OE tires

[eugen61]

Interesting insights on original equipment tires explaining their subpar performance in wet conditions.

[percymon]

Would have been more interesting to compare the T0 Goodyear against the stock Goodyear equivalent. There will always be differences between tyre brands in tyre testing, if you read/watch enough of them you see plenty of examples where 'mid range' tyres like Falken/Toyo/Uniroyal etc perform well in certain tests compared to premium brands, yet never upset the apple cart much when it comes to the overall summary across tests.

Having spent over 20 years driving on N rated tyres I'd say the money the vehicle and tyre manufacturers put into developing their 'tuned' tyres does result in a better driving experience.

Falken 50k mile warranty - marketing blurb; not many people would hold them to it, even if they did get to 35-40k miles. More likely to have suffered a puncture or swapped the vehicle for another over that period

[Volvobadger]

The standard continental eco contact 6 are still awful on my xc40 - tested a mercedes gla at the weekend - thought it handled poorly with an awful pedal position ( brake pedal too high ). On getting out I looked at the tyres and what a surprise - they were also the awful eco contact 6.

[JFDIT]

I absolutely hate Continental tyres. Had several sidewall problems with them in the past and the Eco's are truly terrible in the name of "emissions". Kill me now!
The Pirelli's are decent on my new XC40, but expect I'll go with Michelin Pilots when they need replacing.

[percymon]

The standard continental eco contact 6 are still awful on my xc40 - tested a mercedes gla at the weekend - thought it handled poorly with an awful pedal position ( brake pedal too high ). On getting out I looked at the tyres and what a surprise - they were also the awful eco contact 6.

not Continentals finest hour for sure.. from tyrereviews..

The EcoContact 6 is ranked 132nd of 146 Summer Premium Touring tyres.

Latest Tyre Test Results
2022 Auto Bild Summer Tyre Test - 19th of 22 tyres

Positive - Short dry braking, very low rolling resistance, low wear.
Negative - Limited aquaplaning resistance, long wet and dry braking, slow steering with high levels of understeer.


2022 ADAC Summer Tyre Test - 15 Inch - 8th of 16 tyres

Positive - Lowest rolling resistance, low wear.
Negative - Relatively low aquaplaning resistance.
Overall - The Continental EcoContact 6 performs exceptionally well in terms of fuel consumption and also gets a very good rating in terms of wear. While it can still secure a good rating on dry roads, it does not get more than a satisfactory rating in the wet due to its weaknesses in aquaplaning behavior. In the sum of its properties, the tire is recommended.

2022 Summer Tyre Market Overview - 21st of 44 tyres


And user reviews fitted to XC40...

Writing about the Continental EcoContact 6 given 36% (235-50-19-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 1500 average miles
Had these tyres as OEM fit for two months and initially they didn't feel very grippy even in the dry. Put this down to them being new. The dry handling has slightly improved but the wet performance is appallingly bad - understeer in damp/wet conditions giving no confidence in the car getting round a corner over 60mph. After 1500 miles there's only 6mm tread left at the back and 5.5mm at the front - pretty poor. Considering replacing them already.
tyre reviewed on 2023-01-16 10:07:39

Writing about the Continental EcoContact 6 given 44% (235-50-19-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 12000 easy going miles
The EcoContact 6 is a terrible tyre. I had them as OE with my xc40, from new. I found them fidgety in the wet and I had no confidence in them when it came to aquaplaning. As soon as the tread was halfway worn they started wheel spinning when pulling out at junctions or onto a roundabouts in the wet at anything other than a crawl. The fronts were worn out after 12,000 miles of easy driving.
tyre reviewed on 2022-12-30 11:41:23

Writing about the Continental EcoContact 6 given 64% (235-50-19-)
Driving on mostly town for 200 easy going miles
BEWARE New ECO CONTACT 6 now coming new with 5mm tread, by lucky to get 10,000, dont bother is my honest opinion. Others are offering much better tread and performance.
tyre reviewed on 2021-12-06 12:16:43

