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Old 29th September 2009, 01:19   #1
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Continental CrossContact AT - 30000kms update - One down..

7500kms done on these tires, including one Leh Trip, I think its time to pen a review.
First a little background.
As some of you may remember, I had lots of issues with my bridgestone HTs. I do quite a bit of driving on very bad himalayan roads, and also go offroading, and the bridgestones were not upto the mark.
I lost 2 tires, one to highway blowout, other due to a bulge.
I replaced these with JK Elanzo, which turned out to be pretty useless, and developed internal cracks too.
So the solution was All Terrain tires.
There were numerous candidates.
First on my list was BFG All Terrain TA/KO. Since I wanted a rock tolerant tire, I decided to steer clear of Yoko Geolander AT as quite a few people into heavy offroading had reported sidewall failure and suck. Moreover the price of 6300/tire was a bit steep.
But as luck would have it nobody had BFG in stock, as it was replaced by Long Trail. So michelin was offering only LTX, which was even more expensive.
So the only remaining candidates were MRF wanderer, Apollo Hawkz RT and AT, and the continentals.
The Apollos seemed pretty non AT-ish from the tread pattern. Ditto for wanderer, the tread was pretty highway like.

So decided to take the pluge, and get the Conti's
The cost per tire was around 6100, and I got a set of 4. However I got a good exchange price on the old tires.

Now lets come to the review part.

1. Looks
You either love them or hate them. The reason is the ribbed sidewall gives the impression that you are wearing truck tires. So some are really put off, some love the look. The sidewall lettering is white(as with all premium tires), but don't be too happy. Even few seconds in dirty trails will make them brown.
The main tread is pretty aggressive though!
Continental CrossContact AT - 30000kms update - One down..-650553473_unvjexl.jpg

Continental CrossContact AT - 30000kms update - One down..-658739467_vfxpuxl.jpg

Continental CrossContact AT - 30000kms update - One down..-658767368_gcr2kxl.jpg

2. On road performance
Now this is seriously mixed bag. On dry tarmac they are good. If you are enthusiastic on the curves of smooth tarred roads, they will scream loud, but not lose grip. Braking is also decent.
However on wet tarmac, they will not make you happy. I would rate them at par with the hard tires like cheap JK or Apollos.
They will skid easily, and the braking distance is definitely more than the bridgestone HTs
3. Off road performance.

This is the reason the tires were bought, and all I can say is that they did not disappoint at all!
Okay. I had slimed them, but slime protects only against nails, not sharp rocks
These tires have spent most of their lives traversing really bad roads, and hard core offroad rocky terrain, and they do not break a sweat.
The sidewall does not have any strange bulges etc., and the main tread offers excellent grip on rock crawling.
Many times when I was navigating sharp rocks on 4L in 1st gears, these tires clung on and did not let go at all.
The terrain these have been subjected to would have made shredded my older tires.
So all in all they have performed par excellence!

To sum it up, a purchase well made. The tread still looks like new.
Hoping that they last me atleast 50K kms more!
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Old 29th September 2009, 09:09   #2
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I didn't really find anything wrong with the design, though.

nice review.
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Old 29th September 2009, 15:14   #3
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Looks like they're made of long-lasting hard rubber, TSK! Considering their performance in the wet, would you recommend this tyre to other Safari owners?

Quote:
The cost per tire was around 6100, and I got a set of 4. However I got a good exchange price on the old tires.
What was the quote you got for the LTX? It's been a long time but IIRC, I got mine for <6000 bucks (225/75/15).
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Old 29th September 2009, 15:29   #4
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Of course, if you are going for lot of running off road, I would recommend them to others. Wet braking is not too good, but its not disastrous. Infact all AT tires will give worse on road performance than off road.
For example comparison of BFG All Terrain and BFG Long Trail, similarly continental Latitude/Sport contact vs Cross contact AT.

So you loose some, but still not not that bad.

As for the price, 15" vs 16" is the problem here. 16" costs 6500+.
Imaging what a fortune you would pay for Fortuner with 17" (not that you would find much choice in 17" rims)
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Old 29th September 2009, 15:51   #5
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How different rubber is from JK? As JK makes tires with colloboration with Continetal.

