Continental has won a new tyre supply deal for BMW’s latest 5 Series. The tyre manufacturer will supply the SportContact 7 for sporty driving, the energy efficient EcoContact 6 Q summer tyre, and the WinterContact TS 860 S winter tyre after its products were approved for the entire series, including the all-electric i5.
German consumer automotive magazine Auto Motor und Sport (AMS) has published the first winter tyre test of the season, pitting seven high-performance 20-inch profiles against each other. The clear overall winner was the reigning WhatTyre Winter Tyre of the Year, Bridgestone’s Blizzak LM 005, yet the tyre benefitted from the magazine’s decision to reduce the share of snow performance in the overall score to 20 per cent; the tyre was rated lower than all but one of the other six competitors in the test. The Stuttgart-based testers fitted 255/45 R20 105V XL tyres on both conventional and electric Kias.
Mercedes-Benz has selected Continental tyres as original equipment for its Mercedes EQA. The new full electric SUV will roll from the line on Continental EcoContact 6 tyres in 18- to 20-inch rim diameters, depending on the feature package. For customers wanting a winter tyre, Mercedes is also offering the WinterContact TS 850 P.
The Autozeitung winter tyre test has revealed “extreme differences” between the best and worst winter tyres, according to its testing panel. The first and last-placed tyres in the product comparison were ultimately no less than 43 percentage points apart in the overall rating. This is, in part, because Autozeitung has changed its evaluation scheme compared to previous years. A percentage value is now given for the performance shown in the three performance categories of snow, wet, and dry – previously points were awarded – with a mean average percentage calculated to define final placements. 14 tyres in size 205/55 R16 were mounted on a VW Golf 1.5 TSI for the test.
Continental has launched the new WinterContact TS 870, a winter tyre for small to medium sized cars, at an event in Kittilä, Finland. The tyre is the successor to 2016’s WinterContact TS 860, which has been widely recognised for the quality of its performance in tyre tests. The new tyre, which has a newly designed high-technology tread design and a new iteration of Conti’s Cool Chili compound with optimised crosslink density, features balanced performance improvements over the TS 860, notably five per cent shorter braking on ice and grip on snow, seven per cent increased tread life, and best-in-class noise, represented by one-wave (70dB) on the EU tyre label.
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