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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.

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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…ScoreRanking
Wet braking86.6%8th
Wet handling97%=7th
Wet cornering96%10th
Straight aquaplaning96.1%=5th
Curved aquaplaning72.1%9th
Dry braking100%1st
Dry handling99.6%=2nd
Rolling resistance95.4%4th
Cabin noise100%1st
Overall98.2%6th

Contact

Continental: http://www.conti-online.com

 
 
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