Drivers generally describe the Continental Sport Contact 5 as a confidence-inspiring UHP tire with strong dry and wet grip, sharp steering response, and secure braking-especially praised in rain and at speed. However, the dominant complaint is very fast wear (often on the front axle), which many feel makes it poor value despite the premium price. A smaller but recurring theme is increased road noise and a firmer/harsh ride as the tire ages or on coarse surfaces.
What owners mention most counted across 195 reviews
I bought this tires as they are MB recommended ones. Driving normal lasted after 10000miles (16.000km) only!!
On wet road responsiveness is like unsafe, looks like car slips easily. Never felt "safe" with this tires. Highly dissapointed with them, and too expensive for the performance they offer.
I came from sportcontact 2 and now changed to dunlop sportmaxxRT to see how they perform.
Bought a set as a replacement for a mix of Sport Contact 2 and 3. Was considering F1 Asymmetric 2, but on the basis of what I head read on this website, extra load versions of the Goodyear would have probably been necessary, and I decided to stick with Continental. Also, the non-XL versions of the Continental were considerably cheaper than the XL Goodyears.
Overall I am very pleased. I was little unsure as to why the CSC5 wasn't dominating the tire tests as previous models had, but I should not have worried. This is a natural progression from the CSC3 - very good in the dry and excellent/even better in the wet. Wearing four tires, I have found that the car now treats standing water with distain - even at high speed it shrugs it off and remains very stable.
Economy might have improved marginally, but no more than that. Continental claimed a 5% (i think) improvement in noise levels - which is next to nothing anyway, and I think that is about right. They are virtually identical to the CS3 on the noise front, but do seem to ride slightly better. I have experienced some tendency to tramline, but I have had that issue previously (tires are 235/45/17) and the standard of some sections on the Irish road network doesn't help!
Can't comment on wear rate as of yet, but this may be a slight weakness according to others. Thus far I have found it fine.
I would recommend these without hesitation.
Check out how the BEST all seasons tires perform against premium summer and winter tires!
I've had two sets of the sport contact fives on a mondeo. Theres very little to fault with the handling charactoristics of the tire. My big gripe is the wear rate. The first set of tires fitted, the fronts were shot after 9k, the second pair lasted 7k with the rears needing replacing at the same time. So in total 16k from 6 tires. I'd previously run Sport Contact 2s which provided both grip and mileage. Why Continental have altered the compound in the 5s to provide accelerated wear rate with negligable benefit to the handling characteristics is beyond me. While some of my driving may have been spirited on occasion I'm usually a fairly steady driver in a 140bhp Mondeo diesel. Given the premium price charged for this rubber I've come to the conclusion that my money is problably better spent elsewhere
Got 2 of these to replace the ContiSportContact 5's that came with the car from new, for the front tires. Overall not bad, driving is a mix of spirted to average, mainly main roads/motorway, but live in the sticks so get a lot of country road driving in too.
Good grip braking generally (although wouldn't give it top marks), wet is reasonable (had better grip with Pirelli P7s for example - on previous car).
Not sure these are worth the money to be honest, they've not lasted as well as I would have liked - damage fairly easily and seem to be feathering pretty quickly.
Going to try a cheaper tire next for a good comparison - thinking Kumho's or similar which seem to do quite well in reviews.
My previous ones were a Michelin Primacy HP set, which lasted quite long with average qualities, but then these ones felt really good from the first day. What a change! They offer a much more comfortable ride while on the other hand they also increase the grip.
I've had the opportunity of driving in wet situations and they're even more exceptional. No aquaplaning in the same places I used to have with the old ones even when they were new, and very good and safe behavior on wet curves.
I cannot say about the wear, it's too early for that; of course they're not going to last as long as the Michelins, but I'm not too much concerned about that as for me the ride quality, the comfort, and the safety feeling they provide are my priorities.
Changed SLK and these came as standard fit as against SC3 on old model. Runs quiet and v.good in the dry, but am not feeling the same confidence in the wet yet as against the old SC3, although can correct early through feel and feedback from car. Just covered the first 1000 miles, overall very happy but I don`t think they will be hugely long lasting.
I have done 6000miles in a 330ci sport, and they are down to 3mm. No wheel spins or burnouts although the DSC is nearly always off so there may be some wear in the corners. Very good grip but just a bit let down by the wear. They are quiet too, but the tread pattern is a bit boring (not a biggy)All in all, I would say they are mint and would recommend if you can put up with the wear.
Viva la Black Chilli rubber. Excellent grip in dry as one would expect. Great handling in wet. Slightly shorter braking distance. Helps put the power down on the road and I have 250 lb/ft torque at 2,500 RPM. Truly amazing sense of steering. Better fuel ecomony than the CSC2 version. Much better than the CSC2 and CSC3. Well done Conti. When the Michellin PS3 go on my other car I will replace them with the CSC5. Only 12,000 miles so far and 5mm remaining on front and 4mm on rear.
