I'm writing this as I'm about to replace these tires after 46,000 km. They'd probably last until 60,000, but the snow wear marks have been reached since 42,000 km and I'm going to need winter capable tires. As far as longevity is concerned, it's OK, but no more than that, because I've got a fairly light, low-powered car and I drive quietly.
Since I don't live in a place where winter tires are mandatory, the Michelin CrossClimate 1, which was presented as a summer tire capable of driving on snow, could have been a good choice. But I had read in tests that the Michelin looses its directional ability on snow over 40km/h. That's good enough for the last few kilometres of the 'climb up to the resort' in the French Alps, but I need tires that will allow me to travel in winter in Germany, Austria and northern Italy, where I've sometimes experienced snowstorms on motorways in heavy traffic, at speeds of over 100km/h. So I chose the Continent Allseason Contact.
I made the wrong choice: since buying it, I've only driven 40 km on snow, on a small mountain road.
I did find that the Allseason Contact is very good on fresh or packed snow, almost like a winter tire. I didn't test it on ice, where a siped winter tire is certainly better.
The Allseason Contact is also very good in the rain, particularly in cold weather.
It's in the dry that things take a turn for the worse: the Allseason Contact causes marked understeer. This isn't dangerous on motorways. But elsewhere you can be surprised by a bend that closes, even at legal speed. And emergency braking in dry conditions is a far cry from that of a summer tire.
Finally, in very hot weather, the car becomes a pudding on wheels.
In conclusion, the Continental AllSeason Contact is a very good tire, but it should be seen as a winter tire that can be driven in summer, exactly the opposite of the Michelin. According to the data sheet for the new Allseason Contact 2, dry performance and longevity have been improved, but this should not change its character.
The Continental AllSeason Contact is a good choice for equipping a year-round car that does a lot of snow driving in winter, but that is not used for long journeys in summer, especially not in the south.
The Continental AllSeason Contact can also be a very good winter tire, as a complement to a real summer tire, for regions with a mild climate where frost is rare, with more rain than snow in winter, where a real winter tire will be unappropriated by mild temperatures.
I haven't yet chosen my next tires. As I live in the rainy northern French Brittany, the ideal tire would be a summer rain tire, capable of occasional use on snow, with good directional control rather than traction. So neither Continental nor Michelin. Based on the latest tests I've consulted, I'm hesitating between Bridgestone, Goodyear, Vredstein or Dunlop.
