Are you looking for new reliable winter tires that deliver the best performance? Continental vs Bridgestone Blizzak, two line-ups of snow tires that can withstand even the toughest conditions. Let’s see how they compare!
Blackcircles Canada tells you all about these brands and their features. Be sure to discover our vast inventory of Continental and Bridgestone tires online! With blackcircles, purchasing new tires is easy!
Continental Snow Tires
The German brand Continental offers several excellent winter tire models, including:
The Viking Contact 7, designed for sedans and SUVs and with sizes ranging from 15 to 22 inches
Named one of the best in its class on icy and snowy surfaces by numerous tests, the Viking Contact 7 features a silica compound with canola oil that delivers great flexibility. What’s more, its 3D sipes and directional tread pattern generate great traction and a quiet ride.
The WinterContact TS860 S is a tire designed to sports cars and SUVs
It features a robust center rib, rigid blocks and a unique siping pattern. These features give it exceptional handling on dry roads, while its grooves and edges improve its performance on snow.
The WinterContact SI is a winter tire for cars and SUVs
It features the PolarPlus + technology, a unique rubber compound that remains flexible even in extreme temperatures. It also features more biting grooves. In short, it offers better performance on all surfaces and reduces braking distances. What’s more, its alignment indicators allows you to quickly correct the tires’ positioning when needed.
The ContiCrossContact line-up includes several models, such as the Winter
The Winter was designed for winter driving for SUVs and light trucks. Very effective on snow and ice, it also features a new tread compound that increases its lifespan.
The ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus is an all-season tire designed for high-performance cars
It also features SportPlus + technology, which improves its handling and grip on wet roads for a more precise and controlled ride. Its chamfered edges and rigid shoulder blocks optimize road contact, while the QuickView indicators make it easy to measure tread wear.
In short, if you're looking for winter or all-season tires, Continental offers several excellent choices for all types of vehicles. With their great performance and their reliance on new technologies, Continental winter tires have earned a reputation thanks to the excellent traction they offer regardless of road conditions.
Bridgestone Snow Tires
Bridgestone is renowned for the high quality of its tires. Its winter tires, sold under the name Blizzak, include several models with different features and advantages:
The Blizzak WS-90 is a tire for coupes, sedans, vans and SUVs
It owes its exceptional performance on water to its new hydrophilic compound, which sucks up water before ejecting it. This chemical compound, called Multi-Cell, reduces braking distances, especially on wet roads. It also features 3D zigzag sipes, a directional tread and rigid blocks to deliver exceptional performance in all winter conditions.
The Blizzak DM-V2 is a tire designed for SUVs, vans and pickups and is available in sizes from 15 to 20 inches
Like the WS-90, it features the new Multi-Cell tread compound for optimized performance. With 15% stiffer blocks than the previous generation, it also offers increased stability, especially on dry roads. Its directional pattern and wide grooves help evacuate water and snow.
The Blizzak LT was designed for the light trucks and commercial vans
The commercial-grade tread compound includes zig-zag center grooves for better traction on wet and snowy surfaces. Its rugged shoulder blocks generate great handling and stability in all conditions.
The Blizzak LM-32 and LM-60 are winter tires for luxury and high-performance vehicles
The Blizzak LM-32 and LM-60 are winter tires for luxury and high-performance vehicles. The LM-32 features wide shoulder blocks for greater cornering precision and improved handling. Its high-density sipes also make it effective on snow and ice. The LM-60, suitable all types of sports cars, features biting edges and circumferential grooves for increased stability.
Bridgestone’s line of snow tires offers several specialized models for almost all types of vehicles. Thanks to its focus on developing advanced technologies, the Japanese manufacturer offers high-quality tires ready to take on the winter.
How Do the 2 Brands Compare?
For one thing, Continental and Bridgestone are certainly among the biggest leaders in the tire industry. Whichever tire model you choose, chances are you'll be very satisfied.
We can compare several models with similar properties, such as the Continental Viking Contact 7 and the Bridgestone Blizzak WS-90, which are designed for the same types of cars. While both are excellent for winter driving, they differ from each other in certain ways.
For its part, the WS-90 stands out with better braking and handling on wet roads. In fact, it is one of the best in its class in this category. Its hydrophilic Multi-Cell compound is particularly effective against hydroplaning. As for the Continental, it is the more effective on snow and ice thanks to its more flexible compound. It also stands out for its quieter ride.
As for tires for larger vehicles, we can compare the Bridgestone DM-V2 and the ContiCrossContact Winter. According to The Car Guide, while the Bridgestone DM-V2 is very effective in winter conditions, its performance on wet and dry roads is average. However, it did rank among the top winter tires.
On the other hand, the German magazine Auto Zeitung Allrad ranked the ContiCrossContact Winter as first in its class on dry roads, noting its excellent winter performance. It also distinguished itself from the competition with its low rolling resistance, which results in remarkable fuel savings.
Let’s now compare performance tires such as Continental's WinterContact TS 860 S and Bridgestone's Blizzak LM-32 or LM-60. While both offer excellent overall performance, the latter are more capable on dry and wet roads.
As for commercial vehicles, Bridgestone offers the LT tire while Continental offers an all-season tire, the ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus. Your choice of Continental vs Bridgestone Blizzak snow tires will therefore depend on your needs and your driving habits.
By choosing either of these two manufacturers, you will be backed by a great warranty. Bridgestone offers a Buy & Try satisfaction guarantee of up to 90 days as well as a Standard or Platinum Pact limited warranty.
As for Continental, it offers a satisfaction guarantee of up to 60 days and a warranty against road hazards and roadside assistance for 3 years at no extra charge, in addition to the standard warranty.
Technology Comparison
When comparing the main features of Continental vs. Bridgestone Blizzak snow tires, you will certainly have noticed that both manufacturers develop their own technologies. While Continental develops more varied and dedicated technologies for specific tires, Bridgestone focuses on improving the basics.
For example, its highly effective new Multi-Cell technology is featured in most of its models. Some Bridgestone models do not focus on new technologies, but are instead more traditional in their approach and focus on design quality. Bridgestone has also put a special emphasis on eco-friendliness, and in fact 3 factories have reached the zero waste-to-landfill objective!
As for Continental, they highlight their "German technology" more often, with technologies such as SportPlus+, PolarPlus+ and QuickView indicators, among others. Also of note is the ContiSilent technology, available on 16 models, which provides significant noise reduction.
When comparing similar tires such as the Blizzak WS-90 and Continental's VikingContact, the difference often comes from their use of are certain technologies.
For example, Continental tires offer the Run Flat technology, which allows you to keep driving for some time after a puncture. This technology is not available on the WS-90. Note that some Bridgestone models also offer this technology, and in fact the Japanese manufacturer was the first to offer it on tires for SUVs and minivans.
In addition, the German manufacturer is currently working on integrating sensors into the tread, which would assist self-driving vehicles. We can truly say that innovation is at the heart of both companies, but they each pursue it in their own way. If you want get your hands on tires of the highest quality, you can’t go wrong with either one!
At blackcircles Canada you can always find the best tires in the industry at the lowest prices on the market!
