Head-to-head Updated

Continental Premium Contact 5 vs Continental Sport Contact 5 — Compared

Relative Score (0–100): the weighted average of the categories below, each 60% road tests and 40% owner reviews (comfort 40/60). Based on 4 + 3 road tests and 119 + 3,151 owner reviews. How we score

Premium Contact 5 leads, 70–67 Narrow edge

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Continental Premium Contact 5
± 6

Tests 73 · 4 tests Owners 63 · 119 reviews

Best test result: #1 of 11 in 2019 AMS Summer SUV Tyre Test (straight aquaplaning)

Continental Sport Contact 5
± 7

Tests 73 · 3 tests Owners 59 · 3,151 reviews

Best test result: #1 of 8 in 2020 Gute Fahrt SUV Summer Tyre Test (dry braking)

“In the end I went with Bridgestone Potenza RE 050's Very happy. Grips as well as the Conti Sport5's without disintegrating after a few hard mountain passes. On a light car sport contact5's, For a heavier car RE 050's are fantastic completely sold. Pilot Sports are far too soft these cars.”

Category by category

Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.

  1. 71

    Dry

    Sport Contact 5 +3
    74
    Why this score
    SourcePremium Contact 5Sport Contact 5
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 4 / 3 tests7176
    Reviews found online7170

    Premium Contact 5: 60% × 71.1 + 40% × 70.9 = 71

    Sport Contact 5: 60% × 76.2 + 40% × 69.6 = 74

  2. 77

    Wet

    Premium Contact 5 +3
    74
    Why this score
    SourcePremium Contact 5Sport Contact 5
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 4 / 3 tests7975
    Reviews found online7472

    Premium Contact 5: 60% × 78.6 + 40% × 73.5 = 77

    Sport Contact 5: 60% × 74.6 + 40% × 72 = 74

  3. 69

    Comfort

    Premium Contact 5 +8
    61
    Why this score
    SourcePremium Contact 5Sport Contact 5
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 1 / 1 tests7461
    Reviews found online6660

    Premium Contact 5: 40% × 74.2 + 60% × 65.6 = 69

    Sport Contact 5: 40% × 61.3 + 60% × 60.4 = 61

  4. 70

    Noise

    Premium Contact 5 +4
    66
    Why this score
    SourcePremium Contact 5Sport Contact 5
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 4 / 2 tests7366
    Reviews found online≈ 66 (est.)≈ 66 (est.)

    Premium Contact 5: 60% × 73.2 + 40% × 66.4 (est.) = 70

    Sport Contact 5: 60% × 66.3 + 40% × 66.4 (est.) = 66

    No owner ratings of noise for Premium Contact 5 or Sport Contact 5. The owner half is the owners’ average (66): owners’ noise ratings barely follow the road tests, so the tests say nothing about how owners would rate it.

  5. 59

    Treadwear

    Premium Contact 5 +12
    47
    Why this score
    SourcePremium Contact 5Sport Contact 5
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 1 / – tests69≈ 55 (est.)
    Reviews found online4334

    Premium Contact 5: 60% × 68.7 + 40% × 43.4 = 59

    Sport Contact 5: 60% × 54.9 (est.) + 40% × 34.4 = 47

    No road tests of treadwear for Sport Contact 5. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.36).

  6. 67

    Handling (owners)

    Premium Contact 5 +1
    66
    Why this score
    SourcePremium Contact 5Sport Contact 5
    Reviews found online6766
  7. 67

    Efficiency

    Sport Contact 5 +7
    74
    Why this score
    SourcePremium Contact 5Sport Contact 5
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 3 / 2 tests6774
Scores at a glance
Continental Premium Contact 5 vs Continental Sport Contact 5: scores by category (0–100)
CategoryContinental Premium Contact 5Continental Sport Contact 5
Relative Score 70 67
Dry 71 74
Wet 77 74
Comfort 69 61
Noise 70 66
Treadwear 59 47
Handling (owners) 67 66
Efficiency 67 74

Higher is better. The Relative Score follows your weights below; category scores do not change.

Weight the categories that matter to you

Wet grip starts at “Important”. Treadwear starts at “Neutral” here: road tests measured it for at most one of the two tires, so it rests on owner reviews. Move the sliders and the scores update instantly.

