• Continental premium tires for the tuning sector

  • Development partnerships with leading vehicle tuners

  • With top tuners at the Essen Motor Show

Deeper, wider, faster. When the gates to the trade fair for automotive passion open once a year in Essen, the over 340,000 visitors find an ever larger number of exhibitors. Together they celebrate an industry that is clearly not concerned by lowered economic expectations and significantly declining initial car registrations. Even in the crisis year of 2009, the member companies of the German Association of Automotive Tuners (VDAT e.V.) only recorded moderate losses. Demand picked up again the very next year and in 2011, with sales of EUR 4.6 billion, the sector seamlessly returned to the record highs of the years 2006 to 2008. Since then the sales levels have remained stable. According to surveys, nearly one in five tuning customers now invests more than EUR 10,000 in tuning their vehicle. Over a quarter of all industry sales relate to wheel-tire combinations. The main reasons cited for purchasing tuning vehicles and parts were the desire for technical improvement, sportier driving properties, and greater individuality. After all, speed is provided in abundance already from the factory.

Since vehicles already fitted with engines for speeds of over 240 km/h as standard are now part of the everyday street landscape, ultra-high-performance tires have been steadily gaining in importance in recent years, even for the mass market. The high-speed limit is being pushed further and further upwards. If 300 km/h was a kind of sound barrier in vehicle mass production only a few years ago, the R8 from Audi can now reach peak speeds in excess of 300 km/h, as can the Porsche 911 Turbo S. Further fast cars from Ferrari, Bugatti, and Jaguar, among others, achieve speeds well above this level. This development also affects tuning and constantly presents leading tire manufacturers such as Continental with new challenges.

Whether it is a BRABUS Viano V8 with 425 hp, a GL 63 biturbo with 650 hp, or a Rocket with 800 hp and an unbelievable 1,100 Nm torque (electronically limited) - each of these super cars distinguishes itself through ultimate engine performance in its respective class. The wide range of different vehicle types, combined with tremendous power delivery and increased unladen weight resulting from additional features, place particular demands on the performance and durability of the tires used. Conventional tires are becoming comparatively less and less suitable for the demands of the sector's high-end area. In keeping with this, the development of ultra-high-performance tires in recent years has increasingly become a highly challenging task for specialists. Super sports cars that can reach speeds in excess of 300 km/h as soon as they leave the plant require increasingly special solutions for increased performance and individualization.

Continental adapted itself to this trend early on. The technicians of the tire manufacturer from Hanover, which fits every third car in Europe with Continental premium tires, have already been in direct contact with the top tuners in the industry for many years. Its special innovative abilities, extensive experience in original equipment for the flagships of leading sports car manufacturers, and its development partnerships with leading European vehicle tuners such as Brabus are the main reasons why Continental has been among the most important tire partners of the tuning sector for years. Among other things, the tire experts in Hanover developed the world's first series tire with speeds of up to 360 km/h for this specific group of customers. With this tire, a 1,000-hp Porsche 911 from the leading tuner, 9ff, achieved a top speed certified by TÜV Rheinland of 376 km/h back in 2009.

In October 2013, Continental, once again together with AutoBild sportscars and 14 tuners, hosted the high-speed course in Nardò and was at the starting line for the mission to break records. From December 13, issue 1/2014 will report in detail on the cars, tires, and records.

It is therefore no surprise that at the annual performance show of the tuning sector in Essen, so many well-known co-exhibitors such as ABT Sportsline, HEICO SPORTIV, Sportservice LORINSER, AC Schnitzer, and TechArt Automobildesign can be found at the Continental stand.

  • Thanks to the shared efforts and continuous exchange of knowledge and information that has been in place between the Audi tuner ABT and Continental for many years, the tire characteristics for high-performance vehicles such as the 600 hp ABT R9 5.2 FSI are constantly being refined and fine-tuned.
  • HEICO SPORTIV is a Volvo tuning specialist: distinctly sporty but never obtrusive - making no compromises in quality and design. At HEICO SPORTIV, emphasis is placed wholly on quality, and from the outset on Continental's UHP product range and know-how.
  • The Swabian sports specialist LORINSER has been bringing tuned Mercedes-Benz models to the asphalt for over 30 years now. Like other industry leaders, the southern Germans are not only focused on improved performance and appearance, but also on uncompromising premium quality, and therefore on working with Continental.
  • The same is true at AC Schnitzer. The BMW tuner uses the special concept development Continental BLUECO in its 99d model, for example (a car that offers dynamics and maximum driving fun, while also generating fewer emissions than any BMW series vehicle currently available). This ContiSportContact 5 P upgrade ensures high cornering capability, a ZR speed rating for over 240 km/h and optimum rolling resistance.
  • With the Porsche specialist TechArt, Continental has shown just how much performance a car such as the 911 Turbo can really deliver when an automobile tuner and tire manufacturer work in close collaboration: a 3.8 liter engine, sensational 620 hp at 6,400 rpm, outstanding acceleration, and an impressive top speed - a virtually unique performance.

The thoroughbred ContiForceContact sport event tire was developed in 2011 together with the two aforementioned automobile tuners and motoring experts from the specialist publication sportauto. This is a semi-slick UHP tire with which vehicles such as the Porsche 911 Carrera in the new up to 400-hp 991 series can appropriately be equipped. It is exclusively aimed at active sports drivers with motor sports ambitions and unites ultimate grip with optimum steering precision for the race track.

Also popular among the automobile tuners are the Continental sports tires from large-scale production - ContiSportContact 5 and ContiSportContact 5 P - which can be beneficially used even in the high-end tuning area.  With the ContiSportContact 5, Continental is appealing to the drivers of cars and SUVs with sporty driving properties. The tire is approved up to 300 km/h.

Its big brother, the ContiSportContact 5 P goes one step further; it is installed, as a piece of original equipment, in the Audi R8, a vehicle that can reach speeds of up to 320 km/h with horsepower of up to 560. The letter "P" here stands for "performance," indicating an uncompromisingly sporty design. The special designs of the tire model for the front and rear axle have been perfectly coordinated with each other and adapted for assembly on the individual axles.

Continental also offers different UHP solutions for wintry road conditions which have been tailored towards the needs of the tuning sector.

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