Continental Tire Extreme Contact Force Impressions and Feedback

[Meateater]

Hey gang, another year as a Conti ambassador for me. VATTERVIP is the buy 3 get one code you can use at Trackdaytire.com. I'm on season two with my original set. Still working great. First event this year was at BIR in north central MN. Ran hard on our unstructor day and was logging some of my best times until I had a minor off track excursion and bent a rim. That also took a big chunk out of the sidewall of my left front tire. To the ECF's credit, the tire did not fail! Had ti limp in and revert back to my street tires to finish the weekend. Shout out to Johnny at Trackdaytire. I asked if the tires carried any kind of warranty for such things, and he replaced the damage tire at 1/2 price. Certainly something they don't have to do! I'd also like to send a shout out to a local wheel repair company here in the Twin Cities metro, Twin City Wheel repair. Mark and team reapired my rim in 2 days! Back to perfect and for under $100!

My second set of ECFs and replacement tire are due in today! Can't wait for the next track days, MId-O in July, Blackhawk Farms in Aug and Road America in September! Woot woot!

 

[KazarS197]

Error post

 

[Mike_FL]

Just read on Reddit that the ECF buy 3 get 1 free offer is ending this month. Does anyone know if this is true

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Supposed to go , it has been up numerous times when there were only a few sizes and with Black Friday coming up it is going back to normal pricing --- according to my sources. I guess we will find out if said sources are good or not, ha!? Good reports from Endurance Racers and Grassroots Motorsports has helped the tire pick up in Sales.

 

[Mike_FL]

Ordered a set this morning, it’s too good an offer

 

[Bouncing Soul]

Are they noisy like the R888R?

 

[thelostotter]

Just read on Reddit that the ECF buy 3 get 1 free offer is ending this month. Does anyone know if this is true

I haven’t heard that but you scared me so I picked up a set a couple months early just in case.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Bouncing Soul,
No, they are not as noisy as the R888R , which in my estimation is one of the worst choices out there for a performance tire. Whether a normal review with TireRack or various YouTube tests that Toyo is a bottom of the barrel choice -- extreme noise is just one reason. Plenty of other good choices so may the " Force " be with you, ha!

 

[Bouncing Soul]

Ha! Well, other than noise, I like the R888R better on my GT500 than the PSC2. But the noise is terrible.

 

[Mike_FL]

Only ordered Monday morning and they’ve arrived already, can’t complain at the price or delivery

 

[thelostotter]

Only ordered Monday morning and they’ve arrived already, can’t complain at the price or delivery

View attachment 99758

What date codes did you get? My 315/30R19 I received today are going on 3 years old (0922 and 2822) which is same as what I got when I ordered a set of these last year.

 

[Mike_FL]

What date codes did you get? My 315/30R19 I received today are going on 3 years old (0922 and 2822) which is same as what I got when I ordered a set of these last year.

Only checked one it’s 1422 so yes not that new. Maybe they were all produced at a similar timeframe

 

[krisk]

What date codes did you get? My 315/30R19 I received today are going on 3 years old (0922 and 2822) which is same as what I got when I ordered a set of these last year.

I just got a set of ECF 295/30r19 delivered today and the date code is 1422. Somewhat surprised to get a tire 2 1/2 years old, but I’m assuming they should be fine.

 

[Meateater]

Just read on Reddit that the ECF buy 3 get 1 free offer is ending this month. Does anyone know if this is true

Discounts are good through NOV 30, 2024. If you need a discount code use mine - VATTERVIP (Just talked to Johnny at Trackday this week.)

 

[Meateater]

One quick update on ECF performance. The fall Badger Bimmer OktoberFAST event this year at Road America finished with a very wet Sunday. I ran my newest set of ECFs for the day and was surprised that they performed as well as they did. They are obviously not a "rain" tire and the cars with dedicated rains were faster, however, I was able to maintain some confidence everywhere on the track. For some reference, I was able to exceed 125 on the main straight, into turn 5 and turn 12, and hold right around 50 in the carousel. This was in steady falling rain. More of a visibility issue than traction. Wheel spin was predictable and occurred when I figured it would. Same with slide. And I was in sheet metal preservation mode! haha

 

[Mike_FL]

Discounts are good through NOV 30, 2024. If you need a discount code use mine - VATTERVIP (Just talked to Johnny at Trackday this week.)

I did use your code, thanks for confirming

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Always good to hear the dynamics of damp driving, and nice to hear the " Force " is a solid all around DE tire.