Writing about the Continental EcoContact 6 given 49% (235-55-18-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 10000 average miles
Used for around 10.000 km on a Volvo XC40 (OEM equipped). Not satisfied. Low grip on wet. Very prone to aquaplaning. Low tread as new (+/- 6,5mm). Wet tread wear indicator at 4mm... not much usable in a wet weather like Belgium...
tyre reviewed on 2021-07-16 20:00:43

Writing about the Continental Premium Contact 6 given 56% (235-50-19-V)
Driving on mostly town for 8000 average miles
Repeat of another review, too soft. Tyres squirm and slip at the slightest road discrepancy. No confidence with these tyres if in icy conditions. At brand new, they slipped as if already badly worn and now 8k miles, they need replacing. Be glad to get rid of them for something more stable.
tyre reviewed on 2020-01-22 13:43:07

Writing about the Continental EcoContact 6 given 54% (235-50-19-)
Driving on mostly town for 11900 easy going miles
In city/town speed use I have no major problems. However last year passing through Austria on the motorway late at night in heavy rain the tyres had ‘moments of tyre grip loss in straight lines when the vehicle had done less than 6000 miles from new and therefore the tread depths were good.
At just under 12000 miles I have 3mm front and 4-4.5mm rear left so I don’t think tyre wear is very good but I do except that PHEV’s and Fully electric vehicles are heavier and wear quicker.
My local driving is mostly short journeys on electric and I pride myself on the smoothness of my driving which I think is chauffeur like. Once on the motorways or in bad weather they are not as good as I would expect for an expensive tyre. I’m now considering fitting an all season tyre such as the Michellin cross contact 2
tyre reviewed on 2023-10-29 10:40:06

Writing about the Continental EcoContact 6 given 50% (230-50-19-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 2000 easy going miles
I hate these. Steering is imprecise, grip and handling in the dry is tolerable, but not brilliant. With some water on the road the grip disappears. Aquaplaning is horrible. I hit a puddle on the motorway at 70mph (yes, really, 70mph, not a fast interpretation of that) and nearly lost control of the car. Fast acceleration has these tyres slipping; even moderate braking can trip the ABS. I'm throwing these away after just 2000 miles because they're so bad. I don't know what Continental have done here, they used to be able to make tyres that actually worked. And I really don't understand why Volvo fit these as OEM equipment.
tyre reviewed on 2022-10-05 21:07:27

[Stovo]

Is there a way of knowing what tyres you get when ordering a new vehicle, or is it ‘pot luck’?

[JFDIT]

When selecting the Wheel size on the Configurator check the Tyre Energy Label under Learn More and it tells you the OE tyre fitted. In the UK these are and have been 18" Michelin Primacy, 19" Continental Eco and 20/21" Pirelli PZ4

[Ruby12345#]

Continental eco contact 6 are poor at the best of times and are expensive , they give you poor feed back not confident in the wet and seem to wear faster than any other tyre. Cannot wait till they wear so I can change them and at the rate they are wearing wont be long.. I have had some budget tyres that preform much better in the wet..
My mate calls budget tyres Ditch Finders but to date never found any ditches..

[Stovo]

When selecting the Wheel size on the Configurator check the Tyre Energy Label under Learn More and it tells you the OE tyre fitted. In the UK these are and have been 18" Michelin Primacy, 19" Continental Eco and 20/21" Pirelli PZ4

Thanks. So if you don’t want Continentals, ‘rule of thumb’ avoid 19” , unless different on MY25 models.

[itsmarc]

I've had Michelin Crossclimates fitted to two of my previous cars (2019 E-Pace and a 2020 A4 Allroad) and used them all year round for the duration of my ownership. As my new XC40 is a lease, I decided to keep the supplied tyres on it for a year, then replace with Crossclimate 2s just before next winter, just to get some wear out of the Ecocontact 6s and the Crossclimate 2s should then last the remainder of the lease. However I'm considering bring that change forward as the Ecocontact 6 really are living up to their reputation, getting wheel spin with barely any pressure on the accelerator, and very low confidence on cornering at speed in anything other than perfectly dry conditions (not been much of that this year so far).