[ChristianCGM]

This is a review of these tires....sort of. The previous summer type tires that I have had are the stock RE070's and the RT615's both in 225/45, so these are my only comparisons as I don't think that my LM25 Blizzak's are comparable.

Here is a picture as a reference to how the tread pattern looks.


Coming from the two previous tires I wanted something with a softer sidewall than the RT615 and was as capable in the rain as it was when it was dry. I was also looking at the RE01R's, Eagle F1 GSD3's, Pirelli PZero Nero and the RE050 Pole Position. I had read reviews of the previous four, but was really curious about the ConitSport Contact 3's and it seemed that no one here had given them a try. So like most people I read as many reviews and tests as possible from Tire Rack and comparable websites. Here are three from Tire Rack.

Testing New Trends In Max Performance Tires
A New Name Challenges the Max Performance Summer Category
Has the Pirelli P Zero Come Full Circle?

Most of my driving is on the street/highway, I do 1-2 auto-x's a year and go to the drag strip just about as often. So knowing this I really did not need a track worthy tire that can be driven on the street, making the RE01R and the RE050 excluded from the final decision. I also want to give a 245/40 tire a go, which is what size I ended up with.

The suspension mods that I have are RCE V1 yellows, Whiteline 27-29mm adjustable FSB, Whiteline 24-26mm adjustable RSB and Kartboy front and rear endlinks on stock struts with max negative front and rear camber (-1* front and -1.5* rear...I think). Recently I found that Whiteline sways cannot hold up to two decent NE Ohio winters in combination with the amount of salt that they throw on the road. As a result there is some surface rust, which I am just going to sandblast and powder-coated clear, I wish they would have just put a clear coat on the bars themselves. I ended up taking off the rear one first after 100 miles and then removed the front bar 100 miles after that. Doing this made me notice that the rear bar mostly does nothing, but then again I don't drive to 10/10ths everywhere that I go. To date I have just over 3000 miles on the tires and have been waiting to write a review as I believe this is an adequate amount of seat time to be able to judge a tire. The reason I got these was that no one that I was aware of had them, and thought what the heck I'll give them a go....guinea pig ftmfw.

Alright enough of the background time for the meats. My first impressions coming from the RT615 that were about 1-2/32nds from the wear bars were wow this is a soft tire and it was eerily quiet. Coming to a stop felt as though I was on a bag of air comparatively to the RT615 and RE070. This is too soft a tire to do some light to mild track days without chunking the tires; with no tire shaving. The tread depth on the ContiSport Contact 3's are 10/32nds and weight 21 lbs. The turn in is not as crisp as with the RE070's and the RT615, but I understood that as a consequence with getting a softer sidewalled tire. The light to mild to destructive bumps is the road are handled nicely from the Contact 3's and no longer swerve to avoid 1/64th inch cracks in the road haha. Sleeping policemen still suck, but no tire will make this not so. This tire does not tramline like the RE070 and RT615....let alone at all that I have noticed. Taking my favorite on/off ramps I was able to keep the same speed as with the other two tires without the sidewalls feeling like they were going to buckle, which can be seen in the Tire Rack tests that the Contact 3's still have some decent ultimate grip. Launching on the street I am able to still bark the tires in 1st and 2nd gear. I have not had a chance to do an auto-x or go to the drag strip as graduate school is occupying all of my time, but can make the conclusion that they will suck in auto-x, be pretty good at the drag strip and awesome on the street.

Personally I really don't feel as though I have lost anything or compromised the types of driving that I do with getting a tire with a softer sidewall. I don't know if I have covered everything, so if anyone has some questions about the tires I will do my best to answer them.

Edit: These are 245/40-17 on stock BBS wheels; I have to played around with tire pressures too much, but have kept my cold tire pressures at 35 psi front and 33 psi in the rear. The tires do not rub.