Conti Extreme Contact dws06 plus vs. Michelin Pilot Sport all season 4 ?

[RKS]

I plan on swapping out the OEM PS for an a/s tire. Don't need a winter tire because we are in SW OH, we get maybe 3 days of significant snow. I work from home but office is only a few miles away and have an SUV if needed

Conti are better in rain, Michelins handle better. Price for a set is within $200. The a/s will go on the OEM wheels and I have Apex for the remainder of the year.

 

[GoldfishTX]

I love the dws06. I put them on every car I own that they make a fitment for. Price is good. Performance is plenty for my daily driving and shenanigans. Rain and cold performance is good.

I'm sure I'll be the outlier, though. Everyone seems to love the Michelin.

 

[albertw]

TireRack recently tested 6 ultra high performance all season tires. They rated the Pirelli P Zero AS +3 highest - most refined road manners with "lively" steering. The PS AS4 was rated high for steering and performance, but was not as good in ordinary driving. The Conti DWS 06+ was criticized for poor steering response off centre but rated highly on other parameters. Here's the link: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=334

 

[VBhak]

TireRack recently tested 6 ultra high performance all season tires. They rated the Pirelli P Zero AS +3 highest - most refined road manners with "lively" steering. The PS AS4 was rated high for steering and performance, but was not as good in ordinary driving. The Conti DWS 06+ was criticized for poor steering response off centre but rated highly on other parameters. Here's the link: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=334

Is the Pilot Sport 4S (our OEM) the same as PS AS4? I've hadn't heard of the AS4 until now

 

[RKS]

Is the Pilot Sport 4S (our OEM) the same as PS AS4? I've hadn't heard of the AS4 until now

Two distinct tires.

 

[rdollie]

Is the Pilot Sport 4S (our OEM) the same as PS AS4? I've hadn't heard of the AS4 until now

AS means All Season whereas the stock PS 4S is a bepoke (specific to the Blackwing forumlation) summer (3 season) tire.

 

[Roadhawk]

Here in Virginia we used to get decent snow in the winter and sometimes get big dumps with Noreasters January-March. While we haven't gotten nearly as much snow of late I'm still a strong believer in snow tires for the winter - just in case - and because they perform well in cold and wet regardless of snow or not. That being said for me it must be a performance snow tire and I've long been a fan of the Vredstein WIntrac series which drive very well even in the dry. The Pilot Sport Alpines are perhaps even better.

My wife thinks changing out summer and winter tires is a big pain. Our BMW ZHP is actually her daily and she insists on an all season year round tire. The Pirelli P zero came highly recommended so it was the first we used back in the day. It was terrible - bordering on dangerous for spirited driving IMO. Maybe its better now I can't say. But we've been using the Micheline PS AS4 for many years now and its decent. Its not as good as the summer performance PS4 by a stretch but its acceptably good and leagues better than the Pirelli was.

I've heard good things about various Conti tires but have never tried them.

I would go for summer performance for non winter and dedicated snows for winter unless you have a good alternative for cold weather driving. The performance of the Alpines (or Vredsteins) is fine in the cold and as good as an all season IMO and the drop off of an all season vs summer performance - for spirited driving - is generally unacceptable IMO.

 

[rdollie]

I have a set of PS AS3 tires on an older M3 and they're just fine in the winter. But I don't exactly push that wallet bomb of a S65 motor anytime at all these days...

 

[Roadhawk]

I have a set of PS AS3 tires on an older M3 and they're just fine in the winter. But I don't exactly push that wallet bomb of a S65 motor anytime at all these days...

They;re fine in the winter....but not great in snow IMO.

 

[rdollie]

Great point. I should have clarified, we get ice but very little snow in suburban Seattle (and when we do, I'll drive a SUV, rarely the M3 or the 5BW.)

