For decades, Continental has been one of the premium tire brands from Europe and one of the world’s premier tire manufacturers, with a comprehensive lineup that includes everything from bicycle tires to performance tires for cars to light truck tires, agricultural tires, and industrial tires for heavy equipment. The Continental Contact tire families have been around for some time now, with the PureContact LS and TrueContact Tour being standouts as Continental’s flagship Grand Touring tires for sedans, minivans, coupes, and crossovers.

Now, Continental has built on the proven success of the PureContact LS and TrueContact Tour, taking the best of those designs and updating them for the TrueContact Tour 54. The TrueContact Tour 54 is designed for long wear and refined all-season performance for sedans, minivans, coupes, and crossovers, with all the features and value that drivers have come to love with Continental’s all-season and Grand Touring tire lineup. Let’s go in and take a closer look at what this top-flight premium Grand Touring tire has to offer with this Continental TrueContact Tour 54 review:

Features and Benefits

Here are some of the great design features and innovations that make the Continental TrueContact Tour 54 a great performer and a great value:

• Features Continental’s EcoPlus technology package, lowering friction and rolling resistance for substantial fuel savings over the life of the tire
• Three wide circumferential grooves work as a system with angled grooves to resist hydroplaning by efficiently diverting water away from the tire’s contact patch on wet roads
• Up to 18% better tread life, 6% better wet-road braking, and 5% better dry-road handling as compared to the previous TrueContact Tour
• The tread pattern includes a dense network of sipes, hair-thin slits that multiply the tread’s surface area, and traction with hundreds of thin edges that slice through snow, slush, standing water
• Tread pitch is randomized and computer-tuned for muted road noise, neutralizing certain frequencies and overtones generated by the tire’s contact with the pavement
• Optimized for use on electric vehicles, thanks to its reduced rolling resistance, low noise, and enhanced construction for the extra weight of EVs and their batteries
• Shoulder block design and reinforced shoulder construction give the TrueContact Tour 54 the rigidity it needs to resist tread squirm during cornering
• Covered by Continental with an 80,000 mile limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty

Pros and Cons

When it comes to the Continental TrueContact Tour 54, this is a tire where the Pros definitely outweigh the Cons:

PROS:

• Best-in-class 80,000 mile limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty
• The ride is refined and comfortable with very little road noise
• Low rolling resistance helps get the most out of a tank of gas, or a single charge on an EV’s battery
• Traction in wet, dry, or light snowy conditions is capable and confident
• Handling and steering responses are light and precise

CONS:

• Not good in heavier snow

SimpleTire’s view on Continental TrueContact Tour 54 tires

With the introduction of the TrueContact Tour 54, Continental will discontinue its PureContact LS and TrueContact Tour tire lines. That’s because the TrueContact Tour 54 takes the best of the designs of those two tires, and then enhances them for the best performance and value. The TrueContact Tour 54 is designed with Continental’s proprietary +Silane additives in the tread compound, with temperature-activated functional polymers that improve rolling resistance, wear properties, and compound bonding. Internally, the TrueContact Tour 54 features a single-ply polyester casing, dual steel belts with a set of two polyamide overlay plies, and a mid-to-high apex that enhances durability, ride comfort, and high-speed stability.

The center ribs of the TrueContact Tour 54 are designed with angled grooves and wavy sipes that deliver a confident grip on wet or snowy pavement, and its wide circumferential grooves efficiently route water away from the tire’s contact patch to resist hydroplaning on wet roads. Angled grooves at the shoulder and the reinforced construction help the TrueContact Tour 54 resist “tread squirm,” the deformation of the tread surface that happens when a vehicle is pushed hard into a corner or quick lane change, giving it handling and cornering ability that are nimble and accurate. Its strategically-placed network of sipes completes the picture for traction by multiplying the tread’s surface area with hundreds of hair-thin slits.

Continental borrowed a feature from the ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus for the TrueContact Tour 54 with its innovative treadwear indicators. The letters “DWS” stand for Dry, Wet, and Snow and are molded into the tire’s tread surface. When all three letters are visible, the tire should be good for all three of those road conditions. When the letter S is worn away, the tire should be considered to be safe for dry or wet pavement, and when the letter W is worn away with only the letter D remaining, it’s safe for dry roads only.

The TrueContact Tour 54 is covered by an 80,000 mile limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty for tires with T or H speed ratings (118 or 130 mph) and a 70,000 mile warranty for V-rated tires (149 mph), which is right up there with warranty coverage for some of the best Grand Touring tires on the market. All in all, the TrueContact Tour 54 brings to bear all of Continental’s experience and expertise for a Grand Touring tire that balances velvety ride quality, a cathedral-quiet ride, and impeccable road manners along with responsive handling and sharp cornering ability, for a driving experience that’s as sedate or as fun as you want to make it.

Vehicles The Continental TrueContact Tour 54 is a good replacement tire for

The Continental TrueContact Tour 54 would make a great replacement tire for sedans, coupes, minivans, and crossovers such as:

• Dodge Challenger
• Dodge Charger
• Honda Passport
• Kia Carnival
• Audi A5
• Alfa Romeo Giulia
• BMW M2
• Ford Mustang
• Ford Mach-E
• Ford Escape
• Kia Stinger
• Kia K5
• Jaguar XF
• Lexus RC
• Subaru WRX
• Porsche Taycan
• Honda Civic
• Honda Accord
• Honda HR-V
• Cadillac CT5
• Mercedes-Benz C-Class
• Volkswagen Jetta GLI
• Acura TLX
• Mazda3
• Hyundai Palisade
• Genesis GV70
• Hyundai Kona
• MINI Countryman
• Kia Niro
• Toyota RAV4
• Mazda CX-9
• Mazda CX-5
• Toyota HR-V
• Honda Pilot
• Chevrolet Traverse
• Kia Soul
• Porsche Cayenne