Continental Sport Contact 2 vs Pirelli Cinturato P7 — Compared (September 2026)

“I’ve only ever had the SC2 on the rear, SC1 up front. On really hot days I’ve noticed the rear try to step out, not much, but enough to make me turn it down a notch. The SC1’s I understand get greasy in really hot conditions, that’s why I don’t want one on the rear. I also have a lot of anxiety about tires anyway. I’ve toyed around with tire pressure a bit, 28 rear and 34 front seems to work well but I’m not sure if this is because I am starting to brake later and harder. Most of the times I’ve crashed is me using inputs when I shouldn’t or blowing my braking points and using too much input to recover, hoping my shitty riding will be masked with the tires.”

“I run the SC2 almost all the time, except for the days when it's 105F-110F. I run the SC1 then. The wear is that different, and I don't really feel that much of a performance jump from the SC2 to the SC1 rear to be worth it. I don't love the squishy feeling the SC1 front has under braking, so I tend to avoid it unless I'm literally shredding my front. SC2 all day!”

“I never did run a SC3, but the SC2 front lasted a long time on my R6. It would lose its grip (presumably heat cycling, and yes, on warmers) before the rubber was gone.”

“Sc3 don’t have a ton more grip than sc2 and work in a wider range. Especially at your pace. 1:20 while respectable isn’t all that fast. I’d stick with the sc3 with a sc1 or 2 front which is really more of a difference in feeling more than grip between the 2. Really the only reason to run sc2 rear is if it’s pretty cold, in that case you can run the sc3 better anyway unless you are racing and need every bit of grip you can. If it’s hot run a sc1 or even a 0. If it’s warm you will tear up a sc2 pretty quick for not a whole lot more performance.”