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ContiSportContact 3 285/35R18

Continental ContiSportContact 3 285/35R18; UTQG, warranty, prices, and OEM vehicle fitments.

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NHTSA-reported issues for continental ContiSportContact 3 285/35R18

2,312
Complaints
73
Crashes
67
Injuries
1
Deaths

Top issue category: Tires (General)

Most reported: Tires (General) (1156) · Tread / Belt (609) · Sidewall (451) · TPMS (36) · Valve (30)

What owners described

Sidewall failure appears in 26% of these reports; about 1.8× as often as across all tire complaints. Percentages are shares of the 1,668 reports covering every model year of the Continental that include a written account; a single report can describe more than one problem, so they do not total 100%.

Reported problemThis subjectAll tire complaintsRelative
Sidewall failure 26% 15% 1.8×
Blowout or sudden deflation 25% 20% 1.3×
Tread or belt separation 12% 13% 0.9×
Bubble or bulge in the tire 11% 6% 1.8×
Cracking or dry rot 8% 9% 0.9×
Loss of control, rollover or collision 7% 8% 0.9×

Mileage at failure

1,019 of these reports state an odometer reading. The middle report is at 18,000 miles, with 8 in 10 falling between 3,000 and 43,993 miles.

In owners' own words

Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA about Continental. Reports are published by NHTSA as filed and are lightly cleaned here only to remove intake codes.

TL - THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 NISSAN ALTIMA EQUIPPED WITH CONTINENTAL TIRES, LINE: CONTI PRO CONTACT, SIZE: 215/45/17. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH, THE LOW TIRE PRESSURE WARNING LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED. THE TIRE AFFECTED WAS ALWAYS BOTH REAR TIRES. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO DEALER FOR INSPECTION. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 15,000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 21,000. DR

NHTSA complaint 1006086

TIRE VIBRATION WAS NOTED WHILE DRIVING ON INTERSTATE. STOPPED TO CHECK PRESSURE ON ALL TIRES AND WAS FINE. CHECKED AGAIN A FEW HOURS LATER AND WAS FINE. AFTER DRIVING APPROX 20 MILES DOWN INTERSTATE THE FRONT PASSENGER TIRE BLEW CAUSING SEVERE BODY DAMAGE TO 2011 FORD F250 PICKUP. SERVICE TRUCK WAS CALLED TO CHANGE TIRE DUE TO BRING UNABLE TO LOOSEN LUG NUTS. SERVICEMAN ALSO RECONNECTED ANTILOCK BRAKES WHICH CAME UNHOOKED WHEN TIRE BLEW. THE NEXT DAY THE LOCAL TIRE SHOP CHECKED OTHER TIRES AND FOUND THAT THE DRIVERS FRONT TIRE TREAD IS SEPARATING. BETWEEN 14/32-15/32NDS TREAD REAMAINING ON THESE FACTORY TIRES WITH 27000 MILES ON THEM.

NHTSA complaint 1011692

TIRE VIBRATION WAS NOTED WHILE DRIVING ON INTERSTATE. STOPPED TO CHECK PRESSURE ON ALL TIRES AND WAS FINE. CHECKED AGAIN A FEW HOURS LATER AND WAS FINE. AFTER DRIVING APPROX 20 MILES DOWN INTERSTATE THE FRONT PASSENGER TIRE BLEW CAUSING SEVERE BODY DAMAGE TO 2011 FORD F250 PICKUP. SERVICE TRUCK WAS CALLED TO CHANGE TIRE DUE TO BRING UNABLE TO LOOSEN LUG NUTS. SERVICEMAN ALSO RECONNECTED ANTILOCK BRAKES WHICH CAME UNHOOKED WHEN TIRE BLEW. THE NEXT DAY THE LOCAL TIRE SHOP CHECKED OTHER TIRES AND FOUND THAT THE DRIVERS FRONT TIRE TREAD IS SEPARATING. BETWEEN 14/32-15/32NDS TREAD REAMAINING ON THESE FACTORY TIRES WITH 27000 MILES ON THEM.

NHTSA complaint 1011693

I PURCHASED A 2013 HONDA CIVIC EX EQUIPPED WITH CONTINENTAL CONTI PRO CONTACT TIRES SIZE 205/55R16 H. I IMMEDIATELY BEGAN HAVING PROBLEMS WITH A TIRE LOOSING NITROGEN PRESSURE AND SETTING OFF THE TPMS. I RETURNED THE CAR TO MY HONDA DEALER WHO COULD NOT FIND ANY EXPLANATION WHY THE TIRE WAS LOOSING PRESSURE. A MONTH LATER WITH ONLY 1500 MILES ON THE CAR AND TIRES, THE SAME TIRE SIDEWALL BLEW OUT WITH JUST NORMAL DRIVING. CONTINENTAL TIRE WILL NOT WARRANTY ANY SIDEWALL PROBLEM AS THEY FALSELY QUALIFY ALL SIDEWALL PROBLEMS AS ROAD HAZARD. NOW I AM CONCERNED THAT THESE TIRES ARE UNSAFE TO DRIVE. I HAVE NEVER HAD A TIRE OF ANY BRAND JUST BLOW OUT A SIDEWALL, LET ALONE A BRAND NEW TIRE.

NHTSA complaint 1013414

Complaints are voluntarily submitted to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation and are not verified by NHTSA; they represent owner-reported problems, not proven defects. Counts can be useful as a relative quality signal across comparable tires or vehicles.

Specs

BrandContinental
ModelContiSportContact 3 285/35R18
SeasonN/A
TypeN/A
UTQG treadwearN/A
UTQG tractionN/A
UTQG temperatureN/A
Mileage warrantyN/A
Noise (dB)N/A
IntroducedN/A

Live prices

Live prices for this tire are being verified. Use the shop links below to compare across our online retailer partners.

Available sizes (1)

Continental ContiSportContact 3 285/35R18: what the numbers tell you

Manufacturer treadwear data for the ContiSportContact 3 285/35R18 is not publicly listed. This is common for OEM-only or track-day tires that don't carry a US treadwear warranty. No mileage warranty is published for this tire, which is typical for performance summer and track-day rubber where the manufacturer doesn't make wear-life claims.

Cabin noise data for this tire is not published by the manufacturer. As a general tire built for the passenger segment, the ContiSportContact 3 285/35R18 is positioned against direct rivals within the same category. Comparing it to a tire in a different category (e.g. summer vs all-season) makes the spec sheet misleading because the design targets are not the same.

The Continental ContiSportContact 3 285/35R18 has been part of Continental's catalog since its introduction, and remains a current-production model.

For an apples-to-apples comparison against direct rivals, see the comparison pages linked from this tire's brand index.

OEM fitment

Vehicles that ship with this tire

Last verified 2026-09-02.