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Cooper CS5 Grand Touring vs Continental PureContact LS — 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 0 + 0 road tests and 776 + 25 owner reviews. How we score

CS5 Grand Touring is ahead, 74–69

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Cooper CS5 Grand Touring
Tire ACooper

CS5 Grand Touring

All Season Touring tires

± 7

Tests – · none yet Owners 76 · 776 reviews

“I put Cooper CS5 Grand Tourings on my Sienna after having gone through several sets of Michelins, I am happy with them so far. Regardless of what tire you purchase, they will not get to their warranty mileage on a Sienna. The Sienna is notoriously hard on tires. A word of advice, run them at 40 to 42 PSI and rotate them regularly if you want to get reasonable wear. The Sienna's 35 PSI recommendation is FAR too low for the weight the tires carry and the front tires wear 3x faster than the rears.”

Category by category

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

  1. 77

    Dry

    CS5 Grand Touring +8
    69
    Why this score
    SourceCS5 Grand TouringPureContact LS
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 74 (est.)≈ 69 (est.)
    Reviews found online8270

    CS5 Grand Touring: 60% × 73.9 (est.) + 40% × 81.9 = 77

    PureContact LS: 60% × 68.7 (est.) + 40% × 69.5 = 69

    No road tests of dry for CS5 Grand Touring. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.42).

    No road tests of dry for PureContact LS. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.42).

  2. 77

    Wet

    CS5 Grand Touring +5
    72
    Why this score
    SourceCS5 Grand TouringPureContact LS
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 75 (est.)≈ 72 (est.)
    Reviews found online7973

    CS5 Grand Touring: 60% × 75.5 (est.) + 40% × 79.3 = 77

    PureContact LS: 60% × 71.7 (est.) + 40% × 72.5 = 72

    No road tests of wet for CS5 Grand Touring. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.55).

    No road tests of wet for PureContact LS. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.55).

  3. 67

    Snow

    Level
    67
    Why this score
    SourceCS5 Grand TouringPureContact LS
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 68 (est.)≈ 68 (est.)
    Reviews found online6464

    CS5 Grand Touring: 60% × 68.3 (est.) + 40% × 64.1 = 67

    PureContact LS: 60% × 68.3 (est.) + 40% × 64.2 = 67

    No road tests of snow for CS5 Grand Touring. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.37).

    No road tests of snow for PureContact LS. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.37).

  4. 74

    Comfort

    CS5 Grand Touring +15
    59
    Why this score
    SourceCS5 Grand TouringPureContact LS
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 71 (est.)≈ 66 (est.)
    Reviews found online7755

    CS5 Grand Touring: 40% × 70.5 (est.) + 60% × 76.6 = 74

    PureContact LS: 40% × 66.5 (est.) + 60% × 54.7 = 59

    No road tests of comfort for CS5 Grand Touring or PureContact LS. The test half is the tested tires’ average (69): owners’ comfort ratings barely follow the road tests.

  5. 72

    Noise

    CS5 Grand Touring +4
    68
    Why this score
    SourceCS5 Grand TouringPureContact LS
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 67 (est.)≈ 67 (est.)
    Reviews found online8171

    CS5 Grand Touring: 60% × 66.6 (est.) + 40% × 81 = 72

    PureContact LS: 60% × 66.6 (est.) + 40% × 70.8 = 68

    No road tests of noise for CS5 Grand Touring or PureContact LS. The test half is the tested tires’ average (67): owners’ noise ratings barely follow the road tests.

  6. 70

    Treadwear

    CS5 Grand Touring +2
    68
    Why this score
    SourceCS5 Grand TouringPureContact LS
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 68 (est.)≈ 67 (est.)
    Reviews found online7369

    CS5 Grand Touring: 60% × 68.4 (est.) + 40% × 72.6 = 70

    PureContact LS: 60% × 67 (est.) + 40% × 68.7 = 68

    No road tests of treadwear for CS5 Grand Touring. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.35).

    No road tests of treadwear for PureContact LS. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.35).

  7. 73

    Handling (owners)

    CS5 Grand Touring +3
    70
    Why this score
    SourceCS5 Grand TouringPureContact LS
    Reviews found online7370
Scores at a glance
CategoryCooper CS5 Grand TouringContinental PureContact LS
Relative Score 74 69
Dry 77 69
Wet 77 72
Snow 67 67
Comfort 74 59
Noise 72 68
Treadwear 70 68
Handling (owners) 73 70

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
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Neutral
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Less important
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Neutral
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Recomputed
Headline score
± 7

CS5 Grand Touring

± 7

PureContact LS

Pros, cons & observations

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

Tire A CS5 Grand Touring

Pros

  • Excellent wet and dry traction with strong hydroplaning resistance
  • High value for the price compared to premium competitors
  • Smooth, comfortable ride quality

