Continental DWS all season tires

[97tbird]

I have the DWS on the Bimmer - good wet and dry traction, but never experienced any snow...not yet.
They have a very soft sidewall (expected) and one can feel its limits when cornering hard, which I only do very occasionally, so no biggie.
However, I am increasingly getting annoyed at very bad flat spotting, and attracting nails and sharp stones. (Had to replace one tire as one sharp stone damaged the tire, just like a nail would)..

I wonder how the General Gmax AS-03 is...also a UHP AS tire...
From all the reading I have done, it makes me think that it has a stiffer sidewall, and offers about 80%-90% performance of the DWS for about 60% - 70% of DWS price...

DWS has lost its throne for Hankook Ventus S1 Noble2 (IDK if it comes in OEM ZHP staggered sizes) in the UHP AS category at TR, and is now 2nd place;
AS/3 No. 6; Gmax is No. 7

Anyone have any experience with the 'Kooks?

 

[rob6773]

I have them on my 07 Outback Sport. They are very good, huge improvement over the factory Bridgestones. Got me home in the huge storm last year. Some Continentals do suck, the SUV conti's that came on my sister's CRV were junk.

 

[97tbird]

Originally Posted By: rob6773
I have them on my 07 Outback Sport. They are very good, huge improvement over the factory Bridgestones. Got me home in the huge storm last year.

Are you referring to the DWS?
(just wanted to make sure as I was mentioning a bunch of other tires in my last post)

 

[double vanos]

I am also considering the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric A/S as well. Seems to get good reviews. I am looking for a tire that doesn't go to pot in 30 degree weather like a full on summer tire - I gotta use this thing year round and besides Houston, the car is liable to go to my cottage in Bisbee, Az. (6000 ft elevation). No crazy snow there either but the weather can have its surprises which is drama I can live without.
Please keep the opinions coming.....

 

[tommygunn]

The F1 Asym AS seems like a good tire, and at a better price then the PSAS3. Watch out for the rebates Goodyear does a couple times a year, which sweetens the deal even further!

 

[rob6773]

Yes, I put the DWS on my Outback Sport and they are great.

 

[double vanos]

rob6773: how well are the DWS's doing? How is the driving experience with them compared to the old tires? Is the tread holding up? Also how much wheel weight did they take to balance out?
Just curious....on tirerack , the ms3 owners give them a thumbs up.

 

[fdcg27]

Unless I'm badly mistaken, the Pure Contact is intended to replace the DWS tire.
We have a set of Pures on our Forester and they seem very good overall.
Granted, the Forester isn't a machine you buy and drive for its corner carving ability and you have to wonder about V rated tires on a machine governed to 100 mph, but that's what it came on and that's what I replaced the OEM Yokos with.
The Michelin Primacy MXV4 is a sharper handling tire that also does pretty well in the snow.
I was happy with them on our '99 Accord in all seasons.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
the Pure Contact is intended to replace the DWS tire.

Not at all. They are in completely different performance categories. Pure Contact is an LRR grand touring all-season tire. DWS is a UHP all-season tire.

 

[leeharvey418]

I've always said that Continental would have been better off if they had marketed the ExtremeContact DWS as a grand touring tire from day one.

Regardless of how they're branded, I still think they're about the best tire I've ever driven in the rain.

 

[D189379]

Originally Posted By: raaizin
Originally Posted By: D189379
My experience with them has been very bad in the snow, they've worn very quickly, and they got excessively noisy after we put about 15,000 miles on them.


I have them on 2 cars 2007 A6 and 2008 X3. Both cars are AWD. They have gotten me through 12 inches of snow without issues but remember both cars are AWD. I have 10k miles on the A6 and 35k miles on the X3. Plenty of tread left on the X3 BTW. Both cars seemed to ride better with them. They came with a free 1 year road hazard also! You should be ok with them in Texas


My wife's Acura has AWD as well.

 

[rob6773]

My tires have 12K miles. Still look new. No balance issues. In today's snow storm traffic came to a stand still. I saw a co-worker hit the back roads heading closer to our North Shore of Long Island and followed him. Using those back roads there was less traffic and we could really drive. The roads we used were pretty hilly and my Subaru with the DWS kept-up fine with his Xterra.

 

[Dohc98vteC]

I have over 45k on my DWS tires (rotate every 5k), and can report that they get REALLY loud and slippery when the WS markings wear out even in light snow. They are awesome grip in snow when new and yes, soft sidewalls but handling was always soild. If I can make it another 5k on these tires in this winter they will make good on their 50k promised life.

 

[Rand]

if the w and s are wore off that means you are at 3/32 tread depth?

so that sounds about right.

 

[Dohc98vteC]

Originally Posted By: Rand
if the w and s are wore off that means you are at 3/32 tread depth?

so that sounds about right.


Correct, they have worn pretty evenly too.

 

[TheScaryOne]

Originally Posted By: 97tbird
I wonder how the General Gmax AS-03 is...also a UHP AS tire... [...] Anyone have any experience with the 'Kooks?

The Exclaim UHP that the G-max AS-03 replaced was a better tire, but IMHO, the Gmax is a better tire than the DWS. As a few posters have said, they get really noisy as they wear. That, and Conti/Gen have the worst warranty policy. Having a flat repaired voids your warranty, both tire and mileage. I can understand if the tire has a tread separation afterwards, but the mileage warranty? I can't recommend them based on that, although our rep told us that policy might change.

Hankook makes excellent tires. Haven't had any experience with the noble2s, but everything else they make is good quality. It's a shame they're sticking these 18" wheels on these little cars. It'd be a million times easier to find quality rubber in a 225/45R17.