This video was an insane amount of work by everyone involved - really appreciate you watching!!! It was actually quite difficult finding a car that had the same tire size two generations apart, paired with an old tire model & size that was still manufactured today. Really fun test! Also - if anyone is in the market for tires, now's a great time to buy! Purchase a set of 4 qualifying passenger Continental tires between November 1 - 30, 2024 and get a $110 Visa prepaid card by mail. PROMO Link: bit.ly/4h8JHN4 This includes many of the tires I've recently discussed on the channel (ExtremeContact Sport 02, ExtremeContact DWS06+, TrueContact Tour54, Viking Contact 7, and many more)!
I have this video half shot, at this exact test track too lol. I ran it of time on that trip and haven't been back to finish it. Look forward to watching this❤
Would’ve loved to hear your take. Thanks for making great content about tires! It’s been very helpful in making decisions about what I should buy for my car.
That's the kind of sponsorships that I love to watch. Not a 60 second bla bla section but actual useful information that by the way promotes their products. Also: Thanks for all the great test results. I didn't expect the tires to make such a dramatic difference.
Really happy to hear it, and this is what I always try to push from sponsors - let's do something that I alone cannot do, and leverage their expertise! Really, really happy with how this came out - Continental has been awesome to work with, and they were happy to help me put my ideas to life at their facilities!! Can't thank them enough.
I had a set of Continental Extreme Contact Sport tires on a 1987 Acura Integra for a few years. With those tires, I was competitive while autocrossing against 9th and 10th generation Honda Civics with nearly 100 more horsepower but on all-season tires.
Amazing! And also - those folks need to drop the all-seasons if they're hitting autocross haha! (If they're going for times, that is, if it's just for fun, send it!)
I have some new SportContact 7s on my hot hatch since spring this year. I drove on an curvy on ramp, basically a solid long corner going 80km/h (50mph), 3 degress outside and wet... and i could not belive this - this car gripped and even allowed to drive with speed. And it felt safe, no rubbing no stuttering not single bit of sliding. New tires are amazing, the dry grip is even more bonkers
I think you should also mention how tyre life compares, so we know for sure it's better tech on not just a softer compound that gets worn faster 😋 great video anyway
Many years ago, I decided to leave my autocross tires (shaved Yokohama A008s) on the Honda CRX Si that I owned and drove it to work that way for a few days. The tires picked up every rock on the road, but the cornering speeds on my commute were incredible. I remember thinking that, at that moment, I might have the best-handling car in the road in the city.
The most interesting thing about this, to me, is that my HP All Season tires only perform as well as a two generation old summer tire, both wet and dry. This really shows you what you loose opting for All Seasons, excluding the much shorter tread life. I couldn't afford to commute on Summer tires and am perfectly happy with my choice, but now I know what's possible with my GTI.
Yep; all-seasons can certainly make sense depending on your needs, but if you can manage to swing a summer tire in the hot months, it's super rewarding to drive!
I'm a Michelin man because Conti refuses to sell a 3PMSF four-season tire in the US but what an excellent video. Tires are by far the cheapest and most impactful upgrade you can make.
What an awesome video, great info. Had no idea tire tech was getting so much better with each generation. I drive a bunch of classic cars, and in the Citroën SM world people keep telling me the Michelin XWX or XAS is best for the car, but I run modern tires and feel I get equal or better performance. It would be great to learn if I'm right, this helps a lot in making that argument.
Great video! Just to make sure, did you ask whether the old and new tires are comparable in terms of softness/hardness of the compound? It could be that they just made the new tire softer, resulting in better performance but worse mileage.
Very interesting video, I watch a lot of Nurburgring content and they very often speak about tires, especially the "Cup 2", they really do make a big difference.
Funny, I went from ExtremeContact DWs on my previous car to ExtremeContact Sport (01s) on my current one, and although the cars are completely different, I was pleasantly surprised by how much better the newer tire performed across the board, which I didn't expect.
