Continental Sport Contact 2

These have actually been on the rear axle of my 996. My driving style is quite spirited and I drive on rather compromised quality and abrasive B-roads about 80% of my mileage while the rest is along the traffic transit to these roads.

On this set of wheels I had originally Bridgestone Potenza S02A tires. After the rears had worn out and no S02A were available anymore I asked for stiff wall tires to accompany my front S02A. I was recommended the Conti SC2 by a professional tester. So now after 5000 km the tires are so worn that I had to reduce my camber. Since then I did a 350 km long test run and I see the same wear rate as before. Ive never had tires that wear this fast out. My other wheel set has Mich PS2 and the rears, two sets actually, both have managed 15 000 km. And I run both sets during the season so the numbers are well comparable.

Further more I was really disappointed to the side wall stiffness. The Bridgestones at front are ultra stiff. The Conti SC2 at rear just does not manage the stability required for the stiff fronts.

So what did I learn? Never put different shoes front and rear. But frankly Im disappointed on these. The previous S02A being very stiff walled was my all time favorite tire, though the wear was not too good on those either. 911s tend to wear rear tires alot. But the Conti SC2 is the record wear out for me. Sometimes I even wonder have I got a pair of pirate tires here....
Grip wise - both wet and dry were well adequate for road.

I was extremely impressed with these tires. They came fitted with the car, and still have 2mm of legally usable tread, so this will be the final season on them. I live in the Alps in Austria so summer tires are used mid April-October, and designated winter tires are used throughout winter. I drive through the twisty mountain roads with zero room for error, as well as on long high speed straights, so there is no option to risk tire grip failure at any point. Even in torrential downpours of rain, these contisportcontact2's stay planted. I've never seen resistance to aquaplaning like these offer. They do not "track" grooves in the road or "ride up" on uneven surfaces. The sidewalls are very soft, allowing for a smoother ride. The turn-in is sharp and predictable when you consider the softness of the sidewall. I believe the soft sidewalls are a major contributor to the incredible grip these tires have. Super hot motorways and broken tarmac in Italy, sustained top speed on the autobahn in Germany, near-zero visibility rain on French highways, and tight hairpin turns in the Austrian alps, these continentals have never let me down. They even held surprisingly well in dirt/grass, if that matters for anything. For the conditions I drive in, one single slip of the tires in an emergency maneuver can become disasterous. When these continentals are (rarely) pushed past their limits, there's not much noise or vibration, simply a progressive and predictable failing of grip. There's no dramatic On/Off feeling which comes with cheaper rubber. This means that the driver gets a second chance to "save it" after grip is compromised. That single detail is a requirement for me. Tread life is an acceptable weak point for me. These tires are used only 6 months out of the year, so they legally "expired" long before the tread wore down. Aquaplaning resistance has been maintained despite tread wear. Aged tires have maintained their grip very well. There are no dry rot cracks, chips, cups, tears, or chunks of rubber coming off. Date of manufacture is 10 years ago! Tread depth as new was 11mm, while the newly available replacements from Continental come with 9mm, I believe. If the Sportcontact2's were still available, I might go for them again rather than the new Premiumcontact6.

The tires perform incredibly well in both wet and dry condition. The road feedback is excellent throughout and in the wet always gave me lots of confident. I have now got to the point where I have to replace the front at 22k with the rear still at 5mm (but I will replace the full set). Performance is constant throughout the tire's life and even now the front are down to 3mm I still have plentu of feedback and even in the wet there is no issue whatsoever.
The main issue I have is not how they worn (can't complain having covered 22k from new) but how noisy these tires are. The noise is unbearable unless you drive on a perfectly smooth surface and it is always been like this, doesn't really matter how old the tire is. I have tried different tires pressure without achieving a decent level of comfort.
I will now replace the full set with Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2 hoping to achieve a better mileage/gallon (I found the rolling resistance of the continental being quite high) and, most of all, a better comfort.
I repeat, the only reason for me not to go with a new set of Continental (I think the design of the new CSC6 is absolutely beautiful) is merely based on the noise/comfort level.