 

[D Streever]

Thanks for the heads up on the deal! I ordered next years tires and l
Am looking forward to another year of fun on a great tire for me. Happy Holidays!

 

[krisk]

I'm looking for some feedback on where to start with tire pressures on the EC Force (and EC Sport 02 which I was running) based on the difference in comments in this thread versus what I received by e-mail from Hoosier. Sorry for the long post, but thought it would be helpful to include the full e-mail exchange I had with the Hoosier rep. In the end, he is recommending a hot tire pressure around 40, while most comments in this thread recommend 35 or under. Keep in mind my car is around 4,200lbs with driver (or even higher as I often have a passenger). I've included the photo of my EC Sport 02 tire wear, which I sent in with my initial inquiry.

My initial question:
Good morning. I purchased a set of ExtremeContact Sport02 tires for my 2024 Mustang several months back for purposes of using on track at HPDE events. I have used them for a total of 4 track days, for approximately 6-7 hours on the track. They are 275/35r19 front on 19x10 wheels and 295/35r19 rear on 19x11 wheels. My car is about 4,200lbs with driver and I was running -2.8 degrees camber in the front and inflated the tires to 36psi hot. When I removed the tires to do some work on my car I noticed the inside edge is worn down to the cords on the two front tires. I still have a decent amount of tread left across most of the tire, but even the outside edge has the rubber peeling off.

I have a couple questions:
1. Is 6-7 hours of track use what I should expect to get from a set ExtremeContact Sport02 on the front of the car?
2. Should I make changes to the car setup (less camber) or tire pressure based on the wear pattern?
3. Did the tire simply get too hot? Several of the track days the temperatures were low 90s.

I am moving to the ExtremeContact Force tires for track use in 2025, but I would like to also have the Sport02 available as a backup set or for use in the rain. As a result, I would like to make sure I am doing what I should to maximize the tire life on track.

Please note in the picture I have attached, the top tire is a front tire while the bottom is a rear tire, which is wearing well and has plenty more life.

Hoosier Response:
I received your e-mail from Customer Service but I am very familiar with the Conti EC Force (dry) and the Sport 02 (rain) as they are spec tires for the World Racing League for the GP1 – 2 – 3 classes. Typically we recommend the Conti EC Force for extended dry track use – while the Sport 02 is an exceptional track tire when it is raining – even in heavy down pours.

Your front end camber seems fine with a max possible setting of -3.0 degrees, but with your weight of your car 4,200 lbs – you may be a little light on the Air Pressure possible running even past 40 psi (40 – 42 psi) to support the inside and outside shoulders while on the track.

I feel with any street designed tire – the high speed and corner loads you put on the tire – you are going to see some excessive and premature tread wear. The Conti EC Force was specifically tested and designed for Track Sessions and Racing – so it holds the stresses of a 8 – 10 hour race better than a typical street tire.

Sure – you could also say the Outside Air Temps may have played a part in the inside shoulder wearing out quickly too.

My Followup Reply:
I appreciate the response. I thought after seeing the wear that I may have been running a lower than ideal tire pressure.

A couple of follow up questions. This year I am going with the setup as you mentioned where I will run the EF Force when dry and the Sport 02 when raining. With a 4,200lb weight, or even up to 4,400lb if I have a passenger, what would be your recommendation as a starting point or min/max for a hot tire pressure with the EC Force? Also, should I plan on running a similar camber with the EC Force as with the Sport 02?

Hoosier Response:
Well – I should have recommended looking at the Pillar Sticker of your car to see what the MFG recommends for proper air pressure – so I would start there. Based on my Track Experience with the Conti ECF – 30 – 32 psi Cold / 40 psi Hot.

At one point the tire may feel greasy so a reduction in PSI would be fine – down to 38 psi Hot. You can always try over 40 psi (42 – 44 psi) to see if your heavy car likes that too – depends on type of track too.

Run the same camber for both Conti ECF and Sport 02 – no reason to Add / Reduce camber when switching tire models.

 

[stevbd]

To me that looks more like a camber or alignment issue than a tire pressure issue. 3 degrees front neg camber is pretty typical on track but will eat the inside edge in street driving, which is why you really need adjustable camber plates to go between track and street camber settings if you’re driving the car a lot on the street. Also check front toe setting, too much toe out can chew up inside edge even faster than neg camber. Good luck and nice looking car btw.