Given
74%
while driving a
Audi A4
(245/40 R18 W) on
a combination of roads
for 8,000
spirited miles
Did a fair bit of sourcing following the previous tyres I had on this car. Replaced a front set of General Altimax Sport which, up to now, were the worst set of tyres I have every come across. I heard positive reviews about the majority of Continental Tyres, however I was also informed that the wear tended to be slightly high. I fitted these tyres to the front of my 2.0 TDI Audi A4 to replace the Generals with the hope of drastically improving the handling and grip and ultimately provide a safer handling car.
Upon purchasing these tyres, the grip and handling was almost immediately transformed. The grip from these tyres in dry and wet conditions is the best I have come across in a tyre so far. Very rarely did I come across any loss of grip through corners even under harsh acceleration and found very little wheel spin when pulling away from junctions, even in bad conditions. For heavy surface water I wouldn't say there was anything dramatically impressive, however in comparison to the General Altimax Sports still a vast improvement. The only down side to these tyres has to be the wear. I only just managed 8000 miles on these tyres and although I occasionally drive aggressively, I attempted to make these tyres last and seriously struggled. On the up side, I found the grip on these tyres lasted almost until the tyres were fully worn out. Only in the last couple of hundred miles did the tyres begin to lose straight line grip and aquaplaning became a slight issue in heavy surface water. In terms of progressiveness, I rarely found loss of grip so it is difficult to say, however on any occasion where these tyres started to slide it was very controllable and easily correctable.
Because of the steep price on these tyres and the very high wear I have decided not to purchase these again. I have instead gone for Pirelli P7 Cinturato Blues. I have purchased the Pirellis before and although they will not provide such precise handling and grip, I find they are a better all round tyre for the price. For anyone who is not prepared to fork out every 8000 or so miles I would look else where, however for performance which will continue to last until the tyre is almost completely worn, I found these tyres hugely impressive.