Toyo vs Continental Tires
If you want the very best tires money can buy, you are likely going to come across brands such as Toyo and Continental. These two tire giants have been around for quite a while and it seems like they are not going anywhere anytime soon. In the world of almost endless tire options, it’s hard to choose what is best for you.
However, in our Toyo vs Continental tires comparison, we are going to help you narrow down your choices to these two brands. We are also going to tell you what makes them so big and all the tire families they offer. We are going to compare them in different categories to see which one comes out on top.
Finally, we are going to tell you why you should go for one over the other. No matter what happens, we can already say that it is difficult to make a wrong choice by going with either of these two as both of them offer impressive tires for various applications.
Toyo History
The 1950s were a fairly difficult time for Japan. After the horrors of the second world war ended, companies were only starting to pick up the pieces and trying to recover their facilities. Some of them managed to do so by themselves, but Toyo Tires company was a direct result of a rubber company merging with an industrial manufacturing company as that was the only way any of these two could survive.
Since the merger took place, Toyo was adamant about innovating extensively and slowly pushing the boundaries of what was possible in the world of tires. By the time the 1960s came, Toyo was already expanding into the US thanks to innovative solutions and clever manufacturing processes. Nowadays Toyo has facilities across the US with an almost one million square foot warehouse in California.
Toyo is mostly known for its off-road and motorsport tires which long have been part of many prestigious racing events. Toyo drag radial tires are pretty much iconic and can commonly be seen across drag strips across the USA. However, Toyo also has a lot to offer for regular passenger cars, especially touring tires.
One of the key reasons why Toyo is such a successful tire company today is because they never stopped innovating and pushing the industry forward with each new product.
Toyo Tire Families
As we already mentioned in the previous section, Toyo is best known for its high-performance tires which somewhat limit your choices when it comes to everyday tires. However, that is not to say that you can’t find great daily tire options for both passenger cars and SUVs.
Extensa
The Toyo Extensa family of tires is designed with value in mind which means that they wanted to offer you the longest possible thread life, but without costing obscene amounts of money. They managed to do this by limiting the choices to just two different tires. One of these tires is designed to fit on everything which means that you can find it in pretty much any size. The other one is solely designed for performance cars.
Proxes
If you want a great high-performance tire that will make your sports car feel like it is glued to the road, you should consider buying Toyo Proxes tires. The Proxes lineup is probably one of the most popular Toyo tire options because they have been around for quite a while. The Proxes lineup offers about a dozen different tires to tailor your experience as precisely as possible.
You can choose between a myriad of high-performance all-season tires, high-performance summer tires, or even ultra-high-performance racing semi-slick and full-on slick tires.
Open Country
Open Country is the main Toyo tire line designed to fit on just about any car with higher ground clearance. Open Country is the standard off-road/adventure tire and these are really popular with both SUV and truck drivers in the US. These are also designed to fit crossovers, Baja racers, and hardcore rock-crawling buggies.
The Open Country lineup also consists of about a dozen different tires and each of them offers either a slightly more adventurous or a slightly more comfortable option.
Observe
The Toyo Observe tire lineup is structured in the same way as the Extensa lineup which means that it offers two different tire choices. Both of these tires are made with winter driving in mind, but the difference is that one is studded and the other one is just a regular winter tire. Studded tires make a lot of sense if you often traverse over icy roads, but if you are not, you are better off with regular winter tires.
M-Line
The M-Line Toyo tire is a commercial-grade tire made for those who want a dependable all-season tire that can do just about anything you throw at it. It may not be the most comfortable nor the quietest tire you can get, but it is able to do its job during summer and winter thanks to a 3PSMF rating.
Celsius
The Toyo Celsius lineup is also fairly popular because these tires are designed with all-weather touring use in mind. There are four different types, one is for regular passenger cars, the second is for SUVs, the third one is for crossovers, and the fourth and final one is commercial-grade. These are the type of tires most people would get for everyday applications.
H-Line
The H-Line of Toyo tires is one most people aren’t even aware of. That is because it only comes with a single tire option that is made for commercial vans and trucks. It is called the HO8+ and is a relatively popular tire in the commercial world.
Continental History
The Continental tire company is actually one of the oldest and most continuous tire companies out there. Continental traces its roots back to the 1870s when they were a successful rubber compound company manufacturing all sorts of rubber products in Hanover Germany. The very first tire venture by Continental was marked with an innovative plain tread tire design which immediately put Continental on the map.
However, Continental did not stop there as they were also the ones who got us grooved tires. When the 2000s rolled around the corner, Continental was acquired by Schaeffler AG which pushed Continental to play it safe by improving on what they already had.
One of the goals of Continental is to make the tire industry as eco-friendly as possible and that is why they were the very first to design, implement, and develop a completely new form of polymer tread which completely eliminated the dependency on rubber trees which were and still are really difficult to grow.
We can wholeheartedly say that Continental is a true heavyweight in the tire industry because they make some of the most comfortable and quietest tires money can buy.
