Review of Continental ExtremeContact DWS

[HTSS_TR]

Just came back from a trip to Vegas with Continental ExtremeContact DWS 235/45-15 installed on the E430 a month ago.

I tried 42 PSI before the trip for a month, I felt that the sidewall is a little soft so that I inflated to 48 PSI with the max of 51 PSI on sidewall. It was a mistake to have that high pressure at 70F ambient temp. The temperature at Death Valley was 115F and 110F at Vegas, with about 40F more the tire pressure was above max pressure of 51, the car was not very stable with strong cross wind when I was around Death Valley, the ride was pretty hash aver the bumpy road, but the gas mileage was very good at around 24-25 MPG.

While we were at Vegas, I borrowed the tire pressure gauge and adjust all tires down to 45 PSI. The car was much more stable on the way back to California, even the cross wind was stronger. The gas mileage suffered about 0.5-1.0 MPG. The tire noise was very low with either pressure.

I am very satisfy with DWS, its performance is as good as Falken FK452, the ride is better at 45 PSI and the noise is lower. The FK452 lasted only 20k miles, it's too soon to know the tread life of DWS, but is is rated at 540 so that it should lasted more than 30-35k miles.

 

[shpankey]

Thank you for this! I've been debating about buying this exact tire for my 09 Mazdaspeed 3 (though a different size).

 

[The Critic]

As I had expected, the soft sidewalls are an issue. This is not a good performance tire at all, so it would be a poor choice for a Speed3. I would look into the Avid Envigors instead.

Thanks for the review though.

 

[casper]

The contis should way exceed that of a falken 452.

Whats the spec pressure for the e430?

 

[TJPark01]

48 PSI? Dear god man. I'm guessing the car specs 35psi or around there.

 

[brandini]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Just came back from a trip to Vegas with Continental ExtremeContact DWS 235/45-15 installed on the E430 a month ago.

I tried 42 PSI before the trip for a month, I felt that the sidewall is a little soft so that I inflated to 48 PSI with the max of 51 PSI on sidewall. It was a mistake to have that high pressure at 70F ambient temp. The temperature at Death Valley was 115F and 110F at Vegas, with about 40F more the tire pressure was above max pressure of 51, the car was not very stable with strong cross wind when I was around Death Valley, the ride was pretty hash aver the bumpy road, but the gas mileage was very good at around 24-25 MPG.

While we were at Vegas, I borrowed the tire pressure gauge and adjust all tires down to 45 PSI. The car was much more stable on the way back to California, even the cross wind was stronger. The gas mileage suffered about 0.5-1.0 MPG. The tire noise was very low with either pressure.

I am very satisfy with DWS, its performance is as good as Falken FK452, the ride is better at 45 PSI and the noise is lower. The FK452 lasted only 20k miles, it's too soon to know the tread life of DWS, but is is rated at 540 so that it should lasted more than 30-35k miles.


If I recall correctly it's an UHP All-season meaning you're giving up mpg for sticky-ness. And that's something the compound and tread design have more affect on than what you can adjust out of in tire pressure.

Do you attack curves and on-off ramps, drive vigorously, or otherwise? If not, next time go for the ProContact, or even the ProContact with Eco Plus (if available in your size).

 

[casper]

tire/wheel combo weight is also a factor here, but I dont see a 235/45/15 listed for the either tire on their respective spec pages.

although looking into a 235/45/17 for both, the Conti's are 5lbs lighter per tire.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: casper
The contis should way exceed that of a falken 452.

Whats the spec pressure for the e430?


Originally Posted By: TJPark01
48 PSI? Dear god man. I'm guessing the car specs 35psi or around there.


The spec is Front 36 PSI and Rear 42 PSI for speed over 100 MPH. Since I usually at 90 MPH or higher, sometime at up to 110-120 MPH when traffic was light.

Originally Posted By: brandini

If I recall correctly it's an UHP All-season meaning you're giving up mpg for sticky-ness. And that's something the compound and tread design have more affect on than what you can adjust out of in tire pressure.

Do you attack curves and on-off ramps, drive vigorously, or otherwise? If not, next time go for the ProContact, or even the ProContact with Eco Plus (if available in your size).


Yes, I do take the on-off ramps at higher speed than most, usually at double the recommended speed. Driving the E430 at triple digits MPH is not an affair I like to do with inferior tires. With good tires, the car feels very stable even at 120-130 MPH as it is at 60-70 MPH. The fastest I ever tried on this car was 135 MPH for a mile or two, the feeling was very good that it can be so stable at that speed, but a little scary that if I get caught I would be in jail for speed in exceed of 100 MPH.

From the experience after this drive, I think that I made the right choice for this car. But the pressure should be 45-46 PSI or a little less, 48-49 PSI is too high.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: casper
tire/wheel combo weight is also a factor here, but I dont see a 235/45/15 listed for the either tire on their respective spec pages.

although looking into a 235/45/17 for both, the Conti's are 5lbs lighter per tire.


You're right, it was the mistake in my part, the correct tire size should be 235/45-17, not 235/45-15 as in my original post. Sorry for the mis-information, I should re-read before posting.

It's lighter than others, that is one of the reasons that the sidewall is thin/soft.

