Continental ContiSportContact 3
Our former champ is left half way down the field this time
Regular test winner Continental has to settle for a midfield place, a few percentage points behind the podium. Usually, its tyres are well balanced all-rounders, scoring in every area, but the ContiSportContact 3 was up and down.
As with the Bridgestone, it starred on dry roads, taking a clear win in the braking test and a close second on the handling track. It felt sharp, with good initial turn-in, but required more lock than the Potenza S001 as the loads built up. It was also the quietest tyre tested.
The sporty turn-in was evident on the wet track, too, but it lost grip as the power was applied in corners; although it remained well balanced, it was off the pace. This was reflected in the closely matched wet cornering test.
It struggled more in wet braking, taking over three metres longer to stop than the winning Pirelli. The aquaplaning results reflected its wet cornering problem: it was reasonable in a straight line, but trailed on the curve. Fourth for rolling resistance is impressive, though.
Our verdict
Strong choice in the dry, but has trouble on wet roads. Should be easy on the pocket.
| On test… | Score | Ranking |
| Wet braking | 86.6% | 8th |
| Wet handling | 97% | =7th |
| Wet cornering | 96% | 10th |
| Straight aquaplaning | 96.1% | =5th |
| Curved aquaplaning | 72.1% | 9th |
| Dry braking | 100% | 1st |
| Dry handling | 99.6% | =2nd |
| Rolling resistance | 95.4% | 4th |
| Cabin noise | 100% | 1st |
| Overall | 98.2% | 6th |
Contact
Continental: http://www.conti-online.com
