Evel

Who is rolling with Continental Extreme Contact DWS All-Season tires?
How many miles have you racked up on 'em & how do you like or dislike 'em?

Trying to make a final decision on which of the three tires to buy between the:

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus - most expensive, but a little cheaper w/$70 rebate

Bridgestones RE960 AS Pole Position - mid range price, but some have complianed of pulling/off center steering & becoming noisy issues.

Continental DWS's - least expensive, but with highest treadlife warranty of the 3.

NTB has a sale on all tires this month & the Michelin $70 rebate ends Jan. 31st, so I need to make a decision before then.
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Here's some quotes I got yesterday for anyone else shopping for tires at this time

NTB Quotes

Michelin Pilot Sport AS Plus

If you allow NTB to order from Tire Rack to get lower price per tire price of $226/tire + $10.25/tire shipping cost = $236.25/tire.

NTB will charge $40/install per tire (which will include road hazard insurance, lifetime balancing & rotation).
Michelin is offering a $70 rebate & NTB is offering a $40 discount if you make the purchase w/a NTB charge card & another $40 discount for your old tires ($150 total discount) Per my calculation that comes to $955 + alignment cost + tax.

vs $1,185.76 + alignment cost + tax, if you purchased from NTB stock which includes the $150 in discounts mentioned above. The $80 discount offered by NTB only applies to Michelin tires. They don't offer the $40 NTB credit card & $40 credit for your old tires on any other brand, but I'm going to do my best to hassle with manager to give me the $80 credit if I went with Bridgestones or Continentals to get my business

Bridgestones Pole Position:
Tire Rack cost of $191/tire + $10.25/tire shipping cost = $201.25/tire:
NTB's $40/tire install (includes road hazard ins, lifetime balancing & rotation) =$965 + tax + alignment

vs $1,044 + alignment cost + tax if you bought direct from NTB stock.

Continental DWS
Tire Rack cost of $135/tire + $10.25/tire shipping = $145.25/tire
NTB $40/tire install (includes road hazard ins, lifetime balancing & rotation) which is good because Tire Rack does not offer road hazard ins for the DWS
= $741 + alignment cost + tax

vs. $820 + alignment cost + tax if you bought direct from NTB stock.

Jskyline

I have it on my IS250AWD. The ride is very smooth and quiet. Compare to those high end all seasons this is definitely a good buy. I'm going to buy another set for my GS for my 20s soon.

BinaryJay

$40 per tire install without any TPMS programming seems excessive.

Evel

BinaryJay,

Good point. I'll double check to see if the TPMS was taken into consideration, but I did inform the NTB rep of the type car the tires would be installed on. This particular NTB is a block down from a Lexus & several other dealerships less than a mile away, so they serve lots of customers with Lexus, Infiniti's, & Jags.

Modeler

Not if it includes road hazard and lifetime balancing and rotation. I think the lowest installation / balancing price from TireRack-listed installers is like $19 per tire. Getting all of the above benefits for extra $21 per tire seems quite worth it to me.

nehal51086

I have the DWS on my ISrwd and have to say im pretty pleased with them, i have no complaints for the dry and wet traction, i havent been in a car with the others so cant really compare on noise, but the DWS are farily quiet. ive had the tires for about 4-5months, it hasnt snowed here yet so i cant input on the snow performance. but before this set i had the previous continental performance all seasons (conti extreme contact i think it was) and they performed well in the snow/ice.

rjacket

I am interested in exactly the same choice as you with one additional option: Bridgestone Turanza Serenity.

After quite extensive research I am currently decided on the Pole Positions. My reasoning is as follows

1) I am in CA so while we get rain, I don't drive in Snow. The Conti DWS are overkill in that respect for CA. Additionally, the DWS have, apparently, significantly worse cornering feel and steering feel. Strangely enough, when taken out onto the track, they don't perform that much worse, but from a feel perspective, they appear to be lacking. I'm coming off Yokohama summer tires so I suspect the change will be very noticeable.

