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Feb. 2, 2010 12:58 p.m. Duke SuperDork

Continental ExtremeContact DWS - anybody know anything about these tires? They seem to be the best all-season tire available right now by far, with good dry, wet, and light snow handling all round.

I'm looking at getting 2 sets - one for my wife's '04 TSX (in 225/45/17 on the stock wheels) and one for my daughter's '02 Impreza wagon (205/50/16 on a new set of cheap 16x7.5 wheels). The TSX gets driven every day by a woman who likes to drive and by me on the weekends; the Impreza is for a teenage girl who is likely to autocross it locally in a few events this summer.

So before I drop over a grand on these tires, I'd like a little real-world feedback if there is any. Tire Rack's only concern was a little numb on-center feeling; they would tihgten up the turn-in a little, but that's really it for criticism. Dry grip was only a little tiny bit off the top tire, and the wet/light snow grip was way above anything other than a dedicated winter tire.

And before anybody says it - YES, I know all-season tires are a compromise. I live in the midatlantic region and it's not worth stocking 6 sets of wheels.

Thanks!
Feb. 2, 2010 2:22 p.m. davidjs New Reader

In reply to Duke:

I just bought a set of these for my Protege5 (205/50/16), and they definitely had pretty decent grip in the snow this past weekend (I didn't go out in the powder, but on "packed" neighborhood streets they were fine).

I would agree with the turn-in, there's a touch delayed response (although some of that is likely going from a near-bald summer tire to a brand new full tread anything).

With the lingering snow and ice patches on my commute on ramps since I had them put on (last week), I can't give you any input on anything approaching behavior at the limit...

edit: They're also quite a bit quieter at highway speed than the Dunlop ...ummm, i forgets I had on there before
Feb. 2, 2010 4:07 p.m. wbjones HalfDork

don't know any thing about those... but FWIW the term all seasons should really be no seasons (IMHO) had some on my 2.2 before the "big" snow here, well it did qualify as big (14+") the car would barely get out of it's own way.... a set of "real" snow tires and this snow seemed as though it wasn't even there

I'll switch back to some street tires in Mar
Feb. 3, 2010 9:41 a.m. Duke SuperDork

wbjones wrote:

don't know any thing about those... but FWIW the term all seasons should really be no seasons (IMHO) had some on my 2.2 before the "big" snow here, well it did qualify as big (14+") the car would barely get out of it's own way.... a set of "real" snow tires and this snow seemed as though it wasn't even there

I'll switch back to some street tires in Mar

Yes, yes, I know, I live in the Midatlantic, I have 4 count 'em 4 street cars that get driven on a regular basis, and I'm not stocking 8 sets of wheels just to keep my Grand Caravan and other here-to-there drivers clad in the optimal performance rubber for every moment of their existence.

Thanks for playing though.
Feb. 3, 2010 9:44 a.m. z31maniac Dork

Probably not available in any 15" sizes are they?

Was reading Andy Hollis rave about these tires on SCCA forums.
Feb. 3, 2010 10:40 a.m. Keith SuperDork

I like them just because they're called ExtremeContact! Can't get enough Extreme.

Otherwise, I have nothing useful to add here.

EXTREME!
Feb. 3, 2010 10:42 a.m. Per Schroeder Technical Editor/Advertising Director

We have the DWs on Margie's 5-series. That's a darn good tire. We didn't have the need for the all-season-ness of the DWS.
Feb. 3, 2010 10:49 a.m. oldeskewltoy New Reader

they are on my wife's IS300 Sport Cross.... Steering response is slower then a summer tire... but the rain control is GREAT (portland Oregon here)

Snow use so far has been minimal, but the limited bit we did see this year they performed substantially better then Bridgestone 009 All Seasons we had before.

To address wbjones's comment... he should look in to Nokian WR G2

This is a TRUE 4 season tire....
Feb. 3, 2010 10:56 a.m. Duke SuperDork

Per Schroeder wrote:

We have the DWs on Margie's 5-series. That's a darn good tire. We didn't have the need for the all-season-ness of the DWS.

OK, thank you. At least it's a datapoint. I will also read up on Andy Hollis's take at SCCA.

oldeskewltoy wrote:

they are on my wife's IS300 Sport Cross.... Steering response is slower then a summer tire... but the rain control is GREAT (portland Oregon here)

To address wbjones's comment... he should look in to Nokian WR G2

This is a TRUE 4 season tire....

So do you like the DWS tire for a semi-sporty driver? Neither of the cars is going to get driven very competitively but I definitely want something better than a "round and black" touring tire with an iron treadwear rating. Neither car gets huge mileage so almost anything will dry out before it wears out.

Would you recommend the WR G2s instead?

Thanks for those that are giving actual feedback ;)
Feb. 3, 2010 1:44 p.m. oldeskewltoy New Reader

Duke wrote:

Per Schroeder wrote:

We have the DWs on Margie's 5-series. That's a darn good tire. We didn't have the need for the all-season-ness of the DWS.

OK, thank you. At least it's a datapoint. I will also read up on Andy Hollis's take at SCCA.

oldeskewltoy wrote:

they are on my wife's IS300 Sport Cross.... Steering response is slower then a summer tire... but the rain control is GREAT (portland Oregon here)

To address wbjones's comment... he should look in to Nokian WR G2

This is a TRUE 4 season tire....

So do you like the DWS tire for a semi-sporty driver? Neither of the cars is going to get driven very competitively but I definitely want something better than a "round and black" touring tire with an iron treadwear rating. Neither car gets huge mileage so almost anything will dry out before it wears out.

Would you recommend the WR G2s instead?

Thanks for those that are giving actual feedback ;)

I'm use to ES100, RS2, in a MUCH lighter car (rwd Corolla) I only can judge these(DWS) compared to the Bridgestone 009, which were previously on her IS300 and were crap. These ARE a higher rated all-season... but still all-season

Concerning the WR G2... they were out of my budget.... I did some research (recommend you do some too) and they do fit the bill, for what we wanted for her car... and where we live. I've been a loyal Nokian fan(going back to when they were Nokia... pre phone!) They make some VERY good tires. I've used their snow tires over all others (including Blizzak).
Feb. 3, 2010 2:09 p.m. Duke SuperDork

I'm fine with all-seasons in these applications. The DWS gets very good test results in both dry/wet and snow testing (spectacularly so in snow tests; obviously still not as good as a dedicated snow tire but head and shoulders better than any other in the test).

Sounds like I may invest in a set. Thanks, and I'd still love to hear anybody else's experience.
Feb. 3, 2010 8:07 p.m. neckromacr New Reader

I've special ordered quite a few sets of these for my customers. I think theres some tires that may do one thing or another better than these, but as a whole package there isn't much out there right now I could honestly recommend more.

The whole Extreme series has been some really great tires. I'm running the Winter contacts personally and I've been thrilled with them, a winter tire that refuses to act like one when its dry or wet out. But still kicks the traction in gear when the snow come down. As with it's A/S brother, there's some that will outperform it in one way or another, but as a whole its awesome.
Feb. 3, 2010 9:45 p.m. Duke SuperDork

Excellent! Thanks for the answer I wanted to hear.