I knew tire technology had improved over the past decade or so. I just didn't realize how *much* tire technology had improved! Wow! Those are some seriously impressive results!! I think back to when I was a kid in the '70s, and most of the tires out there were bias-ply. (Sure, radials existed, but bias-ply was still far more common.) Can you imagine comparing *those* tires to a modern tire?! The first car I ever bought (in February of '88) was a '76 Oldsmobile Cutlass S. Bought it from my neighbor who'd bought it brand new in the fall of '75. It had bias-plies on it, no joke! Atlas bias-plies from the local Gulf station. Best thing I ever did was upgrade those tires to a nice set of radials. Those bias-plies were like driving on ice when you were on dry pavement! How did any of us ever survive?! 😂
What about wear rates? It could just be simply softer compound? What about use of forever and toxic compounds? Its certainly very interesting video, but the sceptic in me was immediately asking these questions
I have these new Continentals on my car now (2017 Honda Civic Si, size 235/40-18) and so far are wearing very well for such a high performing tire. I had Michelin pilot sport 4S previously, which was an equivant tire, and unless I was driving like a maniac I got 2 and a 1/2 seasons (April through late November), And they were the best tires in the rain that I've ever had, and had more wet grip than most other tires have in the dry
Continental tire is so amazing for this! This totally swayed me and I will be getting contis for my next tire. Thank you all who made this video possible.
This is a fantastic comparison. I thought maybe the tire advantage would even the playing field, never would have guessed the tires make more difference than the car.
When we went England for the Aston Martin Driving Experience at the Millbrook Proving Grounds they had us turn up and down the embankment using the gas pedal with our hands off the steering wheel, very trippy!
As a first responder, tires are soooooo important! We wear out tires in a short time, a season or faster. We "race" along people so safety first, second and third! BTW, studded tires on dry asfalt and panic braking is SCARY!!!
Finding a functional mk6 GTI was the most impressive part of the video for me. The next most impressive was the wet handling difference between tires/generations. It does make sense though when you really think about it
I bought new tires with raised white lettering for my MGB. Someone told me later that steering geometry had changed quite a bit and it's not a good idea to put new generation tires on an older vehicle because you will get unusual wear patterns. It turns out I had made a good choice.
Absolutely (in a track environment). There is no other single component on a car that can alter it's performance more profoundly (turbos are a close second).
He kicked the dog and broke his foot. Should have used a Chevy or Toyota for a more accurate test. Do the Germans use regular water or engineered water for the test like the Japanese? Great video and information. I have Continentals on my carbon bicycle and have thousands of miles on them. Love them.
Tires make a huge difference. It's one reason I get kind of frustrated reading/watching some new car reviews. For example, many reviewers and car enthusiasts whined about the tires on the 1st gen. BRZ/86, saying the OEM tires that were also on the Prius weren't a good fit for the car. No, they weren't, but they're easily changeable, if not cheaply swapped out. Still, they went on and on about how bad those tires were. It's the tires, not the car. Change the tires and you change the car. Of course you don't want to have to swap tires on a brand new car, but if the rubber is the car's only big fault, do it anyway.
Knowing that your possess great knowledge & experience... my question would be: which tires 225/40x18 or 235/40x18 would perform better on 8.5" wide rims? (certainly it would be same tire -same manufacturer, just different sizes)
Definitely cool to be able to say the old car made up the performance gap between it and the new car on old tires, but testing with just one car would have been a more clear and coherent test.
The difference between car generations is even greater if you put the new GTI on 18s like it comes with, I almost put 17s on mine until I read some tests.
It's not like Conti benefit by throwing the test anyway, since this is their tyre vs their older one, it's not saying they're better than other manufacturers. Not sure about the US market, but older versions in the same range here (UK) don't even usually seem to be cheaper, e.g. For my car, Eagle F1 Asym 2s are 5% pricier than Asym 6s, while the Pilot Sport 4 is only 1% cheaper than the 5. The marketing benefit to Conti is: they did this test, which is great. I'd love to see some properly tyre-adjusted laptimes of old cars somewhere, see if the newer ones really are always faster by more than the difference. I'd bet the results are close in a lot of cases...
