Conti Extreme Contact DWS06 / Firestone rant

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97tbird

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Fayetteville, NC
They just won the best new product at SEMA:
http://www.continentaltire.com/node/3922

Wife's 2014 Mazda6 has had the "new" DWS06 for 5 months or so, and they're excellent so far, esp. in very hard rain and even going through patches where water stands a lot, with zero hydroplaning. The OEM Bridgestones hydroplaned all over the place even when totally new, and had poor road manners in pretty much all areas. Wife has a 2 hour round trip to work, and she knows all the 'bad' spots on the road when raining, and she has given me a very positive review, that even at the normal speeds the tires never hydroplane. I have only driven her car in dry weather, but I am confident her wet/rainy weather (we had a LOT of rain recently) is accurate. She doesn't normally enter the house while uttering a tire-praising sentence. That shows something.
smile.gif


Handling is also very crisp, and noise is well controlled.
Mazda6 has a comparatively stiffer suspnesion than most mid-size sedans of same price range) and the tires (225 size on 19" Factory wheels) ride well-balanced and steady.

I was so impressed by them so far, and got a set for the Bimmer too. Had them installed today. Ride is smooth and balanced.(18" staggered 225 and 255 on Factory BMW wheels)

(I've had the "old" DWS on the Bimmer and liked them already, but the new DWS06 DEFINITELY has a stiffer side-wall; i could notice it within a few miles of driving the Bimmer today)

Will update this report soon after more miles.

-------- Now Firestone Rant----------

This place can NEVER set correct tire pressure after mounting. Last time, on wife's car, the over-inflated ALL 4 tires by 5-6 PSI.
Today, they did the same on the BMW. All 4 over-inflated by 6-7 PSI !!! WTH ???
(Guy says "yeah our machine is not very accurate". My digital tire gauge cost me $10 perhaps on amazon. Can't they have a few in the shop? it's a TIRE place! )

Also my wheels on the BMW were ridiculously dirty afterwards. It was so extreme, I had to show the manager and he had a tech wipe them off quickly. After I got home I noticed the same type of smudges (some of them big) all over the side of the car. I know this is a "1st world problem" but I find it unacceptable.

And they never re-set TPMS afterwards (which is a blessing in a way, because they'd have reset it with vastly wrong tire pressures).
However, their mounting / balancing has always been ok/good. (after correcting tire pressures i have had no issues.)



------------- end rant ------------
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: 97tbird
This place can NEVER set correct tire pressure after mounting. Last time, on wife's car, the over-inflated ALL 4 tires by 5-6 PSI.
Today, they did the same on the BMW. All 4 over-inflated by 6-7 PSI !!! WTH ???

Most places will inflate to about 40 PSI in order to seat the beads when mounting new tires. And they just don't bother to drop it to where it needs to be afterwards because that takes extra work/time.
 
The worst part (forgot to mention above) was that due to the experience last time I had TOLD the manager what the pressures should be for my car this time. AND made sure he CIRCLED IT on the print out (which did have the pressures correctly printed on it).
sigh - a lot of good THAT did.

And I just noticed: ALL my BMW metal valve caps are gone. I have 4 rubber valve caps. Too late to do anything now, I guess.
frown.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: 97tbird
This place can NEVER set correct tire pressure after mounting. Last time, on wife's car, the over-inflated ALL 4 tires by 5-6 PSI.
Today, they did the same on the BMW. All 4 over-inflated by 6-7 PSI !!! WTH ???

Most places will inflate to about 40 PSI in order to seat the beads when mounting new tires. And they just don't bother to drop it to where it needs to be afterwards because that takes extra work/time.


If a customer comes in and has under inflated tyres, I'll send him off with slightly over inflated tyres (full load setting). Esp now that winter is coming and temperatures (and pressures) will drop.
 
Originally Posted By: 97tbird
The worst part (forgot to mention above) was that due to the experience last time I had TOLD the manager what the pressures should be for my car this time. AND made sure he CIRCLED IT on the print out (which did have the pressures correctly printed on it).
sigh - a lot of good THAT did.

And I just noticed: ALL my BMW metal valve caps are gone. I have 4 rubber valve caps. Too late to do anything now, I guess.
frown.gif



did they install new valves?
 
Pep boys inflates my fleet car five pounds under. And this time, they added 2/32" to the tread measurement. Noticed after I left. Next visit I'm asking how rubber got added!
 
