Anyone have any experience with these tires?

[Nova69]

I've decided to replace all 4 of the OEM tires on my Cruiser. I have a repair on one and should replace it, and I'd rather put the money into a set of good tires.

I browsed on Tire Rack and found an extremely high-rated tire in the Continental Conti Extreme Contact. It's rated just about at the top of the pack and the customer reviews are all very enthusiastic, but I'm a little leery because it's so inexpensive. It seems to be especially well rated in wet traction and snow traction, both of which are important to me. Before I order, does anyone here have any personal experience with these tires?

[NSCR FAN]

No, I don't, but take it from the reviews that are there. Inexpensive doesn't always mean junk anymore that expensive means first rate. If users are happy with them, you might want to take a shot at them.

[PT "Guru"]

This from an outfit called A&R Tire;

ContiExtremeContact

The best performing Ultra High Performance tire in all-weather conditions
Excellent wet grip and resistance to hydroplaning
Silica-based, high-grip tread compound
Smooth ride, even at high speeds

This new ultra-high performance all-season tire provides the optimum angle of attack resulting from Shark Fin bio-mechanics.

$ 102.72

[Spiderman]

I have Dunlop tires on mine now and LOVE them !

[Wally]

"Shark Fin bio-mechanics"......wow, can you just imagine how many engineers that took to come up with a termology such as this?

[PT "Guru"]

i was thinking that too...

[JOEM]

Originally posted by NSCR FAN
Inexpensive doesn't always mean junk anymore that expensive means first rate.

That's so true. I took a chance on the Futura tires sold at Pep Boys outlet because they garnered great reviews from folks who own muscle Mustangs and Camaros and other performance cars and also becaue they're made by Cooper. They're simply great performance tires and very long-lifed. The fact that I got four of 'em for under $250 also sweetened the deal. Go for it.

[RubyRed]

Tire Rack gets a price break when a new tire comes out and they'll use that break as a market test. This happened with the Yokohama AVS ES 100 (NOT all-season) when they came out last year and with some of the Bridgestones that were recently introduced (RE 950s) , as well as the Dunlop Sport A2. If demand soars due to good feedback you can be certain the price will climb within the next year to more normal market levels.
Since I've been paying attention, the Bridgestone RE 950s have jumped about 20% in price since their introduction. The Dunlop Sport A2s have also seen price creep since introduction, but with not the dramatic rise of the Bridgestones. The Yokohama AVS ES100s have been holding their price, despite glowing reviews. Go figure.

A word of caution about the "positive" reviews posted on Tire rack's website -try to read them with the knowledge that they were written (mostly) by people who have put very few miles on the tires, so their ratings for snow, rain and quietness are for almost NEW tires. Also, the majority of those reviews are written by folks who just traded-up from crappy O.E.M. rubber so just about ANY new tire is going to be wonderful, in their minds. Try to find the reviews from folks who have put A LOT of miles on the tires that are being reviewed and also see if they compare them to other "performance all-season" tires they have owned.

I am thinking about using those tires(Conti Extreme Contact) as the "winter" rubber for my wife's car since she is using the 4x4 Suzuki Grand Vitara now for all of her deep-snow country road driving. She currently runs a BMW 328i convertible with the Yoko AVS ES100 tires in the summer but could use a narrower "all-season" for light snow days or for city winter driving. Let us know what you decide.

[PT-Al]

I just had a set of these put on my Cruiser. They are quieter than the Goodyears. They drive alright, as good or better than the Goodyears. I don't know how they handle in the snow as I have only had them a couple weeks. The tire has a thicker ridge above the bead to help prevent damage to the rims when you hit a pothole. I had Continental tires on my previous car - not the ExtremeContacts - and they worked well in the snow, no problems of any kind with them or else I wouldn't have got them for the Cruiser.

[Nova69]

Thanks for all the input guys. I'll report back when I've had my new tires installed.