Despite a strong overall score, IceContact 3 stands out for an unusual reason—it struggles on ice, a surprising shortcoming for a studded tire. At just 25 km/h, its stopping distance on ice is already a car length behind the top competitors, and this gap increases significantly as speed rises. However, Continental shines on dry roads, delivering class-leading braking distances on both wet and dry asphalt. The steering feel on dry surfaces is also the best, providing calm and predictable behavior in corners or during sudden emergency situations—qualities that carry over to snowy conditions as well. Unfortunately, its ice grip remains a major disappointment.

Securing fifth place, the Continental IceContact 3 offers a mix of strengths and limitations. On ice, it provides sharp steering response, but grip on the rear axle can be lost during critical maneuvers. Snow performance is steady and dependable, while on asphalt, the IceContact 3 truly shines, earning recognition as the best in its class. Additionally, it boasts strong directional stability, though it has the highest rolling resistance among the tested tires. For drivers who need reliable performance across mixed winter conditions, the IceContact 3 delivers a balanced experience with standout asphalt handling.

The Continental IceContact 3 faced significant point deductions due to its high rolling resistance, which impacted its fuel efficiency. However, that wasn’t its only shortcoming. Experts were unimpressed with its ice grip, indicating that the tire’s performance on icy surfaces was well below expectations. In fact, they went as far as to recommend replacing this model as soon as possible for those who prioritize safety on winter roads. While Continental is known for quality, the IceContact 3 fell short in this round of testing, highlighting areas where improvement is needed.

The Continental IceContact 3, ranking fifth, excels in snow handling, wet and dry pavement handling, and maintains a low noise level. However, its performance in ice traction and braking is notably inferior, falling behind other premium tires and even comparable to lower-priced brands like Goodride. While these tires adeptly inform the driver about reaching adhesion limits and maintain control at the onset of a skid, their weak performance on ice and high price point make them a less attractive option despite their excellent asphalt performance, which includes ease of handling and stability.

A standout for its impeccable handling on icy and snowy terrains. While its braking grip on ice could be better, its overall winter road performance ranks high. However, its higher rolling resistance is something to note.

• Pros: Stellar winter road performance, unmatched grip on snow.
• Cons: Elevated rolling resistance.

The Continental IceContact 3 shows exceptional performance in snow braking, achieving a perfect score, which highlights its effectiveness in snowy conditions. It also performs well in snow handling. However, the tire's performance on ice, particularly in ice braking, is less impressive than expected for a studded tire. Additionally, it struggles in wet and dry braking and shows only moderate resistance to straight aquaplaning. The tire also has a very high rolling resistance, impacting its fuel efficiency significantly.

On an ice-covered surface, the Continental Ice Contact 3 has a high level of longitudinal traction, but in terms of lateral stability it is slightly inferior to some of the competitors; at the same time the tire has a pleasant handling response. On snow, the tire quickly responds to the driver’s inputs, but during an abrupt maneuver the grip on the rear wheels. On wet pavement, the Continental tire has a delayed steering response, but makes no unpleasant surprises, while on dry pavement the tire sometimes lacks lateral grip in corners, and the dry braking distance is also relatively long. The noise level is average (by the standards of studded tires), the rolling resistance is high.

Good hydroplaning resistance. Low noise emission. Good handling performance under loads. Reduced ice grip. Relatively long braking distance on all types of surfaces.

Short braking distance and good handling response on snow.

Positive: Good balance of performance. Good grip and good handling on snow.
Negative: Poor handling on dry asphalt.

Positive: Reliable for emergency maneuvers on asphalt. Good grip on snow.
Negative: Surprisingly weak grip on ice.

Short braking distance and good handling response on snow. Very strong lateral grip on wet pavement. Average performance on ice. Very long braking distance on dry pavement. The tires have problems tackling emergency maneuvers on asphalt.

Positive: Consistently high performance on all types of surfaces.
Negative: Lower ice traction compared to top-class winter tires.

EXCLUDED
Performance on ice and snow: Stable behavior on snow. Comfortable handling response even on snow. High level of traction in any conditions.
Performance on asphalt: Short stopping distance. Comfortable handling response in the wet. Average performance during emergency maneuvers.

Positive: Short stopping distance and good lateral stability on ice (but a risk of a skid during an emergency maneuver). Good handling and overall control on snow. Good handling response on asphalt.

IceContact3 is a completely different tire compared to last year. And it is more than the spikes that have been changed.

Positive: Good performance on all surfaces.
Negative: Not as good grip on ice as the best.

Positive: Best traverse grip on ice, straight grip on snow; excellent handling on ice; good wet braking.
Negative: Minor issues with handling response on snow and during active maneuvering.

Positive: Exceptionally high grip and great handling response on snow and ice. Negative: Less-than-perfect road holding ability that influences the riding comfort (falls short of the previous-generation tires in this respect). High price. The winner among the spiked tires.

The new continentals indeed turned out to be a model that was engineered with a maximum grip on ice and snow in mind. These tires are made from a very soft rubber compound, and in reality they are even softer than the studless Nokian tires. Thanks to this, it was possible to increase the tires’ winter traction, while the new rubber-coated studs contributed, among other things, to decreasing the noise level. The continentals were also the quickest to bring the car to a full stop on wet pavement, but it must be mentioned that their softness did them a bad turn when it came to dry pavement tests. In addition, the experts noted that, for all intents and purposes, these tires will be wearing down quickly.