I have been using the Continental ExtremeContact Sport Plus for 2,000 miles. They are a very pleasant-handling tire (quasi-aggressive street driving). Predictable performance on dry, wet, and snow/ice covered pavement. Turn-in/steering response is similar to the Dunlop Direzza ZII Star Spec, which I previously used for both street and autocross.
Mine are very quiet and offer a pretty smooth ride due to their relatively soft sidewall
I have the Continental DWS for my 2005 Mazda 6. It has served me well. You can feel the different even going on steep hills.
I use Blizzak DMV2 (suv version of the WS80) on my Santa Fe. Unstoppable in deep snow, but that has mattered maybe twice so far this winter. On ice they have been better than my all seasons, but they have not been incredible.
I found the Bridgestone tire to be alittle more forgiving and last longer. The grip on these tires are both amazing and hard to tell them apart on snow and ice.
I drove to Mammoth from San Francisco last weekend during a snow storm and wanted to report on my Continental DWS06's performance. tl;dr the Golf R Chuck Norris'ed the mountain passes during the snowiest January ever recorded for Mammoth. On parts where the ground was white with snow and salt, my R was glued to the road at 30-35 mph. I drove through several inches of fresh powder to get out my cabin. No problems there. Of course, the plow pushed a mound of snow up to my rear mirror that I shoveled out before backing out of my spot, but that's besides the point. My R dominated a steep hill leading to the resort lodge in 1st and 2nd gear. My sister's front wheel drive with cable chains could not manage the hill and had to turn out halfway up. After shuttling the passengers in my sister's car to the lodge, I noticed two other FWD chained cars were stuck on the hill and blocked passage up to the resort. The only difficulty I faced was convincing chain control that I didn't need chains. He didn't believe my car was AWD with M+S tires that can handle the snow. So after 5 minutes of debate, he relented and asked me to do a traction test where I accelerated rapidly to break the tires loose and immediately brake. He wanted to ensure the car could gain traction right away. Passed with flying colors and he waved me through. I hope I don't have to convince every chain control officer that the R is at home in the snow. The DWS06s deserve a look for anyone who isn't driving in snow full-time. Every time I passed a car putting on chains, I felt the R and DWS06 premium was worth every penny spent. btw, when the chain control guy wanted me to put on chains, he said the snow socks weren't going to cut it. Seeing how well my R did, I'm going to return my ISSE snowsocks.
The DWS06 (mine with about 4K miles) were impressive going up and down snow covered back roads with up to a 12% grade. I had to try if I wanted to break traction except for one time when I braked too hard at a downhill stop sign. Hopefully I'll never need the socks but they don't take up much space so I'll leave them in the back for the winter.
I've got 19" Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 tires, which (for all season) are rated very well for snow, and also carry snow socks in case extra traction is required (lowered so any sort of chain is out of the question). I've seen many people say that all seasons are the jack of all trades master of none, but they're certainly going to be worlds better than a summer tire. I understand they're not going to be as amazing as a dedicated snow tire, but for the few trips over the mountains to Tahoe that I'm going to make, they should suffice just fine. I drove into some collected snow off the side of the road last year (intentionally, wanted a picture of the R in the snow :laugh: ) and had no problem what so ever getting out. There were other cars parked there as well, an SUV looked like it was spinning a bit of tire trying to get out, so I felt pretty confident that my tires worked well enough.
I've the ProContract Tx as stock, and they are quiet on everyday surfaces, both at city and highway speeds. Ride is compliant and soft, but not squishy. However once they are on concrete highways, the road noise ruins it all.
I run Conti DWSes on my A3 and I think they're abysmal with anything more than an inch of slush on the roads. More than that, once the temps get below 40 I can definitely sense them losing their grip. I haven't been overly thrilled with the Contis and don't think I'll buy them again.
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