Pirelli P7 Cinturato vs Continental SportContact 3?

[PassCruiser]

This thread maybe a little old but the tyres are still available & would like to share my experience.

I fitted a set of Pirelli P7 after having a set of Dunlop SP Fast Response. I drove from Adelaide to Cairns inland then returned via the coast. We drove most road types from coarse outback bitumen to dirt roads.

The Pirelli's were a step backwards. The initial bite is less than the Dunlop's & reduced feeling of being connected with the road. In the hills around Cairns I couldn't drive as confidently as on the Dunlop's especially in the wet.

On the positive they were a quiet & comfortable tyre (a little softer than the Dunlop's) on the outback roads soaking up bumps well but if you like to get a little spirited in the hills the P7's aren't for you. I would not buy again for my purpose.

I currently have ContiSportContact5 & I rate them same as the Dunlop's mentioned above, however, they are noisier on our coarse bitumen roads. As I do a lot of country road driving these are too focused toward spirited driving whereas I'm looking for something that will be comfortable & quiet out in the country then when I hit the twisty stuff I can have a bit of fun without scaring the bejesus out of the wife. The Conti's have about 10k in them & as I'm about to drive back up to FNQLD I think I'm going to try the ContiMax Contact MC5 235/45R17 for my B7.

Buying tyres is a real head scratch . The challenge is not choosing too focused.