PSS to Continental Extreme Contact Sport XL

[antonmnster]

About 30k on the front and 20k on the rear of my staggered Pilot Super Sports, the rears were replaced under warranty a year after purchase. Now, 3 years after first purchase, the fronts are down to the wear bars, and hydroplaned a bit in today's rain. (Better on the front than the rear!)

Since the car is pushing 230k, I didn't want to make another investment in PSSs. I went with the Continentals since they were about $200 cheaper, and were available for pickup at the local Tire Rack warehouse.

Last weekend I changed the thrust arm bushings - without a press. For whatever it's worth, just change the whole arm. Spending Saturday afternoon hammering bushings out and in (and smashing my thumb) isn't worth it. Be that as it may, the alignment is way off.

The car is at my alignment guy's awaiting mounting the new tires and resetting the alignment. When everything is dialed in, the car drives amazing. It feels like Christmas Eve for me.

Anyone else use the Contis?

 

[Quattro Pete]

Anyone else use the Contis?

I run Extreme Contact Sport on my 530i. I like them - good combination of comfort and performance.

 

[RooflessVW]

I've always chosen Continental over Michelin or Pirelli.

Of the three, only Continental seems to be able to make a great tire at a reasonable price.

 

[edyvw]

They are very good tire, but not PSS. For performance they offer, they are probably best bang for a buck in that category, but PSS is in its own league.

 

[antonmnster]

If the car were younger, or an M3, I would have stuck with the PSS for sure. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep this car much more than another year... starting to get the itch.

On the other hand, now that it has these tires and an alignment (WHY does this car need to be aligned every 18 months?!) it drives 80% as good as a much newer, much more expensive replacement. So why not keep maintaining this e90?

 

[Bladecutter]

WHY does this car need to be aligned every 18 months?!

Because it has 230k miles on it.
At least until you decide to replace every single bushing, tie-rod, wheel bearing, and wear part, front and rear on the car, and then you will have a few good years until parts start to wear out again.

 

[edyvw]

If the car were younger, or an M3, I would have stuck with the PSS for sure. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep this car much more than another year... starting to get the itch.

On the other hand, now that it has these tires and an alignment (WHY does this car need to be aligned every 18 months?!) it drives 80% as good as a much newer, much more expensive replacement. So why not keep maintaining this e90?

BMW's are tight and not much room for mistakes on suspension. Once your parts start to wear, it will affect alignment.
Like Bladecutter said, until you replace all rubber parts you will have issues with alignment. Many online vendors off refresh kits, but do not forget bushings in subframes too. If you have RWD, you can go all M3 control arms front and back, but do not use M3 bushings as they do not fit well in the rear subframe. However, using M3 suspension parts dramatically improves handling.

 

[jeepman3071]

I run Extreme Contact Sport on my 530i. I like them - good combination of comfort and performance.

I ran these as my summer set on my E90. The rears on these cars, especially a higher hp car like a 335i will just wear faster. Mine have about 25k miles (I rotate every 5k) and are near the end of their life. I loved them, and would buy them again except I went with Michelin Pilot AS4's because of the driving I do, and how many "in-between" strange weather days we have here in New England. The Extreme Contacts were a little squirrely on the occasional sub-40 degree early spring/fall mornings. I'm sure the Michelins won't grip as hard as the Conti's, which did fantastic on a misty morning on Tail of the Dragon, but we'll see.


As for the alignment the roads make a big difference. I drove for 2 years on a commute with pretty decent roads, and my alignment was perfect. Three months later I drove on horrible roads to a new location and my alignment was off soon after.

 

[antonmnster]

I think I'm driving the wrong car on the wrong roads: the sport suspension is fairly harsh on urban streets that are frequently in very poor states of repair. Potholes, horrible patches, and heaved bridge abutments kill my thrust arm bushings every 2-3 years max. It's been the case with every BMW I've had going back to my e30 25 years ago.

Sometimes I fantasize of rolling along carefree in a LeSabre...

 

[Quattro Pete]

Just ordered a set of Conti CrossContact LX25 for wife's Q5. Just looking for comfort in this application.

 

[edyvw]

I think I'm driving the wrong car on the wrong roads: the sport suspension is fairly harsh on urban streets that are frequently in very poor states of repair. Potholes, horrible patches, and heaved bridge abutments kill my thrust arm bushings every 2-3 years max. It's been the case with every BMW I've had going back to my e30 25 years ago.

Sometimes I fantasize of rolling along carefree in a LeSabre...

Get KONI Special Active dampers.