Continental Sports Contact 7 review

B21

Lifer
Well 5 months on and 6,000 miles later I’ve just replaced the back pair of 275/30 19 SC7s….

As you can see the originals were down to the 1.6mm tread wear bar..obviously long past the suggested 3mm replace limit..

So the good news…

Much better feel than the Michelin MP4S…steering much more communicative…you can feel what the front end is doing.

Prodigious grip in both dry and damp / moist roads…never ever slid and only spun a little if applying 400 BHP in first and second.

Seemed quieter to me and Andy McD when compared to the MP4S

The as expected..

Ride comfort more or less on a par with MP4S

Not so good

Very bad trampling when admittedly worn much past their official replacement limit

Very bad in wet conditions when worn, but again, given the width and wear maybe not surprising.

The tramlining got in part may be due to quite large increases in camber..I plan to back those off next week.

With these weekends run forecast to be wet at times thought it prudent to put next seasons rears on…what a transformation…almost no trampling and cope with quite remarkably deep puddles.

Premium rubber at a premium price…wear rates are I guess what you pay for to have enough grip to contain 400 BHP of E89 being flung around..interesting despite a lot of camber evev wear rate…so must be going round corners to wear evenly..
 

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Would you still recommend the Sports Contact 7 or another tyre? I'm choosing between these and the pilot sport 4S or the 5.
 
JakeS76 said:
Would you still recommend the Sports Contact 7 or another tyre? I'm choosing between these and the pilot sport 4S or the 5.

Simple answer yes..

I found my tracking was out..with revised tracking the tram lining reduced a lot when worn.

I have friends with the PS5..I've not tried them but they seem to be 'better' for E85M than the MP4S.

So I'd say for the E89..Conti SC7, GY Assy 6, maybe PS5..but not PS4S..its had its day..there are now better suited tyres for the E89 if you want the 'best'..ie great handling both wet and dry, great braking. great feedback...if you want ride/economy/noise there are other options..

Obviously all great tyres and for normal driving /Miss Daisy mode those and many more would be great..

If you're hooning and things 'happen' then the reserves that the SC7 and GY Assy 6 stand you in good stead!
 
That wear rate is tooooo scary for me. Will be replacing all 4 very soon and will be fitting Eagle F1 Asymmetrics following positive feedback from Sars
 
Considering these for my car but the wet performance when worn worries me a bit. Maybe the goodyear f1s would be better for our climate?
 
romanone said:
Considering these for my car but the wet performance when worn worries me a bit. Maybe the goodyear f1s would be better for our climate?

The GY Assy 6 edges the SC7 on wet related performance…by about 1% ish

Personally my progress in the wet is markedly slower than the dry so my actual personal safety margin in the wet is much higher…

Certainly I drive a lot in the wet on SC7s..I do live in Scotland..

If you contrast the gap between MP4S and SC7 wet performance then the deficit for the MP4S is 2 to 4 times greater than the relative deficit with the GY Assy 6 and SC7…

I’d certainly be happy with the Assy 6 but with 550 BHP the SC7 offers a dry level of performance than no other street tyre offers..

As I said all great tyres..maybe look at PS5 as well if wet weather is your concern?
 
Words I've heard from a good friend of mine who is a Michelin development engineer: "PS5 is better across the board that PS4S and older cars cannot push them to the limit on road (eg, not the 2000+kg that comes out nowadays). PSS5 will be for extreme cars" but also the most important "oh yeah some other brands are now matching our dry and wet performance but are no-where near us on lifetime".

That convinced me to go Michelin instead of Nankang, he owes me lots of ice-cream now :driving:
 
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