# Do Continental Tires Shed Their Sidewalls? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 19, 2019, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-continental-tires-shed-their-sidewalls/835723 "2019-06-19T00:39:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-continental-tires-shed-their-sidewalls/835723/1 "2019-06-19T00:39:49Z")
I have NEVER known a tire to actually dry rot. Do Continental tires have a bad reputation with the integrity of their side walls? A friend just noticed all four tires on my wife’s car have defects in the side walls. I’ve never seen this in action exhibited in any other tire. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-continental-tires-shed-their-sidewalls/835723/2 "2019-06-19T02:33:09Z")
Only when they’re ready to molt to the next size up 😉 I had Contis on my '07 VW Rabbit, the ProContacts, I never had sidewall issues, but they had phenomenally craptacular tread life and only average grip, replaced them with Yokohama Avid… somethingorothers, still had crappy treadlife, but much better grip ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-continental-tires-shed-their-sidewalls/835723/3 "2019-06-25T00:07:01Z")
Thanks for your feedback! ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-continental-tires-shed-their-sidewalls/835723/4 "2019-06-25T01:01:45Z")
I’ve had a couple of sets of Continental ExtremeContact DWS. One set was 50 profile all around, the other is mixed F/R set of 40/35. Two different cars, obviously. Both sets lasted as advertised. I keep pressure at about 10% higher because I like the feel and I find the tires have slightly softer sidewalls compared to the Michelin Pilots on my other car. That said, no issues with sidewalls shedding. Are you sure your wife doesn’t have a habit of parking by feel against the curb? 😉 If the tires all have bulges in them, perhaps someone accidentally ran over one of those curb stones. That’ll cause sidewall damage, if not pinch flats and/or damaged rims. Again, it’s been my experience that sidewalls on the Contis are not as stiff as some other tires. The plus side is that it’s a quieter and more compliant road feel. ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-continental-tires-shed-their-sidewalls/835723/5 "2019-06-25T13:10:14Z")
We have Continental’s on my wife’s SUV. We have had no issues with tread life or sidewalls. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-continental-tires-shed-their-sidewalls/835723/6 "2019-06-25T14:50:58Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > I have NEVER known a tire to actually dry rot. Do Continental tires have a bad reputation with the integrity of their side walls? A friend just noticed all four tires on my wife’s car have defects in the side walls. I’ve never seen this in action exhibited in any other tire. I have no experience with Continental tires, and you may well have just a bad set of tires, but all tires _ **do** _ actually dry rot, or at least deteriorate with age. If your tires are older than six years, age could be the problem(but 10-year life is possible). All tires have a DOT date code on them that gives the two-digit week and two-digit year of manufacture. My SO has had to replace tires that have more than half of the original tread left because he only drives about 3,000 miles per year. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-continental-tires-shed-their-sidewalls/835723/7 "2019-06-25T14:53:39Z")
I’ve also had to replace tires prematurely due to dry rot. ---
**Author:** ![Mcmechanic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Mcmechanic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mcmechanic)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-continental-tires-shed-their-sidewalls/835723/8 "2019-06-26T01:45:40Z")
I always buy commuter car tires based on the tread wear rating. Higher tread wear will have less grip, performance tires will grip better but wear fast.