Continental Extreme Contact Force - First Impressions

[JustJames]

I haven't heard too much about this tire yet, so I wanted to share my experience to hopefully help others as they search for the tire that fits them best. I had the opportunity to shake it out at Lime Rock this past weekend, and overall my impressions were very positive. I’ll give my street impressions as well, but this is mainly a track performance review. Also I’m not being paid for this… I just like being helpful where I can 

My setup:
2016 ZCP 6Spd
BM3 Stage I
AFE intake (Pro 5R)
Vorshlag Camber Plates (not sure of exact camber, likely around -3, they were not maxed out)
Apex EC-7 18x10/11 with ECF 275/35/18 & 295/30/18 (5mm spacer in front, but not necessary with the camber I had set up)
PFC 08 pads, RBF 660

Disclaimer:
While I’ve spent many days on many different tracks across the west coast, I’ve just moved to the east coast, so it’s my first season at many of the tracks over here. This was my first time at Lime Rock, and also my first time on track this season with camber plates, the intake/tune, and the tires. All of this to say that there are a lot of variables at play here, and I’m aware of that. Just being transparent up front and giving my impressions considering all of these different variables. Unfortunately this was my last track day of the year, so I’ll have to wait until next year to get back out at a track I’m a little more familiar with to have a better benchmark to compare with. As far as driver level, I’ve raced in the past, been an instructor for a few years, and always drive in the advanced classes at track days, so I know enough to be able to make some grounded comparisons.

The track:
Being the end of November in Connecticut, the temperature during the first sesson was 340F. Over the course of the day, it warmed up to the low 40s, but still, it was very cold. The engine loved it, of course, but tires definitely struggled to get temperature into the tires for the first few sessions.

The tires:
Immediately upon mounting them, I noticed an increase in sidewall stiffness. I would still be comfortable on these on the street, but definitely not as comfortable as my previous street tires MPS4S or Conti ECS. Also, their cold grip is not great which they would suffer from on the street. This is expected from a 200 TW tire, but still worth noting. I ran them about 33 psi on the street. Also worth noting is that it is not an especially loud tire, and would not annoy me on the street at all.
Lime Rock being what it is, as well as with the cold temps, it took me around 3 or 4 laps to really start feeling usable grip, and that number didn’t really change throughout the day. I targeted 32 psi hot, and had to use the first three sessions to get the tires to stay around that target as they warmed up enough to stay consistent.
The tire has excellent feedback feel, and I noticed this especially after I took MDM off after the first few sessions. With MDM on, the car really struggled under braking especially. It was very squirrely in trail braking situations, as well as trying to put the power down out of a turn. With MDM off, the car’s rotation under heavy braking and mid corner because so much more predictable. I never felt an extreme drop off of grip, but rather a very manageable progressive decline past the limit. These tires also feel like they do well with relatively high slip angles, which I think is why MDM struggles to manage it. Honestly after I turned MDM off, I feel like I fell in love with the car again by how predictable everything felt.
As far as consistency, the car was very comfortable doing 1:00-1:02s back to back, and I never felt a decrease in grip from overheating the tires. I managed a 1:00.3 on my last session of the day, but the setup definitely has another 1-2 seconds in it for someone with more experience at Lime Rock (or someone who isn’t as worried about having a 3hr drive home!)
I would also say that they are wearing very well, considering they only have about 2 hours of track time at very low temps. I would estimate that they would handle about 5-7 more days like this. Of course, I would rotate them after another day or two if I was just doing Lime Rock, as the left tires showed marginally more wear than the right tires as expected.
As far as price, they’re pretty much right in the ballpark compared to the Toyo R888R and Nitto NT01 for R comps and the Yok A052 for 200 TW. They definitely have more feel than the A052, and I would expect them to lap longer and more consistent than the A052. Unfortunately I haven’t run the R comps in my F80 so I can’t compare with those. Also worth noting is that they make a 315/30/18 which I think would be a great option for the rear of this car. Whenever I wear this set out, I will get that and let everyone know how it fits!
Overall, I am very happy with this tire. The level of feel was incredible, consistency was excellent, and I was very happy with the grip considering the conditions. I would definitely recommend it as a track day tire, but would hesitate to run it at an autocross event, as I think the A052 would be a better option for that. I can’t wait to get back out there next season on a track I’ve spent more time on and get some times to compare. I’ll be sure to update or do a new post for those who might be considering this as an option.