How do you rate performance and handling of this continentatl tires in the scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is worst and 10 is the best?

Is the rubber on continental is long lasting like JK as you expect some 50K more.
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Old 29th September 2009, 16:09   #6
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The rubber is very unlike JK. My Elazos got cracks under the main tread due to rough road usage, these seem to go on and on,
And yes, these are long lasting, but then even Bridgestones etc., last 50-60K on Safari's Due to my usage pattern, which is mostly very bad gravel tracks on the long trips, I needed AT.

As for Handling, never faced trouble on the hairpins, even at speeds. The tire will hold, its your tolerance which is the limit, or your co passengers.

So on Handling 7/10
On Performance under wet 5/10 on braking, but as far as cornering is concerned, these corner well even when its wet.
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Old 29th September 2009, 16:51   #7
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Good review.

I too had the BG's. Lasted great, 48k almost. Two will run 2-3k easily. No uneven tyre wear.

Compared to my Yoko 235/70 R16 (Rs. 5800/tyre), BG's didnt have the stopping power of Yokos nor high speed stablity. I cant comment more as I havent done more on the Yokos.

I too like the thread pattern of CC !
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Old 29th September 2009, 17:09   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jkdas View Post
Good review.

I too had the BG's. Lasted great, 48k almost. Two will run 2-3k easily. No uneven tyre wear.

Compared to my Yoko 235/70 R16 (Rs. 5800/tyre), BG's didnt have the stopping power of Yokos nor high speed stablity. I cant comment more as I havent done more on the Yokos.

I too like the thread pattern of CC !
But the pic you posted in the other thread has the size printed as 235/75 R15!
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Old 4th January 2010, 16:44   #9
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An update : Almost 15000kms done

So the tires have done close to 15000kms, and still look quite new looking at the tread.
I reckon they should do 50K kms easily, and this is actually the kind of life I expect out of them.
Since the last review, I have tested them on 3 new kinds of terrain. Ice, Snow and Sand.
In Ice and snow, I am more than happy. Even with tranny in 2WD, these offer good grip, and at places where sumos and other rear wheeled vehicles were struggling, these made it quite well.
When the ICE is snowy, they offer excellent grip, even while braking. I guess the aggressive tread pattern plays its role here.
So if I were to go mountaineering in snowy conditions, these would be the tires of choice.

Now we come to sand. Here I am not too satisfied. I guess the hardness, and the narrow shoulder which makes it great for rocks, is an enemy of the sand. Even when slightly deflated, the side wall does not bulge out much, and and tread pattern is not sand friendly. That said, they are better than the bridgestone HTs, but not by a large margin.

However when driving in sandy ruts, these tires have an advantage. The side of the main tread has truck like lugs, which makes it easier to climb out of ruts.

So all in all, 15000kms well served. Hopefully they will last another 50K more!
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Old 25th May 2010, 16:08   #10
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25000kms - The update

the first 15000kms were very good. But the 10K after that have been mixed.
First, a puncture. A 1/2inch bolt somehow penetrated the main tread. Slime ensured I lost air only after 400-500kms of driving. got the puncture fixed, and the tire is as good as it was new.

Now another tire got a slight sidewall injury. Its a superficial cut, with no bulge inside or outside. Looks a little ugly, but I showed it to the dealer, and he says no cuts anywhere inside, the tire is doing great. This tire also had a slightly more aggressive wear problem because of slight mis alignment. Luckily, only 10% extra treadwear as compared to other tires.

Coming to the third tire, well this is a whopper which I cannot understand how it happened. From the main tread block, an entire block has vanished. Ripped out it seems. Looks like some wheelspin on a sharp rock could be the culprit. But no damage inside, just a block of tread is missing. This tire does spare duty now.

and yes since the original spare tire was a half worn out bridgestone, I got another continental cross contact AT. Price 6400rs. A little expensive as compared to last time, but I can't mix and match.

So will I go for continetnal Cross Contact AT again? Well it depends. If these tires last 30,000kms more with lot of tread left, I will definitely go for these.

Otherwise I am itching to try out the Apollo Hawkz R/T, since they have a tubeless version out now and it costs just 5500 as compared to 6000+ for the imported tires.