I've felt for quite some time that not considering tires when testing/reviewing cars (especially performance cars) is completely idiotic. Yet, pretty much no one does it.
The tires sure do make a great point. But also what I've learned from this video, is that the Golf GTI has basically not improved at all in the last 14 years, performance-wise.
7:00 No offense, but the braking test isn’t impacted by any of the differences/advantages of the newer car, except the small weight increase… This doesn’t show that the Continental test driver was being fair :)
This video was an insane amount of work by everyone involved - really appreciate you watching!!! It was actually quite difficult finding a car that had the same tire size two generations apart, paired with an old tire model & size that was still manufactured today. Really fun test!
Also - if anyone is in the market for tires, now's a great time to buy! Purchase a set of 4 qualifying passenger Continental tires between November 1 - 30, 2024 and get a $110 Visa prepaid card by mail. PROMO Link: bit.ly/4h8JHN4 This includes many of the tires I've recently discussed on the channel (ExtremeContact Sport 02, ExtremeContact DWS06+, TrueContact Tour54, Viking Contact 7, and many more)!
I have this video half shot, at this exact test track too lol. I ran it of time on that trip and haven't been back to finish it. Look forward to watching this❤
Hahaha, you've done EVERYTHING!! 🫡
Would’ve loved to hear your take. Thanks for making great content about tires! It’s been very helpful in making decisions about what I should buy for my car.
Yes! More tire videos!
Was just thinking how much you guys need to collaborate on more tire material, and how it ties to the overall vehicle platform. Do it for science 🤓
Cool to see you here! I bought a set of ContiSportContact 7 based on your review. And happy with them, feeling confident in the rain.
if Adrian Newey says that a car design starts with its tires, you shut up, and listen.
Yes, I’m sure a Camry design started with its tire choice. 😂
That's the kind of sponsorships that I love to watch. Not a 60 second bla bla section but actual useful information that by the way promotes their products. Also: Thanks for all the great test results. I didn't expect the tires to make such a dramatic difference.
Really happy to hear it, and this is what I always try to push from sponsors - let's do something that I alone cannot do, and leverage their expertise! Really, really happy with how this came out - Continental has been awesome to work with, and they were happy to help me put my ideas to life at their facilities!! Can't thank them enough.
I had a set of Continental Extreme Contact Sport tires on a 1987 Acura Integra for a few years. With those tires, I was competitive while autocrossing against 9th and 10th generation Honda Civics with nearly 100 more horsepower but on all-season tires.
Amazing! And also - those folks need to drop the all-seasons if they're hitting autocross haha! (If they're going for times, that is, if it's just for fun, send it!)
I've seriously been thinking about this for a long time. Turns out I'm not the only one. Thanks Jason
The old tires are gonna lose I think
The moment we heard that Continental was involved, it was pretty clear 😂
@@leksasdf Yup, the "sponsord by continental" gave the answer away.
@@Lassitude1001as well as the "TIRES ARE EVERYTHING" thumbnail
I have some new SportContact 7s on my hot hatch since spring this year.
I drove on an curvy on ramp, basically a solid long corner going 80km/h (50mph), 3 degress outside and wet... and i could not belive this - this car gripped and even allowed to drive with speed.
And it felt safe, no rubbing no stuttering not single bit of sliding.
New tires are amazing, the dry grip is even more bonkers
We all know how much Jason loves oil and by larger degree, tires!😊
Well, tires _are_ oil.
I prayed for something like this. Thank you and Continental for feeding my excitement for tires!
Can you all at least watch till the end before commenting?
