Continental Sport Contact 7 vs Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport: From our previous dual involving Continental’s Sport Contact 7, the Sport Contact 7 truly impress us with its superior wet & dry braking performances. In this head to head battle, we would like to call upon another household name in the ultra ultra high performance range in the form of Goodyear’s Eagle F1 Super Sport. The Goodyear was release in 2018 and has been around the block for quite some time. Let’s see how well this “old guard” matches against the new launched Sport Contact 7.
Table of Contents
Results
Results below were taken from the 2022 Tyre Reviews UHP summer tire test. A total of 10 tires were tested on the Continental track in Germany. The graph below shows the comparison between Sport Contact 7 vs Eagle F1 Super Sport based on the relevant performance category. The Eagle F1 Super Sport was set as a reference hence at the 100% mark.
Note that for subjective comfort evaluation, we equate 1 point as 5%. Hence for example if the tire A is graded 7 while tire B is graded 6, A is better than B by 5%. The natural scaling does not really make sense in evaluation whereby the max number is 5. The tire size of interest is a mixed fitment 255/35 R19 and 275/35 R19 rear tires which is a common tire size for high end sporty cars such as Audi A5 Sportback & Mercedes-Benz C 300. You can check out our latest tire size table for more information.
Dry
One of the most important performance when it comes to the ultra ultra high performance segment is to have a very strong dry showing. It was not surprising that the Sport Contact 7 was clearly better in dry braking as we have seen from the previous dual. Sport Contact 7 managed to out brake the Eagle F1 Super Sport by 1.89m.
Even though both of the tires were only separated by 0.02 seconds in the dry handling lap times, there is a clearly a clear favorite when it comes to subjective handling. According to the test driver, The Eagle F1 Super Sport has “quick steering, loads of lateral grip, lovely controllability at the limit” which made it very fun to drive. Even though the Sport Contact 7 has clear dry braking capabilities, it still could not beat the Eagle F1 Super Sport in terms of overall subjective handling.
Sport Contact 7:
- +5.7% in dry braking
- 0% in dry handling
Wet
Safety has always been the main theme when it comes to the need for wet performances. Sport Contact 7 totally destroy the Eagle F1 Super Sport in both wet braking & wet handling. This was truly the biggest deficit in the whole test whereby the Eagle Super Sport was out braked by the Sport Contact 7 close to 7m. This translates to a deficit of 13% in wet braking. Sport Contact 7 was also miles ahead in wet handling with a difference of 10 seconds in lap time. True to its promise of increase wet capability, Sport Contact 7 managed to dominate every single competitor in the test.
If there is any sliver lining for the Eagle F1 Super Sport, it was the aquaplaning performances. Sport Contact 7 was 1.6% in straight aquaplaning while the Eagle F1 Super Sport had a 2.8% edge in curved aquaplaning.
Sport Contact 7:
- +13% in wet braking
- +12.9% in wet handling
- +1.6% in straight aquaplaning
- -2.8% in curved aquaplaning
Noise & Comfort
In the noise vibration & hardness criteria, Sport Contact 7 takes the lead. Sport Contact 7 was more comfortable with a subjective rating of 9/10. The Eagle F1 Super Sport was -0.5 points down at a rating of 8.5/10. While the Sport Contact 7 is also better in exterior noise by being 1.4 dB quieter than Eagle F1 Super Sport.
Sport Contact 7:
- +1.9% in exterior noise (+1.4 dB)
- +2.5% in comfort
Rolling Resistance
When it comes to extreme sporty tires, rolling resistance is definitely not something the user has in mind when purchasing the tire. However with the sustainability topic being more prevalent, it is good to know where they stand. Both tires were equally matched with the Eagle F1 Super Sport having an slight edge of 0.5% against the Sport Contact 7.
Sport Contact 7:
- -0.5% in rolling resistance
Price
Both tires were priced in the similar region with the Eagle F1 Super Sport just slightly cheaper than the Sport Contact 7.
Tire size: 255/35 R19
Eagle F1 Super Sport : €145
Sport Contact 7: €152
Difference: +5% more expensive for Sport Contact 7.
Summary
With its newest updated package, Continental’s Sport Contact 7 truly takes a commanding lead over it rivals. In this case against the Eagle F1 Super Sport, it has shown clear strengths in almost all domains. While the Eagle F1 Super Sport has the highest praise in subjective dry handling, the other performances are relatively disappointing. Overall from our point of view the clear winner is the Sport Contact 7 with its overall well balance package!