Review on Continental ContiVikingContact 7 205/55 R16 94T winter by Stanislaw Wawrzynowi ᠌

Rubber is impressive. After the spikes, really impressive. The first days went straight with delight. The driving experience is completely different. In general, I moved to the Continental VikingContact 7 225/45 R17 with the usual studded Gislaved NF 100 with a dimension of 205/55 R16 (before I rode Continental ContiIceContact). The difference from the first meters. Firstly, there are no more slipping sounds (I generally keep quiet about howling and hum at speed, it doesn’t exist), we start from a place - silence. We accelerate at speed (anti-bux works), still silence. We slow down - silence. After the spikes, you even get a little lost, it’s not clear at all how to compare the hold, it has become better / worse. The second point is softness - I switched from 55 to 45 profile and when I drove over bumps, I simply did not believe the sensations that the new Kontik on 45 profile rides much softer. And considering that the 45 profile gives noticeably smaller rolls than the 55, the ride has become even more comfortable. Damn, this Continental just wraps around the road, 45 seems to be quite thin, but how smoothly it goes is amazing. The combination of these qualities gives the feeling that the car has become 2 classes higher. If you change from spikes, then you need to get used to it, the behavior of rubber is fundamentally different. The studs are less stable, they can have a very good grip here and now, and tomorrow in the same place in different weather they will behave completely differently and be very slippery, the Velcro is more stable, it will not give super grip here and now like studs, but tomorrow in different weather in the same place, it will give exactly the same grip as yesterday)) Velcro, whether it's -10 or -35, doesn't change its grip much. But on ice that was attacked by fresh snow, you need to be more careful than on spikes. But on rolled snow or on asphalt with dotted ice crusts, Velcro rides very confidently. Conclusion: after this Continental, most likely I will never change to studded tires again, the difference in pleasure between heaven and earth is so much!