Continental SportContact 7 Reviews - Page 3

Given 81% while driving a Audi A6 Avant 3.0 TDI Quattro (245/40 R18) on mostly country roads for 4,000 spirited miles
Bought these tyres because of the lack of wet grip and quick wear on my previous GoodYear Eagle F1 SuperSport, to which the new ones were driven straight back-to-back.
First off the bat, the SC7s are way quieter, way more comfortable, the small bumps and imperfections don't make as much noise as they did on the SSs. The steering feel was more direct - the SSs had a slightly longer delay in response to steering wheel inputs compared to the SC7s, the Contis still have a delay, but just a little shorter one. Dry grip was lacking on the SC7s, but that was at first thought to have been just due to the tyre being brand new and not being run-in yet. On the wet, I've taken it easy for the first thousand miles to not have an incident on the road.
After about 4000 miles, I can say that the SC7s are a straight dream in the wet. Where the SS would start to understeer on tight corners, the SC7 would show not even a hint of deviation from the wheels' direction. Where on the SSs the car would laterally slide out of the corner on hard acceleration, the SC7s would allow for as much acceleration after the apex as the puny 240HP allow the car to at a slight steering angle. So a complete dream to drive in the wet. Even after the tyres were definitely run-in, the SC7s would leave much to be desired in the dry. The dry grip is good, but the SSs edge the SC7s. Where SSs were driven hard with some safety reserve, the SC7s would already lose grip and slide, bringing the comfortable cornering speeds down significantly. Where on quick alternating turns and changes of input the SSs wouldn't even flinch, the SC7s start sliding and shift the car laterally. Pre corner lift from accelerator pedal to braking pedal while already turning in the corner would shift the entire car outwards. Mid corner change from acc to braking because of a bad corner length estimate does the same on the SC7s. The SSs didn't care for abrupt imput and transfers, they would just stick to the asphalt.
The conclusion on the tyres is still, that these SC7s are the best tyres in the wet so far, but for the improved wet performance, noise and comfort over the SSs, the sacrifice on dry performance was made. That leaves me somewhat disappointed, as the SSs were so bad in the wet they weren't really fun at such low corner forces, but the SC7s shine in that area. So the only current solution is to have a dry set of tyres for my car - Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport, and a set of wet tyres - Continental SportContact 7.
I really can not comment on the wear, because the both tyres are awful in that regard, but that's not a problem, as it's way better to be safe and glued to the asphalt for the 8000 miles I got from a set of 4 SSs with rotations and maybe 9000ish I expect to get from the SC7s, than to have tyres perform badly and last for 13000 miles or even more.
Helpful 150 - tyre reviewed on June 22, 2023
Given 84% while driving a Hyundai I30N (235/35 R19) on mostly town for 3,000 spirited miles
Initially I had PS4 in mind as my next tire, however since CSC7 released, I have been reading many glowing reviews. When the time came, I pull the trigger to try these SC7. They replaced the original fitment PZ4. I must say the PZ4 are very good tires, nothing to complain about. Except perhaps they wear out quite fast. My front lasted only 16K KM.

So what do I think of the CSC7 ? Freaking marvelous! The grip improvement is the first thing I noticed, this comes in the form of braking and cornering performance. It just bites and wouldn’t let go. Previous I remember with the PZ4 sometimes you can feel the slip, losing traction when you go all out accelerating (pedal to the metal) in 1st, 2nd & 3rd. However with the CS7 I have not experienced that yet (okay still new).

I do not care much about comfort/noise as this I30N is not a really a “comfort” car, but I will say this, it is about the same as PZ4. Wet weather performance so far so good. I live in a tropical climate country so the rain here is quite frequent and heavy. I have nothing bad to report. Traction and aquaplaning excellent. However one must be extra careful during wet weather driving.

My only reservation for now is the wear performance. From general consensus, previous SC6 people were saying that it wear out quite quickly. Well I hope these SC7 with the new ‘black chili’ technology will improve matters. If I can get at least 18-20K out of it I will be satisfied. For now I am already very happy with my decision.
Helpful 23 - tyre reviewed on May 31, 2023
Given 93% while driving a Mazda 3 Astina M Hybrid Sedan (235/40 R18) on mostly motorways for 3,728 average miles
This review is coming from Singapore. With either Rainy or Sunny tropical weather ranging from ambient temperature 25-35 degC daily. Summer type tyres are sold here mainly.

My ride is a 1.5L NA Mazda 3 sedan comes with stock touring tyres Bridgestone Turanza T005A 215/45R18 89W.

