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[RPM90]

Ok, so I've been researching ultra high performance all season tires for my 135i. Weather forecast says that this Saturday night the temps may hit below freezing. It's TIME for a new set of tires.

I'm planning on going to the Tire Rack this Friday afternoon to get a set of
the new Conti Extreme Contact DWS. It's a new more refined version of the previous extreme contact tires.

My choices in 225/255 sizes were are the Mich PSport A/S, Yoko S4,
Pirelli P Zero all season- also new and improved, and the Conti's.

Tire Rack had great tests on these tires. The chose the P Zero as the best, followed by the Mich and Conti tires.
The P Sport Mich tires don't seem to offer anything better than either the '
P Zero or the Conti DWS, so the added cost leaves them out.
If they were the top choice as they were a couple of years ago I would have paid the extra as I don't skimp on tires. But, this time there is no gain.

Originally I decided on the P Zero's as they rated very good on the sport factor along with smoothes and quietest ride.
However, they don't rate that well in the wet, and historically the tire is not known for good snow traction, although the new compound is supposed to improve that a bit. However, from what I've read the improvement is very slight.

So, I've decided on the Conti DWS. It has excellent wet road handling, it's quiet, it rides well, balances well, and rates the best for snow, and has the best warranty of all of them as it includes a "road hazard" portion in it's warranty and offers a 60 day ride guarantee. So, if the negatives turn out to be too great, I can simply return them and get the P Zero or P Sport's.
The negatives are that the Conti's have the least direct steering feel, as they have a slightly slow response to initial turn in. But, so do these RFT's and it's ok for me. Other than that the DWS are excellent, and reviews from owners have been extremely positive.

If anyone has some experience with the DWS please comment.
Also, if you have some direct or even indirect, friends maybe, experience with the NEW P Zero please comment as well. My concern with the P Zero's is that the improvement in snow traction won't be enough for a high powered RWD 135i.

I'll post an initial review of the Conti's once I get them. I've got a good 70 mile ride back home from the Tire Rack that includes some distance on highway and country back roads.

The cost should be around $788 with installation and tax.
Very good price.
I'm looking positively forward to taking these RFT's off my 135i.

[Fireflyer239]

The Michelins are outstanding, and they're also #1 in the user reviews on the TR website, check them out. I have these tires on Breyton GTS-R's in 225/255 sizes (18"). Inflated to 42psifront/40psi rear. In combination with stock Sport Pkg. suspension plus the Hotchkis sway bar, car handles unbelievably well - simply no need for summer tires on the street when you can have these. Dry or wet, the confidence and control is super, and the ride is quite reasonable. They will last longer than the others so the value is there. Gill concurred that cost-no-object, these are the cream of the crop. And, thanks again Gill!

[KingOfJericho]

Always been a fan of the Michelins. Contis... not so much.

[Nifty]

Originally Posted by RPM90

Ok, so I've been researching ultra high performance all season tires for my 135i. Weather forecast says that this Saturday night the temps may hit below freezing. It's TIME for a new set of tires.

I'm planning on going to the Tire Rack this Friday afternoon to get a set of
the new Conti Extreme Contact DWS. It's a new more refined version of the previous extreme contact tires.

My choices in 225/255 sizes were are the Mich PSport A/S, Yoko S4,
Pirelli P Zero all season- also new and improved, and the Conti's.

Tire Rack had great tests on these tires. The chose the P Zero as the best, followed by the Mich and Conti tires.
The P Sport Mich tires don't seem to offer anything better than either the '
P Zero or the Conti DWS, so the added cost leaves them out.
If they were the top choice as they were a couple of years ago I would have paid the extra as I don't skimp on tires. But, this time there is no gain.

Originally I decided on the P Zero's as they rated very good on the sport factor along with smoothes and quietest ride.
However, they don't rate that well in the wet, and historically the tire is not known for good snow traction, although the new compound is supposed to improve that a bit. However, from what I've read the improvement is very slight.

So, I've decided on the Conti DWS. It has excellent wet road handling, it's quiet, it rides well, balances well, and rates the best for snow, and has the best warranty of all of them as it includes a "road hazard" portion in it's warranty and offers a 60 day ride guarantee. So, if the negatives turn out to be too great, I can simply return them and get the P Zero or P Sport's.
The negatives are that the Conti's have the least direct steering feel, as they have a slightly slow response to initial turn in. But, so do these RFT's and it's ok for me. Other than that the DWS are excellent, and reviews from owners have been extremely positive.

If anyone has some experience with the DWS please comment.
Also, if you have some direct or even indirect, friends maybe, experience with the NEW P Zero please comment as well. My concern with the P Zero's is that the improvement in snow traction won't be enough for a high powered RWD 135i.

I'll post an initial review of the Conti's once I get them. I've got a good 70 mile ride back home from the Tire Rack that includes some distance on highway and country back roads.

The cost should be around $788 with installation and tax.
Very good price.
I'm looking positively forward to taking these RFT's off my 135i.

I picked up a set of Conti DWS's last week in the same sizes for many of the same reasons that you mentioned. The main one being Conti's reputation for wet/snow grip. Plus you get a free camera! :P

The ride is much more forgiving then the RF's obviously, and I don't notice any handling differences (I don't track my car, street use only). I've driven in some heavy rain and it took quite a bit of throttle to break them loose.

With the weather quickly getting cold here, the true test will be when some snow starts falling. Pending that, as long as the tread holds up for a decent amount of time, I'm hoping this will be a good tire.

