Across most reviews, the Continental WinterContact TS 850 is described as an extremely confidence-inspiring winter tire with standout traction and braking in snow, plus excellent wet grip and strong resistance to aquaplaning. Many drivers also report good comfort and relatively low noise for a winter pattern, with several noting impressive tread life/mileage. A smaller group of users report drawbacks typical of softer winter tires-less steering sharpness/feedback (especially on sporty cars) and reduced precision as temperatures rise.
What owners mention most counted across 44 reviews
My winter tires before these were some Yokohama or something like that, which were OK first winter but after really really bad.
Till now I had summer tires from Toyo, Proxis something, these tires were bad from the first day, grip while accelerating was awful even on dry roads, and even worse on wet.
Aquaplaning on these Toyo's was dangerous, sliding car around, slowing it down and so...
They weren't noisy but when I tried Contintental TS 850 which are actually winter tires I felt like I've bought a new car.
- less power needed to accelerate (no idea how this actually is possible, must be a magic?)
- amazing grip on dry and wet (no snow yet here)
- difference in braking is incomparable, TS 850 stops just at the moment you hit the breaks
- oh my, driving these tires on wet roads is a heaven, amazing sound while speeding, no worry of skidding, sliding while hitting aquaplaning driving 100kmh on wet without any problem
- noise is really low, and wouldn't call that the noise as I enjoy the sound :D
Also I've noticed that I spent less gas compared to summer tires, again, magic?
I just love these tires that I would like to use them all year :D
Excellent on snow, excellent on wet. Perfect on dry. Good cornering stability. Not so quiet as my previous Goodyear UG7,especially on wet and on some country roads. Good breaking. Still wasn't test it on ice. Became too soft at temperatures over 10 degree C. Perfect at temperatures below 5 degree C.
Enormous traction and grip on snow, excellent stability in 15cm snow (not cleaned road). Even at speed 55 mph. Great tires.
Check out how the BEST all seasons tires perform against premium summer and winter tires!
Had these Continentals for the past winter. Overall, all the good reviews about them are well founded.
I mostly drove in-town, with weekly country roads, or mountain regions drive. Very good traction in snow, even got out of a frozen snowy muddy 20 cm deep puddle in a forest road, without too much effort. Drove it offroad in that forest about 50km, with places with snow as deep as 40 cm, no problems at all. We had very little snow last year in town, so the traction/brakeing in dry/wet are above my summer Michelin Energy Saver (of course, using the Michelin during summer).
They are just as confortable as the summer Michelins, but not as noisy. Quite quiet these Contis are. In about 6000 miles, the wear on front is about 1.5 mm lower, max, almost no difference on the back. So the wear is pretty good too.
So: Continental WinterContact TS850 is one performant tire, must buy, with only one drawback - they are expensive. In my country (Romania) I bought them (new) with 385 euros (~300 pounds). And this was the maximum price for a winter tire on 205/65/r15. Otherwise, one very good all-rounder.
I chose those in december '13 due to a lot of positive feedback from members of the local BMW club. They are very quiet and comfy. The sidewalls feel too soft to me, but this is not a problem as in the winter I don't push the car much.
On snow those provided a superior grip, both on the highway and while climbing a very narrow mountain roads covered with snow and ice. They inspire confidence and really shine on ice, where I think their performance is most impressive.
What I don't like about those is how easily the rears start spinning on wet when taking off. However braking is very good in both dry and wet. I also didn't like the price, but after driving them this last winter, I think that they are totally worth it.
I can not comment on wear since it appears there is none. I have done only a few thousand miles with them and the weather got crazy so i changed to the summer setup. For those few thousand miles there is no visible wear and the tires still look brand new like when I got them from the shop.
I highly recommend them if your winter season is more of snow&ice than wet.
The tires went on about eight weeks ago just before we had snow in the Czech Rep. I previously had Nokian G2's on the car and they did an admiral job until recently when the wear got closer to the legal 4mm and they really deteriorated drastically and made for very precarious driving even with Quattro.
Having heard about how good the new Nokian G3's were, I went to the service center looking to purchase the them but the owner (also an Audi Quattro) driver recommended I purchase the Continentals instead as he felt they were a better tire. Upon his advise, I forked out the extra £150.00 and had them put on.
Was it a good investment? Well, In my eyes, they have completely blown away the G2's I had previously.
The tire feels very sure footed in all conditions and really provides grip in places where there should be none. An example of this is my local high street that had compacted snow and ice on it for some time. An early start meant that the ploughs had not been out yet as I drove through with caution. As another struggled infront of me to get any traction, it felt like I was driving in normal conditions. Amazing.
So, Grip in really testing conditions is a mega thumbs up.
In heavy rain on uneven road surfaces with tram lines and botched repairs, again the Conti's have been amazing, very little signs of aquaplaning and amazing cornering grip.
Heavy snow grip is fantastic, really fills you with confidence. Tested under braking, the car came to a halt in an emergency really very quickly, so much so that I have had to keep an eye in the rear view mirror to make sure I am shunted from behind.
Icy weather is the only weather where the tire has not been impervious. Sheet ice had the tire grappling for grip and the traction control going carzy. It is still better than the Nokians. Sheet ice is one surface that no tire without studs will cope with well so I am not surprised.
No comment on tire wear since I have only covered 3k miles in them which is just not enough. The tire fitter said that he got 40k km from his older conti's and expects these to be similar.
The only negative point is the tire noise which can be heard in the cabin and sounds something similar to a truck tire roar. It is not intrusive to the point of being a problem but it is there. With the radio on, you won't even notice it.
So in conclusion, this is the by far the best winter tire I have purchased (and I have been through a few). The only inhibitor is the price even after a hefty discount but what price do you put on the safety of you and your family.
This is an amazing tire which I will definitely but again and the only word of caution is to watch your speed as these tires are so good, you'll think that everyone is going slow when infact you are driving like a lune.
bought these as i now do about 30k miles in a year and figured higher milage warranted them. the ibiza has 229lbs/ft Torque and getting the power down in winter is not easy, until i got these fitted. with summer tires i could see TCS light on up to 50mph when agressively accelerating, no TCS with these on the front. My fuel economy was about 5mpg better over the summer tires. (this is probably in part due to the winter tires being 185/55 R15 versus summers being 205/50/R16) I had them on for 10k, hoping to get another 10K this winter with the same pair.
