Continental SportContact 6 vs Pirelli P Zero - Which Is #1?

Fuel Efficiency

The US Department of Energy estimates that around 25% of the fuel consumption of a vehicle is attributable to the tyres. That's a lot, and it means that choosing fuel efficient tyres can save you quite a bit of money.

The SportContact 6 tyres rank a D on a scale of A to E in the official fuel efficiency tests carried out by the EU (they call these rolling resistance tests).

The P Zero tyres get a grade of C.

Expect the lower grade tyre to consume an extra 0.0L/100km. This works out to $8 extra spent on petrol per year, based on a typical 12,000 km driven per year.

Here's a graph comparing the SportContact 6 and P Zero tyres for fuel efficiency (1 = Grade E, 5 = Grade A).

Grip & Handling

We'll now take a look at how these tyres compare in terms of grip and handling.

A good measure of this is 'wet grip', which is an indication of how well the tyres will allow the vehicle to come to a stop in wet conditions.

The SportContact 6 tyres rank a A on a scale of A to E in the official fuel tests carried out by the EU.

The P Zero tyres, on the other hand, get a grade of B.

Expect the lower graded tyres to require about an extra 1 metres to come to a complete stop when braking at 80km/h.

Here's a graph comparing the SportContact 6 and P Zero tyres for wet grip (1 = Grade E, 5 = Grade A).

Noise

Another key factor to consider when choosing a tyre is road noise. Once you're over about 40 km/h, the dominant source of noise you hear is from the contact of your tyres on the road.

There is a surprisingly wide variation in the amount of noise each tyre makes.

The SportContact 6 tyres produce 73.5 dB of road noise, which corresponds to a rank of B on a scale of A to C in the standardised testing done by the EU.

On the other hand, the P Zero tyres produce 72.0 dB of road noise, which means a grade of B.

As their noise grade is the same, don't expect many differences in terms of cabin noise.

Here's a visual representation of how the SportContact 6 and P Zero tyres stack up for noise (1 = Grade C, 3 = Grade A).

Based on the results of a number of tyre benchmarks, the SportContact 6 scores 3 out of 5 for comfort and the P Zero scores 4 out of 5.

As per the UTQG guidelines, the SportContact 6 tyres have a treadwear rating of 240, whereas the P Zero tyres have a rating of 300. This means that the SportContact 6 tyres will theoretically last only 80% as long as the P Zero tyres.

As per the, the SportContact 6 and P Zero tyres both have a traction grading of AA.

As per the UTQG system of tyre grading, the SportContact 6 and P Zero tyres both have a temperature resistance grading of A.

For fuel efficiency, SportContact 6 score a grade of D, which is below average. P Zero end up with a grade of C, which is more or less average.

More important is the wet grip, which gives you an indication of their traction and handling. In this regard, SportContact 6 get a score of A, which is outstanding. P Zero end up with a grade of B, which is above average.

More important is the wet grip, which gives you an indication of their traction and handling. In this regard, SportContact 6 get a score of B, which is about typical. P Zero end up with a grade of B, which is about typical.