[Fireflyer239]

Well, as much as I love these Mich's, I'm sure all these top performers are going to be great on the road. As the manufacturers develope new and improved versions, they take turns having the best of what's available anyway. So RPM90, I didn't mean to imply that if you didn't go with the Mich's you wouldn't be making the best choice - just saying I luv 'em. I read the TR tests carefully, and also gave a lot of weight to the user reviews (where the Mich's seem to be the faves). I know many makers offer similar warranties, but Michelins seem to outlast them all in the real world. If I had to sacrifice traction to get the longer life it would be one thing, but these things are like a cat on carpet!

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by Fireflyer239

Well, as much as I love these Mich's, I'm sure all these top performers are going to be great on the road. As the manufacturers develope new and improved versions, they take turns having the best of what's available anyway. So RPM90, I didn't mean to imply that if you didn't go with the Mich's you wouldn't be making the best choice - just saying I luv 'em. I read the TR tests carefully, and also gave a lot of weight to the user reviews (where the Mich's seem to be the faves). I know many makers offer similar warranties, but Michelins seem to outlast them all in the real world. If I had to sacrifice traction to get the longer life it would be one thing, but these things are like a cat on carpet!

I have no doubt that the Mich's are great tires. I've used them before on other cars. The reason why I'm not going with them is because they don't offer any better performance given the much greater cost.
As I said, I don't skimp on tires, and if the Mich's were truly better than the other 2, no question I'd go with the Mich.
But, they don't rate that much better for their cost.

The "AS Plus", which is an updated version, does show great reviews.
But, the miles tested are relatively low, just like the Conti's DWS.
There are a lot more miles covered in the reviews for the Conti's.
Most of those seem to be from the non DWS version, and since the DWS has been tested to be better by TR themselves, these numbers will only improve over time.

The one thing that bothered me about the Mich AS is that TR said they have "ring" to them when they hit cracked pavement. I've heard that in other cars and I can't stand it, it would drive me crazy.

I'm probably giving up some steering feel along with a bit better dry traction, but the DWS gain really well in wet and snow traction. The wet rating is the amazing part.
Winter roads around here get cleaned pretty quickly, so the snow traction is a bit less important to me than the wet traction. Once the snow gets cleared, the roads tend to stay wet with all the salt, so the wet grip becomes very important in the winter, or for a good 6-7 months around here.

Maybe the TR sales person will talk me into the Mich AS.
Once I make my decision I call TR to see if I've missed something.

Thanks for your input.

[Gary@TireRack]

give me a call when you're ready. I'll talk with you about it.

[RPM90]

Update:

Spoke with TR rep. He really likes the Mich and says he runs those on his MB CLK.

As we talked I was considering the Mich AS tires. But, as we talked more about the crap roads around northern Indiana and SE Michigan, the rep mentioned something really interesting. He said the Mich tires were more prone to being louder on concrete than the Conti's, due to the asymetric tread pattern on the Conti's. IOW, the DWS tire is much quieter on all road surfaces, and especially quieter compared to the Mich AS on concrete. So, that sealed it for me. I ordered the new Conti DWS and TR will be installing this Saturday, maybe this Friday.

The other great thing about the Conti's is that they have an included "road hazard" warranty, and they have a 60 day full refund policy. I clarified these with the TR rep, and it's all good. If I thing the DWS are just crap the I can return them for a FULL refund, minus install and such, but that's to be expected.

Thanks for everyone's input.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by Gill@Tirerack.com

give me a call when you're ready. I'll talk with you about it.

HI Gill.

Man, I missed your email. I just saw it, but I already spoke with one of your co-workers and put the order in for a set of the DWS Conti's.

[miro2296]

I thought about getting the Conti DWS. Keep us updated on how they are when you get them installed!

Originally Posted by RPM90

Update:

Spoke with TR rep. He really likes the Mich and says he runs those on his MB CLK.

As we talked I was considering the Mich AS tires. But, as we talked more about the crap roads around northern Indiana and SE Michigan, the rep mentioned something really interesting. He said the Mich tires were more prone to being louder on concrete than the Conti's, due to the asymetric tread pattern on the Conti's. IOW, the DWS tire is much quieter on all road surfaces, and especially quieter compared to the Mich AS on concrete. So, that sealed it for me. I ordered the new Conti DWS and TR will be installing this Saturday, maybe this Friday.

The other great thing about the Conti's is that they have an included "road hazard" warranty, and they have a 60 day full refund policy. I clarified these with the TR rep, and it's all good. If I thing the DWS are just crap the I can return them for a FULL refund, minus install and such, but that's to be expected.

Thanks for everyone's input.

[RPM90]

Update:

Conti DWS installed today. So far only about 70 miles, the ride from Tire Rack to home.

Initial observation;
GET RIDE OF YOUR RFT's!
If you want your car to ride like a BMW should, then get some non RFT'S.

I got all seasons. Those who don't want those, that's fine. But, I am saying that the ride is much better with non RFT's.

I'll have a longer review once I get some more miles on the Conti's.

[Michael A]

Do they offer these tires in the OEM size?

[WhiteOne]

Looking forward to your longer review. Go drive that thing!

[woodman650]

Any word on those tires? I'm trying to decide between the same sets (Mich AS Plus and Contis) for new A/S tires. Need them ASAP though as my rear RFTs are bald

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by woodman650

Any word on those tires? I'm trying to decide between the same sets (Mich AS Plus and Contis) for new A/S tires. Need them ASAP though as my rear RFTs are bald

I'll do a new topic for the review.
Look for it.