Wheels and Tires

M. Premier or C. ExtremeContactSport?

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  • Jul 25th, 2018 9:55 am
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Deal Addict
Jan 11, 2010
1033 posts
391 upvotes

M. Premier or C. ExtremeContactSport?

Both seem to be top rated. Primary goal- best safety and handling for highway and wet condition daily driving performance. Fwd, 25k km/year. Have winter set.

Contis are +~$300, classed as max perf summer tires. How much less road life is to be expected vs a 'touring' tire. Will there be noticeable difference in normal daily driving use or are the contis more noticeable performance specifically on track/racing conditions?
6 replies
Deal Addict
Sep 8, 2017
4695 posts
4968 upvotes
GTA
If wet traction is important to you, then Grand Touring All-Season tires in general will perform better than Max Performance Summer tires.

High performance tires get their dry traction and responsiveness from large tread blocks and minimal siping. Both of these things are detrimental to wet performance.

The Michelin Premier A/S are have best in class wet performance, and are overall and very good tire, so they're certainly a good choice.

Treadwear (T/W) will vary in the real world, but right off the bat, it can be seen that the Michelin's have a 640 T/W, whereas the Continental's have a 340 T/W. Almost half as durable.

Ride quality will be worse with the Continentals too, as their sporty nature requires a stiff sidewall.
Deal Addict
Jan 11, 2010
1033 posts
391 upvotes
derass wrote: If wet traction is important to you, then Grand Touring All-Season tires in general will perform better than Max Performance Summer tires.

High performance tires get their dry traction and responsiveness from large tread blocks and minimal siping. Both of these things are detrimental to wet performance.

The Michelin Premier A/S are have best in class wet performance, and are overall and very good tire, so they're certainly a good choice.

Treadwear (T/W) will vary in the real world, but right off the bat, it can be seen that the Michelin's have a 640 T/W, whereas the Continental's have a 340 T/W. Almost half as durable.

Ride quality will be worse with the Continentals too, as their sporty nature requires a stiff sidewall.
thanks, I never picked up on the tw ratings before but now I see them in the spec charts. im not sure if you mean more like racing slicks like proxes etc but the tires listed under 'max performance'(pilot sport/p zero etc) seem to have similar looking water siping treads as compared to touring grade tires to my newbie eyes.

https://www. tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=MP
Deal Addict
Sep 8, 2017
4695 posts
4968 upvotes
GTA
See all the tiny sipes on the Michelin? Those improve water evacuation. But they come at the expense of the tread being more "squirmy" and less responsive. You can see the Continental doesn't have them, so it will have better dry response, but worse wet performance.

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Deal Addict
Mar 30, 2010
3083 posts
1445 upvotes
GTA
The comparison between these two tires isn't fair.... The Conti is a summer-only tire and the Michelin is an all season.

The Continental's have PLENTY of void area to evacuate water, and their rubber compound is a Summer-only one, so it'll grip better in the dry or rain than the Michelin Premier A/S tire.

However, because it's a summer performance tire, this particular Conti cannot be used below ~ +7c.
Deal Fanatic
May 4, 2014
5217 posts
7141 upvotes
Toronto, ON
Just get the Premiers, it is an excellent tire and still very good handling when you want to have fun occasional going high speed thru on-ramps.

You are wasting money commuting on Max Summer tires on the highway with the reduced treadwear. You will also suffer from noise and ride quality compared to a Touring tire.
Deal Guru
User avatar
Mar 13, 2004
13840 posts
5545 upvotes
Ontario
if all you do is daily the car then the Premiers should be better for you. The conti tire is a performance tire. I went from regular Conti performance tires to these new conti performance tires & when pushing the car hard on the track or AutoX I defiantly noticed a difference on dry. It gripped much better, handling was much better also. However they do not last on a track environment, I got 3 months out of them. I switched over to a Hankook RS4 tire now for the summer and they are even better! and last.

So for you I would go with the Premiers unless you plan on doing some racing.

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