Continental WinterContact TS 860 earns strong praise for wet grip, aquaplaning resistance, snow performance (especially when new), comfort/low noise, and overall safety, with many high-scoring reviews highlighting balanced handling and good wear for several seasons. A recurring minority concern is notable performance degradation after 2-4 winters, particularly on wet and packed snow/ice, and occasionally softer sidewalls affecting steering response. Overall sentiment is positive, with most drivers recommending the TS 860 for milder to typical European winters and wet conditions.
What owners mention most counted across 42 reviews
Tires are extremely stable o wet in a motorway. You can even compare them to summer tires on dry and wet. Less impressive on a snow. Its our first winter tires on our Volvo V50 and we found it often to understear on a dry snow in more sharp turns. We don’t know who to blame, the car or the tires. Although braking and accelerating on snow is good enough. On icy conditions the tires are more predictable and on extremely low temperatures can compete with some soft compound tires. Overal i found tires recomended for wet climate and high speed driving on motorway, but can be tricky on dry snow on lower speeds.
I'm using this tire for 1 year with aprox. 15000 km I think it is successfull and worth to buy bcz. I had no problem on hardest snowy motorway conditions, wet streets, muggy town roads
Check out how the BEST all seasons tires perform against premium summer and winter tires!
92%
Member
Skoda
195/65 R15
20,000 miles
A Combination of Roads
Average
I used these tires for the last 2 winters. New set at the start of each winter. I can see why they win tires tests as I found them perfect for any condition during the winter months. Driving on ice or black ice is like driving on a normal road conditions, Also snow, wet and dry grip were very good.
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My first winter tire and I'd say I have mixed feelings about them. The pros are they give nice feedback in spite of winter tires making steering feel lackadaisical but it was still tolerable, very nice dry grip even during spring which makes it feel almost like a summer tire, moderate rolling resistance and they are super comfortable. You can kind of drive them sporty and spirited but the understeer gets present at certain corners and tire squeal might occur at even lower speeds but it is rare. Braking is progressive and excellent. Ice grip definitely a joke and snow grip is above average as they seem to be made for western European climate and not Baltic States climate but this can be solved with lower pressure. These tires love low pressures so keep them around 29-35 PSI. Above 15°C temperature outside they feel lackluster but below that they function just fine so a very good tire if you consider dry grip, glue-like wet grip, some snow grip if you live where weather can be bipolar and often damp without changing tires until for summer as it appears these tires seem to last long tread life wise as I still have 5.7mm left. By admission I'd like to point out that yes, Continentals have a tendency to tramline as the notorious rumours suggest. I'd like to highlight comfort as these have very soft sidewalls as well as they roll quietly and give the car the characteristics of dampers being on par with air dampers(may help to soften up stiff cars as well for some gain in comfort) however for my style of driving these do not suit me so avoid these if you want a winter tire that offers fun so consider Blizzaks or Winter Maxx as WinterContacts of this model do not suit my driving style although I may be incorrect and should try the S versions of that tire which might satisfy my enthusiast needs but I fear the softness is the mantra of Continental.
Bought a set of 4 continentals for my first car.
Unfortunately as a student I didn't have much to go for and had to drive these all year round for 2 years.
But, as a winter tire it was very good, I recommend these to anyone I can.
In the winter these performed so well in the snow, it can dig you out of even the worst situations.
Cant say much about ice.
Dry performance during spring conditions can be comparable to premium summer tires.
In short, you just cant go wrong with these.
Those are really premium tires. I had GoodYear before.. i mean they weren't bad or anything but with Continental the whole driving in rain and snow felt more safe! Would recommend!
WHAT A TYRE!! I couldn't think of better winter tire atm... Had Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 before that were good for aprox. 3000 miles, and after that they basically became hard plastic (all in same winter that I bought them and installed them on car)... Got TS860 because my friend recommended them for winter 2017/2018... As I have really really really really steep hill to my house, where even 4x4 car with moderate tires struggle on even a little wet road, just imagine what my 30 years old Mercedes with rwd and without traction control feels like... On that hill I am not only able to go without any wheelspin on wet road (which i found impossible with any tire before) but I can come to full stop at any point and start driving again like it is totally dry road, just mindblowing... Sometimes I feel that they even have better grip on wet road than ecocontact6 have on dry road in summer... I only had 1 chance to drive on snow and ice, as it doesn't snow in my area, and they performed fantastic... This set is at end of their life after cca 25-30k km (15-18k miles), maybe half mm until "minimum depth" mark, so I am going to buy new set in few days...
Until Continental launches new tire to replace TS860 I won't think of trying other winter tire... I can't even think how can winter tire be improved over this
Not much snow in my area and not many steep hills or bad off camber bends, but many roads will not be salted or ploughed. Always lots of rain and a fair bit of frost and ice.
Great on cold wet roads below 10 C, especially deep puddles. I was willing to trade some snow and ice performance for these characteristics.
Very good on dry roads, chippings, frost and snow.
Good on sheet ice, if they did slip they tended to catch again within an inch or 2. I found it best to drive with my foot off the throttle and use gears to set my speed.
Comfort is very good, although the tires do thrum a bit and the sidewalls are a bit flexible, tire flex is especially noticeable with a loaded car and my car is light.
Tires are on their third and probably last season as I always bin tires way ahead of the legal limit, which will be about 20000 miles, which for me is about 1/3 less than most tires.
Unless something way better is introduced I will most probably get these again, but I might change to 16 inch rims and/or XL rated versions.
Substituted some old Pirelli Snow Sport 210, which were nice for the snow but not good tires overall. The change was very noticeable. These tires perform well enaough in the dry. Only when braking very hard the high treadpattern limits the grip. I guess they would improve on this as they wear.
Feedback is just fair in the dry too. Comfort is average. On the bright side, they are quiet and rolling resistance seems to be moderate.
In the wet the tire is very good. As good as any summer tiree as far as I could test it. Very ressitant to aquaplaning and grippy on every surface.
Snow performance is better than any other tire I have tried. Grip is good enough to drive normally, just being moderate. Traction is good even on a loaded FWD car going up steep slopes. I never got stuck or had significant wheelspin, and I had the chance to drive several times on hard conditions. Just Great.
Wear has been low for 11.000Km
Overall the tire is very good, I would go for them again anytime. It's a pity ther is no size of this for my new car.
Member
Toyota
205/55 R16 H
5,000 miles
Mostly Country Roads
Average
The TS860 is a really good tire, I have them on my car, which doesn't have traction control or anything to moderate slip, I also had worn discs and pads and not once did I feel insecure this winter.
Dry conditions: They grip well, but they're not for hotter days as they feel too soft on a hot road but they're a winter tire after all.
Wet conditions: I felt confident in these which were a big step up from my previous tires but they did make a lot of noise, a bit too much for my taste, which was unsettling as the noise it made sounded like I was losing grip but I wasn't.
Snow & ice : They were wonderful, grip was good but the highlight is the braking, I had a few emergency stops and they did not slide at all.
Comfort: I live in Belgium in a rural area and the roads are in catastrophic state and on those roads they're not the most comfortable tire and they make a bit of noise which I don't mind as it's a way to communicate to the driver. However on a smooth or slightly cracked road they do well.
I would definately buy them again and recommend them to a friend. They fit a normal driving style on a regular car, they're okay with taking corners quickly and don't produce early understeer.
