Continental faces customization and tuning challenges

Sales of new cars in Europe may be falling, but the trend towards customization and tuning remains unbroken.

Surveys show that nearly one in five customers spend more than €10,000 on tuning their car. And more than one fourth of all sales in this sector are still accounted for by wheel-and-tyre combinations. With top speeds being pushed higher and higher, tyre makers like Continental are facing ever-increasing challenges.

The broad spectrum of different types of vehicle, combined with massive engine power and unladen weights boosted by additional equipment, make special demands on the performance and robustness of the tyres. As a result, relatively conventional tyres are increasingly failing to meet the tuning sector’s standards at the sharp end of the range. Which is hardly surprising, given how specialised the solutions tuners offer have to be, if they are going to boost the performance of super sports cars that can already top 300 km/h when they leave the factory.

This is a trend that Continental was quick to spot. For many years now, the company has located its entire tuning expertise within a dedicated business unit. And right now, Continental is making a massive investment in establishing a high-tech centre in Korbach, Germany.

Here, everything will revolve around the extremely demanding field of 19 to 23-inch or “U-UHP” tyres. The company’s highly professional and extremely flexible OE-like cooperation with leading tuners is successfully based on detailed specifications, and draws on Continental’s outstanding development competence.

What’s more, Continental’s unique innovative capabilities and comprehensive experience of providing original equipment for the flagship models of major sports car manufacturers have been crucial in making it a first-choice partner for the tuning sector for many years now. It was with this special group of customers in mind that the development engineers in Hanover came up with the world’s first series-production tyres approved for speeds of up to 360 km/h.

In 2011, a thoroughbred motor sports event tire, the ContiForceContact, was developed in conjunction with BMW tuner AC Schnitzer, Porsche specialist TechArt, and the expert drivers on the staff of specialist magazine Sportauto. A UHP semi-slick, capable of partnering effectively with cars like the new 991 generation of the Porsche 911 Carrera S, developing up to 400 PS, the ContiForceContact is designed exclusively for active sports car drivers with motor racing ambitions, and combines the ultimate grip with optimum steering precision on the track.

However, tuners also appreciate Continental’s volume-built sporting solutions, which provide a practical answer right into the upper reaches of the advanced tuning range. The ContiSportContact 5 is aimed at drivers of sporty cars and higher-performance SUVs. This sports tyre is approved for speeds of up to 300 km/h and is fitted as standard to all Maserati Ghibli models, for example.
The standard version of the turbocharged three-litre six-cylinder engine produces 330 PS. The S version turns up the volume to 410 PS, for a top speed of 285 km/h. For even tougher challenges there is the ContiSportContact 5 P, which is factory-fitted to Audi’s R 8 super sports car which delivers 560 PS and a top speed of 320 km/h. Other examples of original-equipment approvals include the Maserati Quattroporte, which is powered by a 3.8-liter bi-turbo V8 with an output of 530 PS.
The suffix “P” stands for “Performance”, indicating the uncompromising sporty design of these tyres.This was also the first time the design of a tyre had been perfectly coordinated for axle-specific fitting of the front and rear versions.