Let’s just say you live in a part of the country that has rough winter weather…the kind of weather that might dump several inches of snow on the roads, and that snow might stay around for days or weeks at a time. You try to venture out on the streets with a set of run-of-the-mill all-season tires and before long, you find yourself sliding around, unable to get any good traction or braking or control. That is if you’re lucky and don’t end up in the ditch or worse. All-season tires are great most of the time, but they also are just about always not going to be able to get the job done when it comes to heavier snow, ice, and slush. That’s when you really need a specialty, purpose-built winter tire that has the design features that can get you safely from point A to point B and back again in challenging, difficult winter road conditions.

The ContiWinterContact TS 850P from Continental is a far cry from the noisy, heavy, clunky “snow tires” of a generation ago. It’s a tire that offers consistent traction in some of the worst winter weather while still checking the boxes for low noise, great road manners, ride quality and handling that you’d expect from a Grand Touring tire. Let’s go in and get a closer look with this Continental ContiWinterContact TS 850p tire review:

Features and Benefits

Here are some of the great design features, premium materials and innovations that make the Continental ContiWinterContact TS 850P a great, standout performer in the world of winter tires:

• Aggressive winter tread design incorporates a high number of block edges with sipes, hair-thin slits that multiply the tread’s surface area, and traction to chew through snow, slush, and ice
• High degree of lamination with groove design and sipes that break through the film of water on icy roads to shorten braking distances and enhance control
• Low rolling resistance and a refined ride thanks to additional bead reinforcement, a flexible sidewall to soak up bumps, impacts and vibration, and hard apex
• Select sizes feature Continental’s Conti-Seal, a self-sealing internal system that allows a driver to go up to another 50 miles at up to 50 mph, even in the event of complete loss of inflation pressure
• Tread pitch is randomized and computer modeled to cancel certain frequencies and overtones, keeping road noise to a minimum
• Asymmetric directional winter tread design features multi-angle blocks and specially designed grooves that actually trap and retain snow to build snow-to-snow friction
• Contact patch is redesigned to optimize the most rubber in contact with the road for improved braking, control, traction, handling
• Three Peak Mountain Snowflake certified for severe winter service
• Specialty winter tread compound is engineered to stay flexible in subfreezing weather for reliable grip

Pros and Cons

PROS:

• Surprisingly quiet and refined ride quality, as winter tires go
• Capable handling and braking performance
• Tenacious traction and control in some of the worst winter weather

CONS:

• No limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty coverage
• Not for warmer weather
• Not an all-season tire

SimpleTire’s view on Continental ContiWinterContact TS 850P tires

Are you familiar with SimpleScore? SimpleScore is the proprietary ratings system that the SimpleTire team devised to give you a quick, at-a-glance idea of any tire’s strengths and weaknesses. We take into account the tire’s technical details, spec sheet, manufacturer info, customer reviews and other data points, then we process all that to a 1-10 numerical value for the categories of traction, handling, and longevity, as well as an overall average SimpleScore. For the Continental ContiWinterContact TS 850P, the SimpleScore numbers break down this way:

Continental ContiWinterContact TS 840P:

• Traction: 9.4
• Handling: 9.4
• Longevity: 8.5
• Overall average SimpleScore: 9.1

On dry pavement, the ContiWinterContact TS840P is composed and confident, with surprisingly low road noise and an accommodating ride that doesn’t get jittery over rough pavement or irregular surfaces. In snow, the Continental provides the kind of winter traction that’s hard to match with anything other than a studded tire, for dependable acceleration and control and short braking distances even in heavier snow. It delivers performance and grip that are worthy of the tire industry’s Three Peak Mountain Snowflake certification for severe winter service, a rating for which the bar is set fairly high.

One of the more notable features with the ContiWinterContact TS 840P is its ContiSeal system. ContiSeal greatly reduces the risk of flat tires with a sticky, viscous substance that’s released in case of a tire puncture or cut, coating the tire’s lining and sealing off the tread area to prevent leaks. ContiSeal will seal about 80 percent of all punctures and damage, and is compatible with all commonly available rims and tire sizes. ContiSeal will allow a driver to keep going up to another 50 miles at up to 50 mph, helping to avoid finding one’s self stranded by the side of the road with a flat.

It’s true that the Continental isn’t covered by a limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty, but then again, most winter tires don’t have a mileage warranty and the ContiSeal run-flat system makes up somewhat for not having that coverage. We also need to note that a winter tire like the Continental ContiWinterContact TS 850P uses a specialty rubber compound that stays flexible for traction in subfreezing weather. While it’s great for winter conditions, that tread formulation will wear quickly in warmer weather, and the Continental ContiWinterContact TS 850P shouldn’t be used if daily temperatures are above 40-45 degrees Fahrenheit.

Vehicles the Continental ContiWinterContact TS 850P is a good replacement tire for

The Continental ContiWinterContact TS 850P would make a great aftermarket winter tire for vehicles such as:

• Buick Envision
• Buick Enclave
• Kia Rio
• Kia Forte
• Hyundai Tucson
• Honda Pilot
• Chevrolet Traverse
• GMC Acadian
• Jeep Cherokee
• Jeep Compass
• Dodge Caravan
• Chrysler Pacifica
• Ford Escape
• Ford Explorer
• Mazda CX-5
• Nissan Murano
• Volkswagen Touareg
• Subaru Forester
• Subaru Cadenza
• Ford Flex