Drivers generally describe the Continental Sport Contact 3 as a strong-performing UHP summer tire with confident handling, strong braking, and notably good wet-road grip with good resistance to aquaplaning. The most consistent complaint is rapid tread wear (especially on front axles/FWD cars), with many also reporting higher road noise/firm ride and premium pricing. A smaller but recurring theme is tramlining/steering pull on certain cars or as the tire wears, and some note wet/cold performance can deteriorate later in the tire's life.
What owners mention most counted across 189 reviews
Excellent wear and good feel. fractionally better in the dry than in the wet and have managed two very cold and snowy winters in NE Scotland without being too scary.Just about to buy a second set. By comparison a pair of Nexens lasted 12000 on the front of the same car and were noisier with less grip.
I was very impressed with these tires. After 12,000 km's I had only worn 50% of the rears and 70% of the fronts. Considering my BMW 135i was putting down 240 kw and 480 nm's and I had also undergone 3 track days, each spanning approximately 25 laps each. There was never any flaking of the tire on the edges which I cannot say for previous Hankooks (Ventus V12's) or Kumho (Ecsta ??). I did have the rear brake out on the track in the wet but hey, it's a rear-wheel drive car and I accelerated a bit early! However all was progressive and controllable. By far the best tire I've owned and will fork out for a new set for my Renault 'Megane 2 Team F1 R26'.
Check out how the BEST all seasons tires perform against premium summer and winter tires!
After reading the reviews I had decided to invest in these tires. I am daily commuter who drives on the motorway, A roads and locally and generally cover 18,000 miles a year as well as the occasional track day. Surprisingly they don't wear as much as I had expected as the previous Yokohamas you could visibly see the tread come off. After 6000 miles I have approximately 5mm left.
In the Dry they are very good and progressive and comfortable so you don't feel the road as much. They're just a tad behind the Yokohamas in the dry I feel though they do work well in most temperatures and heat up fast to give ultimate grip very quickly.
In the wet they are brilliant and can clear standing water very quickly. They give plenty of confidence in the wet and the charcteristics of the tire don't change much and can handle speed adequately. I tried them on a track day when it was raining and really enjoyed the experience. I would recommend these as an all round performance tire which works well in all conditions so far, all be it not tired them in the snow!
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this is the third set I have had, lasting with correct rotation over 40,000 miles per set. 225/45/17. want to change to a slightly more comfortable set but as I do 40,000 a year wear is very important to me. car is a saab 9-3 sportswagon 2011 TTid4 ( not listed on the site due tonewness i think)
Loved everything about these tires except the exceptionally bad wear rate. Under 9k for front tires on a Mondeo diesel! Fitted in January and worn out by the end of May. Anyone who lives in the UK will know that most of those miles have been driven in the wet. Never again
I had these tires since the car was new and they lasted 33,000 miles which is excellent on a big 3 liter 4 wheel-drive estate. So I bought a new set and they lasted 33,000 miles again!! So 66,000 miles from just 2 sets of Conti's!! Dry grip is good and they are very quiet - wet grip is fine as long as you are not a lunatic - sure P Zeros will grip better in the wet but they cost a lot more certainly won't last for 33,000 miles. In all a great and cost effective tire which when you consider how long they last.
Fantastic grip in dry or wet.very confidence inspiring in the fast corners.But wore out to the stops by 8k miles.(not very impressive)
Went to quickfit for replacements,and thought not too bad for two new contisportcontact 5's when the fitter mentioned £227.57
I nearly passed out when he then said "each!"
By now too late having been fitted,and the car being backed out of the bay.
That very costly mistake won't happen again!
On a plus,the 5's are quieter,and seem to absorb the imperfections on the road better,but just as grippy.
Just hope they last a bit longer than the 3's!
Good tires. I find them useless in the wet but having a remapped huge torque engine (680nm) I didn't think it would be great. Wear well and grip fantastic in the dry. I would however chose another tire when I buy again.
First, in south uk we rarely get snow so not worth winter tires, but when we did in 2010/11, abandon all hope all those who drive on sc3. Stay at home. They fail to stop, ever.
Very pleased in all other areas though, as they seem to suit large rear wheel drive cars, would ask for less noise, although quieter than Dunlop sportmax/tt. Wear approaching 20k if my notes are correct, with exceptional wet/dry grip, straight line high speed stability, feedback, with plenty of warning before they let go. Excellent tire IMO.
Massive improvement over appallingly unstable Falken 452/912(how are these tires allowed on sale?) although they get good reviews on smaller front wheel drive cars somehow. Very quiet though.
Merc owner a few pages back said beware inner shoulder wear. That is a camber set up issue fault of the car. Do not blame the tire for this.
...And the two Audi owners rightly state this is a summer tire only but there's no way I'm paying out £4-500 on winter tires in southern England for 1 week of bad weather. Beware the snow.
Am I the only one not suprised front wheel drive cars wear more on the front, yet the owners don't mention rotating them to the back axle...?
Bought these to replace the fronts on my wife's car, thinking I should go with a good brand as she has the kids in the car. To be honest, im not overly impressed with them. Grip is fine, I cant fault them there, bu being a people carrier its not driven in a spirited way. Where I do fault them is on wear, its awful, car is setup fine, but these have buffed off on the corners bad and required to be swapped around. On the plus, they are not directional, so you can get away with left to right swap.
In contrast, previously I had an impreza for about 6 years, and that came with Nankang NS2 fitted from the dealer. Thinking initially these would be budget, they just lasted and lasted. The rears I never replaced, and sold with the car 6 years on and 34k later, the fronts only got replaced due to 2 damages to objects, but they would have pushed 20k I think.
So I have paid for Conti's and not impressed, driven budget and been surprised.
I've had these tires on my mr2 for about four years now.
The car has mostly been driven on country roads, with about 200 miles driven on track with these tires.
On the road they are good in the dry. The grip well and give good feedback, until you approach the limit of the tire. When you loose traction it happes suddenly and without warning, I've experienced this a few times on track, and it is scary.
The sidewalls are a bit soft, so in a higher profile than 40, the tire is a bit wobbely when turning hard.
In the wet the tire is controlable and give good feedback, with loss of traction happening a bit more progressivly, so you can feel when it's about to slip.
But the grip is not good. On the track in the wet the conti tire was outpreformed by almost all other similar priced tires. Both the michelin PS3 and the Pirelli Pzero had a lot more grip through bends in the wet.
On the road in the wet, the tire feels steady, and I've never had aquaplaning in standing water, not even at high speeds.
These tires are a bit noisy on rough tarmac.
Half worn out after about 4000 miles with sipirited driving, and 200 miles of trackday driving.
I've tried better tires than these when it comes to grip and comfort. Next time I'll probably buy michelins or nokian.
