Oh...that's very sad to hear. As a frequent driver, I was going to buy my third set of T Trac 2s in a year. I was one of the guinea pigs as an early T Trac2 tester on the 4/4.
I would now apply the following rule of thumb. 1) pretty much every tyre is significantly better than the Continental. This is all the more surprising because Conti builds very good other tyres. But the 4/4 Conti is an all-season tyre that can't do anything right and belongs under a trailer at most. The tread alone would make me sceptical.
2) The wet properties are important. That was the way I came up with the T Trac 2 back then. It was the only tyre with a "B" (the second best choice). But beware: some tyres that used to be quite miserable, with an "E" (like the Conti) have recently got a "B", which I can't believe why.
3) The choice of brand...better a better known brand than one I don't know (although Conti is also known...).
4) I look at the tread so that it really is a summer tyre.
5) If possible, the tyre should not be praised too much as "eco", because "eco" usually means worse grip against a few drops of fuel savings. Better for the light 4/4 if you get a tyre with a bigger wear value (more wear).
6) Perhaps there are test reviews, albeit in a different dimension, of the tyre of choice because if you google a review of tyres in the dimension 165/80/15 you mostly get reviews of expensive classic brands like Michelin, Dunlop and so on. I would try to find reviews of a chosen tyre in slightly more common dimensions (for cars, not for trailer or vans).
Here, for example, is what I would perhaps choose among other brands. not to buy it directly but to search for some reviews.
Nankang ECONEX NA-1 165/80 R15 87T TL
