TL,DR:
Goodyear Assurance Weatherreadys after 4 1/2 years and 50k miles- excellent tires, but very noisy as they wear.
Continental Control Contact A/S tires- not impressive, although admittedly very small sample size.
Continental True Contact Plus tires- so far, very pleased, however still very small sample size.
Well, the time finally came to get some new tires on the Elantra. After studying for a while and keeping an eye on prices, I decided to go away from the tires that I had been running, Goodyear Assurance Weatherready, and go with a different tire. While getting the tires replaced, the Discount Tire actually installed the wrong set of Conti's, so I drove about 15 miles on the wrong set before going back and getting them replaced with the correct tire.
The old:
I know Goodyears are pretty hit and miss with regards to quality, but I have to say, these Assurance Weatherreadys were actually really good tires. They replaced the OEM Kumho tires that were absolutely garbage after 10k miles in the rain. I looked for a tire that would perform well in the rain and the Weatherreadys delivered. They were pretty quiet, the car felt planted in pretty much all weather conditions, and they wore exceptionally evenly. Really, for the 4 1/2 years and 50k miles they were on the car, I didn't have any complaints. They looked good and performed even better. However, while there was still some tread left (about 5/32nds), as they got older, the noise became really obnoxious. For the past 5ish thousand miles, they were really loud and especially so on the highway. Unfortunately for me, my commute to work is 46 miles roundtrip and 80% is highway. It was time to retire (heh) the tires.
The mistakenly installed:
I had ordered a set of Continental True Contact Plus from Discount Tire and went to have them installed. After waiting for about 45 minutes, I was on my way. I didn't think to check the tires, but honestly, I wasn't impressed on my 7 mile trip back home. I didn't think they were any more quiet than my old Goodyears, despite reading that these True Contacts were supposed to be exceptionally quiet tires. Also, maybe it was in my head, but the tires felt just as hard as my 50k mile Goodyears. When I got home, I inspected the tires and was surprised to see that Discount Tire had installed Continental Control Contact A/S tires instead. I called them back and asked to have the correct tire installed and drove another 7 miles back to the shop.
The new:
Another 30 minutes later, and I had the correct tires installed. During my drive back, same distance and same roads, I was shocked just how much better the True Contact Plus tires were than the other Continentals that the shop had installed. Perhaps it was all in my head, but the True Contacts were much more quiet and felt like they took the bumps in the road much better than the others. I finally felt like I had a tire that was an upgrade over my 50k mile Goodyears. While I've only put about 30 miles on them so far, so I can't judge much else about them, I will say that I'm very pleased. Rain is in the forecast today and through most of next week, so I'll judge them in the rain, but I'm very pleased with how quiet they are.
Goodyear Assurance Weatherreadys after 4 1/2 years and 50k miles- excellent tires, but very noisy as they wear.
Continental Control Contact A/S tires- not impressive, although admittedly very small sample size.
Continental True Contact Plus tires- so far, very pleased, however still very small sample size.
Well, the time finally came to get some new tires on the Elantra. After studying for a while and keeping an eye on prices, I decided to go away from the tires that I had been running, Goodyear Assurance Weatherready, and go with a different tire. While getting the tires replaced, the Discount Tire actually installed the wrong set of Conti's, so I drove about 15 miles on the wrong set before going back and getting them replaced with the correct tire.
The old:
I know Goodyears are pretty hit and miss with regards to quality, but I have to say, these Assurance Weatherreadys were actually really good tires. They replaced the OEM Kumho tires that were absolutely garbage after 10k miles in the rain. I looked for a tire that would perform well in the rain and the Weatherreadys delivered. They were pretty quiet, the car felt planted in pretty much all weather conditions, and they wore exceptionally evenly. Really, for the 4 1/2 years and 50k miles they were on the car, I didn't have any complaints. They looked good and performed even better. However, while there was still some tread left (about 5/32nds), as they got older, the noise became really obnoxious. For the past 5ish thousand miles, they were really loud and especially so on the highway. Unfortunately for me, my commute to work is 46 miles roundtrip and 80% is highway. It was time to retire (heh) the tires.
The mistakenly installed:
I had ordered a set of Continental True Contact Plus from Discount Tire and went to have them installed. After waiting for about 45 minutes, I was on my way. I didn't think to check the tires, but honestly, I wasn't impressed on my 7 mile trip back home. I didn't think they were any more quiet than my old Goodyears, despite reading that these True Contacts were supposed to be exceptionally quiet tires. Also, maybe it was in my head, but the tires felt just as hard as my 50k mile Goodyears. When I got home, I inspected the tires and was surprised to see that Discount Tire had installed Continental Control Contact A/S tires instead. I called them back and asked to have the correct tire installed and drove another 7 miles back to the shop.
The new:
Another 30 minutes later, and I had the correct tires installed. During my drive back, same distance and same roads, I was shocked just how much better the True Contact Plus tires were than the other Continentals that the shop had installed. Perhaps it was all in my head, but the True Contacts were much more quiet and felt like they took the bumps in the road much better than the others. I finally felt like I had a tire that was an upgrade over my 50k mile Goodyears. While I've only put about 30 miles on them so far, so I can't judge much else about them, I will say that I'm very pleased. Rain is in the forecast today and through most of next week, so I'll judge them in the rain, but I'm very pleased with how quiet they are.