A few people on this forum have dissed the Goodyear Wranglers that come as standard equipment on the E but I have foun them to be at least acceptable. After over 42000 trouble free miles (albeit there were a few punctures along the way) I decided to get my E some new shoes. I read most of the threads on this forum re tires and decided that while there were some interesting observations most people were just giving there personal subjective opinion re the tires they put on there E's.......so I went to the Tire Rack site where I could get a consensus of many opinions. Seems after millions of miles driven on them the Contintenal Crosscontact LX's scored very high in almost every catagory except travel in snow. Living in florida this was not a concern. And as a bonus Continteal now has a $75 rebate on a set of four.

So, now have my E's new shoes installed and i'm in the "honeymoon" period where for the first 100 miles or so it feels as if the E is dancing around on ballet slippers. Will check back in periodically with observations or problems encountered. BTW, went with the 215-70-16 to avoid speedo errors and anomolys with the anti lock brakes.

I like that "carbon fiber" pattern in the sidewall.

I like that "carbon fiber" pattern in the sidewall.

That's moire which always looks awesome! It hypnotizes zombies.

It's funny that those Contis don't do well in the snow, the siping is relative to a snow tire.

Do check your tire pressures. I haven't been to a tire store in years that could seem to inflate them to my requested pressure, or inflate them to the vehicle manufacturers spec, or inflate them each to the same pressure.

-Lule

Don't know why tires look like carbon fiber or morie. Except for the "writing" on the sidewall they are plain flat rubber. Camera must be acting up.

And Lule, thanks for the pressure tip. I was in the bay when they inflated tires and told them the pressures I wanted but was not close enough to check their guage so I'll check pressure tomorrow. And yes, I agree they look like they would do well in snow but I doubt I'll ever get the chance to test them.

Nice looking tires! In regards to the moire patterns. yup you can blame it on your digital camera. The sharper the image the more likely you will get moire effects

Sometimes odd stripes or colors will appear in a digital image, either from a high-end digital camera, or from a scanned image. This effect is called moiré and is caused when a fine pattern in the subject (such as the weave in a fabric or very close, parallel lines in architecture) matches the pattern of the imaging chip. When two patterns meet, often a third, new pattern is created. This third pattern is called moiré.

Nice looking tires! In regards to the moire patterns. yup you can blame it on your digital camera. The sharper the image the more likely you will get moire effects

Sometimes odd stripes or colors will appear in a digital image, either from a high-end digital camera, or from a scanned image. This effect is called moiré and is caused when a fine pattern in the subject (such as the weave in a fabric or very close, parallel lines in architecture) matches the pattern of the imaging chip. When two patterns meet, often a third, new pattern is created. This third pattern is called moiré.


Everything I know, I learned on the EOC. Now, I must find someone to impress with my new knowledge. :rolleyes:

-Lule

Everything I know, I learned on the EOC. Now, I must find someone to impress with my new knowledge. :rolleyes:

-Lule

if you can't impress them with knowledge baffle them with bull$hit

if you can't impress them with knowledge baffle them with bull$hit

Hey what ya sayin!? :rolleyes::)

Hey Zombie you are absolutely correct re the moire. Went out and looked at tires "carefully " and found just what you said....very close parallel lines around entire sidewall....close up pics attached.....thanks for the new factual input into my brain!

I put the Cross Contacts on my EX and about 6k on them as of now. I know a few other's with E's also that have them on. I live in the northeast so I drive in everything and they so far work great and not bad in the snow. For the money they are the ones to get.

are they quieter

I believe there is some moire in that second group of photos.

Zombie, one of the main reasons I went with the Conti's was their rating for being quiet on Tire Rack. I take some long road trips (1000mi/day sometimes) and tire noise drives me crazy. So far they seem quieter but only been up to speed for short distances so hard for me to say at this point. Perhaps LZdog can offer some insight here as he has a few more miles on his Conti's. What I can say is that, inflated to factory 32/34 they have much less understeer than the 42000 mile Wranglers they replaced.

BTW, saw an interesting program recently on Discovery and they addressed tire noise in part. The noise you hear is not actually noise from the tire contacting the road it is the air being pushed aside by the tire when it contacts the road.

As far as handling, there is an on ramp I routinely use that is a 270 degree decreasing radius turn and they hold an inside line throught with very little "push". Of course i'm still in the "honeymoon" period and i'm sure this will not last forever.

And Lule, no morie in that second set of pics....that's what they look like.

Very please with the Cross Contacts so far. Proved to be very quiet on 120 mi. road trip and still holding the inside line very well on decreasing radius turn. Still feels like the E has ballet slippers on!

Any other opinions on this tire out there?

Continentals are uncommon in Canada except perhaps as OEM on some Mercedes cars. They are not cheap either. There's no rebate in Canada either for a set of four Crosscontact LXs (but yes for other specific tires).

asp,

Continetals are not uncommon in U.S. but do not seem to be a favorite choice of many drivers. However, I have noticed several large SUV's wearing them so maybe the word is getting around. I am very pleased with them and recently completed a 2000 mile road trip and did not notice any appreciable road noise at speeds of 70-75 mph.

P.S. the rebate has long ago expired here.

P.P.S. they were not cheap here either!

I have the exact same set on my E, and it works great. Excellent traction and it's slightly quieter than the stock Goodyear Wranglers, which are insanely loud.

They're getting to 100,000 though, so I'm thinking about moving towards the Grand Touring tire type, instead of sticking with Light Truck