 

[conipc]

I put the Conti's on my 4BW. Never a fan of Michelin since they stiffed me on a thrown belt years ago, which damaged my Ferrari. Anyway, the Conti's are somewhat quieter and I can't reach the max performance of either them or the Michelins. Always have been a Conti fan, and disappointed they don't have the 6+ for my 5BW, just the summer-only Contact. I'll be putting them on the 5 when needed..

 

[jbawden]

I run the DWS 06 (older non + model) on my daily and its a great all season tire, though I disagree slightly with the notion they are quieter . On some pavement I get a small amount of tread block noise but overall a great option.

Hopefully I'm not too far of an outlier here (and even if I am, f you guys! ) , but part of my tire decision process is how the tire looks on the car, specifically the sidewall design, and outer tread block. I always buy a quality tire, but just saying if I'm deciding between two tires, the one with the better aesthetics wins.

 

[albertw]

This is becoming a difficult choice for me. My priorities are steering feedback on centre and at the traction limit, and the lowest possible traction so I can enjoy playing with the cornering traction limit at lower speeds. Very few people seem to have these priorities so posts on tires are pretty well useless to me since almost no one explains their opinion and I can't count on any poster to share my priorities. Reviews on TireRack are just about the only useful guidance I can find.

Earlier reviews on TireRack pointed to the Potenza AS as having the best combination of good steering feedback and less traction. However, those tests were done using a Subaru BRZ. The recent test used a 330ix which is similar in weight to my 4BW, and they liked the steering a lot less.

I'm not sure about the Pirelli. I had to replace worn out P Zero AS with AS+ on my M240i and the numb spot on centre widened from 1.5 inches to 2.5 inches. While TireRack mentions "incremental improvements" each year, I'm reluctant to take a chance on Pirelli having improved the steering feedback on the AS+ in the two years since I bought the first ones made.

Right now it appears that the BF Goodrich g-force COMP-2A/S+ best matches my priorities.

It will be a shame to discard the original PS4S with very few miles on them because they are a truly excellent tire, but the cornering speeds they require for fun on my favourite twisty roads are just too damn high.

 

[XjonesX]

Here in Virginia we used to get decent snow in the winter and sometimes get big dumps with Noreasters January-March. While we haven't gotten nearly as much snow of late I'm still a strong believer in snow tires for the winter - just in case - and because they perform well in cold and wet regardless of snow or not. That being said for me it must be a performance snow tire and I've long been a fan of the Vredstein WIntrac series which drive very well even in the dry. The Pilot Sport Alpines are perhaps even better.

My wife thinks changing out summer and winter tires is a big pain. Our BMW ZHP is actually her daily and she insists on an all season year round tire. The Pirelli P zero came highly recommended so it was the first we used back in the day. It was terrible - bordering on dangerous for spirited driving IMO. Maybe its better now I can't say. But we've been using the Micheline PS AS4 for many years now and its decent. Its not as good as the summer performance PS4 by a stretch but its acceptably good and leagues better than the Pirelli was.

I've heard good things about various Conti tires but have never tried them.

I would go for summer performance for non winter and dedicated snows for winter unless you have a good alternative for cold weather driving. The performance of the Alpines (or Vredsteins) is fine in the cold and as good as an all season IMO and the drop off of an all season vs summer performance - for spirited driving - is generally unacceptable IMO.

Roadhawk and I are in the same neighborhood, and he's correct about his assessment. My car came from texas with summer pilots. I found out early on when I purchased it in January sub 30's, hard asphalt, I might as well have been on ice skates. It was lost on me initially that the tread pattern and rubber compound, was not conducive to cold asphalt roads, and I wound up purchasing some Mich pilot sport all season. Been very happy with them so far. Next year, I have to buy new summer rubber and I'm looking at the Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02 to go on my Aerrolarie's. I was just never really impressed with the summer pilots...., but to be fair, they did have 10,000 miles of what looks to be hard driving on them when I received the car. I did learn something new here recently about the summer tires from the owner's manual of all places. I learned I can no longer keep them out in my unheated shed when storing them for winter.

