After yet another jaunt across the country to Wales, the chunky Continental SportContact tyres on our Range Rover Sport had finally given up the ghost. Having covered almost 30,000 miles on them, I couldn’t really complain about their lifespan. However, as associate editor Ollie Marriage found out in some Alpine snow a couple of months ago, the grip levels had been getting progressively worse on anything other than bone-dry roads.
I put this down to the fact that the outer edges of the tyres seemed to have worn down faster than the rest of the rubber, even though I checked the pressures regularly. This was more noticeable still on the two nearside tyres (there are quite a few roundabouts on my daily commute).
Looking at the replacement Contis I’d ordered, though, it soon became clear it wasn’t uneven wear at all but part of the design, as the brand new tyres also had less tread on the shoulders than in the middle. According to Continental this is to optimise handling by reducing movement in the tread blocks when cornering. I suppose the forces at work when hustling 2.7 tons of Range Rover through bends are not inconsiderable, but it’s something worth keeping an eye on if you’re running this type of rubber.
After the shock of replacing all four 275/40x20 tyres at £260 each, the Rangie’s 30,000-mile service is now looming. Hopefully, unlike the 15,000-mile one, there’ll be no dicky oil filter this time.
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