I think you should also mention how tyre life compares, so we know for sure it's better tech on not just a softer compound that gets worn faster 😋 great video anyway
Simply AMAZING Jason! E Cubed! Entertaining, Enlightening and Educational!!! One of your best yet!!! 💪👍
Many years ago, I decided to leave my autocross tires (shaved Yokohama A008s) on the Honda CRX Si that I owned and drove it to work that way for a few days. The tires picked up every rock on the road, but the cornering speeds on my commute were incredible. I remember thinking that, at that moment, I might have the best-handling car in the road in the city.
That's a fun thought experiment and I would believe it too
The most interesting thing about this, to me, is that my HP All Season tires only perform as well as a two generation old summer tire, both wet and dry. This really shows you what you loose opting for All Seasons, excluding the much shorter tread life. I couldn't afford to commute on Summer tires and am perfectly happy with my choice, but now I know what's possible with my GTI.
Yep; all-seasons can certainly make sense depending on your needs, but if you can manage to swing a summer tire in the hot months, it's super rewarding to drive!
killer video man. loves these deep dives and comparisons.
I never tired hear Jason's jokes, keep up the good writing man
u mean TIREd?
My next question would be if those two tires last roughly the same amount of miles before they wear out.
The Michelin Pilot Sport 4S
You can t beat them.
Can confirm
Pilot Sport 5's?
@@TheBreakfastLover PS-5 are the sucessors to PS-4, not PS-4S. You want to check PS-S5 instead.
Depends on which metric you are measuring.
Here goes mk6 and mk7 prices through the roof!! Thanks. 😊
Mk7 prices have *been* through the roof lol
A comparison I never thought about but loved every second of it.
I'm a Michelin man because Conti refuses to sell a 3PMSF four-season tire in the US but what an excellent video. Tires are by far the cheapest and most impactful upgrade you can make.
Also: You have to get some new tires sometime, anyway. Don't buy cheap tires!
Continental has just scored my next tire cycle. Thank you both for the excellent content!
Appreciate it, thanks for watching!!
What an awesome video, great info. Had no idea tire tech was getting so much better with each generation. I drive a bunch of classic cars, and in the Citroën SM world people keep telling me the Michelin XWX or XAS is best for the car, but I run modern tires and feel I get equal or better performance. It would be great to learn if I'm right, this helps a lot in making that argument.
Great video! Just to make sure, did you ask whether the old and new tires are comparable in terms of softness/hardness of the compound? It could be that they just made the new tire softer, resulting in better performance but worse mileage.
They have the same treadwear rating, for what that is worth.
Literally the same thought I had
@@richsarchet9762Unfortunately not worth much, but a good starting point
It’s so cool to see the data and how much a new gen tire can do for older vehicles
Thanks Jason, I never tire of your engineering explanations!
Very interesting video, I watch a lot of Nurburgring content and they very often speak about tires, especially the "Cup 2", they really do make a big difference.
Funny, I went from ExtremeContact DWs on my previous car to ExtremeContact Sport (01s) on my current one, and although the cars are completely different, I was pleasantly surprised by how much better the newer tire performed across the board, which I didn't expect.
I knew tire technology had improved over the past decade or so. I just didn't realize how *much* tire technology had improved! Wow! Those are some seriously impressive results!!
I think back to when I was a kid in the '70s, and most of the tires out there were bias-ply. (Sure, radials existed, but bias-ply was still far more common.) Can you imagine comparing *those* tires to a modern tire?!
The first car I ever bought (in February of '88) was a '76 Oldsmobile Cutlass S. Bought it from my neighbor who'd bought it brand new in the fall of '75. It had bias-plies on it, no joke! Atlas bias-plies from the local Gulf station. Best thing I ever did was upgrade those tires to a nice set of radials. Those bias-plies were like driving on ice when you were on dry pavement! How did any of us ever survive?! 😂
continental is such a sick partner, use their tires on multiple cars
By far my most favorite RUclips channel. As an engineer myself, I love this.
13:04
More grip means faster acceleration out of the corner as well, especially a FWD car
What an experience for you,and an awesome way to illustrate the importance of picking the right tire.
