Continental Extreme DW review

[jeebus]

I drive quite a few miles (right about 20k/yr) but I don't like to sacrifice grip TOO much in the interest of mileage. I also AutoX about once a month right now and don't yet have in the budget for a dedicated set of wheels and tires for that. So after doing enough research, I decided to give the Continental Extreme DW tires a whirl, in the stock 215/45/17 size.

I stuck with the stock size for a few reasons. 1) I didn't want to add weight (the DW is 20lbs in that size, same as stock) 2) I didn't want to have taller gearing. And 3) I didn't want to have extra sidewall slop since the stock wheels are relatively narrow.

On the street in dry, warm weather: The DW is very comfortable. More so than the stock Michelins. Initial response is quick but not quite as immediate as the stock tire, unfortunately. The tire communicates well and gives up progressively. Grip levels are up by leaps and bounds over stock, but you can still hang the tail out if you try. The sidewall does feel a little on the soft side. I increased the pressures to 40 hot and that helped, but still...this doesn't feel like something as serious as RE11 or Z1.

On the street in dry, cold weather: Surprisingly the DW does pretty well in the 30s. I realize it's not designed for those temps, but there is a lot more grip available than stock when it gets this cold. Comfort remains top notch as well.

On the street in the wet: WOW, this really is a fantastic wet tire. I feel like it could outperform the stock tire driven on a dry surface, while in the wet on the DW. It really is that good. I don't believe I've ever had something that gripped like this in the wet.

On the AutoX course: Grip levels are definitely up from stock. If they weren't I would have been shocked. But I can't say steering feel is amazing. It feels more vague and wishy-washy like Yoko s.Drives or something. That said, the car was still really easy to control while sideways. The tires would get greasy as they got hot, but were predictable. I'm fairly certain (based on comparisons of friends cars I run with) that the tire got me and extra 1-1.5 second advantage on a ~100 sec AutoX course, over stock. These are NOT z1/rs3/etc but for someone like me they will suffice...at least for now. I don't have any suspension mods save for crash bolts, and I still roll over the shoulders on the front tires quite a bit, and the rears a tad.

Below is a pic of a rear tire. This is after 1000 miles of street use, but most importantly...after a day with 13 ~100 second AutoX runs at Qualcomm. The surface is pretty abusive to tires. I'm glad to see these didn't chunk nearly as badly as stock.

[Miniata]

Thanks for the review. I've heard lots of good things about the DW over the past couple of years, and plan to get a set for wet autocross and street duty in the near future.

[Blue86]

I have them in 225 width on an 8" rim in 45 profile. Overall for the money I am very happy with them

[Captain Insano]

Thanks for the review. I just bought a set of these in 245/40/17. This sounds pretty spot on to what I was expecting when I purchased these and perfect for my daily driver summer tires.

[Fire]

Anyone experience how many miles Contiential DW last? (street driving)

[Blue86]

Originally Posted by Fire

Anyone experience how many miles Contiential DW last? (street driving)

based tread wear rating about 34-35000kms or whatever that is in miles

[Captain Insano]

Originally Posted by Fire

Anyone experience how many miles Contiential DW last? (street driving)

I think on tire rack when I researched these, they get pretty good reviews for street mile tread wear for a max performance summer tire. And 340 is a pretty decent tread wear rating for a max performance summer tire as well.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....remeContact+DW

[jeebus]

Originally Posted by Fire

Anyone experience how many miles Contiential DW last? (street driving)

I got 10k out of the stock tires. I'm hoping to get 15k from these.

[MVJ1975]

Going with these myself, just ordered a set from Tire Rack. I went back and forth on the Z2s but ultimately came down in favor of wanting the tires to last a while as my FR-S pulls DD duty as well. These seem like a good compromise street tire.

[norsamerican]

In the past i've had the DWS tires on a daily driven subaru (when they werent on backorder) and i really enjoyed the tires.

[bakerr6]

I'm running them on motegi traklites for the summer. I'll let you know when I put them on (had snow last week and probably will throught he end of this month haha)

[shu5892001]

I use to track these with my Mazda 3. They really glue you to the ground, I didn't really manage to break loose the tires. This is how my tire looked like after 5 laps:

[Fire]

Anyone drove both DW & DWS? Feeling any big difference? DW as summer tire suppose to get more grip in the warm weather, but wonder if the extra grip is worth the sacrifice of durability.

[Miniata]

Originally Posted by Fire

Anyone drove both DW & DWS? Feeling any big difference? DW as summer tire suppose to get more grip in the warm weather, but wonder if the extra grip is worth the sacrifice of durability.

Not yet, but I plan to buy a set of each (for different cars though) this year. It should all come down to how you plan to use the tires. If they will never see winter conditions, and you enjoy spirited driving, the DW would be the way to go. If winter traction and treadlife are more important than having fun in the corners, than the DWS may be the better option. They are both reported to do very well in the rain.