Continental Extreme Contact Force - First Impressions

[polarbearz]

Originally Posted by JustJames

I targeted 32-33 PSI and didn't have an issue getting them there. It took a couple 20m sessions to get them there, but that was also compounded by me not being familiar with the tires and the track. You could get them to temp in one session just fine.

These pressures are actually slightly lower than what I ran on Michelin 4Ss/Cup 2 (33-34) and Conti ECS (35-36). Generally, I prefer higher pressure with softer sidewalls.

These tire can enough heat to work in about first 2-3 minutes of the session from my experience.

[Driver407]

Been a while since these came out. Anyone have any new data to share?
Picked up a pair and running them tomorrow at Sonoma for the first time.

How many days did you end up getting out of a set? How many cycles before they start dropping off hard? 34 hot still what you all recommend?

[D_SheerDrivingPleasure]

Originally Posted by Driver407

Been a while since these came out. Anyone have any new data to share?
Picked up a pair and running them tomorrow at Sonoma for the first time.

How many days did you end up getting out of a set? How many cycles before they start dropping off hard? 34 hot still what you all recommend?

I've done three track days on mine (one day was wet) so it's too early to tell if/when they will heat cycle out but visually they don't show much wear. They won't overheat and they are very street friendly if you dual duty your car.

34 hot is good.

[BoilerUP]

275/35R18 and 295/30R18 Conti ECFs with 32 sessions on my Cadillac ATS-V sedan, a majority of which were 25-30min sessions. These had a LOT of tread left when I retired them; I felt they were starting to heat cycle out a bit with traction down some but for a DE tire they rock.



In a 3900lb sedan, I typically started the first session at 30psi cold square, then adjusted to 30 cold right before the second session. After that, they would maintain 34-36 hot and I liked to target 35psi hot.

I ran them from -2.0 to -3.0 front camber and while they did just fine at -2.0, I think -2.5ish is probably near the sweet spot on my car.

[Driver407]

Ran Sonoma today for the first time in 2 years with F80. ECF felt great!
Was at 34 hot all day and was going hard for the full 20 minute sessions. (1:51 PB)
Tires never let up.

I've run several sets of NT01 back to back and I would say the ECF are slightly faster in pace. Maybe by juuust a hair. See how that pace holds up as they cycle.

[b_w.]

I am going to pick another set of these up for my street/wet track tires. I got about 9 days out of my 275/315 set. Had a few rainy days and they were great. Fronts were cooked but rears had some life left. This time will run 315 non rotatable all around. Track tires will be 315 square rotatable nt01s.

I will echo that 34psi hot was good.

[njoyRice]

How would y'all compare the ECF to R888R in terms of straight line grip?

[Driver407]

I ran day 3 and 4 this weekend on my ECF.
Day 3 at streets of willow in 94 degree heat.
Day 4 was at buttonwillow where I ran 2 groups with only 20 minute cooldowns between groups. Tire did pretty well under the non stop abuse and 94 degree weather.

However...
I did run into an issue on my left front tire. I had a small chunk that slowly turned into an issue over the course of the double event weekend.

Eventually it grew and got down to the cords. Luckily I had brought two extra 615k+ street tires with me. Ran the rest of the day on the front with mix matched tires.

Figured id share my experience.
Aside from that one tire. The other 3 look pretty good. Few more days out of them if i can find a slightly used front.

[BoilerUP]

How much front camber?

[Driver407]

Originally Posted by BoilerUP

How much front camber?

-3f/-2r because it is my daily.
E46M gets all the track oriented setups.

[BoilerUP]

Originally Posted by Driver407

-3f/-2r because it is my daily.
E46M gets all the track oriented setups.

That's essentially what I run on my ATS-V and I've never quite seen chunking like that on either of my two sets of ECFs.

[Driver407]

Originally Posted by BoilerUP

That's essentially what I run on my ATS-V and I've never quite seen chunking like that on either of my two sets of ECFs.

It was originally very very small. Maybe the size of a drinking straw radius. Surface level only. Got worse over sessions. Thinking I may have nicked something on track is my guess and messed up that part.

[TyreReviews]

Sounds like you were unlucky, how was the mixed setup?

[Driver407]

Originally Posted by TyreReviews

Sounds like you were unlucky, how was the mixed setup?

It was interesting. The 615k+ came on a set of used apex I bought a few months ago as a backup set. They were exactly at the wear bars but good wear overall.

First few laps the rear ecfs were already hot 35psi. Took a few laps to get fronts up and they were making a lot of noise in comparison to the rears. Once up to temp they were pretty good for about half the 15-20 minute sessions.

Front braking wasn't as predictable as matched tires near the end of sessions. (and I'm on AP bbk). I was having to brake further back to make up for it.

First time I had ever run mixed sets. Was sorta worried. Wasnt as bad as I expected. I did sorta have to drive around it in a way. The 615 and ECF are somewhat similar in overall grip level as a base, I believe. So was an ok match up for what it was.

Was my first socal trip in 5 years of tracking in norcal. Wasn't going to sit out the event after traveling... lol. I almost bought a set of toyo rr at the buttonwillow shop. Only set they had that would fit but went mixed route.