I changed out my rims to flow formed Japanese rims along with these Continental SportContact 7 235/40ZR18 95Y tyres and here's my observations

Advantages:
- Grip levels greatly improves.
- No more difference in Grip levels between Dry & Wet road conditions.
- Braking distance greatly shorten & becomes easily predictable.
- When cornering, the handling feels planted due to stiff sidewalls. You will feel there is this eagerness of the car to want to 'point-in' and the understeer on my FWD car reduces.
- Subjective comfort "improves". For me, this is an improvement from my previous touring tyres due to more road feedback I received through the steering wheel. However, for comfort-biased friends, they might see this as increase in ride harshness. In a way, you will feel that the sidewall is stiff but yet the contact patch is comfortable in a way for most Continental tyres.

Disadvantages:
- Going from touring tyres to UUHP tyres, my FC does decrease by about 0.5 to 1.0 km/L.
- Slightly slower pick up / acceleration but luckily this is assisted by my car's mild hybrid battery system.
- Slight increase in noise levels when cruising on expressways.

Conclusion:
- Most reviews I saw here on TyreReview using these Continental SC7 tyres are mainly cars with high horsepower or torque. Initially, I have reservations about using these tyres on my 1.5L NA car. But I am glad I made the decision to go for it. When driving a bread & butter car for daily commute to work, it is not just about how fast you can drive in busy traffic conditions, but how fast or early you can stop or brake in time to avoid bumping into others. Hence, I recommend buying this tyre if you looking also at the safety aspects of daily driving.

Approximate distance travelled as of 23rd May 2023: ~6,000 km.
Original thread depth: Between 7.50 to 7.99 mm.
Current thread depth: Between 7.20 to 7.50 mm.
Helpful 96 - tyre reviewed on May 30, 2023
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Given 94% while driving a Audi RS3 8V (255/30 R19) on mostly country roads for 14,000 spirited miles
I bought a full set of Sport Contact 7s for my RS3 Saloon back in February 2023, fast forward to today - 26th May - I have driven approximately 12-14k miles on this set and I could not be more impressed with these tyres. The level of grip in the dry is fantastic and very confidence inspiring. RS3s are known for their understeer but with the SC7s I have experienced very little to no understeer. The 12-14k miles have consisted of a mix of spirited and normal driving however it has predominantly been spirited. These tyres have also seen numerous days at Santa Pod and Donnington Race Circuit and despite all of the hard driving and considerable mileage they are holding up very well. Wear across all 4 tyres have been consistent and currently have approximately 2-3mm tread all round but even at this level the car grips wonderfully in the dry and exceptionally well in the wet. It feels so planted in the wet and is equally impressive, if not more, in the downpours as it does in the dry. By far the tyre of the year, can definitely see and feel as to why the SC7 outperformed the mighty MPS4s and for the price difference, its a complete no brainer. Will definitely be buying these again.
Helpful 25 - tyre reviewed on May 26, 2023
Given 53% while driving a BMW 530d F11 (245/40 R19) on mostly motorways for 4,000 average miles
I bought these tires about a year ago. The drive was great and the grip immense no matter what the conditions were. I knew there is gonna be faster wear on those tires, but i figured it is worth the pleasure, however after just one summer season - about 4000 miles - mostly driven on a highway, the tires were pretty much gone. What is worse the thread is there but become step shaped and the noise they produce is unbelievable. They were not the quietest tires when I bought them, but now they are essentially undrivable. I wouldn't recommend them for heavier cars, i recon on VW Golf they work just fine, but in this size, it was not the best purchase.
Helpful 23 - tyre reviewed on May 24, 2023
Given 80% while driving a BMW (235/40 R19) on mostly motorways for 8,000 easy going miles
BMW 435d xdrive
235 40 19 on the front 265 35 19 on the rear
Pros : Great grip dry or wet, comfort is good
Cons : slightly noisy on concrete sections of the motorway and a high wear rate, rears did 8000 before needed changing.
Fronts look they will last twice as long as the rears but still not great
Helpful 31 - tyre reviewed on May 23, 2023
Given 63% while driving a BMW 330d M Sport (255/35 R19) on mostly motorways for 1,500 average miles
Having just purchased these tyres for my F30 330D based on the rave reviews I was totally disappointed when I got home and looked at the tread depth which looked low for a new road tyre. I confirmed this by using my digital tyre depth gauge. They come new with just 6.5mm! If I would have known this beforehand I wouldn't have purchased them given my car is only for road use.

Performance wise they are a great tyre in dry and wet conditions, feed back is also good, but if I'm totally honest they perform and feel no better on the road than the Falken FK510's they replaced. Also having now completed 1500 miles, I can confirm the wear rate is shocking! They are down to 5.5mm on the rears already, and the car has only been used for work duties which consists of 80% motorway. On fitting the tyres the alignment was checked and was well within OE spec. If this wear rate continues I'll need to replace the rears within 7500 miles.

