The Bridgestone Turanza All Season 6 and the Continental AllSeasonContact 2 are both exemplary contenders in the grand touring all-weather category, each offering a unique blend of performance, handling, and comfort. Let’s see if they are what you’re looking for.
Table of Contents
Main Findings
Being a tire engineer my evaluations show that Bridgestone Turanza AS6:
- Provides the best wet braking performance, in its grand touring all-weather tires category.
- Also leads (comparatively) in terms of overall wet handling and steering responsiveness.
- Excels in snow handling.
- Provides superior fuel economy, (which is another strong point for this tire, actually).
Meanwhile, Continental ASC 2 shines in the following categories:
- It provides one of the best performance when it comes to noise comfort.
- Offers longer tread life, with its more durable construction.
- Provides slightly better resistance to hydroplaning with its more voided up structure.
View Detailed Discussion on AllSeasonContact 2.
Specs of Their Sizes
| Specs | Turanza All Season 6 | All Season Contact 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Total Sizes | 85 (16 to 21 inches) | 75 (15 to 21 inches) |
| Speed Ratings | H, V, W, Y | T, H, V, W, Y |
| Load Ratings | SL, XL | SL, XL |
| Tread Depth | 11.5/32″ | 10/32″ |
| Weight Range | 25 to 36 lbs | 20 to 45 lbs |
| Winter Ratings | 3PMSF, M+S | 3PMSF, M+S |
| Key Technology | ENLITEN | ContiSeal |
Here’s a hint: My main all-season tire page is your gateway to the best tire choices.
Wet Performance
My evaluation of the overall wet performance entailed testing both tires for their wet grip, handling, and resistance to hydroplaning. Let’s take a closer look at each feature.
Wet Traction
Both tires really hold their own in wet conditions. And their performance is all about sipes and grooves.
Think of grooves as the main paths for getting rid of water, while sipes are like little sponges soaking up any leftover moisture. These sipes flex and work like a vacuum, sucking up water so the rubber can keep its grip on the road.
Now, when it comes to wet braking, the Turanza All Season 6 is actually the star performer in its grand touring all-season category especially when it comes to braking.
We’re talking about its 60 to 0 mph braking tests where it leaves other tires pretty far behind. And this superior performance is all thanks to its killer combo of top-notch full-depth siping and a softer tread compound, which means it’s better at slurping up water and sticking to the road.
On the flip side, the Continental AllSeasonContact 2 has a bit of a slip-and-slide issue, mostly because its sipes aren’t as flexible (relatively speaking here). Sure, it’s got a bunch of interlocking (U and Plus shaped) sipes, but its stiffer rubber doesn’t do it any favors.
But hey, the difference between the two isn’t massive, in terms of wet handling and steering I mean. And that’s because of the Continental’s superior hydroplaning resistance. Let me explain it in the next section.
Aquaplaning Resistance
While sipes do their job at removing moisture at a smaller scale, the grooves come up-front taking out bulk of water in the first place.
And how well they do it keep the tires from floating or hydroplaning.
Now, both the tires we’re looking at are pretty solid in this department. They’ve got these V-shaped lugs that work like very efficient water canals, moving water from the center of the tire to the edges (particularly). So you get decent float speeds with both boys here.
Though, if we’re nitpicking, the All Season Contact 2 still edges out a bit in front. Why? Well because it’s got better connections between its grooves and a deeper tread depth. What this means is, it can achieve slightly higher speeds before it starts hydroplaning.
Though advantage holds up particularly when rolling straight though and not so much in curved/cornering scenarios, where both tires actually perform equally (ending up showing similar curved float speeds, as they call it).
Overall Ride Comfort
Assessing ride quality involves examining two aspects: the tires’ ability to reduce road noise and their aptitude for smoothing out road imperfections. Let’s take a closer look at both.
Noise Comfort
Tire road noise is all about how the air decides to party with the tread.
Here’s what happens: as the tire rolls, air rushes in through the shoulder gaps and slams into the tread blocks. This is what creates that tire hum we all know.
Now out of both tires here, the Continental All Season Contact 2 is a much quieter option. This is because this tire provides superior pitch sequencing.
What’s that? Well its actually a design feature of its tread where lugs are arranged in a way that noise generated is converted in to various tones. And their frequencies cancel out the amplitude of each other waves, lowering overall noise as seen by its smaller decibel readings on my tests.
That’s on the paper. While for my subjective evaluations the Continental only generates a minor hum, something you’ll notice more at speeds under 40 mph. Hit the highway, though, and this sound just kind of melts into the background, especially over 60 mph.
On the flip side, the Bridgestone Turanza All Season 6 is one of the loudest tire in its grand touring category. It gives out a more prominent and higher-pitched two tone sounds. This is actually because of its rubber, which is more susceptible to echoing (of the produced sound-waves).
Fun fact: If you’re wonder which one is the quietest grand touring option, my tests show that its Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF2. You can check out this tire here – https://tiredriver.com/pirelli-cinturato-all-season-sf2-review/
Road Smoothness
When it comes to feeling comfy on the road, it mostly comes down to how tire’s are build, including:
- Inner and outer construction.
