Continental Launches Super Contact 7 Ultra High Performance Tyres

The new SportContact is six percent better for dry braking, and service life is 17 percent longer, claims Continental.

Continental has launched a new high-performance tyre suitable for sporty vehicles. According to the tyremaker, this year, a total of 42 articles will be available in sizes 19 to 23 inches, with the product line being further expanded over the course of the coming year.

Company says, the new SportContact generation, Continental offers drivers a high performance, very safe, handling-oriented, high-mileage tyre. On the racetrack, mileage is up 10 percent over the previous model and wet braking distances are reduced by eight percent.

The new SportContact is also six percent better for dry braking, and service life is 17 percent longer. Handling and grip in both wet and dry conditions will also benefit from the latest advancements (test with tyre size 245/30 R 20), added Continental Tyres.

During development, Continental has focused on improving all performance criteria to combine maximum driving pleasure with maximum safety and sustainability in the field of UUHP tyres (ultra-high performance tyre segment).

With an asymmetrical, adaptive tread design, the new SportContact 7 can adapt to dry and wet roads, ensuring precision handling and strong control characteristics, even at high speeds, claims the tyremaker.

“You can put a tyre under stress if you put increased demands on it,” says Professor Burkhard Wies, Head of Research and Development for the Passenger and Light Truck Tire replacement business worldwide at Continental. “In this kind of situation, the new adaptive tread provides safety and driving confidence together with very precise cornering stability in wet and dry road conditions.”

Conventional sports tyres react differently to different vehicle models – depending on the weight, size and engine of the car in question. “Our new SportContact 7, is the first product in the high-performance tyre segment that is tailor-made for every type of vehicle,” explains Wies.

Heavy vehicles require different tyre solutions to light cars. So, the specifications of the SportContact 7 are adapted to each vehicle class. “As a result, we have developed new technologies, suitable for roads and racing, that are used depending on the tyre size, so the typical driving feel of the SportContact family is retained irrespective of vehicle. This includes a design tailored to different vehicle classes. We can also adapt the stability of the sidewall, the grip under different loads, as well as the high-speed capability, handling and design of the carcass to every vehicle class,” he adds.

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The third technological building block of the new SportContact 7 is the BlackChili rubber compound, which has been precisely adapted to the tread design. This soft compound perfectly matches the very rigid, low-profiled tyre design and not only enables excellent handling characteristics, but also significantly increases mileage.

Tyre engineers and chemists at Continental had to balance out various conflicting objectives to achieve this, with the result an unusual mixing compound technology, which, together with the tread design, enables significant progress in handling characteristics.

The SportContact 7 was developed for passenger cars with sporty attributes and super cars. The variety of vehicles is wide-ranging, including the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio as well as the RS series from Audi and sporty M series from BMW. Compact cars include the Ford Focus III RS and the Mini Cooper S Clubman.

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