Toyo vs Continentals vs Yokohama vs Pirelli

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Jun 11, 2012
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Location
Atlantic, Canada
Hi,

So today I shopped around for so new tires on my Mazda 3.

I do 40,000 km ++ a year, tons of highway for work.

I'm looking for the best ride possible to soak up bumps and road imperfections (the Mazda 3 has a stiff suspension). A quiet ride is also a must.

Here are the top recommendation in a 205 60 16 H

- Toyo Versado Noir
- Continentals True Contact Tour
- Yokohama Avid Ascend GT
- Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season plus 2

Please let me know your vote and/or other good recommendation would be appreciated.

Thanks guys!
 
You might want to check tire ratings at Tire Rack.

They have several tires rated higher than your list. Of course, it depends on your criteria.

The Continentals look like your best bet...
 
Running my 4th set of Pirelli P7 AS+2 right now (on different vehicles), quiet and long lasting on all, not bad in winter either. I keep buying em.
 
I'm with Pirelli Cinturato P7 A/S Plus II.
We've had the first gen P7 A/S+ on a Mazda 3 and my current Altima. SIL has them on an Outlander too. IMO, they're what you're looking for. However I can't answer for longevity with your 40000km/yr...YMMV!

The Continental Truecontact TOUR were on my radar as well but it came down to price in my particular size.
 
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I've bought 12 total Pirelli tires and I have received 3 out of rounds and two went bad before their warranty was up. In addition, lower profile Pirellis are hard to balance and absolutely require road force balancing so they are more expensive in total. According to their engineering department, this is because of the nylon belts that they use to quiet down their tires. Their lead engineer told me that static balancing doesn't heat up the nylon belt and then you get an out of balance tire once the belt dies warm up. This makes sense because all my P7 AS+ tires were very thumpy for the first few miles in the morning but then they smoothed out.

I have bought 16 Continental tires and have received 0 out of rounds and of all the ones that I have significant mileage on all have made it through their warranty. The newer Continental offerings are quieter than their Pirelli counterparts, better in the rain, and are smoother (especially on short trips). Continentals don't need to warm up to smooth out like the Pirellis.

Overall both companies make great tires but Continental has their QC down pat while Pirelli is touch and go.
 
FWIW Pirelli has been bought by a chinese company Chem China in 2015.
I don't know how much this will affect the quality control & product development.
 
Toyo Versado Noir: I have these on my volvo and I consider them a hard tire, as opposed to a soft tire. You will feel more of the road surface with them. They are about 1/2 worn and are beginning to transmit more road noise than I like. I should add, I had one of them develop a bulge on the side and it was replaced under warranty.
 
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I have Continentals True Contact Tour on my 2013 Sportage feels like it is glued to road much, much better than orginals, happy camper
 
I have Yokohama 740gtx on my mazda3, very close to the ascend gt. They are very smooth and are wearing well. On new pavement they 'sing' a little bit. This has actually lessened over time.

Other tires I've had on this car must have been a little bit out of round, because these are super smooth.
 
Originally Posted by wolf_06


- Toyo Versado Noir
- Continentals True Contact Tour
- Yokohama Avid Ascend GT
- Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season plus 2



I put the True Contact Tours in size 215/60-16 on my Passat a little over a year ago and they've been fantastic. Great on the highway, very quiet, run straight, held their balance. No noticeable wear after ~25,000 miles. Not sure how they'd be in the winter since it was pretty mild here in PA this past winter. I would certainly buy them again.
 
Originally Posted by wolf_06

I'm looking for the best ride possible to soak up bumps and road imperfections (the Mazda 3 has a stiff suspension).


I had often heard people say that Continental had a soft sidewall and I never quite understood what they meant by that. I mean how much of a difference could there really be between sidewalls. Apparently quite a lot.

I switched from the stock Pirelli Cinturato P7 to Continental ExtremeContact on the Giulia and the difference is night and day to how they soak up road imperfections. I now understand what people have been saying all these years.

If the True Contact shares that same quality, I think you'll be treated well by them.
 
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I have the true contacts on my Elantra. They are quiet. They are a "hard" tire, in meaning that they have a long life. They are also heavier, and you will take a mileage hit.They do very well in the rain and dry. smooth ride. I have used the P7's before, nice dry grip, quiet, very poor in the rain one a few miles get on them. I have no experience with the other two you are looking at.
 
I have had two unsatisfactory sets of Pirelli P6 plus tires. The P7's are a vast improvement. Have had many sets of Yokohama tires w/o any misfires. I even run Shinkos (used to be Yokohama) on my scooter.

In your size consider the General Altimax 43. I just put a set on my Saab and they are every bit as good as the reviews. Too early to comment on tread wear but it is generally thought to be better than average.

Although I don't purchase my tires from Tire Rack any more I find their customer ratings to be quite reliable.
 
I have used Continental True Contacts and Extreme Contacts. They are excellent and in my opinion better than the high dollar Michelins that I used for years. I had a set of the Pirelli on my Taurus and they were not a good tire. Became very loud and nothing outstanding as far as traction.
I will only recommend and use Continental from now on.
 
Continental and Pirelli.
Toyo and Yokohama are not in the same league.

And I would always go with Continental if it is between Conti. and Pirelli.
 
Out of the 4 listed, I would go with the Contis. I would also give a shout out to Goodyear's Assurance Comfortread Touring tires as well. Parents have those on their Chrysler 200 and seem to hold up well to Midwestern roads quite well. They seem to do decent in the snow as long as it isn't a blizzard. A coworker of mine exclusively uses those tires on his Acuras due to how quiet they are and how well they take the road bumps.
 
Well, the TireRack has the Pirelli Cinturato P7 A/S+, gen 1, in your size(205-60-16 92H) for:

$83/each...2017 production
100/each...currenty.

or the new Gen II:
92H or V for $115.60.ea

The Cinturato P7 A/S+ Gen I that I bought were 1819 production(18wk of 2019).

Personally I don't think you can go wrong with either the Pirelli or the Continental

I've had more consistently better tire quality with Pirelli but, you may not.
 
Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season were my favorite all around tire(sound leve/wear/dry+wet traction) on our previous 2005 Legacy GT wagon(WRX turbo motor 5mt!) .

I was so happy in all seasons including winter. No hesitations recommending them for likely similar weather in Atlantic Canada as Coastal New England.
 
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