[Expert@ApexWheels]

Originally Posted by JustJames

I haven't heard too much about this tire yet, so I wanted to share my experience to hopefully help others as they search for the tire that fits them best. I had the opportunity to shake it out at Lime Rock this past weekend, and overall my impressions were very positive. I’ll give my street impressions as well, but this is mainly a track performance review. Also I’m not being paid for this… I just like being helpful where I can 

My setup:
2016 ZCP 6Spd
BM3 Stage I
AFE intake (Pro 5R)
Vorshlag Camber Plates (not sure of exact camber, likely around -3, they were not maxed out)
Apex EC-7 18x10/11 with ECF 275/35/18 & 295/30/18 (5mm spacer in front, but not necessary with the camber I had set up)
PFC 08 pads, RBF 660

Disclaimer:
While I’ve spent many days on many different tracks across the west coast, I’ve just moved to the east coast, so it’s my first season at many of the tracks over here. This was my first time at Lime Rock, and also my first time on track this season with camber plates, the intake/tune, and the tires. All of this to say that there are a lot of variables at play here, and I’m aware of that. Just being transparent up front and giving my impressions considering all of these different variables. Unfortunately this was my last track day of the year, so I’ll have to wait until next year to get back out at a track I’m a little more familiar with to have a better benchmark to compare with. As far as driver level, I’ve raced in the past, been an instructor for a few years, and always drive in the advanced classes at track days, so I know enough to be able to make some grounded comparisons.

The track:
Being the end of November in Connecticut, the temperature during the first sesson was 340F. Over the course of the day, it warmed up to the low 40s, but still, it was very cold. The engine loved it, of course, but tires definitely struggled to get temperature into the tires for the first few sessions.

The tires:
Immediately upon mounting them, I noticed an increase in sidewall stiffness. I would still be comfortable on these on the street, but definitely not as comfortable as my previous street tires MPS4S or Conti ECS. Also, their cold grip is not great which they would suffer from on the street. This is expected from a 200 TW tire, but still worth noting. I ran them about 33 psi on the street. Also worth noting is that it is not an especially loud tire, and would not annoy me on the street at all.
Lime Rock being what it is, as well as with the cold temps, it took me around 3 or 4 laps to really start feeling usable grip, and that number didn’t really change throughout the day. I targeted 32 psi hot, and had to use the first three sessions to get the tires to stay around that target as they warmed up enough to stay consistent.
The tire has excellent feedback feel, and I noticed this especially after I took MDM off after the first few sessions. With MDM on, the car really struggled under braking especially. It was very squirrely in trail braking situations, as well as trying to put the power down out of a turn. With MDM off, the car’s rotation under heavy braking and mid corner because so much more predictable. I never felt an extreme drop off of grip, but rather a very manageable progressive decline past the limit. These tires also feel like they do well with relatively high slip angles, which I think is why MDM struggles to manage it. Honestly after I turned MDM off, I feel like I fell in love with the car again by how predictable everything felt.
As far as consistency, the car was very comfortable doing 1:00-1:02s back to back, and I never felt a decrease in grip from overheating the tires. I managed a 1:00.3 on my last session of the day, but the setup definitely has another 1-2 seconds in it for someone with more experience at Lime Rock (or someone who isn’t as worried about having a 3hr drive home!)
I would also say that they are wearing very well, considering they only have about 2 hours of track time at very low temps. I would estimate that they would handle about 5-7 more days like this. Of course, I would rotate them after another day or two if I was just doing Lime Rock, as the left tires showed marginally more wear than the right tires as expected.
As far as price, they’re pretty much right in the ballpark compared to the Toyo R888R and Nitto NT01 for R comps and the Yok A052 for 200 TW. They definitely have more feel than the A052, and I would expect them to lap longer and more consistent than the A052. Unfortunately I haven’t run the R comps in my F80 so I can’t compare with those. Also worth noting is that they make a 315/30/18 which I think would be a great option for the rear of this car. Whenever I wear this set out, I will get that and let everyone know how it fits!
Overall, I am very happy with this tire. The level of feel was incredible, consistency was excellent, and I was very happy with the grip considering the conditions. I would definitely recommend it as a track day tire, but would hesitate to run it at an autocross event, as I think the A052 would be a better option for that. I can’t wait to get back out there next season on a track I’ve spent more time on and get some times to compare. I’ll be sure to update or do a new post for those who might be considering this as an option.

Loving this feedback on the Conti ECF. A few of us have been interested in this tire and the claimed long life + higher lap times. I'll definitely be eagerly awaiting more feedback about how fast they wear. Any pics of the tires on our 18x11 with the 295/30-18? I'm curious about how wide they run relative to their listed size. Thanks for the review!

-Tom