Continental CrossContact LX25 Review: Exceptional Crossover and SUV All-Season Tire

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Continental Crosscontact Lx25 Review

Dry

95%

Wet

95%

Snow

85%

Comfort

95%

Noise

95%

Treadwear

95%

Overall

93%

Pros

  • Excellent handling on dry pavement
  • Exceptional hydroplaning resistance
  • Safe and reliable handling and braking on wet tarmac
  • Very plush ride quality
  • Quiet on the highway
  • Outstanding treadlife
  • Usable light-snow traction
  • Low-rolling resistance for improved fuel economy
  • Tuned Performance Indicators and Visual Alignment Indicators

Cons

  • Noisy when it hits more massive potholes
  • High-performance driving isn’t an option

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Valid through January 13, 2023
Available at PriorityTire.com

Like it or not, SUVs and crossovers already took over the streets. As a result of their go-anywhere capability, practical and roomy interiors, and elevated driving position, people around the world are in love with these vehicles.

When it comes to driving dynamics, though, crossovers and SUVs aren’t exactly brilliant. These vehicles have a higher center of gravity, which negatively affects handling and stability. Fortunately, you can mitigate some of the drawbacks by installing high-quality tires on your crossover, SUV, or truck.

Tire manufacturers seem to understand this better than anyone. The tire market is flooded with many different options for drivers of elevated vehicles. Depending on your requirements, you can have comfort-oriented tires, performance-oriented tires, winter tires, etc. The number of options is really high.

Nevertheless, even with the myriad of options available, buyers mostly decide to purchase all-season touring tires for their crossovers, SUVs, and trucks. These models are designed for safe handling, excellent stability, and long-lasting treadlife, and they are also very inexpensive.

One of the best crossover/SUV all-season touring tires on the market right now is undoubtedly the Continental CrossContact LX25. A successor to the already immensely popular LX20, the new model promises to bring several improvements that will make buyers happy.

With the new model, Continental promises the best treadlife in the touring category, at least based on internal tests. That is something that we won’t be able to test, but the LX20 was already excellent in that department, so I choose to trust the company here.

Furthermore, Continental made improvements to the tread compound and tread pattern in order to elevate driving dynamics and safety over dry, wet, and snowy surfaces. Like with the predecessor, the company also focused on comfort.

Now, many competitors also focus on the same things, so it will be great to see how the CrossContact LX25 stacks up against them. On paper, the German tire has many great things going for it, but I suggest reading the full review to find out how it handles real-world driving.

Continental offers the CrossContact LX25 in many popular sizes, ranging from 16-inch wheel diameter to 22-inch wheel diameter. This means that the tire will fit smaller compact crossovers and SUVs, but also large SUVs and trucks.

Moreover, Continental also offers the tire in LT-metric sizes. That is excellent news for large truck and SUV owners that want a dependable tire solution for towing and hauling.

New Year Sale @Priority Tire
Valid through January 13, 2023
Available at PriorityTire.com

What are the features of the Continental CrossContact LX25?

According to Continental, the CrossContact LX25 is a premium tire designed for owners of SUVs, CUVs, and trucks. Additionally, the company says that “compared to the predecessor, the LX25 features an expanded size lineup, and delivers excellent wet braking, reduced noise, and snow performance.”

“Equipped with exceptional tread life and engineered to be quiet and responsive, drive with confidence using our QuickView Indicators technology” – continues the marketing speech that most tire companies are known for.

To achieve all these things, Continental utilized its next-gen EcoPlus+ Technology in the tread compound. This technology should help with handling over dry and wet surfaces, improve treadlife, while also improving fuel economy on any vehicle.

The advanced tread compound is molded into a symmetric tread pattern. The tread design was carefully engineered to elevate steering response and improve stability on the highway. Moreover, Continental put a lot of emphasis on enhanced wet traction and reduce wet stopping distances.

The CrossContact LX25 features four wide circumferential grooves that allow water to flow through the footprint to enhance hydroplaning resistance. This is a feature that most all-season tires already offer, though.

The lateral and diagonal sipes, on the other hand, create more biting edges for enhanced traction in slippery conditions, such as wet tarmac and snow. Continental’s proprietary Traction Grooves are also there to trap snow and improve snow-to-snow traction.

Apart from improving on-road dynamics, the tread pattern features continuous circumferential ribs that reduce tread noise. On top of that, Continental utilized the Comfort Ride Technology, which is essentially an absorption layer between the tire reinforcement and the tread compound, designed to improve ride quality.

On the inside, the CrossContact LX25 is similar to other touring all-season tires designed for crossovers, SUVs, and trucks. The internal construction consists of a polyester cord body supporting two heavy-duty steel belts and a spirally wound, polyamide reinforcement. This should improve highway stability and steering responsiveness.

What are the maintenance indicators?

Continental Crosscontact Lx25 Review

Many tire manufacturers utilize tire wear indicators in the tread, but Continental takes things even further. In terms of maintenance indicators, this is the best tire in the category right now.

