ADAC, ÖAMTC and TCS: Continental summer tires "set the standard in driving safety"

Hanover, Germany, February 21, 2023. In their 50th summer tire test, Europe's largest automobile clubs awarded Continental's PremiumContact 6 and the new UltraContact the highest grade of "good". The German ADAC (General German Automobile Club), the Austrian ÖAMTC (Austrian Automobile, Motorcycle and Touring Club) and the Swiss TCS (Touring Club Suisse) praised the safe driving characteristics on dry and wet roads. On dry roads, the PremiumContact 6 was "safe at the limits and claimed the shortest braking distance in the test," also securing the top mark in wet conditions. New in the evaluation of the automobile clubs is the environmental test, in which the result of the mileage, the abrasion, the rolling resistance, the rolling noise and the overall sustainability were included. Here, Continental's PremiumContact 6 showed good predicted mileage in the wear test, and its abrasion was also low, the testers said. In the case of the UltraContact, the experts praised the "good overall rating on dry roads" and one of the best results in the test for the criteria of environmental balance.

The automobile clubs tested 50 tire models from international manufacturers in the dimension 205/55 R16 91V, with other products from Continental achieving good marks. The Uniroyal RainSport 5, the Semperit Speed-Life 3, the Barum Bravuris 5 HM, the Viking Protech Newgen and the General Tire Altimax One S received the second-best rating of "satisfactory”.

The extent of the differences between the best tire in the driving safety test, the PremiumContact 6, and a budget Asian tire designed exclusively for mileage was shown in the wet braking test. When tested with this tire, the test car, a VW Golf 8, came to a halt from 80 km/h after almost 60 meters of braking distance, while the car featuring Continental tires came to a stop after only 34.4 meters. The testers call this "perilous," as the Golf with the Asian tires would have crashed into the rear of the car, which was already stationary thanks to the Premium Contact 6, at a speed of 52 kilometers per hour.

The PremiumContact 6, which received positive reviews from automobile clubs, has now been replaced by a successor. In comparison, the new Continental PremiumContact 7 offers higher mileage, even shorter braking distances, lower rolling resistance, and even more precise handling.