Continental Sport Contact 5 review
The Continental Sport Contact 5 is widely regarded as a high-performance tire that excels in wet and dry grip, offering exceptional confidence and handling for spirited drivers. However, the consensus is heavily polarized by its rapid tread wear, with a significant number of users reporting premature replacement intervals that diminish the tire's overall value proposition.
Two scoring systems, side by side
Owner scores come from reviews on retailer and review sites; road-test scores come from instrumented tests. Where they disagree, it is usually a discipline owners rarely push to the limit.
By owner reviews
72%By road tests
70.5%What owners like and dislike
Themes extracted from 225 owner reviews across retailers and review sites.
The Continental Sport Contact 5 is widely regarded as a high-performance tire that excels in wet and dry grip, offering exceptional confidence and handling for spirited drivers. However, the consensus is heavily polarized by its rapid tread wear, with a significant number of users reporting premature replacement intervals that diminish the tire's overall value proposition.
Pros
- Exceptional grip in both wet and dry conditions
- High levels of steering precision and driver feedback
- Strong braking performance
- Good comfort and relatively low road noise for a performance tire
Cons
- Rapid and often premature tread wear
- High price point relative to longevity
- Performance degradation as tread depth decreases
- Soft sidewalls prone to damage from potholes or curbs
Worth knowing
- Users with high-torque or heavy vehicles (e.g., Audi Q5, Mercedes C-Class, BMW 3-series) frequently report the fastest tread wear, often requiring replacement under 10,000 miles.
- Drivers of lighter, smaller vehicles (e.g., Fiesta, lightweight sports cars) report significantly better longevity, suggesting the compound is highly sensitive to vehicle weight and load.
- The 'ContiSeal' (self-sealing) variants are noted for better durability in some instances, though they remain expensive.
1 published test appearance
Placement within each field. Open a test for the discipline-by-discipline result.
2020 Gute Fahrt SUV Summer tire Test · 215/50 R18
2nd of 8
| Discipline | Placement | Field position |
|---|---|---|
| Wet Braking | 3rd of 8 | |
| Wet Circle | 3rd of 8 | |
| Dry Braking | 1st of 8 | |
| Rolling Resistance | 3rd of 8 | |
| Straight Aqua | 3rd of 8 | |
| Subj. Dry Handling | 1st of 8 | |
| Subj. Comfort | 4th of 8 | |
| Subj. Wet Handling | 1st of 8 | |
| Subj. Noise | 5th of 8 |