Continental : ContiTireNews | Unrivaled Technological Performance for Automotive Spring Fever

• Premium summer tires from Continental for all vehicle segments

• Focus is on safety and cost-effectiveness

• Outstanding results in tests conducted by the trade press
  

Continental is one of the leading manufacturers of passenger and light truck tires in Europe and the world's fourth largest passenger car tire manufacturer in the original equipment and replacement market. This is reason enough for the Hanover-based employees to demonstrate the current state of tire technology at the Geneva Motor Show every year, surrounded by manufacturers from around the world with their innovations, studies, and vehicles with alternative drives. The 84th Motor Show (which has just come to an end), was multifaceted and diverse - with products ranging from the sensible to the downright extraordinary. Continental can provide the right tires for most of these products.

But what are the defining features of this modern summer tire with the most advanced technology from Hanover? In very general terms, quality is defined by means of a large number of parameters, in particular short braking distances, protection against aquaplaning, precise steering responses, high cornering forces, strong traction, and predictable handling characteristics. Requirements that can only be met (on wet roads in particular) through a considerable outlay in research, development, evaluation, and production. Two trends have emerged in recent years in particular. On the one hand, vehicles from the compact category with their increasingly powerful engine equipment also require tires approved for ever greater speeds. On the other hand, car drivers, confronted with a never-ending increase in gasoline prices, are paying more and more attention to cost-effective tire solutions with low rolling resistance.

This is not a particularly easy situation for tire manufacturers, because higher speeds also require improved braking performance, particularly on wet surfaces. And the developers frequently find themselves confronted with fundamentally conflicting aims as the following generally applies: changes in the design to benefit the braking characteristics on wet surfaces lead to a poorer rolling resistance. And vice versa. This represents a balancing act that the people in Hanover have particularly good control of, as the product development focus of the Continental premium tire brand has always been to optimize all safety-relevant characteristics, while simultaneously minimizing rolling resistance. The current product lines provide impressive proof of this.

Premium summer tires for all passenger car classes
For example, the ContiEcoContact 5 - the current model for compact and lower medium-sized class vehicles - has undergone an almost revolutionary further development compared to the predecessor model. This meant a complete re-development of the carcass, compound, tire contour, and tread design. The sum total of the innovative developments ultimately facilitated a drastic reduction in the rolling resistance of more than 20% for less fuel consumption with higher braking safety, and shortened braking distances on wet and dry roads. At the same time, the mileage was raised by an impressive 12%. This means a vehicle fitted with the new ContiEcoContact 5 tire uses about 3% less fuel than the same car with standard tires. The tire has also been approved for speeds of up to 300 km/h, and thus meets the demand for increasingly higher speeds in nearly all vehicle segments in an ideal manner.

The ContiPremiumContact 5 - the standard tire for vehicles from the compact up to the luxury class - is also approved for the same speeds. This high-volume model offers short stopping distances on dry and wet roads, low rolling resistance, high mileage performance, precise handling, and superior ride comfort. Compared to the predecessor model, all safety-relevant characteristics have been considerably improved in most cases - the braking performance on wet roads, for example, by a considerable 15%.

For sporty passenger cars and SUVs, Continental has developed the ContiSportContact 5 as well as the ContiSportContact 5 SUV. With the aid of complex research and extensive testing, these vehicles' braking distances on wet and dry roads have been significantly reduced.
In addition, rolling resistance has been cut, and mileage performance has been increased. This has been made possible, in particular, by the development of a special compound that enables maximized transfer of forces under braking yet offers low rolling resistance in normal driving situations. To do this, the special rubber mixture known as BlackChilli compound takes advantage of the different vibrations of the tire. In addition, handling of the tire is very precise, as a result of which both the ContiSportContact 5 as well as its big brother, the ContiSportContact 5 SUV, can be driven in a highly dynamic fashion. These tires are also approved up to 300 km/h .

