The Continental ProContact TX (OE) is a touring, all season tire made for passenger vehicles. It has some high performance sizes as well. It is the original equipment tire of select vehicles. This model offers excellent all weather traction and it will grip the road well, even in winter weather. The tire not only grips the road well in all weather conditions, but its M+S rated for its superb performance in both mud and snow. The circumferential grooves in the tread pattern help avoid dangerous hydroplaning situations by channeling water from beneath the tire's footprint. The remarkable all season traction and the resistance to hydroplaning make this model perform safely all year-round. The tire was manufactured with a compound that lowers its overall weight. The lower weight of the tire reduces the rolling resistance, which in turn decreases the vehicle's fuel consumption and CO2 emissions and slows down the wear rate of the tread, as the driving force is equally distributed along the tread surface. A longer tread life is also provided by the tire's maximized road contact area, which prevents irregular wear. The longer lasting, even wear increases the tire's mileage. Thanks to these two factors, the tire becomes environmentally friendly and cost-efficient. The specially designed tread pattern on the tire enhances its steering responsiveness and its high speed stability. The steering is more accurate and responsive thanks to the tread pattern, which enables the driver to respond to the changing road conditions on time. The tread pattern's interlocking sipes offer extra driving stability at high speeds by continually maintaining constant road contact and enhanced road grip. The Continental ProContact TX (OE) offers a quiet and comfortable drive. Some of its sizes were manufactured with Continental's ContiSilent technology, which reduces the road noise with a special foam on the inside of the tread that absorbs all the noise created by the tires. Those sizes that do not have the ContiSilent foam lessen the road noise with the tread pattern's center rib, which channels the soundwaves through the footprint.