel Consumption: Both tires performed equally well
See how the Fuel Consumption winner was calculated >>
Abrasion
Looking at data from one tire tests, the Continental PremiumContact 7 was better during one abrasion tests. On average the Continental PremiumContact 7 emitted 9.21% less particle wear matter than the Maxxis Premitra HP6.
Best In Abrasion: Continental PremiumContact 7
See how the Abrasion winner was calculated >>
Real World Driver Reviews
Tire Reviews also collects real world driver reviews for the Continental PremiumContact 7 and Maxxis Premitra HP6.
In total the Continental PremiumContact 7 has been reviewed 50 times and drivers have given the tire 83% overall.
The Maxxis Premitra HP6 has been reviewed 1 times and drivers have given the tire 73% overall.
This means in real world driving, people prefer the Continental PremiumContact 7.
Continental Premium Contact 6 tires are used up front.
The MAXXIS tires are very quiet, precise, and light. I'm convinced they're absolutely on par with the Continentals, as my car zips around fast corners with absolute neutrality and remains neutral with every load change.
Conclusion
The Maxxis Premitra HP6 makes its case mainly on efficiency and occasional dry-circuit pace. It frequently posts lower rolling resistance (winning 3/3 where reported) and can be genuinely quick on a dry handling course (including a 1st place dry-handling time in one 225/45 R17 test). But multiple reports flag a less harmonious balance and lower wet-limit confidence (e.g., very low subjective wet handling in one test despite decent objective pace), and durability is a recurring weakness versus the Continental (e.g., 29,000 km vs 44,250 km in Auto Zeitung; 37,200 km vs 44,700 km in ADAC). The practical takeaway: the Maxxis can feel sporty and economical, but the Continental is the tire you buy to remove question marks-especially in the wet and over the life of the tire.
Key Differences
- Wet braking is a decisive separator: Continental wins 6/6, including a very large real-world gap in one test (53.2 m vs 61.9 m).
- Wet handling confidence differs as much as outright pace: Continental scores far higher on subjective wet handling (e.g., 44 vs 20 points; 8.6 vs 6.3), while Maxxis is often described as less predictable at the limit.
- Aquaplaning reserves favour Continental, sometimes strongly (e.g., straight aquaplaning 79.7 vs 75.0 km/h; curved aquaplaning +23% in ADAC).
- Dry braking is consistently better on the Continental (6/6 wins), even when Maxxis is close on dry lap times.
- Efficiency tends to favour Maxxis (rolling resistance wins; occasional fuel-consumption edge), whereas Continental's rolling resistance is more mid-pack depending on test.
- Wear/longevity strongly favours Continental: Maxxis shows notably lower predicted mileage and/or higher abrasion (e.g., 29,000 vs 44,250 km).
Overall Winner: Continental PremiumContact 7
Based on the tire test data and user reviews we have in our database, the Continental PremiumContact 7 has demonstrated better overall performance in this comparison. However, as you can see from the spider diagram above, each tire has its own strengths which should be considered in your final tire buying choice.Similar Comparisons
Looking for more tire comparisons? Here are other direct comparisons involving these tires:
Continental PremiumContact 7 Top Comparisons
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Maxxis Premitra HP6 Top Comparisons
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Footnote
This page has been developed using tire industry testing best practices. This means we are only comparing tests which have had both tires in the same test.
Why is this important? Tire testing is heavily affected by things like surface grip levels and surface temperature, which means you can only compare values from the same day. During a tire test external condition changes are calculated into the overall results, but it is not possible to calculate this between tire tests performed on different days or at different locations.
As a result you will see other tests on Tire Reviews which feature both the %s and %s, but as they weren't conducted on the same day, the results are not comparable.
Lots of other websites do this sort of tire comparison, Tire Reviews doesn't.