What about wear rates? It could just be simply softer compound? What about use of forever and toxic compounds? Its certainly very interesting video, but the sceptic in me was immediately asking these questions
Agreed. If the newer ones don't last as long then this is not as impressive. Making a tire compound softer isn't much of an achievement
I have these new Continentals on my car now (2017 Honda Civic Si, size 235/40-18) and so far are wearing very well for such a high performing tire. I had Michelin pilot sport 4S previously, which was an equivant tire, and unless I was driving like a maniac I got 2 and a 1/2 seasons (April through late November), And they were the best tires in the rain that I've ever had, and had more wet grip than most other tires have in the dry
They have the same tread wear rating (340).
Continental tire is so amazing for this! This totally swayed me and I will be getting contis for my next tire. Thank you all who made this video possible.
Another excellent relevant test review that actually benefits every car driver & owner. Well done and Thank you.
Can you give a breakdown of how the tire works? What is actually happening and why does it work better?
Been using Continental since Sport Contact 6 and am now on Sport Contact 7, fantastic tyre
This is a fantastic comparison. I thought maybe the tire advantage would even the playing field, never would have guessed the tires make more difference than the car.
Thanks - yeah, it's really impressive to see, and I think really drives home that tires play such a critical role in performance!
Where that Porsche 6 stroke video at??
I'm so behind haha, but it *will* happen eventually!
This was an amazing video to see! Thank you so much!
Pretty cool! Already convinced me.. I'll look forward for the new technology tyres. Thanks, Engeneering Explained!
When we went England for the Aston Martin Driving Experience at the Millbrook Proving Grounds they had us turn up and down the embankment using the gas pedal with our hands off the steering wheel, very trippy!
As a first responder, tires are soooooo important! We wear out tires in a short time, a season or faster. We "race" along people so safety first, second and third! BTW, studded tires on dry asfalt and panic braking is SCARY!!!
Another reason to geek out on this channel. Kudos!
That test track looks like a lot of fun!
Thanks Jason!
Very very interesting and well performed: massive thanks!!!!
Finding a functional mk6 GTI was the most impressive part of the video for me. The next most impressive was the wet handling difference between tires/generations. It does make sense though when you really think about it
I bought new tires with raised white lettering for my MGB. Someone told me later that steering geometry had changed quite a bit and it's not a good idea to put new generation tires on an older vehicle because you will get unusual wear patterns. It turns out I had made a good choice.
But these are high end performance tires. Would like to see tests on all-season tires that most people will use.
I love how much you love tires. It’s actually contagious…
Newer tires will have more grip, i.e. more friction, which means more power loss, so the old tires will def be faster.
(This is a joke, btw)
I am so impressed by this, Thanks for the great video.
Absolutely (in a track environment). There is no other single component on a car that can alter it's performance more profoundly (turbos are a close second).
And it's a component every car owner has to deal with at some point. Great video to also show: Don't buy cheap tires! Good tires could save your life.
There is: the driver:)
I would personally be much slower in the new car in new tires, than he was in old car with old tires.
I would argue after tires is suspension tuning if we're talking about apples to apples track times (as was done here)
Making it much easier to swallow (read justify) expensive tire purchases! Thank you. I'll prefer Continental from now on. Dope marketing strategy.
Awesome test! Tire technology is impressive!
I'm loving that Continental is running the R8 steering wheel on the Golf
Hahaha, that might just be me, ripping around in an R8! :)
OUTSTANDING video!
Stellar vid, thank you!
Continental SportContact7 are excellent tires. Got 'em under my ST mk2 and loving them!!!
he sure does love his tires... how can we blame him
Absolutely fantastic content, thank you.
He kicked the dog and broke his foot. Should have used a Chevy or Toyota for a more accurate test. Do the Germans use regular water or engineered water for the test like the Japanese? Great video and information. I have Continentals on my carbon bicycle and have thousands of miles on them. Love them.