- Rubber composition and tread pattern.
And this is where both tires are neck and neck ending up with similar “subjective” comfort scores in my book.
They both strike this sweet spot between being comfortable and having good control. And they handle the big bumps like a pro and soften the little ones, making for a ride that’s pretty smooth sailing.
But here’s a little curveball with some sizes of the AllSeasonContact 2, especially those having Conti-Seal System the performance is slightly lacking.
This is because this “system” stiffens up the tire a bit on the inside. Sure it allows tires to bear the weight of (heavier) electric vehicles but it also makes the ride a little more rigid comparatively.
So avoid those sizes if you’re prioritizing comfort (and not having an electric car).
Dry Performance
Two critical aspects, longitudinal grip and handling, dictate the overall dry performance of tires. Let’s examine each of these aspects thoroughly.
Directional Grip
The performance of a tire’s directional grip is significantly influenced by the interaction between the rubber and the road surface, particularly from tread’s central footprint. But why this area? Well because it contacts the road, the most, while the tire rolls straight like on highways.
This understanding sheds light on why the new Bridgestone Turanza All Season 6 tire demonstrates superior overall performance, showcasing better braking (which is how this grip is calculated).
On average the tire stops slightly just shy of a foot, in my 60 to 0 mph tests compared to Continental.
The enhanced performance of Turanza largely stems from its better engineered contact patch and a tread design with fewer voids, ensuring increased rubber-to-road contact.
Additionally, the tire’s reduced weight is also benefiting the tire.
This is because heavier tires like the AllSeasonContact 2, generate more momentum, necessitating extra force to decelerate. Meaning the tire takes longer to stop in comparison.
Overall Handling
In essence, a tire’s overall handling is predominantly determined by its lateral grip and steering responsiveness.
Lateral grip primarily arises from the tire’s shoulders and sidewalls, the edges. This is because, during a turn, the vehicle’s weight shifts to the opposite side, making the shoulders the key point of contact with the road.
Now, comparing both tires in terms of traction, as measured by their lateral G-forces, they appear quite similar. And so the Turanza All Season 6 standing out in handling, comes down to its superior steering response. The tire takes about a second faster to complete same lap as the Continental.
It’s superior responsiveness is attributed to its more sophisticated internal structure having powerful integration of spirally-wound nylon cords, boosting its mid-cornering stability particularly.
Moreover, as the Bridgestone tire features smoother and more curving V-shaped grooves with a better contact patch it allows for a more fluid weight transition across the tire’s shoulders and central ribs during cornering, improving under and oversteering balance.
In comparison, the Continental AllSeasonContact 2 lags slightly in this aspect. This is partly due to its relatively heavier weight and more voids in the tread.
This increased weight places more strain on the tread lugs, making them more susceptible to bending. And such bending is consequential as deformed lugs take time to return to their original shape, creating a delay between steering inputs and output.
Though the difference between the two boys here is particularly noticeable when comparing (Continental) sizes equipped with ContiSeal technology. Though this technology enhances durability, it also adds to the tire’s weight.
Winter Performance
Winter performance is a strong suit of both these all-weather tires here.
I mean they just do great in all key areas, offering superb braking, traction and overall handling in both icy and snowy conditions.
Plus, both of these tires come with the cool 3-peak mountain snowflake rating. That’s like a badge of honor, meaning they’re at least 10% better in snowy conditions than your standard touring all-season tires. (View more info on 3pmsf and m+s ratings).
So it makes sense why both tires here end up with literally the same overall scores, according to my subjective evaluations and technical tests.
But, if we’re splitting hairs, the Continental has a teeny advantage in acceleration and braking on light snow. Meanwhile, the Turanza All Season 6 gets a slight nod for better handling in the fluffy stuff.
Why? Well, the AllSeasonContact 2 offers these U-shaped blocks in the central tread area, making for awesome snow-to-snow contact. On the other hand, the Bridgestone has its shoulders designed just right for snow, getting a better grip there.
And why’s this snow contact so important? Well it’s all about the snow sticking to itself better than it does to rubber. So, how a tire grabs and holds onto snow really matters, and these two do a pretty stellar job at it.
To Sum Up
So which tire to pick here? Well, it’s about finding the right balance for your needs as both options have their strengths, meaning there’s no one-size-fits-all winner.
The Turanza All Season 6 is a pretty nice all-weather tire especially when it comes to wet braking and fuel economy. Though the tire really lacks in terms of noise comfort.
But yes it offers just as great of the impact comfort performance.
On the other hand, the AllSeasonContact 2’s best performance aspect is its reduction to noise. And although the tire lacks to Bridgestone in terms of overall wet handling and traction, it still provides slightly better resistance to hydroplaning.
Moreover, its a better tire to have in terms of tread longevity too. And provides you with slightly better snow acceleration and braking. Though it lacks to Turanza AS6 in terms of snow handling.