Important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Neutral
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Not important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Recomputed
Headline score
± 6

Premium Contact 5

± 7

Sport Contact 5

The professional test results behind the scores

Per discipline: the average % of the best tire over every test both tires were in, and how many of those tests each one won. “Different tests” rows compare results from separate tests.

DisciplineCategoryPremium Contact 5Sport Contact 5ΔHead-to-head
Dry Braking Dry 95% #6/11 · 2021 Sport Auto Summer Tyre Test 100% #1/8 · 2020 Gute Fahrt SUV Summer Tyre Test – Different tests
Dry Handling Dry 99% #8/11 · 2021 Sport Auto Summer Tyre Test 98% #4/10 · 2017 Sport Auto UHP and Track Day Test – Different tests
Dry Handling (tester's mark) Dry 78% #8/11 · 2019 AMS Summer SUV Tyre Test 100% #1/8 · 2020 Gute Fahrt SUV Summer Tyre Test – Different tests
Straight Aquaplaning Wet 97% #6/11 · 2021 Sport Auto Summer Tyre Test 98% #3/8 · 2020 Gute Fahrt SUV Summer Tyre Test – Different tests
Wet Braking Wet 95% #4/11 · 2021 Sport Auto Summer Tyre Test 99% #3/8 · 2020 Gute Fahrt SUV Summer Tyre Test – Different tests
Wet Handling Wet 99% #5/11 · 2021 Sport Auto Summer Tyre Test 97% #4/10 · 2017 Sport Auto UHP and Track Day Test – Different tests
Wet Handling (tester's mark) Wet 80% #5/11 · 2019 AMS Summer SUV Tyre Test 100% #1/8 · 2020 Gute Fahrt SUV Summer Tyre Test – Different tests
Comfort (tester's mark) Comfort 90% #2/11 · 2019 AMS Summer SUV Tyre Test 67% #4/8 · 2020 Gute Fahrt SUV Summer Tyre Test – Different tests
Noise Noise 99% #6/11 · 2021 Sport Auto Summer Tyre Test 99% #5/9 · 2017 Auto Bild UHP Tyre Test – Different tests
Rolling Resistance Efficiency 93% #6/11 · 2021 Sport Auto Summer Tyre Test 96% #3/8 · 2020 Gute Fahrt SUV Summer Tyre Test – Different tests
Also published by the testers (not in the score)
Overall Ranking Overall #5/11 2021 Sport Auto Summer Tyre Test #2/8 2020 Gute Fahrt SUV Summer Tyre Test – Different tests

Pros, cons & observations

Themes extracted from owner reviews found online — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.

Tire A Premium Contact 5

Pros

  • Exceptional grip in both wet and dry road conditions
  • High levels of ride comfort and low cabin noise
  • Predictable and safe handling characteristics

Cons

  • Rapid and premature tread wear
  • Soft sidewalls leading to vague steering feedback and body roll
  • Performance degradation as the tread depth decreases
All owner themes in the Premium Contact 5 review

Tire B Sport Contact 5

Pros

  • Outstanding dry and wet grip with excellent aquaplaning resistance
  • Precise steering response and sharp handling
  • Short braking distances in various weather conditions

Cons

  • Rapid and uneven tread wear, resulting in a short overall lifespan
  • High price point combined with poor mileage value
  • Increased road noise as the tires wear down past halfway
All owner themes in the Sport Contact 5 review

What real owners are saying

From Reddit, forums and review threads. Not part of our score

Tire A

Continental Premium Contact 5

We haven't collected enough community discussion about this tire yet.

Tire B

Continental Sport Contact 5

Mixed

Community feedback on the Continental Sport Contact 5 highlights strong grip and effective braking in both wet and dry conditions, along with good cornering feel. However, opinions are mixed regarding treadwear and durability, with multiple users raising concerns over rapid tire wear and degradation under heavy loads or spirited driving. While some drivers prefer them over competing models, others view them as inferior to subsequent Continental generations or rival brands.

torquecars.com ·2013-04-15

“I've just had a set of these Continental Sport Contact 5 fitted to my car and I'm quite impressed with them. They seem to be really good in the wet, stopping distances were notable shorter, more so than I'd expect with the extra tread depth. They are also really good in the dry and give a nice "feel" on tight corners. They have replaced the Eagle F1's in my mind as the best day to day tyre. Anyone else had them fitted?”

