Did I really want a 200mile/5hr round trip on Southern California's gridlocked highways to visit a tire warehouse? Not really. Could you hear my jaw hit the floor when we walked into the half-million sqft building? Yes, I believe you could…

I don't know if you can see it in the photos, but Continental Tire's newest warehouse/distribution center seemed to have its own weather pattern – there was a haze at the other end that was quite disconcerting.
The new warehouse in Redlands, CA is Continental/General Tires' fourth regional distribution center (plus its manufacturing facility in Mount Vernon, MI) and is flagship of the fleet. With computer-controlled inventory and locating software, it's the modern face of storing the round, black things under your car.
On display were a number of new products, including Conti’s latest DW high-performance street tires, as well as some of its street and off-road motorcycle tires. In addition, we were shown the latest off-road truck applications from Conti’s General Tire brand ¬– these have fancy red lettering laid into the mold when the tires are manufactured, ensuring durability when the product is used as intended.
With its many OE commitments and a large slice of the aftermarket business, the new Redlands warehouse means Conti is ideally located to keep Southern California supplied with its high quality rubber at a moment’s notice.

Ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open new Redlands warehouse

The Conti ExtremeContact DW tire – winner of our 2009 tire test

Conti Seal – a sealant added to tires supplied to Volkswagen that helps prevent punctures, and something they hope to offer to other applications

In the truck scene, these red-lettered General tires are very popular

Who knew Conti also had a full range of street and offroad motorcycle tires? We hope to be testing some of these soon…