Continental compares WinterContact TS 860 with 15-year-old tyres…and cars

What a difference 15 years makes. Perhaps the most interesting example Continental offered was its “Evolution of Winter Tire Performance” demonstration at this year’s ContiTechnikForum in Finland. In short Continental invited journalists and tyre testers to experience the performance gap between the ContiWinterContact TS 790 V’s turn of the millennium technology and what the new WinterContact TS 860 has to offer. The twist was that – in order to emphasise the difference – the old tyre was fitted to a new BMW 1-series and the new tyre was fitted to a 15-year old 3-series. Not having the benefit of the latest braking and on-board electronics technology, this gave the advantage to the old tyre and put the new tyre at a theoretical disadvantage.