The review below is based on a comparison of two tires:
--- WINDFORCE CATCHFORS UHP - referred to as "China" in the text
--- Continental ContiSportContact 5 - referred to as "Conti" in the text
And now about the first impressions that were noticed after changing the tire:
1. China is quieter than Conti! Noticeably quieter. I didn't expect this at all and was pleasantly surprised.
2. Conti handles sharp maneuvers more sharply than China and follows the trajectory clearly. China also follows the trajectory, but there is some kind of "swimming" or something. This "swimming" reminds me of the behavior of Hankook Ventus Prime 2.
3. When cornering, China has some kind of "roll" or something... It's reminiscent of driving on high-profile tires. But this "roll" is not critical and is much less than on high-profile tires. It also reminds me of Hankook.
4. When moving slowly on gravel, China is a bit stiffer than Conti. This is also noticeable when crossing asphalt joints and other joints. But again, this is only at low speeds. At speeds above 40-60 km/h, the difference is not noticeable.
5. In the rain, when starting to move sharply, Conti would skid, while China moves confidently forward. Maybe the skidding is related to the remaining tread...
6. China, it seems, reacts more strongly to the ambient temperature. The colder it is, the stiffer it is, and the warmer it is, the softer it is. I only noticed Conti's stiffness changing with ambient temperature around 5 degrees.
7. Conti, compared to China, is a "smaller" tire. Conti on an 8.5 J rim had noticeable stretching, not extreme, but it was there. China doesn't have this stretching.
8. Balancing! Details in the next post.
9. Groove following. I noticed Conti would jerk to one side or the other when following a groove in the asphalt. China behaves better.
10. The sidewall of China is slightly stiffer to the touch than the sidewall of Conti, but this is barely noticeable and the stiffness is not critical.
In everything else, a tire is a tire)))
In general, I'm satisfied with the purchase. The first impressions of the tire were formed at a temperature of around 15 degrees. After 5000 km, I haven't regretted buying China once. Modern China, maybe I just got lucky or it's really like that, is not the same as it was 8-10 years ago.
For normal driving in the city and on the highway, the tire is very worthy. For those who like to turn into every corner and make sharp maneuvers when overtaking, it's worth looking at Conti or someone else. And another thing: DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE COST OF TIRES! At the time of purchasing China, its cost was 10490 (for one tire), Conti was around 31000 (for one tire)! That is, China is three times cheaper! And not everyone needs Conti's advantages for the sum of 20000 rubles per wheel. Now I'm "biting" my elbows for rushing with the purchase of the tire. If you're currently looking for tires in the size 245/45 R19 WINDFORCE CATCHFORS UHP, especially since the price of this tire has been fluctuating from 6700 to 7500 per wheel for more than four weeks! And this tire is the cheapest in the assortment on mosavtoshina! When choosing a tire, I didn't look at the cheapest one, because I thought it would be "bad" and not a tire. And in the end? I bought the cheapest! Apparently, my purchase coincided with the importer's purchase of the tire at a dollar exchange rate of 120 rubles. Would I have bought this tire if I knew it was the cheapest? No, I wouldn't have! But fate showed the opposite))) And the cheapest can be good. I follow the prices once a week. I'm interested to see where this tire will be in terms of price in a couple of months, when the importers make their next purchases at the new exchange rate.
Why do summer tires get ratings for: Snow handling, Ice handling? In my opinion, any summer tire deserves a rating of 1, because it's not its element. For these parameters, I simply put 5.
Ps Now that summer heat has begun, I'll see how the tire behaves in hot conditions.