Continental Tire Families
Continental offers a wide array of tires for many different occasions, but a clear emphasis is immediately apparent. Continental prioritizes comfort, luxury, and quietness and that is why they make some of the world’s most focused tires, but also some of the world’s most seamless tires.
ExtremeContact
The Continental ExtremeContact tire lineup offers high-performance tires for sports cars, passenger cars, SUVs, crossovers, and even trucks. There are about twelve different ExtremeContact variations depending on the type of car and season. Nine out of twelve options are summer tires, three of them are all-season tires as Continental does not offer a dedicated winter tire within the ExtremeContact family.
These are the tires to go for if you want to maximize performance, but without suffering significant losses in the comfort department.
CrossContact
We have already mentioned that Continental makes some of the world’s most comfortable and quiet tires which means that touring tires should be Continental’s specialty, and that is indeed true. The Continental CrossContact premium all-season touring tire is what Continental does best as these tires can be fitted to various cars and all of them are quiet, comfortable, and long-lasting.
PureContact
The Continental CrossContact is an incredibly comfortable tire, but if you want to maximize your comfort and quietness, you will have to go for the Continental PureContact tire. These tires are more on the luxury side of things which is apparent the moment you see the price. They are backed with various innovative technologies which make them perfect for those who just want to relax.
TrueContact
The Continental TrueContact is also a touring tire, but it differs from the previous two versions because it is made to last. The PureContact tire prioritizes luxury, the CrossContact tire prioritizes versatility, and the TrueContact tire prioritizes longevity. These are perfect for those who do lots of highway miles because they are designed to cope with such environments better than most tires out there.
TerrainContact
Continental has also made its mark in the all-terrain segment by offering the Continental TerrainContact tire. This tire is designed to be able to cope with gravel, dirt, grass, and even some more serious off-roading. However, these are also relatively comfortable on the road, especially for all-terrain tires.
VikingContact
The Continental VikingContact tire lineup presents Continental’s take on making a premium winter tire. This tire is backed by various Continental proprietary technologies which ensure that the tire stays flexible even in sub-freezing conditions. These tires are also 3PMSF-rated which means that they can pretty much go anywhere.
Differences Between Toyo And Continental
This is the part of our Toyo vs Continental Tires comparison where we put these two brands head-to-head to see which one comes out on top. We are going to compare them performance-wise, options-wise, price-wise, and warranty-wise, and tell you why you should go for one brand over the other.
Performance
When it comes to high-performance tires, Toyo has got you covered. They offer everything you need with their Proxes tire lineup no matter if you are building a track car, or just want a focused set of tires for your sports family sedan. Continental on the other hand does things a little differently because they offer almost the same levels of performance, but with added comfort and quietness.
Off-roading is where Toyo takes the win thanks to their Open Country tire family which offers more capable options. That is not to say that Continental’s TerrainContact tires aren’t good enough, it’s just that Toyo’s Open Country tires are some of the most popular all-terrain tires in the US for a good reason.
Snow-performance goes into Continental’s favor because their VikingContact tires are some of the most impressive snow tires you can buy. They simply can’t be matched by the Toyo Observe line, but Toyo’s Observe tires are available with studs which means that they should be better on ice.
When it comes to touring tires, Continental takes it here without any issues whatsoever. Toyo makes great touring tires, but Continental is on a different level.
Price & Warranty
When it comes to price, it seems like Toyo is the better bet between the two, and that seems to be the case throughout the lineup. Continental tries to make their tires luxurious in the way they feel and drive, and that obviously comes with a corresponding price tag.
Toyo’s Extensa line undercuts similar Continental tires by quite some margin. So much so that one can argue that it makes no sense to go for a similar Continental tire. Warranty-wise, Continental also takes it because they offer up to 80,000-miles of coverage on some of their tires.
Available Options
Toyo has only two larger tire families, the Poxes family, and the Open Country family while Continental’s catalog is a lot more expansive in comparison. Toyo tries to offer certain tire options in almost every size possible while Continental makes purpose-made tires for pretty much everything and many of these come in all the sizes you can think of.
Advantages Of Toyo
- Cheaper
- Better ultra-performance tires
- Better off-roading tires
- Availability of studded tires
- Better racing tires
Advantages Of Continental
- Comfort and quietness
- Better touring tires
- Longer-lasting warranty
- Better winter performance
- More options and sizes
Which Brand To Choose?
At the end of our Toyo vs Continental tires comparison, we can easily highlight why you should pick one brand over the other. If you want an ultra-performance tire, a racing slick tire, drag radials, or semi-slick tires, you are better off with Toyo. On the other hand, if you want a performance road tire that is also quiet and comfortable, go for Continental.
Off-roading is where Toyo takes it with ease, but Continental takes it with ease when it comes to touring tires. Snow tires are better with Continental by quite some margin, but Toyo makes up for it by offering studs that do fare better on ice-covered roads. Toyo tires are noticeably cheaper, but Continental offers longer-lasting warranty coverages and more options.