vwt4forum.co.uk ·2016-07-04

“I run Accelera PHI2's on my 20's and have done for the last 3-4 years with absolutely no problems. I'm a biker and like to press on in all my vehicles. Never had a scary moment in the van in any weather and drive just as fast in that as I do the car (conti sport contact 5's on that). Only cover about 6K in the van per year so don't want anything that lasts too long as it would deteriorate before it was anywhere near worn out. Mike likes banging on about Michelins but they can have problems as well as anything else. Michelin Agilis 51's had problems with bulges and tyre failures in the past. Other michelin tyre problems (I know how much Mike likes Yankee sites!) And Michelin have tyre factories all over the world including India and Asia. Not all cheaper tyres are bad tyres. Pirelli P6000 were notoriously bad for example, and Pirelli are not classed as a budget tyre. Mike will still bang on like a broken record though about VW and 16 and 17 inch tyres though. Its probably an old age thing”

mbworld.org

“Quote: Originally Posted by bret In the end I went with Bridgestone Potenza RE 050's Very happy. Grips as well as the Conti Sport5's without disintegrating after a few hard mountain passes. On a light car sport contact5's, For a heavier car RE 050's are fantastic completely sold. Pilot Sports are far too soft these cars. Back in the day I had numerous sets of Potenza's on a Saab 900 Turbo...that's been a good tire for a long long time. Check out the Cooper Zeon when you get a chance, heckuva tire at any price.”

Top themes
#wet and dry grip#rapid treadwear concerns#braking distance performance#cornering feel and handling#comparison with 5P and SC6#heavy vehicle suitability

Based on 14 community posts

Specs side by side

Attribute A · Continental Premium Contact 5 B · Continental Sport Contact 5
CategorySummerSummer
Vehicle typePassenger Car / CrossoverPassenger Car / Crossover
Sizes available2384
Rim diameters14″ – 17″17″ – 22″
UTQG—280 - 420 A - AA A
Sizes in common00

Which one should you actually buy?

Continental Premium Contact 5

Continental Sport Contact 5

Narrow edge: Continental Premium Contact 5 — better treadwear, comfort and noise. Pick the Continental Sport Contact 5 if efficiency and dry matter most to you.

Pick tire A You want the longest tread life

Continental Premium Contact 5 scores 59 vs 47 on treadwear.

Pick tire A You want the most comfortable ride

Continental Premium Contact 5 scores 69 vs 61 on comfort.

Pick tire B You want lower fuel or energy use

Continental Sport Contact 5 scores 74 vs 67 on efficiency.

Pick tire A You want a quieter cabin

Continental Premium Contact 5 scores 70 vs 66 on noise.

Tire A · Continental Premium Contact 5
Tire B · Continental Sport Contact 5

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Premium Contact 5 or Sport Contact 5?

Which is better in the wet, Premium Contact 5 or Sport Contact 5?

Continental Premium Contact 5, 77 vs 74 on our wet score.

Which grips better on dry roads, Premium Contact 5 or Sport Contact 5?

Continental Sport Contact 5, 74 vs 71 on our dry score.

Which is quieter, Premium Contact 5 or Sport Contact 5?

Continental Premium Contact 5, 70 vs 66 on our noise score.

Which is more comfortable, Premium Contact 5 or Sport Contact 5?

Continental Premium Contact 5, 69 vs 61 on our comfort score.

Which lasts longer, Premium Contact 5 or Sport Contact 5?

Continental Premium Contact 5, 59 vs 47 on our treadwear score.

Which rolls more easily, Premium Contact 5 or Sport Contact 5?

Continental Sport Contact 5, 74 vs 67 on our efficiency score.

How do we compare tires?

Every category score blends two independent signals. 60% comes from professional tire tests (braking distances, lap times, noise measurements), each result compared with every other tire in the same test and newer tests counting more. 40% comes from owner reviews found online, adjusted for how generously each site rates. Both use one scale: the average tested tire gets 70, the best 100. When a tire has only one of the two, the missing half is estimated from the other and the score stays closer to average; with no road test and fewer than five owner reviews it gets no score yet.

Handling is the exception: road tests measure it inside the dry and wet scores, so its own row comes from owner ratings only and starts as less important.

Community buzz from Reddit and forums is shown for context only — it never changes the score. Full methodology