Continental VanContact A/S Ultra
Highway Commercial Tire
The Continental VanContact A/S Ultra is a highway all-season tire specially made for the heavy needs of pickup and light to medium-duty trucks. This is a perfect tire for someone who is looking for smooth and reliable rides on highways for a longer period of time, however, lack of warranty and difficult driving on mud terrain, make this tire unfit for many drivers.
| Tire type | Highway All Season Tire |
| Price range | $191-$267 |
| Run-flat | No |
| Vehicles type | SUVs, Pickup, Medium-Light duty trucks |
| Driving conditions | Dry, Wet, Mud, and Snow |
Continental tires have been in the tire industry for too long, and their practice of providing tires to different needs drivers is still the same.
This Continental Van Contact A/S Ultra is not any conventional highway touring tire. It is specially designed for towing maximum weights while allowing a stable, smooth, and low-mileage drive in different weather conditions.
Another great thing about this new tire is its ability to provide responsive drive with heavy weights, even at maximum weights, this tire drives like butter, with perfect response over handling.
Although the tire does not come with any treadwear warranty, which is not unusual in the commercial tires category, it is still a very reliable tire if driven with proper maintenance. Driving this tire, due to its closer tread design, may damage the tread and it may wear off early.
Other than that, this tire is a great tire for pickup or heavy-duty drivers looking for commercial tires for their long routes journey.
Let’s find out how it performs in different conditions and weathers of the road.
Pros
- Great fuel mileage, unconventional to the commercial tire trends.
- Smooth and comfortable driving with heavy weights on highways.
- Reliable traction and grip on wet and slippery conditions.
- A new tire with advanced technology for optimal performance.
Cons
- Not the perfect tire for mud terrains.
- Weak performance in deep snows.
- No treadwear warranty.
Tread, Compound, and Internal Structure
The tire features functionalized polymer in its tread compound making it a durable tire for different conditions of the road. The external tread design is in a symmetrical pattern, both sides of the tread feature the same design making it a smooth and low rolling resistance tire to drive on long routes.
The strong sidewall of this VanContact A/S Ultra tire features, scruff ribs, which are crucial to defend against damage, especially while driving with heavy weights. Also, the shoulder block features edgy ribs with an open design to maximize cornering and smooth turns on fast roads.
With an open shoulder design, the intermediate ribs of the tread are also open, which transports the water through the tread without sticking, avoiding hydroplaning, and maximizing traction in wet and snowy conditions. The high-density sipes on the shoulder and tread block also help in achieving perfect grip and traction in dry and wet conditions.
Wet Road Performance
As already mentioned the tread design and tire pattern are optimized for maximum performance in wet and rainy conditions. The tire has multiple advantages due to its grooves and open design, which maximize tire traction and grip in wet conditions, even at high speed.
With grip and traction, the control, response, and brakes are also perfect, which makes it a reliable and stable tire to drive in wet conditions. It doesn’t matter whether you drive with heavy weights or not, this VanContact A/S Ultra will provide safe and sound driving in wet road conditions.
Dry Road Performance
Dry roads are the favorite roads for this tire to drive. Due to the symmetrical close design tread, this tire achieves smooth rides in dry conditions, especially on straight highways. Due to multiple sipes and individual tread blocks, a comfortable and responsive drive is possible on dry roads.
Similar to wet conditions, the brakes, response, and control of the tire are also perfect making it a safe tire to drive in any conditions of wet and dry roads. If you are looking forward to driving in these two conditions, then you will get, smooth, comfortable, reliable, and durable rides with this Continental tire.
Winter Terrain Performance
This tire’s drive in winter conditions is not as good as it is in the other two conditions, as it is not made specifically for snow. However, when it comes to light snow and normal winter weather, this tire is a great tire to drive in these conditions. The brakes, control, and response in light snow conditions are perfect with this tire, and it is a great joy to drive this tire in these conditions as well.
This is not the best thing to drive in these conditions when it comes to deep snow or extreme winter weather. The tire sometimes slips in these conditions, losing traction and making it an unreliable tire to drive in extreme weather. With that, the tire treadwear is also unsupportive in extreme weather, making it easy to wear, even without weights.
Mud Terrains drive
Similar to winter terrain, this tire is not mud terrain friendly, especially in extreme mud terrains. For normal off-road or rocky terrains, this tire does fairly well. Just because this tire does not have deep treadwear or thick individual tread blocks, it is not the greatest tire to drive on off-roads.
The traction, brakes, comfort, and tread, are also unsupportive when it comes to driving in off-road conditions, especially mud terrains. So if you are planning to drive your truck, with weights in off-road conditions, then this is not the tire made for you, you should go with off-road or all-terrain tires.
Drive Quality
Comfort and Noise
As it is a tire for commercial purposes, it is not the most comfortable tire compared to all-season touring tires. However, compared to other commercial or highway tires, it does a fair job when it comes to peaceful and comfortable driving on highways.
Its symmetrical pattern with small tread blocks helps in achieving a comfortable ride in all-season conditions. The noise levels on highways, especially with weights are great as well compared to other commercial tires. So overall, it is not the most comfortable tire to drive on highways. Compared to other tires available in the market, in this category, it is one of the best choices for peaceful and reliable rides on highways.
Fuel Efficiency
As mentioned earlier, this tire is designed to improve the gas mileage of the vehicle, its tread pattern, and technology are all aligned with the purpose of saving your money on fuel. Due to its low rolling resistance tread, the tire also runs for longer miles, making it both a cost-friendly and durable tire to drive on all-season highways.
Durability and Tread life
This VanContact A/S Ultra does not come with any treadwear warranty, which is common in the commercial tire category. It does not mean that this tire is not durable when it comes to the reliability of treadwear. You can easily drive this tire for more than 50K miles which is more than enough for any highway commercial tire.
With proper care and maintenance, this tire can go beyond the 50K mark, however, extreme terrain must be avoided to get the max out of this tire’s tread. So overall, it is not as durable tire as all-season touring tires, however, compared to other highways commercial tires, this is one of the best tires to buy to get the most durable rides on highways.
Ending Note Recommendations
This Continental VanContact A/S Ultra is a perfect tire for someone looking for a commercial tire for their light to medium-duty trucks. It performs perfectly in wet and dry conditions and provides a fair drive in off-road and winter terrains as well. So if you want a reliable, comfortable, and responsive new tire to drive in 2025, then this VanContact A/S Ultra will be a great choice for your vehicle.
