Continental Terrain Contact H/T?

[Geotrash]

Hi all. Time for new tires on the 2012 tow rig. 275/55/20. I’ve been a loyal Michelin buyer for years, but I see that discount tire has the Continental Terrain Contact H/T which has a similar tread pattern and treadwear numbers to the Michelin Defender LTX but they sell it in an XL load range which would be beneficial for towing. Any of you running this tire or another 20” tire with the XL load range that you like?

 

[B-train]

Believe it or not, I've had good luck with Starfire 20" tires for my Yukon. They have great reviews, are made in America, and were on sale for $115-ish each at Amazon. Delivered in 3 days to my door. Their tread pattern is very close to Michelin defender as well. For less than $600 I figured I'd take a chance on my summer wheel set. So far, very impressed.

I recommended this to a friend with the same size wheels on his Denali and he has had excellent luck as well. FWIW

 

[91RS]

The Michelin is better in handling and ride quality. The continental isn’t as cushy. I put the Continentals on my old Yukon when I sold it and bought new Michelins for the 13.

 

[89Suburban]

Believe it or not, I've had good luck with Starfire 20" tires for my Yukon. They have great reviews, are made in America, and were on sale for $115-ish each at Amazon. Delivered in 3 days to my door. Their tread pattern is very close to Michelin defender as well. For less than $600 I figured I'd take a chance on my summer wheel set. So far, very impressed.

I recommended this to a friend with the same size wheels on his Denali and he has had excellent luck as well. FWIW

Good tires for the money I can vouch for that! Very good riding, handling, low noise, excellent traction even in wet. I call them poor man's Michelin Defenders. They seem to wear a bit faster but very good tires for the buck!

 

[89Suburban]

Hi all. Time for new tires on the 2012 tow rig. 275/55/20. I’ve been a loyal Michelin buyer for years, but I see that discount tire has the Continental Terrain Contact H/T which has a similar tread pattern and treadwear numbers to the Michelin Defender LTX but they sell it in an XL load range which would be beneficial for towing. Any of you running this tire or another 20” tire with the XL load range that you like?

View attachment 405390

I vote stick with the Michelins.

 

[Geotrash]

Thanks all! My ample gut is telling me to stay with the Michelins because they’re a known quantity and superb tires. They also ride really well so the comment that the continentals may not ride as smooth is especially helpful. At the same time, I’ve noticed more tire edge wear when towing on the rear tires despite keeping them at 44 psi, so perhaps I need a stiffer tire with a higher load range. The continentals with the XL load range top out at 51 psi as well. Arrrgh… never an easy decision because whatever I buy I’m going to own for the next 5-7 years.

 

[91RS]

The current version of the Defender is an XL.

 

[Geotrash]

The current version of the Defender is an XL.

I just bought a set for our ‘07 a couple of months ago because it’s our family trip hauler when we’re not towing, so comfort and safety were my top priorities. I’m certain they’re not XL so perhaps Michelin makes this size in 2 versions. I’ll research! Thanks for the lead!

 

[Onlyone]

If you’re towing I would go with the Continental only For the load rating. They are of course not going to ride as well because the sidewalls are stronger.

 

[91RS]

I just bought a set for our ‘07 a couple of months ago because it’s our family trip hauler when we’re not towing, so comfort and safety were my top priorities. I’m certain they’re not XL so perhaps Michelin makes this size in 2 versions. I’ll research! Thanks for the lead!

The non-XL version is discontinued but there are still places that have them in stock. The price went up on the XL version.

 

[Geotrash]

The non-XL version is discontinued but there are still places that have them in stock. The price went up on the XL version.

In my area at least, discount tire is not carrying the XL version. All they have is this one:

 

[Geotrash]

Also, it looks like Michelin is releasing an updated version of the Defender LTX called the M/S 2 in October. It appears that that will be an XL tire so perhaps I will wait.

 

[91RS]

I don’t know why I didn’t realize you’re looking at the 20.” The 285/45/22 Defender LTX has discontinued the SL version in favor of the XL version but not the 20,” apparently. The LTX M/S 2 is the tire the Defender LTX replaced but it wasn’t an XL, so that’s very interesting they’re bringing that back as an XL. I’d probably suggest going with that then so you get the XL.

 

[Geotrash]

I don’t know why I didn’t realize you’re looking at the 20.” The 285/45/22 Defender LTX has discontinued the SL version in favor of the XL version but not the 20,” apparently. The LTX M/S 2 is the tire the Defender LTX replaced but it wasn’t an XL, so that’s very interesting they’re bringing that back as an XL. I’d probably suggest going with that then so you get the XL.

It makes me wonder if it’s actually as good of a tire as the current LTX - it only gets a B for a traction rating. So that tells me the wet traction will be lacking.

Heck, I’ve had such great luck with the LTX over the years, I think I’ll just go ahead and slap a set on there.

 

[HD_LS]

I have both the Continental Terrain Contact H/T and Michelin Defenders, both of the same age, on two different GM full size SUVs. In my experience, the Continentals are superior in nearly every way. Most important, from a safety perspective, the Continentals have better wet traction. This was close when they were new, but not as they aged. The ride quality is outstanding.

 

[mwswarrior]

I ran the Continentals on my 2019 Premier 6.2 for nearly 70K miles with excellent results. They ran well enough to put another set on a few months ago.

I have the Michelin LTX on my Silverado 2500 and have no complaints there either but they seem to be wearing more quickly.

 

[Geotrash]

Thanks All! I have an appointment Saturday morning to have the Continentals installed. Decided that XL load rating is a good idea.

 

[91RS]

I saw the

I have both the Continental Terrain Contact H/T and Michelin Defenders, both of the same age, on two different GM full size SUVs. In my experience, the Continentals are superior in nearly every way. Most important, from a safety perspective, the Continentals have better wet traction. This was close when they were new, but not as they aged. The ride quality is outstanding.

Very interesting that you say that since my experience with both tires on the same truck was the opposite. I put the Continentals as my #2 tire though. I do wonder if it has something to do with mine being the 22”s though and the Defender is an XL in that size.

 

[EddieC]

I just put the Conti HTs on our Subaru.

In my search the HTs seemed to be the closest thing to the Michelin LTXs that I could find. I would have gotten LTXs but they didn't come in the proper size.

The HTs ride and are quiet much like the LTXs even on a much different vehicle than the Tahoe. I have the LTXs on the Tahoe and swear by them. We are on our second set.

Our dealer distributes a different brand but said he loved the HTs on a family suv and had no problem being enthusastic about them for the Subaru.

I can't comment on how they work in the snow but I am hopeful based on their ratings.

It didn't hurt that there was/is a decent rebate on the Hts too besides getting a heck of a deal that substantially undercut T Rack.

 

[EddieC]

This is Tire Rack customers comments on the HTs in a Tahoe size:

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=TerrainContact+H%2FT&partnum=67SR7TCHTOWL&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&autoMake=Chevrolet&autoYear=2008&autoModel=Tahoe&autoModClar=#RatingsReviews

The video has very positive feedback by the test staff.