Featuring an even sportier design is the ContiSportContact 5 P, for vehicles with a particularly high-performance engine. Passenger cars with a rear-wheel drive and different tire sizes on the front and rear axles have clear advantages in terms of acceleration, braking, and handling. Furthermore, their driving dynamic advantages are further increased if the tires have been developed with this drive concept in mind. As a result, different ContiSportContact 5 P tire designs have been developed for the front and rear axle. These tires work in perfect harmony with each other, and have been designed in such a way that they can be assembled on the individual axles. They can therefore be used in a particularly sporty, dynamic manner, without impairing the safety of the driving characteristics. A wide range of tires is also available for high-powered sports cars with front-wheel drive.

Special summer professional products for extreme sports cars and electric vehicles
Continental also offers tailored solutions for less common vehicles. For example, the asymmetrical ContiSportContact Vmax has been specially developed for the tuning market. The tire is approved up to 360 km/h as standard. In controlled record trials, the high-tech tire has already attained speeds up to 409 km/h .

There is only one product that goes one step further: the ContiForceContact , which is specially produced for perfection training and use on the race track. Continental developed this thoroughbred sport event tire in collaboration with AC Schnitzer and TechArt, as well as the experts from the specialist magazine sportauto.

The result is a high-performance product with ultimate grip and optimum steering precision when operating close to its limits for use in racing driver training and perfection training, for example on the Nordschleife (Northern Loop) of the Nürburgring.

A top-class performance in a completely different area is offered by the Conti.eContact, which has been developed to meet the special needs of electric vehicles. This tire offers extremely low rolling resistance, one that is 30% lower than that of conventional tires. This increases the operational radius of e-cars considerably, lowers the vehicle's fuel consumption, and also reduces the frequency with which the batteries have to be charged. The Conti.eContact also features safety-relevant characteristics at their usually high level .

Special summer professional products for four-wheel drive vehicles
Special challenges always require special solutions. Although it is easier to pull away on slippery road surfaces with four-wheel drive vehicles, in comparison with standard cars, they carry significantly more weight that needs to be managed when braking and cornering - and this at speeds comparable with those of medium-size sedans or even sports cars. Continental offers different summer tire models for this vehicle category in order to meet the needs of the different vehicles and types of use in an optimum manner.

For example, the Conti4x4Contact is particularly well suited as a tire for compact and standard-weight SUVs and crossovers. It offers excellent traction on the road and on easily navigable terrain. It also achieves short braking distances, a prompt steering response, and a high degree of directional stability. The staggered tread blocks generate minimal noise, while the tire's wide longitudinal and transverse tread grooves greatly reduce the risk of aquaplaning.

Continental recommends the Conti4x4SportContact for faster and more powerful four-wheel-drive vehicles. Its asymmetrically patterned tread with the compact outer shoulder area ensures superb cornering stability, while its wide tread grooves efficiently expel water from the tire on rain-slicked roads. In addition, the tread block rows are staggered for a quieter roll.

The ContiCrossContact LX Sport has been specially developed for the original equipment market, and offers good grip and a precise steering response on wet and dry roads, as well as high mileage and comfort for more high-powered vehicles. Its range of possible applications includes, in particular, motoring on paved roads, country lanes, and dirt tracks, as well as light off-road duty - as a tractor unit for horse trailers, for instance.

Fourth in the group is the ContiCrossContact AT, which has been developed to meet the demands of drivers who intend to use their 4x4 vehicles off-road but still want a comfortable margin of safety in road traffic.

The history of development does not stop here
The close development partnership between Continental and the leading European, American, and Asian vehicle manufacturers is bearing fruit. This is being proven once again this Spring by the wide-ranging tire tests conducted by the automotive specialist press, in which products from the premium Continental tire brand once again achieved top marks. To ensure that this remains the same in the future as well, the Hanover-based employees will continue writing the development history, chapter by chapter, despite all the successes already achieved. Experts assume that the corporation's high innovation potential coupled with the changing requirements of vehicle manufacturers will allow Continental, in its capacity as one of the leading original equipment manufacturers, to continue playing a crucial role in the development of modern tire technology.