Favorite tire discontinued? Help me replace my Conti Extreme Contacts

Tire Rack no longer carries Continental Extreme Contact DW in 205/50-16. I can find them over at Discount Tire, but since they aren't listed on the Continental site, I assume they are being discontinued. I've bought at least four sets of these tires over the years, and I really like them. I'll probably just get a set from Discount, but I'd like to set my sights on something new for the next set.

Anyone want to make a suggestion on a replacement? My priorities:

• Wet grip. I live in WA, and it is wet here. The Contis were really great in the wet and gave up little to nothing versus dry. Excellent hydroplaning resistance.

• Lateral grip. The Contis were great in corners, but not as good on acceleration and braking. This suited me fine, because all my cars are slow.

I'd love something with slightly better tread wear, but other than that I had no complaints with the Contis.

They will be mounted on my 190e 2.6 Sportline.

What about +1 upsizing to 205/45-17...?205/50-16 looks to be a pretty much dead size with no good choices. I just went with 205/45-17 Conti DW today for my FR-S, previously had Kumho Ecsta Sport LE (which were an excellent all weather tire, especially in the wet). I think the Conti DW may be the superior tire though just from a single test drive after just finishing mounting them. Will need wet weather to really tell.

If they can fit, you can probably run the Extreme Contacts in 225/50-16, that's the size I bought earlier this year (if they still offer them). Tire Rack's site will tell you how good the G-force Sport Comp 2s are in the wet.

BFG Sport Comp-2. You will not be disappointed, most especially in the wet.

In reply to Vracer111:

I'm pretty committed to sticking with the 16" rims I have, which is unfortunate given my tire options.

In reply to Mr_Clutch42:

Thanks for suggesting 225/50...looks like they have a lot more options in that size. It will be a tight squeeze, but I think they will fit. I've run 215/45-17s on the car for quite a while and they only rub on hard u-turn type turns.

Wild Scott, thanks for the suggestion!

Another "try the BFGs" recommendation - I run them as three seasons (ie, April/May to October) on my 996 and I do rather like them. Keep in mind that the car doesn't get Auto-Xd or anything like that, plus we usually don't get a lot of rain either.

Discount called me back - while they are still showing on their website, the Continental Extreme Contacts in my size are definitely NLA.

Looks like the BFG Sport Comp-2 is next up. Thanks for the help guys!

I hit a similar situation with the Extreme Contact DWs being discontinued in 215/55/16. They are such an exceptional rain tire that I got them in 225/55/16 to replace mine. Works great, and now I wish I had gotten them in that size for my previous 2 sets.

I recently replaced the BFG Sport Comp 2s on the front of my Cramit with the Extreme Contact DW. While I liked the BFGs (had them previously on an E36 as well), I definitely prefer the Contis so far. I'd say the limits of adhesion are just a bit higher and the road manners are noticeably better to boot. The BFGs have quite a tendency to tramline in my experience and seem just a bit noisier. I'd still recommend the BFGs without hesitation, however given the choice between the two I'd opt for the Contis.

Sorry to thread jack, are the Conti's really as good as I keep hearing around here? TR still has them listed in the size for my civic and I'm tire shopping right now. What kind of life span do they get?

In reply to Brian:

As I mentioned before, I've bought at least four sets of them now. They are the best tire I've had for a road car. Quiet (for a ultra-high performance summer tire), no weird tramlining issues, excellent grip, and amazing wet performance. Like almost better wet than dry.

I know it sounds like I'm a fanboi, but I really liked them. I'll continue to buy them for another car with 17s.

Ditto. They're that good. I mean, it's not terribly complicated. They made a very high tread-void design with THREE solid ribs where most tires are lucky to have one, tread blocks only at the outer edges, and soft-ish rubber - 340 TW rather than 6,000,000. The result is great deep-water traction, stable and responsive, quiet, and fairly sticky but still last a while. I think they are actually better in the wet at 30-40 degrees than snow tires too, but I always run cheap snow tires so that may not be fair.

My wife's car has a set of 205/50-16 that we got on closeout when they were first put on closeout at tire rack several years ago. I'll be in the same boat as you in a year or two. However I think we can fit a 205/55 with no issues besides the speedometer. Let me know how you like the BFG's in comparison.

Cooper CS5, nokian all season rubber (the only real all season rubber there is), kumho escta lx platinum (not the 43s though), general altimaxs

Brian wrote: Sorry to thread jack, are the Conti's really as good as I keep hearing around here? TR still has them listed in the size for my civic and I'm tire shopping right now. What kind of life span do they get?

I've had them on my E46 for 3+ years now? Could it be 4? I use them about 9-10 months out of the year on my daily, so call that somewhere between 28k-32k miles. Plus, they have at least 30 or 35 autocross passes on them under a 3200-lb car with limited camber.

Personally, I think they're great. They are definitely aging out, but they still have good tread and grip, and are not too noisy. They are really good in the rain, even now. In fact I will probably be mounting them on the car this weekend, for another season.

I recommend them.