I can't say that I hate them... I haven't had any bad experiences with them. Seemed OK in the rain we've had. Then again, I don't have to deal with snow. So that might make a difference. Then again, I wouldn't expect them to do well in snow.

 

I have the Contis and have to say I haven't had any problems with them. I've recently seen plenty of rain and snow on a recent 400 mile trip - no issues whatsoever.

 

I have them. And I have winters for snow. No issue's in the summer.

 

Same here...and I put winters on only last week. As I also live in the Ottawa area, fellow SFS owners can attest that we've had quite a bit of snow in the last 4-5 weeks...and they Contis were OK for all-seasons...and had tons 'o fun slipping and sliding in "controlled areas"

I don't know if I'll stick to the Contis when they will need replacement though.

My $0.02CAD

 

So far so good in rain and light snow. The tread pattern seems to be aggressive for Continentals. I'm not a big Continental fan, every OEM set that I've had got very noisy after 40-60% of the tread life was gone, but so far I'm not hating them on the SFS.

 

OP, how deep was the water you had problems with? There are limits for ANY make tire.
We have a problem with many streets in Charleston SC flooding with several inches of water during heavy rain. A driver in a new Chevy SUV came off I-26 at a crazy speed into 6"+ water and lost control. He didn't hit anything but blamed the new SUV and the tires. To quote, "This thing is unsafe in the wet. Needs better tires"!! Got this from a service adviser friend working at the dealership.
My Continentals are fine, so far, in the wet.

 

So far they have performed better than expected. I took the SFS out in an un plowed parking lot after 6-7" of snow. I was pleasantly surprised.

Years ago I bought the upgraded tire/wheel package on a new Dodge Dakota. Low profile tires that handled great, even in the wet. But put down 1" of the white stuff and you couldn't move. The only time I've had to resort to a dedicated winter tire.

 

No issues in the summer at all, or spring/fall either. As for winter - the rubber on an all season tire hardens around 4 celcius, and becomes very slick on winter roads, or even in cold weather.
Winter tires have a softer rubber - won't harden until much lower temps.

With that said, I picked up my SFS in February of 2013, and we had two really solid (15+cm) snow storms and then a couple hits of 2-3cm after that... can't say they were horrible, but no all season is going to be amazing.

 

I'm actually quite impressed with the performance of my Conti's so far. I have nearly 25,000 miles on them and the wear looks incredibly even with tons of life left. As far as performance goes, they are far better than expected. I've seen a lot of snow this winter, with over 2' of snow down at this point. The only traction issues I've had so far was this morning, but the air temperature is -17 degrees F and the windchill has been sustained at -30, up to -40. I know the windchill has no bearing on tire performance, but it's been frigid and the pavement is beyond frozen. I think they're great tires for being all-seasons. Snow tires are on my list, but they've been bumped down after what I've experienced. I'm also running in a FWD, for what that's worth.

 

I am really impressed by the performance on mine. The most important thing is to drive at an appropriate speed.

Last week during a major snow storm I had someone in a Cherokee blow past me doing at least 60 mph on a highway, everyone else was doing about 20 mph. 20 minutes later I caught up with him because he was laying on his roof in a ditch. Even the best tires have a limit.

 

I've got 19000k on my contis now, and I must say, in deeper snow (Not deep enough to be pushing snow at all) they are a POS. I had to push my SF off my street yesterday in 6-7" of snow. New wheels are coming in the summer, Winters tires on the factory wheels are coming next year.

 

IMHO

That is because the Conti's are a summer design tire! They are kind of OK in the Spring and Autumn and not designed to work well in snow or ice or below the -5C or 24F. A proper snow design works better than a summer design even above melting on wet roads per the NHTSA.

That is why many places are mandating winter tires (Snow Flake in a Mountain) during winter weather months.

Common Sense does not seem common any more!

Expensive, Yes, but not common!

 

OP: check your tire pressure. Even a few psi too low and you will have a wider Contact Patch(foot print) acting like a snowshoe.

 

I don't disagree that winter tires are better than all seasons in winter, but I certainly hope you're not implying I don't have any common sense. I have owned vehicles in areas where studded tires are permitted, areas where tire chains are mandated, and have had vehicles with winter tires and vehicles without.

I was just stating the fact that my 7 month old tires do not perform in the snow as well as I was expecting. This is the first vehicle with a decent amount of ground clearance that I will be forced to use winter tires. For example, I had an 05 Escape 2wd - didn't need winter tires. The A/S were perfectly fine in winter. I had an 01 Chevy Tracker 4x4 - A/S were more than enough to get me in - and out of trouble. I've had F150's from the time I was 16, both 2WD and 4x4, and have never needed snow tires on those.

 

I don't disagree that winter tires are better than all seasons in winter, but I certainly hope you're not implying I don't have any common sense. I have owned vehicles in areas where studded tires are permitted, areas where tire chains are mandated, and have had vehicles with winter tires and vehicles without.

I am not implying that you have no common sense, just that there seems to be less of it around these days.

Maybe those of us over 50 used most of it up?

I sure hope that a new supply becomes available soon.....

 

Winter tires are FAR superior to "all-season" tires in temps below 7c. The evidence is in and cannot be denied. I for one can't wait until Ontario makes winter rubber mandatory like it is in Quebec. And the reason to equip a car with winter tires is to 'stop' better, not 'go' better. Stopping is WAY more important than going.

OP: I agree with the earlier comment about tire pressure. Make sure they are set to the recommended psi or they won't feel great. I find the dealership constantly over inflates them each time I have it in for service.

 

17,000km's on mine and very satisfied in rain and IMO are very smooth on the road. I will buy again. Just looking at the tire I can already guess they will be useless in all but 1 inch of snow.

Haven't had much snow in Vancouver and not uncommon to pass through winter with out any. It's really a "up to you" if you wanna spend over $1000 on wheels and snow tires if your just a city slicker and don't venture out to the valley.

 

Tires for those who have the 2.0T Does anyone who drives the Sante Fe 2.0 hate the OEM Continentals? They seem to hydroplane easily in rain and they are not that great in the snow. Might replace mine before they wear out. Any suggestions?

I'm just curious why you excluded the 2.4 from this thread. The 2.4s come with Continental tires as well.
John

 

Cont. are great. I bought Nokian winter tires. No problems with either.