Which Contis?  I would think that in absolute apples to apples terms
Michelins are better then Contis, but not by much.  I also think that in the
US at least the Michelin name is much too expensive but no argument that
they are fine tires.  Total cost per mile?  Well I am not sure that the
Michelins are still that much better, and we get Korean tires in the US now
that do great for around 50 bucks a tire.

One must also look at generation of tire technology - Pirelli is up to and
perhaps now past the p600, the p6 is long gone.

In the US 50 or 60,000 Miles is not unusual and the best Michelins easily go
80,000 miles.  (driving like a volvo owner not like a civic si owner!)

I just finished replacing my Pirelli tires on my '02 V70 T-5 -
replacement Pirelli P6's were more than $300 CAN, so I replaced them
with Michelin Pilot Exaltos - about $235/tire
- I bought the set at Costco - nice benefits there - free tire rotation
(so I can change my winter-to-summer tires for free 2x per year), & they
also include a pro-rated lifetime road hazard warrantee on the tires.

Bruce