My conclusion, they are total overkill for a road tyre and i'll be going back to Falken FK510's.

Hope this helps.
Helpful 25 - tyre reviewed on May 18, 2023
Given 80% while driving a Unknown (225/40 R18) on mostly country roads for 0 miles
I tried several tires on my Leon Cupra and the continental sport contact 7 and much better I wonder if the premium contact 7 would be as good given that it is so well rated I regret that the continental sport contact 7 wears very quickly 400km it remains 5mm I would still take these tires despite their rapid wear because there are no tires that are as good in the rain and the dry I would like to see a thorough test of the continental sport contact 7 on their wear please
Helpful 23 - tyre reviewed on May 11, 2023
Given 97% while driving a Opel Insignia 1.6 Turbo 180 HP (245/45 R18) on a combination of roads for 1,500 spirited miles
These tires are quieter than I expected despite the 72db noise tag. Hard sidewalls reduce comfort, but that's okay.

The SportContact 7 are the best tires I've ever used on wet roads.
Even if it rains, I am as comfortable as traveling on a sunny day.
Many times in heavy rain, I drove through a large puddle at speeds of +130 km/h. The steering wheel makes me feel like I'm going through a puddle, but the tires almost completely prevent the car from destabilizing.
The healing process after getting into the puddle is very fast.
It definitely shows the same success in braking.

You can expect a tire with this performance on wet roads to stay behind on dry roads, but you are wrong! Best dry road performance I've ever seen. You have to make a serious effort to get them out of the way.
When you brake, you stick to the road like glue.
It is truly incredible to be able to give the top performance on both wet and dry roads.
The best performing tire money can buy in this size.
Helpful 19 - tyre reviewed on May 3, 2023
Given 91% while driving a BMW 320D MSport Tourer XDrive (255/35 R19) on a combination of roads for 5,000 spirited miles
I was just about to buy the Michelin PS4 since they known to be one of the best tires, but decided to put in some research beforehand and ended up finding some excelent reviews about the SportContact 7, I can gladly say these reviews were not fake at all!
I mostly drive them locally on some pretty raught roads where they still manage to give a comfortable ride considering the tyre sizes and also took some road trips where I could put them into the test and well they work like a charm, handling is just amazing in the dry paired with some Bilstein coilovers. During the first bigger rain last summer I also tried a couple of emergency stops and they did not dissapoint.
Helpful 17 - tyre reviewed on May 2, 2023
Given 95% while driving a Skoda (225/40 R18) on mostly country roads for 650 spirited miles
With this size being recently available thought I’d post an initial review.

Came from the Asym 6 and the PZero before that.

In this size on the Skoda these tyres are simply incredible in every area. Grip in all conditions is better than the Asym 6. They find grip under acceleration that just wasn’t possible before. Even with that grip the feel at the limit is so exploitable it’s made me laugh out loud at times. The front/rear balance of the Sportcontact 7s on the VRS is neutral like on the Asyms, maybe a touch more towards oversteer but that could just be the added feel of the SC7’s allowing better control of the car’s balance. I find this so important in the Skoda as you want to be able to balance the car while on the throttle rather than off cos of the stability control that can’t be turned off.

I read elsewhere how, on a GTi with 235/35 ZR19s, the SC7s had felt unrefined but without feel on the road. That’s opposite to my experience. On the Skoda the ride is very nearly as refined as the Asym 6, helped by being able to run the SC7s with less pressure due to the stiffer sidewall. Yet for the first time in the VRS there is a hint of that word journo’s love to use - granularity!

Before buying these my head was saying Conti Premium Contact 7 but my heart the Sportcontact. The Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersport was also a consideration but reviews of its wet grip performance seem inconsistent. After 650 miles on the SC7 I can’t see any reason why I’d go for the Premium Contact!
Helpful 18 - tyre reviewed on April 21, 2023
Given 69% while driving a Honda Civic FK2 Type R (225/45 R17) on mostly country roads for 7,000 spirited miles
Just wanted to tell you a couple of things, really short.. - Unbelievable grip! Type R's are known for their amazing capacity of tracking and cornering but boy.. This thing rides like it's on rails with CSC7; - Unbelievable road feedback! The road feedback and the sharp feeling is at another level, coming from the PS4S where feedback was below sea level compared with CSC7; - Infamous life span! You can not expect more than 8-10 000 km (5-7000 miles) from these tires and it s so wrong! We all expected better milage after the CSC6 fail. F1 SS are next.
Helpful 23 - tyre reviewed on April 4, 2023