Just to follow up, I took the new TerrainContacts on a road trip to go camping and off roading. They are very quiet on the highway, with only a very slight increase in what sounds like wind noise (maybe the more notchy sidewalls). Quieter than my old 4x4 Contacts which are mostly road tires. Seem to handle a bit better too (not as squishy). Also a little more composed over bumps in the road.

Off road I had no complaints. We did a very rocky, steep, slippery trail and they got me over obstacles. They did get a few small cuts and nicks in them from the rocks, but nothing that should be a problem. They do pick up gravel with the big channels, but doesn't seem to have a big impact.

I'll keep updating with impressions as they age, but they seem like a solid tire. Maybe a little less aggressive than I was hoping, but they seem to do well off road and with 90-95% on road driving, I couldn't justify Duratracs or Zeon LTZs.

 

We've put around 4,000 miles on our TerrainContacts and they now seem a lot louder. This may be a perception so I will keep an ear out when I am away next.

Also, we wandered over a couple of pretty rocky (not rock crawling), steep passes late July and while we had no problems getting over anything I have noted two pretty good chunks out of the side wall.

 

I also noticed a shallow slice out of my sidewall. Nothing to be concerned about, and given the rocks I was going over, not too surprising. I was pretty surprised how much these tires pancaked out on the trail, even at full tire pressure. I looked in my side mirror and thought I had a flat at one point. Probably why the sidewalls get marked up. Might be a good idea to keep full inflation if you are going into rocky areas where sidewall damage might occur.

I have heard in the past that Continentals have single ply sidewalls, I wonder if that is true for these and why they are not as rigid.

 

That was what I was worried about, Side Wall Damage