ULTRACONTACT

<p>Had the OE Bridgestone ecopia ep150 on a 2021 mazda 2, after 65k km they were due for a change. The change in comfort and ride quality were the main, most obvious immediate changes, although I also sized up from 185/65. Dry grip in both loose surfaces and high speed also improved, albeit maybe having a tad less direct steering input feeling, a trade off expected from the better ride quality, although once loaded mid corner it provides a safer more planted feeling. Haven't had the chance to test it that much on wet surfaces but at least it doesn't brake traction in a very sharp very slow corner I use everyday day to get home in which the Bridgestones did when wet. Overall very happy with them.</p>

I drove the Ultra Contact for 4 summer seasons as follows:
Season 1 (April 13-November 5, 2022): 17,643 km (10,963 miles)
Season 2 (April 15-November 11, 2023): 12,596 km (7,827 miles)
Season 3 (April 8-November 9, 2024): 8,362 km (5,196 miles)
Season 4 (April 19-November 18, 2025): 11,733 km (7,290 miles)
TOTAL: 50334 km (31276 miles).
I previously had Uniroyal Rainexpert 3 which were great, lasted 38819 km (24121 miles) in 3 seasons.
CONTINENTAL Ultra Contact: This set of mine was Made in Portugal. It's not less quality if it doesn't say Made in Germany. People often confuse Ultra Contact with UC6, UC7 and NXT. The dimension is 195 65 R15 H mounted on a GOLF MK 5, 1.9 TDI, 105 hp, manual transmission, 2004. production.
WET - excellent aquaplaning, short stopping distance, slightly weaker lateral grip in the wet.
DRY - excellent dry handling, braking and cornering.
NOISE - quiet and comfortable to drive.
WEAR - After driving 50,334 km (31,276 miles), of which 12,520 km (7,779 miles) were driven only on the highway at a speed in the range of 140 - 170 kph (87-105 mph), which is almost 25% of the total mileage. After 4 seasons, the smallest profile depth was 3.9 mm. When we consider the fact that the profile depth of the new UltraContact comes with a depth of 7.5 mm, this is an outstanding result when it comes to wear. The road infrastructure in the Western Balkan countries is of much lower quality than in the rest of Europe. In the summer months of June, July and August, air temperatures in the shade often exceed 40°C (104°F). Road surface temperatures often exceed 60°C (140°F).
CONCLUSION:
The Continental UltraContact is built for very high mileage, balanced on both dry and wet surfaces. The only downside is a small defect on wet roads when it comes to lateral grip. In my opinion, this Continental's model is one of the best in the last 10 years. I will definitely buy it again because it is worth every penny.

I bought these tyres to replace an old set of Dunlops that were mounted when I bought the wheels these Ultracontacts are now mounted to. As my car only has 14 inch wheels, it's not easy to find tyres that aren't budget offerings (I live in Europe), but these were one of the few premium tyres I could get in the correct size. I drove on the (albeit old and lightly worn) Dunlops for about 2 months before replacing and the difference was immediately noticeable!
These tyres are definitely way more than my almost 40 year old Mazda can handle, there are no issues with traction loss on the front wheels when powering out of tight corners in the dry (not a low bar to clear when the car has less than 75hp). They're a comfortable tyre for long distances, not very noisy and they absorb bumps fairly well, although I would subjectively rate the Hankook Kinergy's on my other car higher in comfort. Only in the wet do you start to notice the tyre struggle somewhat, but they always stay linear and predictable. I didn't have much issues when dealing with puddles at lower speeds as they are very predictable, but can struggle with aquaplaning when exceeding rural speeds.
After a little over 5000 miles in the past year I still haven't noticed any differences compared to when the tyres were brand-new and they have only lost a bit of tread depth. I'm pretty sure I'll get at least a good 25k miles or another few years out of them before having to replace them, but I'd be happy to buy them again when the time comes!

Very good tires, good grip on dry and wet roads. Quiet, very good comfort on the road compared to the Bridgestone Turanza T 005 I had which were quite noisier but in terms of grip the Bridgertons were equal.

Drove 4373 Kms in 18 months and the tyre was unrepairable as it had a small split.