2) The Michelin's scored pretty much identical to the Bridgestone's in all the tests I can see but were reported to be noisier. Ride comfort and noise are important given the stiff GS suspension and the CA roads, so no need to pay more for worse performance in that area. Now, if you are near Costco, you could get $15 per tire install, an excellent road hazard warranty and lifetime everything. It's more expensive than Tire Rack but think if you have a problem, how much easier it's going to be to resolve the issue.

3) I also had Turanza Serenity on my list because of the excellent road and noise characteristics as well as what seem to be very decent customer reviews on their performance. However, they cost quite a bit extra. Interestingly, customer reviews on Tire Rack gave them very high performance ratings, as good as All Season Performance tires, but when the testers get hold of them, they do rate them significantly lower on performance. Again, strangely enough, when the tires are out on the track, they don't seem to actually turn in significantly lower performance results. It seems that it's all about what they feel like to drive rather than what they can physically do.

4) So the best choice for me seems to be the Pole Positions. Good tread life, cheaper than the Michelin's, as good a performance as you can get from an All Season and amongst the best ride out there. Compared to my existing Yokohama tires, I expect a significant improvement in ride quality and noise, while not losing too much in performance.

Of course this is for me in CA and for someome coming off Yokohama Summer Tires not wanting to lose too much performance. The DWS for snow and rain seem to be a no brainer if you can live with some performance limitations in the dry. Additionally the DWS come out to half the cost per mile of the Michelin's / Bridgestone's when you factor in the additional mileage they will do.

Next step is just to decide on who to install them. The dealership route actually gives me the lowest total cost ($50 install including balancing believe it or not with Tire Rack shipping to them) and has the benefit of knowing the TPMS will be done correctly. The downside is not having any cover if something happens to the tires. On the other hand, I've done 26k on the Yokohamas over 3 years and not had a single problem with them.

Modeler

My understanding is that there's nothing that actually has to be "done" with the GS TPMS system. You just take one tire off, and put another on. Done. Is your understanding different?

BinaryJay

I was kind of assuming a new set of wheels.

Even if not, technically I think you're supposed to take the TPMS off the wheel and remount with new hardware each time the tires are changed. There is probably no good reason to do this other than it's a convenient time to do it to prevent leaks due to failing gaskets etc.

Evel

I'll contact the Lexus dealership to determine if there's anything that has to be done TPMS wise, when changing tires on the GS. Most of the installers charge $4-$5/tire for TPMS. I'll post my findings.

Modeler

Right, they might recommend that something is done, but there is no reason to do it other than the fact that it would make money for the dealers. I had tires replaced on my GS two times, and nothing had to be done with TMPS on those occasions. Existing sensors were used.

rjacket

Right, my Lexus dealer said nothing has to be done, apart from the recalibration (I presume reset the tire pressure).

The reason I asked him was that Discount Tire / America's Tire quote a "TPMS Rebuild Kit" that although optional, makes it sound like it's best that you replace some parts of the TPMS system.

I know Costco charge extra to change tires with TPMS and that makes sense if there is extra work, but there is no need to change any parts.

TWong350

iTrader: (8)

Nothing needs to be done at all. Sensors are still programmed to the vehicle. Just make sure the tire pressure is correct in all tires and even in all tires as well.

Ice350

iTrader: (1)

I had the Bridgestone 960 and was mostly happy with them. They were quiet and rode smooth with a good look. Only complaint is they didn't have that solid and confident contact patch. Always felt like you were searching for the sweet spot. Most people won't notice this and I would highly recommend them.

I currently have the Pilot Sport AS Plus on my wife's car and I hate them. Too loud. Too rough. Too hard. Waste of cash. Nothing like the PS2 that I love.

I curreently have the Conti DWS on my car and they are quiet and comfy and the ride may not be high performance but the handling is good enough to make these my new favorite tires. Get them.

Bavaria

I'm within 2000 miles of replacing the original 18" Michelin's, and after doing some preliminary research, am looking favorably at the Kumho Ecsta LX Platinum's. The reviews on the Tire Rack site have been very compelling for me. Just my $.02.