 

[barlowc]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
The spec is Front 36 PSI and Rear 42 PSI for speed over 100 MPH.

And you had them inflated to 48 psi!?!?

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR

I tried 42 PSI before the trip for a month, I felt that the sidewall is a little soft so that I inflated to 48 PSI with the max of 51 PSI on sidewall. It was a mistake to have that high pressure at 70F ambient temp. The temperature at Death Valley was 115F and 110F at Vegas, with about 40F more the tire pressure was above max pressure of 51, the car was not very stable with strong cross wind when I was around Death Valley, the ride was pretty hash aver the bumpy road, but the gas mileage was very good at around 24-25 MPG.


Originally Posted By: barlowc

And you had them inflated to 48 psi!?!?

The sidewall felt a little soft at 42 PSI that why I inflated it to 48 PSI the week before we went to Vegas, and driving on local highway at 70-80 MPH was okay, even taking the on-off ramps at high speed was very stable. The mistake was 48 PSI at 70F is about 52 PSI at 110F, I didn't take into account that temperature difference.

All the tire pressures above are cold tire pressures.

 

[casper]

How many miles on the tires in the month before the trip? I would venture to say that if there was less than 500 miles on those tires, there was still some amount of compound release still on them and it can take some time for the tires to season once installed.

 

[HTSS_TR]

I had about 900-1000 miles before the trip to Vegas. The over-inflate tire pressure made the car unstable at cross-wind when I was passing the Death Valley at high speed of 90-110 MPH. The high temperature of 115F at Death Valley and high speed made the tires pressure go much above max pressure of 51 PSI. On the trip back to California the car was very stable after I reduced the pressure down to 45 PSI, even with stronger cross-wind at similar speed of 90-100 MPH.

 

[Asterix]

How wide are your wheels? I have a pair of 255/45-17s mounted on a 9"-wide wheel and I don't think the sidewalls are too soft. They're in the rear of a 350Z, with 35psi of air. There is almost no sidewall bulge at all due to the wide rim.

 

[HTSS_TR]

The width of the OE wheel is 7.5" and it matches with 235/45-17 very well, I think if the width is 8" it will be better.

 

[Sayjac]

Just purchased a set of these( 215/50ZR17) today at the grand opening of the newest, now closest to me Discount Tire store. They had $100 grand opening rebate plus $70 rebate off on any Continental and these were recommended. My other choice was the Yoko ENVigors which they didn't have in stock but could get in 2-3 days. I researched the DWS on TR yesterday and they looked very decent. Went back today and the same sales guy said he'd do $170 off today with no rebate needed, if I didn't like the DWS's within 30 days I could bring them back. Sold.

Haven't driven them enough to do a review but compared to the Accord's lousy OE Michelin's they replace, the ride is smooth and much improved. Will update my opinion after some time on these tires.

And as usual, the service at DT was outstanding. The tires were mounted and balanced in caps this time.

 

[mareakin]

I'd love to get the DWS but they don't make it in 15 inch size. They are also very lightweight!

 

[HTSS_TR]

Continental ProContact EcoPlus seems to be a good tire and it's available in 15" sizes.

 

[cutlassvillager]

My Dad got DWS' on his 2002 WRX wagon early this summer (205/55/16). When I've driven the car I've been impressed by the tires especially compared to the Hankook H418s that were on previously. The sidewalls do seem a little soft, but the handling still feels confident. I love the way the sidewall/tread pattern looks. I recommended these tires based on the good tire rack reviews as well as their video comparing ultra high performance tires in the winter. They seem much quieter than the Michelin Pilot Sport Pluses on my BMW (225/45/17 front 245/40/17 rear). My Dad has reported better mileage as well. They are wearing evenly so far. Tire pressure is usually kept at ~35 psi, which is a few psi over the OEM recommendation and seems to be the sweet spot in my testing. I'm looking forward to seeing how they perform this winter.
I interned at a BMW dealership during the summer and I was surprised at how many BMWs that were in for service had DWS'. It seems to be a popular tire among the luxury car crowd.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: cutlassvillager
My Dad got DWS' on his 2002 WRX wagon early this summer (205/55/16). When I've driven the car I've been impressed by the tires especially compared to the Hankook H418s that were on previously. The sidewalls do seem a little soft, but the handling still feels confident. I love the way the sidewall/tread pattern looks. I recommended these tires based on the good tire rack reviews as well as their video comparing ultra high performance tires in the winter. They seem much quieter than the Michelin Pilot Sport Pluses on my BMW (225/45/17 front 245/40/17 rear). My Dad has reported better mileage as well. They are wearing evenly so far. Tire pressure is usually kept at ~35 psi, which is a few psi over the OEM recommendation and seems to be the sweet spot in my testing. I'm looking forward to seeing how they perform this winter.
I interned at a BMW dealership during the summer and I was surprised at how many BMWs that were in for service had DWS'. It seems to be a popular tire among the luxury car crowd.

Do you know OD of 225/45-17 is 25" and 245/40-17 is 24.7" ? To get the OD of 25" on the rear to match the front you need 255/40-17.

I have 225/45-17 front and 255/40-17 rear on my Honda S2000. The OE sizes are 215/45-17 front and 245/40-17.