Overall, I am satisfied. Except for an entire tread block vanishing from one tire. People tell me this can happen due to faulty cats eyes, esp if you nick one during emergency braking.

Anyway the acid test for these tires is coming. When I last subjected them to real torture terrain, they were brand new, now its time to see how they hold up to that terrain again with 25K on the clock!
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Old 25th May 2010, 16:53   #11
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Really nice review. It's difficult to find reviews of Conti tyres in Indian conditions.

I also hope to make a contribution regarding the Conti CPC2s.
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Old 21st July 2010, 10:58   #12
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I have 5 contis now, replaced the bridgestone spare with a conti, and put it on rear right.
As for the damaged tire(due to bolt), the puncture gave away again, the "plug" could not hold out in Ladakh, due to severe rocky driving.
I guess I will need to get a new tire. This one has medium tread left, but the large puncture is not holding up properly. On roads and all no issues, but the moment you traverse sharp rocks, the plug can come out.
This tire also has a sidewall gash. But no bulges. This is the most impressive thing. With such a gash I expected bulging, but the sidewall is too tough.

The other tires are holding on pretty good. I guess if I hadn't had the bolt incident, this one would have been fine too.
I reckon I will need to buy 1 tire before a major next trip(whenever that happens), and then for around 20-30K kms the tires should be fine.

If you do normal trail driving, they will give you 60-70k kms running life.
From what I see on other peoples vehicles, I guess these are tougher than the Yoko Geolander.
However this toughness comes at a price. Tarmac braking is not as good as the Yokos with these skidding more easily on braking.
Also these tires are hard, this means they are not very sand friendly.
but for rock crawling, which I did quite a bit, these have no equal. I even drove on girders, with the tire resting on a 1.5cm wide center rib, kind of driving on a knifes edge.

So after 30K do I recommend them? Well yes, if you are going to do a lot of tough trail driving and rock roading.
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Old 13th March 2013, 10:12   #13
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Re: Continental CrossContact AT - 30000kms update - One down..

Good post >>>>thanks for the review i am thinking of getting the Cross Contact AT 245/70-16" for my Thar Crde... please gimme a feedback
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Old 18th June 2013, 13:09   #14
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Re: Continental CrossContact AT - 30000kms update - One down..

Quote:
Originally Posted by tsk1979 View Post
Imaging what a fortune you would pay for Fortuner with 17" (not that you would find much choice in 17" rims)
Hello tsk1979,

Thanks for the review on the Cross Contact A/T's

I am considering a tire change on my Fortuner & have zeroed down on the Cross contact A/T and Michelin Latitude Cross.

I will not be doing off roading more than 3-4 times a year but yes i have a Leh Ladakh trip on my mind with the Fortuner.

My heart is more keen on the Cross contact a/t as the pattern is very aggresive and close to BF Goodrich's (which aren't available anywhere in the country) but my mind says the Michelins Latitude Cross as i would be doing highway driving a lot and i am sure these Michelins will be a better performer at high speeds and will make the ride quality better too & would be decent Off road (better than current OE Dunlops) but not as good as the Conti Cross Contacts.

What do you think will be better for the Fortuner, Help
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Old 18th June 2013, 13:34   #15
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Re: Continental CrossContact AT - 30000kms update - One down..

Quote:
Originally Posted by karan561 View Post
Hello tsk1979,

Thanks for the review on the Cross Contact A/T's

I am considering a tire change on my Fortuner & have zeroed down on the Cross contact A/T and Michelin Latitude Cross.

I will not be doing off roading more than 3-4 times a year but yes i have a Leh Ladakh trip on my mind with the Fortuner.

My heart is more keen on the Cross contact a/t as the pattern is very aggresive and close to BF Goodrich's (which aren't available anywhere in the country) but my mind says the Michelins Latitude Cross as i would be doing highway driving a lot and i am sure these Michelins will be a better performer at high speeds and will make the ride quality better too & would be decent Off road (better than current OE Dunlops) but not as good as the Conti Cross Contacts.

What do you think will be better for the Fortuner, Help
The continentals are harder and tougher. If your use demands rocky terrain then go for continentals. Since you are going to do simple A/T stuff, even latitude cross should be enough. You can also look at Michelin A/T LTX tires.
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