Continental PureContact LS

Fixmy59bug

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2009
Location
Las Vegas, NV
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SE
It's nice when the complaints I have about my car are not of the mechanical variety.

What I dont like is spending money where its not absolutely necessary. But if it makes the car a nicer drive, then I will.

When I realized just how much I hated the stock suspension, I changed out the struts and shocks with the Koni FSD dampers and I am so glad I did it.

The next complaint I had were the tires. It had the Bridgestone Potenza RE97A rubbers. They are only half worn, but they are an AWFUL tire. They are so loud that it is extremely difficult to have a normal conversation at highway speeds. And I know it is the tires because if the road surface changes, the road noise changes. There is ONE type of roadway where it is silent, but that blacktop is not too common 'round these parts.

Yesterday I bit the bullet and changed out all my bridgestones for these new Continental PureContact LS tires. I had the regular model PureContacts on my last Passat and was pretty happy with them.

Continental has made some pretty bold claims with the PureContact LS when compared to the original PureContact including a 10% improvement in wet traction, a 23% improvement in wear, and a 50% improvement in road noise.

I can tell you that these tires are SO MUCH quieter than the Potenzas that came off.

TL;DR - VERY happy so far with the new PureContact LS tires
 

joshuafail

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 25, 2018
Location
Springfield, MO
TDI
2015 Passat SEL Premium
Glad someone has a positive experience with Continental. They seem to have lots of positive reviews, but I've had nothing but terrible experiences with them..

I've had four sets on two different vehicles, most recently my TDI.
All four sets have had balancing issues, with multiple shops- two sets were completely out-of-round from the factory, to the point of needing replacements.

Once issues showed on the TDI, I returned/replaced them with Pirelli P7s... Not an issue since.
 

calimustang

Veteran Member
Joined
May 17, 2010
Location
Central FL
TDI
2011 JSW DSG (buyback, RIP), 2014 JSW TDI, 2015 Passat TDI, 2013 Jetta TDI.
Pirelli P7’s are the way to go and its truly irony! I just ordered it yesterday and you just posted that haha.... will get them later today.

Getting rid of oem conti’s they vibrate at 75-80 and being 4 years old and very loud on slightly noisy roads. Just bought the passat.

I had Pirelli P7’s on my recently departed 2011 JSW. Was pleased with them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

MichaelB

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
Location
SE Wisconsin
TDI
2014 Passat SE DSG
upgrading to FSD koni soon!
FSD's are the best move I have made for control and comfort albeit with H&R OE springs. The way I felt about the springs was if you have to pay for all the disassembly and reassembly so why not upgrade the springs, the only extra cost is the springs themselves. Neither here nor there I chose P7's also.
 
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sands80

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2014
Location
Michigan
TDI
2015 Golf TDI 6MT SEL
Already have the pure contacts and just got my money from VW... upgrading to FSD koni soon!
Nope - Purecontact LS's (updated version for 2018) just got released on June 1st. So you were running on the older version of the tire.

I bought 4 of them in June while Continental was offering a rebate on the tire. Been running on them for about 3 weeks and compared to the stock Potenza's that were on the car, the Purecontacts are really quiet. I can actually hear the engine on smoother portions of the highway (instead of the howl of the bridgestones)

To be fair, the Potenza's lasted about 60K and only got obnoxiously loud near the end.
 

Lex Tdi

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2016
Location
Lexington ky
TDI
2013 Passat
Nope - Purecontact LS's (updated version for 2018) just got released on June 1st. So you were running on the older version of the tire.
Ahh gotcha, definitely like the old version i have, the increased grip over the stock is astounding. And i dont know if they are quieter, between the dash creaks and the chirp in my heating/cooling fan unless the tires are really noisy it doesnt really matter much to me.
 

jrm

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2013
Location
Oregon
TDI
2013 Passat SE with nav (totaled)
i put the control contacts on this spring, and they freekin flat spot overnight, thunk thunk for 5 miles :mad:
will try the new Purecontact LS's on the highlander next spring
 

MichaelB

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
Location
SE Wisconsin
TDI
2014 Passat SE DSG
i put the control contacts on this spring, and they freekin flat spot overnight, thunk thunk for 5 miles :mad:
will try the new Purecontact LS's on the highlander next spring

Suite yourself Continental tires on this forum seem to have a following. I chose the Pirelli P7's 2 years ago...no flat spots and no other issues. Smooth & quiet. :)
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
Keep in mind that Koni FSDs are no longer, replaced by Special Active. Same damper with some improvements in valving. I drove BMWs last Thursday with Special Actives against stock suspension and it's a night and day comparison. They're going on my BMW soon, and I may put a set on my Golf.
 

251

TDI Owner/Operator
Joined
May 11, 2002
Location
NW IN
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SEL
Keep in mind that Koni FSDs are no longer, replaced by Special Active. Same damper with some improvements in valving. I drove BMWs last Thursday with Special Actives against stock suspension and it's a night and day comparison. They're going on my BMW soon, and I may put a set on my Golf.
Funny - I saw your post about the BMW's with the Special Actives and was going to ask if they would be available for the NMS Passat. You have answered my question - LOL!

I assume you will run these Special Actives with the OEM springs or will you be upgrading those as well?
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
I'd run them with stock springs. I think it's still true that the frequency selective damping technology works better with stock ride height.
 