Tires make a huge difference. It's one reason I get kind of frustrated reading/watching some new car reviews. For example, many reviewers and car enthusiasts whined about the tires on the 1st gen. BRZ/86, saying the OEM tires that were also on the Prius weren't a good fit for the car. No, they weren't, but they're easily changeable, if not cheaply swapped out. Still, they went on and on about how bad those tires were. It's the tires, not the car. Change the tires and you change the car. Of course you don't want to have to swap tires on a brand new car, but if the rubber is the car's only big fault, do it anyway.
Very nice, had been curious about this for a while.
Love this tire comparison….Thanks! 👍👍
Very nice. I'm definitely going uhp in continental next time.
Fascinating and surprising!
Knowing that your possess great knowledge & experience... my question would be: which tires 225/40x18 or 235/40x18 would perform better on 8.5" wide rims? (certainly it would be same tire -same manufacturer, just different sizes)
really interesting thanks
The comparison between the michelin PS2 and the PS4 would likely be equally dramatic and I loved my PS2's
It would have been an interesting data point for the old car on old tires. Doesn't really prove anything additional, just would be interesting to see.
Great video, I like the stats
My only issue is that there's no stat for the gen6 vw with the old tires, that would've made for a better comparison
Meh, you've got the stats for the Mk8 on both sets, you can extrapolate enough from that really.
Definitely cool to be able to say the old car made up the performance gap between it and the new car on old tires, but testing with just one car would have been a more clear and coherent test.
Wanted to hear more about the design changes Continental engineers did to the new design.
The difference between car generations is even greater if you put the new GTI on 18s like it comes with, I almost put 17s on mine until I read some tests.
There is also another advantage the MK8 has it's got a VAQ diff while the MK6 is an open diff.
Do you record your video audio in a chamber specifically designed to make the greatest echo possible? If so, you're nailing it.
It's not like Conti benefit by throwing the test anyway, since this is their tyre vs their older one, it's not saying they're better than other manufacturers. Not sure about the US market, but older versions in the same range here (UK) don't even usually seem to be cheaper, e.g. For my car, Eagle F1 Asym 2s are 5% pricier than Asym 6s, while the Pilot Sport 4 is only 1% cheaper than the 5.
The marketing benefit to Conti is: they did this test, which is great.
I'd love to see some properly tyre-adjusted laptimes of old cars somewhere, see if the newer ones really are always faster by more than the difference. I'd bet the results are close in a lot of cases...
Yeah thats why I run blizzaks in the winter and potenza's in the summer (sorry conti). Tyres are so important.
Yes, it can!
I've felt for quite some time that not considering tires when testing/reviewing cars (especially performance cars) is completely idiotic. Yet, pretty much no one does it.
The tires sure do make a great point.
But also what I've learned from this video, is that the Golf GTI has basically not improved at all in the last 14 years, performance-wise.
Any idea what these tyres are comparable to in Europe, or more specifically, in the UK?
Do you have a po box?
They don't seem to sell them in Europe! 😮 The ExtremeContact Sport 02 I mean. What should I buy?
Continental makes great tires. If they're looking for additional friends, let me know. 😆
That's amazing.
I would have liked to see a drag race.
Great video Mr.Professional White Boarder
Most importantly of all, you don't get those totally awesome seats in the Mk8.
Not a surprise, just imagine if the old GTI was dsg!
Is true. New car use cheap tire up 40000 kms.
Old car use michelin ,continental, firestone, goodyear.
Continental still only have Premium Contact 3 tyres for the rears on an E39 M5.
Premium Contact 7 is the current level.
That's your sign to upgrade ;)
@@marcokrueger3399
Upgrade what ?
RC car racing taught me: Tires > springs & dampers > rest of the car
How much range did you lose on the Tesla going to that tire over a LRR tire?
Up the mk6! 💪💪
7:00 No offense, but the braking test isn’t impacted by any of the differences/advantages of the newer car, except the small weight increase… This doesn’t show that the Continental test driver was being fair :)