Instead of indicators built into the tread pattern, the CrossContact LX25 has QuickView Indicators. These consist of Tuned Performance Indicators and Visual Alignment Indicators.

The Tuned Performance Indicators are essentially the letters D, W, and S imprinted on the tread pattern on the tire, signifying Dry, Wet, and Snow.

As the tire wears down, the letters will start to become less visible. When the letter “S” isn’t visible anymore, that means that you won’t have reliable snow traction. It’s the same with the letter “W” for wet, and “D” for dry surfaces.

I am a big fan of Continental’s Tuned Performance Indicators because they are much easier to read than the usual tire wear indicators that other tires have.

And, on top of everything else, Continental utilizes Visual Alignment Indicators positioned on the inside and outside shoulders of the tread pattern. By directly comparing the two indicators, the owner can easily see if the wheels are correctly aligned or not. Simply outstanding.

Fortunately, you won’t need to check the indicators often. The CrossContact LX25 has an extremely long treadlife. The company backs this up with a 70,000-mile treadwear warranty for H- & T-Speed rated models, and a 65,000-mile treadwear warranty for V-Speed rated models.

How does it behave on a dry tarmac?

The quick answer is – really good. However, like with most touring all-season tires, you always need to set your expectations right.

Owners of performance SUVs and crossovers won’t be happy with this tire. It merely lacks the involvement and grip levels of a proper performance tire. However, I still haven’t found a tire in this category that will satisfy my aggressive driving needs, so I don’t view it as a downside.

For most drivers, the CrossContact LX25 performs as good as any other premium touring tire. Responsiveness is excellent for the category, high-speed stability is exceptional, and you can expect very high levels of grip and traction and short braking distances. Safe and sound in every way!

How is it over wet and slippery roads?

Continental Crosscontact Lx25 Review

Wet driving has always been a strong point of Continental tires, and the CrossContact LX25 is undoubtedly not an exception to the rule.

The tire performs outstandingly well over wet surfaces, providing the driver with excellent traction, safe cornering, and very short braking distances.

Moreover, the CrossContact LX25 has exceptional hydroplaning resistance, so you shouldn’t worry about safety even in the most extreme rainy conditions.

With that being said, how is it on snowy roads?

Many drivers expect very high snow performance from all-season tires, which is very wrong, in my opinion. These tires can be used in the winter, but only in a stretch.

Fortunately, the CrossContact LX25 is one of the most usable touring all-season tires for wintry conditions. Light-snow traction is excellent indeed, and the braking distances are shorter than I thought they would be. Also, handling is predictable and safe.

Nevertheless, I still suggest going for proper winter tires if you live in areas with very harsh wintry weather. The LX25 is not a winter or snow tire, after all.

Is it suitable for off-road driving?

Even though the CrossContact LX25 comes in crossover, SUV, and truck sizes, it isn’t designed for off-road use.

Now, sure, you can use it over dirt and gravel, but only for shorter trips. Long driving over hardpacked surfaces can easily damage the tread of the tire.

Moreover, the tires don’t provide reliable traction in these conditions. Oh, and forget about using these tires in mud or over large rocks.

Is it comfortable and refined?

Thanks to Comfort Ride Technology, the CrossContact LX25 provides passengers with supremely plush and soft ride quality, especially on the highway. Riding on these tires feels luxurious, and I wouldn’t mind spending many miles with LX25’s installed on my SUV.

Road noise is also very well suppressed – the tires are almost silent on the highway. However, I heard some unusual noise when the tires hit a larger pothole, which is probably a resonating noise from the absorption layer of the Comfort Ride Technology.

You can see more Continental CrossContact LX25 Review here: videos created by Adventuring Today

Should I buy the Continental CrossContact LX25?

I see no reason why you shouldn’t buy the CrossContact LX25. Apart from the thumping noise when you hit a larger pothole, this tire is one of the most accomplished products in the touring all-season category for crossovers, SUVs, and trucks.

The CrossContact LX25 not only offers safe year-round traction, braking, and handling, but it also has exceptional treadlife, high comfort levels, and easy-to-read treadwear indicators. A highly-recommended tire for owners of crossovers, SUVs, and trucks for sure!

New Year Sale @Priority Tire
Valid through January 13, 2023
Available at PriorityTire.com

5 thoughts on “Continental CrossContact LX25 Review: Exceptional Crossover and SUV All-Season Tire”

  1. Would you choose these or the Continental TrueContact Tour for a crossover/SUV? Which of the two would you recommend over the other?

    Reply
  2. I just had four new LX25 tires put on my 2014 Acura MDX—they replaced the LX20 which had over 73,000 miles. The improvements in the new model tire will make them even better!

    Reply
  3. I have tried this tire and found that this tire becomes special thanks to the EcoPlus Technology compound that’s integrated into its symmetrical tread design, which gives the tire superior traction and durability. Besides that, it’s also well-equipped at handling wet road conditions, as well as snow.

    Reply

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