Tire Catalog

My Continental PureContact™ LSs replaced the OEM Firestone FT140s that came with my 2016 Civic Touring. I was tired of sliding around listening to the ABS chatter all the time during the cold months in Boston and was looking for something with better winter traction. Get these tires! I’ve got about 300 miles on them so far, and although I can’t comment on winter performance yet, I can say that the last time I remember noticing this much difference in road comfort and dry/wet handling was when I replaced the bias ply tires on my Saab 96 with radials back in 1967. That has to be an exaggeration, I suppose, but the FT140s by comparison made driving the Civic feel skittish, hard, and jumpy, and driving of all types is now far less tiring. I’m guessing that any other Civic owner driving on FT140s would say the same. The one thing I can’t seem to confirm from the reviews I’ve read is a reduction in road noise. I _think_ I’m setting the audio a click or so lower, but can’t be sure. This puzzles me, since the FT140s are by all accounts noisy tires. It may be that my aging ears no longer hear road frequencies much in the first place, or that they don't mask the frequencies I listen to. And Civics are known for being fairly noisy anyway. My guess is that YMMV among tires, makes, models, sources and frequencies. It’s good to get the impressions of other drivers, but frankly, and although I’m sure some tires _are_ noisier the others, I wouldn’t give much credence to subjective measures when it comes to audio. I wonder if anyone’s ever actually studied it properly?