Cons

  • Some drivers experienced noticeable road noise, particularly on specific lighter vehicles like hybrids
  • Mediocre performance in heavy winter snow, ice, or deep mud
  • Cornering grip in emergency maneuvers is considered average by some drivers
All owner themes in the CS5 Grand Touring review

Tire B PureContact LS

Pros

  • Exceptionally quiet and comfortable ride quality
  • Strong wet and dry traction with reliable handling
  • Good balance of everyday comfort and long treadlife

Cons

  • Soft sidewalls can lead to less responsive or wandering handling during aggressive cornering
  • Develops temporary flat spotting when parked, causing morning vibrations
  • Poor winter performance, particularly lacking traction on snow and ice despite being an all-season tire
All owner themes in the PureContact LS review

What real owners are saying

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

Tire A

Cooper CS5 Grand Touring

Positive

Community sentiment toward the Cooper CS5 Grand Touring is largely positive, with owners highlighting its smooth ride, low road noise, and reliable all-season traction in rain and light snow. While praised as a strong value compared to premium competitors like Michelin, several users note that treadwear often falls short of the advertised 80,000-mile warranty, particularly on heavier minivans or under high-heat conditions.

subaruoutback.org ·1 upvote ·2023-02-05

“My wife and I have been running Cooper CS5 Grand Touring on Outback and Impreza for many years. (the Outback is on its 2nd set) For us, having a QUIET tire is primary importance... followed closely with winter-traction here in Vermont winters. We do NOT want to have 2nd set of dedicated snow-tires for the winter. The CS5 have met our requirements. At the very least, I would suggest you consider the CS5 Ultra as you make a decision.”
r/cars ·1 upvote ·2017-09-01

“I have the Cooper cs5 grand touring on my Odyssey and love them. Very quiet and snoot riding. Fwiw, I'm in Southern California so we have little cold/wet weather let alone snow, but they did great when I drove up to Sequoia and had cables on during the snow storm. Much better than the Michelin Defenders I had before.”
subaruoutback.org ·2017-01-08

“I too was looking for quiet tires when it came time to replace. Have been very happy with COOPER CS5 GRAND TOURING ==> The CS5 has many modern technologies which improve longevity and traction AND they are M+S rated. I run them all year in Vermont and the snow traction is acceptable with Subaru AWD.”
Top themes
#ride comfort and low noise#winter and wet traction#treadwear vs warranty mileage#competitive pricing and rebates#comparison to Michelin tires#tire pressure sensitivity#speed rating differences

Based on 38 community posts

Tire B

Continental PureContact LS

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

Specs side by side

Attribute A · Cooper CS5 Grand Touring B · Continental PureContact LS
CategoryAll Season Touring tiresAll Season
Vehicle typeSUV and 4x4Passenger Car / Crossover
Tread depth11 - 12/32″10/32″
UTQG780 A A700 A A
Treadwear warranty80,000 mi70,000 mi
SidewallBlack Side WallBlack Side Wall
Max pressure44 psi51 psi

Which one should you actually buy?

Cooper CS5 Grand Touring

Continental PureContact LS

Winner: Cooper CS5 Grand Touring — better comfort, dry and wet. It leads or ties in every category we score.

Pick tire A You want the most comfortable ride

Cooper CS5 Grand Touring scores 74 vs 59 on comfort.

Pick tire A You want the most grip on dry roads

Cooper CS5 Grand Touring scores 77 vs 69 on dry.

Pick tire A Your priority is wet-weather safety

Cooper CS5 Grand Touring scores 77 vs 72 on wet.

Pick tire A You want a quieter cabin

Cooper CS5 Grand Touring scores 72 vs 68 on noise.

Tire A · Cooper CS5 Grand Touring
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Tire B · Continental PureContact LS
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CS5 Grand Touring or PureContact LS?

Which is better in the wet, CS5 Grand Touring or PureContact LS?

Cooper CS5 Grand Touring, 77 vs 72 on our wet score.

Which grips better on dry roads, CS5 Grand Touring or PureContact LS?

Cooper CS5 Grand Touring, 77 vs 69 on our dry score.

Which is better in snow, CS5 Grand Touring or PureContact LS?

Neither, by our numbers: 67 vs 67 on the snow score, within 3 points.

Which is quieter, CS5 Grand Touring or PureContact LS?

Cooper CS5 Grand Touring, 72 vs 68 on our noise score.

Which is more comfortable, CS5 Grand Touring or PureContact LS?

Cooper CS5 Grand Touring, 74 vs 59 on our comfort score.

Which lasts longer, CS5 Grand Touring or PureContact LS?

Neither, by our numbers: 70 vs 68 on the treadwear score, within 3 points.

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