 

[RKS]

I always did the typical Blizzak/X-Ice on my last car but we just don't get significant snowfall to justify a true winter/snow tire. In a pinch, we have an SUV. I have the Contis ready to be installed next week after a trip to Spring Mountain.

 

[hawk02]

Roadhawk and I are in the same neighborhood, and he's correct about his assessment. My car came from texas with summer pilots. I found out early on when I purchased it in January sub 30's, hard asphalt, I might as well have been on ice skates. It was lost on me initially that the tread pattern and rubber compound, was not conducive to cold asphalt roads, and I wound up purchasing some Mich pilot sport all season. Been very happy with them so far. Next year, I have to buy new summer rubber and I'm looking at the Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02 to go on my Aerrolarie's. I was just never really impressed with the summer pilots...., but to be fair, they did have 10,000 miles of what looks to be hard driving on them when I received the car. I did learn something new here recently about the summer tires from the owner's manual of all places. I learned I can no longer keep them out in my unheated shed when storing them for winter.

I think this is more of a CYA on GM's part. I've had summer only tires on three GM vehicles that were stored for the winter here in Ohio. Now granted, the tires were on the car but as long as you don't drive on them below 30 degrees, the tires have been fine with no cracking. I can't see where not being inflated and on the car would make a difference.

It's just common sense to warm them up before installing them back on the wheel. That I get.

 

[Z51L9889]

I love the dws06. I put them on every car I own that they make a fitment for. Price is good. Performance is plenty for my daily driving and shenanigans. Rain and cold performance is good.

I'm sure I'll be the outlier, though. Everyone seems to love the Michelin.

I second this. I went through several sets of DWS06 tires on my G8 GT. Excellent performance for a daily driver that saw 80 freeway miles a day. Wet traction was outstanding, but also had very good grip and wear characteristics along with very low road noise. I lived in SW Ohio at the time (close to the OP) and I used these as 3 season tires, although I did also have winter tires because of my long commute. Winter tires are awesome for cold/wet weather and ice/freezing rain in addition to being great in the snow.

 

[Z51L9889]

I think this is more of a CYA on GM's part. I've had summer only tires on three GM vehicles that were stored for the winter here in Ohio. Now granted, the tires were on the car but as long as you don't drive on them below 30 degrees, the tires have been fine with no cracking. I can't see where not being inflated and on the car would make a difference.

It's just common sense to warm them up before installing them back on the wheel. That I get.

When I lived in Ohio, my Chevy SS would sit in the garage through the winter with the summer tires still on the car. I never had an issue with cracking, but it didn't get driven when it was below 40 degrees outside. I only drove the car one time in really cold weather -- the alternator died in my daily and I had to drive the SS to the parts store when the temperature was in the teens. The roads were clean and dry but I might as well have been driving on ice. Traction was non existent to the point where I spun the tires for about a hundred feet just trying to pull away from an uphill traffic light. I let the clutch out at idle and the tires just started spinning, lol.

 

[BimmerFan]

First, let me say that I've had both tires (on different cars) and I prefer the Michelin. That said, it's a little difficult because every tire performs differently on every car, as suspensions are tuned for certain characteristics. My Mom used to work at Michelin and she needs her pension, so please guys and gals, buy Michelin when you can so that she doesn't have to move in with me.

My wife thinks changing out summer and winter tires is a big pain.

LOL, really, is she the one sitting on the cold floor with an impact wrench? How difficult is it to say, "honey, I think it's time for you to swap tires on my car?"

We went on a road trip for TurkeyDay, and took the wife's car since I wasn't feeling well and she can't drive mine (what's that extra pedal for?) and on the way we stopped at Mickey D's for breakfast. She says "it's OK to eat in my car if you want" since I don't permit eating in my car.

I didn't say anything, but later I pointed out to her that I was very nice of her to offer that, especially since I'm the one who cleans the cars.

And yes, I do complain when I have to dig food out of her seat, you know, the one with the perforated leather.