Originally Posted By: Jetronic
Originally Posted By: 97tbird
The worst part (forgot to mention above) was that due to the experience last time I had TOLD the manager what the pressures should be for my car this time. AND made sure he CIRCLED IT on the print out (which did have the pressures correctly printed on it).
sigh - a lot of good THAT did.

And I just noticed: ALL my BMW metal valve caps are gone. I have 4 rubber valve caps. Too late to do anything now, I guess.
frown.gif



did they install new valves?


No mention of such on the invoice. I have to check the tires and see if they look different.
 
Many low paid tire techs have very little pride in the quality of their work.

I agee 100% with your rant , but the manager is thinking....
Why is this guy wasting my time about smudges of dirt / grime?
 
I know - i felt bad later for complaining about the wheels, but i felt mad when I saw them. They were really clean, and I had put some work into detailing them last time.

But I do think I had the right to complain about ridiculously wrong tire pressures, esp. after I had JUST instructed them not to repeat the last time's fail re: them.
And I find the excuse "oh they set the pressure when they were installing the tires, but our "machine" is not very accurate.."
What machine is THAT? and why can't they get a $10 digital gauge to do a quick check if he KNOWS that the "machine" is not accurate?

I'll just have to deal with them even in the future though, because there's no other place close by with a RoadForce Balancer.

I'll just have to get a spare set of rubber valve stem caps, to put on when I go there, so that I don't have to replace by factory metal stem caps every time.
 
Again, I agree with your complaints. Especially the tire pressure as a tire shop *should* have an accurate tire pressure gauge.

To the tire tech, its just another car/work order.... same as if it were a $1000 beater Corolla. Many tire shops don't have a properly trained alignment tech for their high-end Hunter rack. You have to go to a shop that only does alignments and owner cares about the work quality.

A BITOG member had his BMW wheels all scuffed up when tire tech mounted new tires. The guy posted photos and wrote a thread about his experience at tire shop.
 
It's a Firestone. Sort of like going to McDonald's and expecting great service and culinary delight.

By the way I learned just like you that place is terrible.
 
Originally Posted By: 97tbird
The worst part (forgot to mention above) was that due to the experience last time I had TOLD the manager what the pressures should be for my car this time. AND made sure he CIRCLED IT on the print out (which did have the pressures correctly printed on it).
sigh - a lot of good THAT did.

And I just noticed: ALL my BMW metal valve caps are gone. I have 4 rubber valve caps. Too late to do anything now, I guess.
frown.gif

I've had places try that stunt on me as well, my Ram has the little caps that change color from green to red if you get a low tire-I've busted WM twice for trying to keep them. Now I just take them off before I let them do the (free) rebalance & rotation!
 
Thanks.
They did recommend alignment, but alignment is one of the FEW things I get done at the dealer on this car, as they always do a good job and have the necessary BMW specific tools if certain adjustments are needed. Even my favorite indie but BMW specialized shop which does GREAT on everything, cannot fully nail the alignment. Many times their computer pulled up wrong sub-model, and alignment was not correct. (selected regular 330Ci, or M3 - my car is neither)

The dealer scans the VIN, when entering their "bay" so I know they always get the model / settings right, and CAN tackle all sections of alignment, which most regular tire/alignment shops lack tools for.
 
T-Bird, I acknowledge your rant. Techs should at least take a little pride in what they do. If they know the machine is off, I would have my own gauge sitting in my pocket to use on customer vehicles. Pride in doing work is something a person should take pride in, and a customer should appreciate with a handshake and their business.
 
Originally Posted By: 97tbird

And I just noticed: ALL my BMW metal valve caps are gone. I have 4 rubber valve caps. Too late to do anything now, I guess.
frown.gif



No it's not...that's THEFT.
 
Last edited:
Kita:

I can't prove anything. I SHOULD have noticed it when I checked the tire pressures, but wasn't focusing. That would have been the best time to do it.

You know I don't know why anyone would STEAL 4 valve stems. They're like $12 online. I can live with buying another set. I just think they just took them off, put them somewhere and just plain didn't think of it anymore. But the PRINCIPLE of carelessness and don't give a khrap attitude bothers me.

I wrote a lengthy review on Tire Rack on their installer review section, and also submitted same review (with pics of dirty wheels and pain) on the Firestone website (store specific).
 
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