Continental WinterContact 8 S

These tires have been a pleasant surprise. Continental is, after all, synonymous with a guarantee of quality. The tire has excellent grip on both dry and wet asphalt, the feedback is very good, and they provide a good sense of confidence. The tires performed very well even on the track (although they are not trackday tires), with excellent grip up to 85 degrees before they start to slide. They are very easy to manage at the limit. On the road, you have a good feeling with the front axle, especially compared to the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S which were always a bit vague on turn-in.Tire wear and degradation are quite rapid. You need camber or the shoulder will degrade very quickly.

I changed from 20” to 19” wheels (because of frequent wheel cracks on the 20” run flat set up). The change has positively transformed the car, reducing brain crunching bangs and eliminating skittish behaviour when cornering on imperfect roads. I have had the opportunity to drive the 8S tyres on a mixture of road conditions including dry, wet, snow, slush and ice; the tyres inspire confidence across a wide variety of conditions. Driving in snow and slush, the tyres are sure footed and you don’t see stability control called in to action, when driving appropriately. On clear roads you can drive as confidently as you would with summer tyres. The only notable difference is greater road noise with the winter tyres; not horrible but noticeable.

It’s an exceptionally good tire, especially in terms of comfort and noise. I’ve also used it on long trips — grip and braking performance are excellent. I haven’t tested its snow performance yet, but judging by the tread pattern and softness, I expect it to be very good. I’m not sure about wear, as it’s quite soft and may last around 40,000 km. I would definitely buy it again. After switching from my F1 Asym 5 summer tires, the comfort improvement was incredible.

Did around 7k km on my Cupra Formentor 4WD 333hp with these tyres in Lithuania (eastern Europe). Dry and wet grip is superb, didn't have a single scenario where these tyres would underperform. However expected much more in terms of snow/ice grip. On snow I have to be careful, don't have good grip (even on light snow). Plenty of times rear of the car slid out a bit even in normal-ish driving, not to mention a bit more spirited drive. On ice grip is terrible, or rather way worse than I expected from 1k € tyres. Obviously these are performance oriented, so perhaps my mistake buying them. Still though, from Continental winter tyres I expected better grip in difficult conditions. Really can't say that I have confidence in these. Again - dry and wet asphalt grip is great. If you don't have snow/ice - these tyres will be a great choice. Otherwise I would suggest to look into something less performance oriented, if you value your safety that is

I've been using these tyres in the UK for a month now on my BMW X5 40D xDrive (with 315/35 R21 rears) and they are truly excellent. Have no experience on snow/ice yet, but on my cold, wet rural roads they are superlative - sure-footed, very economical and quiet. Highly recommended