Great tyres, but not a good match with this car.
When a changed tyres from Fulda Ecocontrol HP to Conti PremiumContact 6 on my previous car (Ford Focus), I was delighted with the dynamic capacities of the PC6 (grip, feedback). I didn’t like the comfort aspects at all (noise, damping) and the aquaplaning resistance, but the PC6 made the car fun to drive. They really matched the dynamic set-up of the car.
Changing jobs, I got to drive this car (VW Arteon Hybrid) which came with Uniroyal 4-seasons in the front and Conti EcoContact in the rear. Strange combination indeed. Changing the tyres, I hoped that the PC7 would give me more driving pleasure. The Arteon is a very comfort oriented car. It is very heavy and doesn’t give you road or handling feedback. Helas, even with the PC7, the car hardly passes any information back to the driver. In terms of grip, the PC7 is indeed fabulous. I still don’t know what the limits of the tyres are. Because of the excellent grip in the dry and the wet, and the lack of road or balance feedback by the car, I don’t dare to push it to the limits on a public road. So I still don’t know how the car will behave on or over the limit. That makes me a bit uneasy. But, let’s just conclude that the dry and wet grip is more than ok. One can go really fast, feeling like you’re on rails.
The downsides of the PC6 in terms of comfort have vastly improved with the PC7, but the (improved) noise level of the PC7 is more annoying in this silent car, also because I often drive electric. Then the tyre noise becomes quite present. In terms of damping road imperfections, the PC7 is way better than the PC6 (or is it this car’s suspension?).
Aquaplaning resistance is also way better than the PC6. It is on the safe side now.
Fuel/electricity consumption has gone up with about 5% compared to the Uniroyal/Conti Ecocontact set-up.
Conclusion: I can only affirm the test findings: The PC7 offers excellent grip on dry and wet roads, It has gotten more comfortable and aquaplaning-safe compared to the PC6, but it still isn’t the most comfortable or fuel saving tyre in it’s class. So it’s a perfect tyre for “drivers cars” with a more dynamic set-up. For comfort oriented cars, however, where you don’t get to benefit from the dynamic capacities of the tyres, one could find alternatives that better align with the filosofy of such a car.
Still, I don’t regret buying the PC7. The grip is great.