BroncoAZ

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2009
Location
Flagstaff, AZ
TDI
2015 Touareg Lux, 2015 Passat 6MT, 2009 Jetta (long gone), 2011 Touareg (bought back 02/18)
My Pirelli P7 are still moving on the rims. They are great when balanced, but that only lasts a couple hundred miles.
 

mejpassat

Well-known member
Joined
May 26, 2014
Location
California
TDI
2015 Passat TDi (NOS), 2014 passat TDI (Buy back), 2001 Tdi Golf (Gifted to Son)
For those of you with the new Conti LS tires, have you noticed any difference in mpg compared to the stock conti's?
 

Jetta_Pilot

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Location
West Hill, Ont.
TDI
2015 Passat Highline TDI Candy White (SEL Premium) long gone 2002 Jetta TDI
Just for what its worth, Continental also makes the General Altimax RT43 tires which of which I had four 235-55-18 installed last fall at quite a bit less cost than Conti's.
Love the Altimax RT43's !!!


Especially after getting rid of the OEM Nexen 235-45-18 tires.
 
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IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
Just for what its worth, Continental also makes the General Altimax RT43 tires which of which I had four 235-55-18 installed last fall at quite a bit less cost than Conti's.
Love the Altimax RT43's !!!
Me, too. Have them on my MKIV and B4. Ride great, silent, and reasonably grippy. Good in the rain, too. And inexpensive.
 

MAXRPM

Veteran Member
Joined
May 7, 2008
Location
US
TDI
00 Jetta and 99.5 Golf, 2015 Passat TDI,BMW 2
I like continental tires, has anyone try the sure contact RX I am seeing great reviews on them,, I need to buy 4 and that's the tire that I point my eye to it,, Any tire gurus here that can chime in?
 

sands80

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2014
Location
Michigan
TDI
2015 Golf TDI 6MT SEL
For those of you with the new Conti LS tires, have you noticed any difference in mpg compared to the stock conti's?
Hand calculated I lost very roughly about 1 mpg in my daily driving. This is comparing the worn down potenza's to the new Continental LS (may not be what your asking).

Other than the MPG's, we've had a couple downpours on some newly paved (asphalt) highways and they had gripped quite well - no hydroplaning what so ever. Really pleased about that - considering the amount of driving I do...

5K miles on them and still a quiet ride. I rotate them every 2.5K to 3K miles.
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
We had good luck with Nokian enTyre 2.0 on our '12 Passat we put 30K trouble free miles on them and still had tons of tread life left when it went back to VW. Our '15 has Bridgestone something or others that were installed as part of the NOS sale, they seem to be wearing very well.

Alltrack on the other hand has some junky Faulkens in an odd size 205-55-17, that seem to be making their way to the recycler real fast, With about 12-14K on them and prob half gone, I'm thinking by the end of next summer I'll be sourcing replacements and prob will go with another set of Nokian enTyer.
 

Smashed Ixnay

Veteran Member
Joined
May 7, 2010
Location
Auburndale, FL
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SEL
Bought my car with 34.5k miles and it had Continental Procontacts on them. Overall not that bad of a tire till earlier this week. Doing 70mph when I heard a noise that wasn't normal. I immedilately pulled over to check my tires.



My rear passenger looked normal, but was extremely hot. I decided to put the spare on. After I took the tire off I was surprised at how bad the inside of the tire was.


Granted I'm at 53k miles miles on them at this point, but they are rated for 55k I believe. They did need to be changed soon (and all 4 will be tomorrow now), but they still had 4/32 tread left.


Our old Jetta had the same tires, but I only about 30k miles on them without issue. My wife's 2017 Passat has the same tires with 20k miles on them and they have been good. I'm not sure why my tire decided it about wanted to explode on me on I4, so my new tires tomorrow will be Michelin Premier A/S.


I've always wanted to try the Premier tires, so I'll give them a shot. I had Pirelli P7's on our old Jetta and think we got 55k miles out of them. Most of that was city driving, so I guess that isn't too bad. I will say I was not a big fan of the wet traction on them. Our Michelin MXM4's gave us about 52k miles and I loved those tires! I was going to buy them again for my 15' Passat TDI, but I figured I would try a different Michelin tire. I don't think the Premier's were available for our 2010 Jetta TDI.



Next go around I may try the Purecontacts, but I'll stay away from the Procontacts, unless I find a killer deal on them.






 
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FedAgent1896

Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2013
Location
Laredo, TX
TDI
2014 Passat SEL Premium
My OEM Continentals are still going strong. over 50k miles on them, no flat spots, no balance issues, no dry rot. Will likely go with Michelins when the time comes though.
 

jrm

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2013
Location
Oregon
TDI
2013 Passat SE with nav (totaled)
My OEM conti's were great, just as fedagent1896 states, but the replacement PureContact tires flat spot in just one night of sitting and take 5 miles to smooth out.
 

Jetta_Pilot

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Location
West Hill, Ont.
TDI
2015 Passat Highline TDI Candy White (SEL Premium) long gone 2002 Jetta TDI
You might want to check out General Tire RT43, up to 75,000 mile warranted.
General and Continental is the same manufacturer. General tires are less costly.
I've been running the RT43's on all four corners for over a year now and like them.
Where I spend the winter, my Passat may sit for 3-4 weeks and have never experienced a flat spot.
 
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