Continental SportContact 5 vs Michelin Pilot Sport 4 (PS4)

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 ContiSportContact 5 tyres rank a C 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 Pilot Sport 4 SUV tyres also get a grade of C.

As their fuel efficiency grade is the same, expect negligible differences in fuel consumption between them.

Here's a graph comparing the ContiSportContact 5 and Pilot Sport 4 SUV 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 ContiSportContact 5 tyres rank a A on a scale of A to E in the official fuel tests carried out by the EU.

The Pilot Sport 4 SUV tyres, on the other hand, get a grade of A.

As their wet grip grade is the same, expect negligible differences in terms of braking distance.

Here's a graph comparing the ContiSportContact 5 and Pilot Sport 4 SUV 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 ContiSportContact 5 tyres produce 72.2 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 Pilot Sport 4 SUV tyres produce 72.3 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 ContiSportContact 5 and Pilot Sport 4 SUV tyres stack up for noise (1 = Grade C, 3 = Grade A).

Based on the results of a number of tyre benchmarks, the ContiSportContact 5 scores 4 out of 5 for comfort and the Pilot Sport 4 SUV scores 4 out of 5.

As per the UTQG guidelines, the ContiSportContact 5 tyres have a treadwear rating of 280, whereas the Pilot Sport 4 SUV tyres have a rating of 220. This means that the ContiSportContact 5 tyres will theoretically last 1.3 times as long as the Pilot Sport 4 SUV tyres.

As per the UTQG system, the ContiSportContact 5 tyres have a traction resistance grading of AA, whereas the Pilot Sport 4 SUV tyres have a grading of A.

As per the UTQG system of tyre grading, the ContiSportContact 5 and Pilot Sport 4 SUV tyres both have a temperature resistance grading of A.

For fuel efficiency, ContiSportContact 5 score a grade of C, which is more or less average. Pilot Sport 4 SUV 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, both the ContiSportContact 5 and the Pilot Sport 4 SUV get a score of A, which is outstanding.

More important is the wet grip, which gives you an indication of their traction and handling. In this regard, ContiSportContact 5 get a score of B, which is about typical. Pilot Sport 4 SUV end up with a grade of B, which is about typical.