Continental Eco Tires......

[mcrews]

Continental introduces fuel-saving, all-season ProContact with EcoPlus technology - Washington Times

Well, it's just a smart thing to do......

[cfg83]

mcrews -

Yeah, I like these. They're on my short list for my next set of tires.

CarloSW2

[honestabe]

Too bad they don't come in 13's

[cfg83]

honestabe -

Yeah, that is a shame. They only come in 15/16/17/18 wheel sizes. Here is a comparison of my current ContiProContact tire (on the left) to the ProContact EcoPlus version :



It looks like the same tread pattern but with wider gaps. It's funny. *IF* (big if) these pictures are the same scale, the grooves on the EcoPlus are narrower. Therefore, that would imply to me that the total contact patch is the same. Do you know what I mean?

CarloSW2

[cfg83]

Hello -

I went and looked closer. The ContiProContact line of tires has slightly different tire patterns as a function of size. Here are my ContiProContancts when new as compared to the ProContact EcoPlus tires :



What you can see is that I only have two "middle treads [ribs]", probably as a function of tire size. Tirerack is showing a photo of a larger size tire of that brand of tire.

I would make the claim that my old "standard-issue" ContiProContact treads are already pretty close to the EcoPlus treads.

CarloSW2

[CapriRacer]

cfg83,

As you found out, unless you compare the same EXACT size, you'll have problems drawing conclusions about the tread pattern. It is fairly common for small widths to come in 4 rib patterns where wider width tires will have 5 rib - and I've even seen 6 ribs used for extremely wide tires.

Second, OE tires will break up the pattern within a tire line. The vehicle manufacturer may demand a particular "look", and that may result in more groove width (or less!), more sipes per inch (or less!), and the pattern would be adjusted according - and slightly different than the "standard" for the rest of the line. - and, of course, each vehicle manufacturer would have different specs and desires, so the resulting patterns would only resemble one another.

- BUT -

The most important thing in rolling resistance is the tread compound. The tread pattern hardly has an effect on RR at all (except for the amount of rubber used). Simply changing the tread compound can have a profound effect - up to 60%. I can easily imagine that these tires just benefitted from an evolutionary development in rubber chemistry as have many of the other recent new offerings from other tire manufacturers.

BTW, Rolling Resistance is traded off with Treadwear and Traction (especially wet traction) within tread compounds. Tires with great RR will have poor treadwear or traction. The trick is to select a tire that has a good compromise that fits your needs.

[Old Tele man]

Originally Posted by CapriRacer

...The most important thing in rolling resistance is the tread compound.

...exactly! it's how much silica (sand) or other magic-mojo stuff (orange peels?) they mix with the rubber.

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

...exactly! it's how much silica (sand) or other magic-mojo stuff (orange peels?) they mix with the rubber.

Uh ..... Mmmmmmm ...... not exactly.

Silica just changes the proportions a bit. Needless to say, tires with good RR have more silica, but silica also negatively affects treadwear and traction, which can be compensated for!

[Old Tele man]

...I believe the OP was about LRR, not treadwear and traction.

[cfg83]

CapriRacer -

Thanks for the info on comparing treads. I think of it as reading "tea leaves" in some sense, but the visual is all we have to work with, so I am looking for "general rules" in terms of what I see.

This is almost a win-win for me. I could get a new set of tires with essentially the same tread design, so the "road feel" should(?) be pretty close. At the same time, I am driving tires with "new Eco chemistry".

I do wish they came in 51 PSI, but I can easily live with 44 PSI.

CarloSW2