Continental SportContact 7 Reviews - Page 7

I bought these ‘Conti 7s’ as they were touted as the new ‘ants pants of tires’ to replace my original from new car tires - Hankooks, which beautifully wore for almost 52,000kms.
Kms now today 19th June - 55,800.
Set of four (4) XL SportContact 7 Continental tires fitted 10th of April = $2380!
In 3,800kms, I’ve had 2 punctured tires and a split beading on another requiring replacement!!
NEVER have I EVER had such crap tires!!
Not cheap at $605 per tire either!
If I could I’d replace them in a heartbeat.
Latest puncture fixed today.
I’m driving no where different to where I have in the life of this car and driving style is no different.
So you know - I’m a female driver in my early 50s.
I love driving and my car, but am now honestly; literally paranoid driving on these Conti 7 tires - If I drive out tomorrow, what are my chances of getting home without ANOTHER puncture!?
Do yourself a favor- DONT waste your money on SportContact 7 Continentals!

After removing Michelin PS4 tires from the rear wheels. I noticed the sidewall was stiffer on the Michelin compared to the continental. And once fitted to the rim. The rim protector was noticeable smaller on the Continental. I felt after the initial 400kms or so that the Conti didn't provide as much grip in the dry as the previous PS4. You could feel the sidewall was that much more forgiving. So I was expecting more initial grip. It didn't, but it was more comfortable. Wet grip was about 85%-90% of that off the PS4. And when the conti broke traction it was less progressive. And it gives little on the way of warning.
After 5,000 miles and with the weather now a fair bit cooler at 8 degrees Celsius. The Conti now breaks traction more suddenly under acceleration, either through a corner or when driving straight. My BMW F30 330e is running a stage 2 tune and it's putting out around 380bhp and 640 lb/ft of torque. Plus the weight of the batteries directly over the rear axle adds another challenge to the tires. So the car can be hard on tires. But the PS4 and previous to that, the Good Year F1 Super Sport coped better and were superior to the Conti Sport Contact in both the wet and dry conditions. Also they both provided better feedback when traction became limited.
Maybe they work better on other cars. But would i recommend them for a BMW 330e. I would give a firm no!
I'll either go to a PS4 / PS5 or Good Year Super Sport for my next tire.

I did 16.600km this year since March 2023 to November 2023. I was extremely disappointed to see that the tires had worn out quite fast, and I only drove the car on asphalt (no track) and occasionally some launch control. I can barely use them next year with 1mm left to the wear indicator, it's risky and I might have to change them again.

Now other than the wear which I find terrible for an expensive and high end road tire, I find the grip very good on both wet and dry surface, HOWEVER this happened only until tires started to worn out then I started loosing grip and very often wheels were spinning when kicked down on throttle...I started blaming the Haldex unit, so I did a Haldex maintenance thinking that rear traction was not working properly, but in fact it was just the tires loosing grip because once they get close to the wear indicator, it's over.

Conclusion very good tires overall for a limited period, up to maximum 15.000km probably 20.000 if you drive in comfort mode all the time, however paying 800euros for such tires, does it really worth it ? Pretty sure there are other brands out there, not as popular as Continental with a lower price but at least the same performance.

Comparing this tire to Michelin PS4S and Goodyear SuperSport.
CS7 is superior to both in wet grip, which is just phenomenal! Miles better than GY SS and also better than PS4S.
They don't need heat in them to grip, which is also a big advantage. Good dry grip, predictable, good comfort, etc.

I drive very fast and up until a month ago, I thought that this is the best tire you could buy. I still think this is the case for most people, just not for me.

When you drive really fast on the road (and I mean fast in the way that lands you in jail in most countries), they disintegrate. Mine started peeling after 20km of pushing on a closed road.
I then took them to a trackday, put them on the back of the car, because it was raining, and they were great, while it was wet. As soon as it dried out, the outer edge of the tire was gone in one lap, just delaminated. Mind you, this was on the back on a FWD car, I had GY SS on the front and they were as new.

So if you drive fast most of the time, buy GY SS. If you need a tire that is phenomenal in wet and dry and you don't push the car to the limits, just get the CS7, it really is that good.

Transformed the wet grip on my boxster (235/35R19 Front and 265/35R19), dry grip seems improved as well. The car was previously on Michelins (Sport Cup 2 on the front, Super Sport rears both Porsche N2 rated) which although impressive once warm in the dry where worrying in the wet and could be butt clenchingly terrifying in standing water.
Overall the car seems quieter, more comfortable and better balanced with excellent feedback, I've yet to find the limit of dry or even wet grip on the road and they make the car more enjoyable to drive so I'm using it more.
I'm always wary of standing water in this car due to the relatively wide tire section and light weight but so far they've performed well without the problems of aquaplaning that the tire reviews test would make you worry about, although that is in comparison to the performance / track day option Michelin tires.
Not sure about wear rates, I've yet to notice any significant change in 3000 miles, but the tires were significantly cheaper than other premium brands at the time.

Fantastic tires. Always been a Michelin man however as I was on the hunt for something different I might as well try the best. I AM BLOWN AWAY. Exceptional tire with great feedback, I drive very hard both on the road and on the track e.g. Nurburgring and they didn't show signs of overheating even after 5 hot dry laps although when your on the limit they tend to have a slight understeer bias. (side note; they do require some heat in them to be at 100%). Wet grip is very good again both on track and on the road not as good as a Uniroyal rainsport 5 but still brilliant. I had a concern about the amount of tread you get when the tire is new, it looks to be around 5mm which seems silly. However, I'm 7K Miles in and the rears now need replacing (track use included & inner shoulder is worn, center tire is at 2.8mm) which over all I think that's damn impressive. Comparing directly with the PS4S i'd choose the Conti 7's mainly due to the amazing durability and how versatile it can be not to mention the price saving. I can't really comment on comfort as I run a low profile of '25'. DON'T SLEEP ON THE SPORT CONTACT 7