I was so in love the with DWSs I bought the DWs for my volks. Ive only had them for about 6,000mi or so but I love em. They are super quiet and stable into the turns. As with my DWSs they took a little while to scrub in. But now that they have heated up a few times they are fantastic. I did some spirited driving up in CT on some roads I know really well. They were great. Im very very happy with my purchase and will be sure to update after I get some more miles logged in. As with the DWSs the wet traction has been excellent. No floating or hydroplaning what so ever.

Extreme Contact DW 245/35 R19 F 275/35 R19 rear.

I had to roll my fenders in the rear. (Volk progressive spoke 19x9.5 +22 front 19x10.5 +25 Rear. Lowered on TEIN S-Techs)

 

Thanks for posting your opinion on the Continental tire. Both of these tires consistently have good reviews.

Since you have experience with both tires… some questions about the Continental ExtremeContact DW (Max Performance Summer) and the ExtremeContact DWS(Ultra High Performance All-Season):

• For summer driving (warm weather) on the street, is there a noticeable difference in handling between these tires? (I would expect the DW to be better than the DWS, but I’m wondering how much better.)
  
  
• Is one tire (DW vs. DWS) more quiet than the other?
  
  
• How do you rate the DWS year around (in other words, is the DWS adequate during the winter in light snow and on ice, and is the DWS decent in the summer)?

The Z is noisy and has poor sound-deadening. I’m getting tired of the roar delivered to the Z’s interior by most summer performance tires and looking for a more comfortable alternative. I’m very interested in your comments.

--Spike

 

I just purchased another set of Hankooks this week, but while I was looking I noticed these were available in my sizes. I gave them some serious thought, but I just wasn't impressed with them due to tireracks review. I think the Hankook offers a bit more sport driving and performance for lower cost. The DW seemed like a more expensive Falken FK-452.

After seeing TR's video review, I wish they would do the same with the Hankook V12 Evo.

Thanks for the review though, best of luck with them!

 

Its a little hard for me to compare the two together since my setup really changed with the addition of my volks. The DWSs are on my OEM "03 touring wheels. The DWs are on 19' volks (sizes in orignal post) I can say all year driving in the DWSs have been great. I would say they are comparable to the DWs. I do notice a lot more "sure footedness" with the DWs but again this could be due to having a lot more rubber on the road. They are both really quiet in my opinion. My car chews up front tires pretty well (feathering) but these seem to be resisting it. I align it every 6-8 months or after a good knock from a baltimore city street. Ive had the Eagle F1 all seasons on my car and I can say the dry traction is better on the Eagles than on the DWSs but wet traction, treadlife, and quietness goes to the DWSs

I also did more winter driving than I was hoping to this year. I had one hairy drive down 95 around that New Years storm and the car performed very well (for a 350z). I also did a lot of slushy sloppy driving after those big snow storms. The tires were great. I cant say enough about the wet traction these tires have. Both the DW and DWS are amazing. No floating or anything.

I think some of the bad reviews about these tires are due to the fact that they seem to take a while to scrub in. Not sure if its the release agent or what but I hated them when I first got them. So be sure to take it easy as they seem to require a few more heat cycles/scrubbing that usual.

I drive my car everyday all year so ive put some miles on these tires. Ive had the DWSs to Canada and back and a few trips to CT. They were great. I dont autocross or drag or anythign so i cant speak to that but I would definitely buy these tires again.

 

I had considered the Hankooks and the toyo T1Rs but all the ones I have seen on peoples cars were always bald. Especially on the insides. I dont know why that is but they just dont seem to have the tread life i like to see in a tire.

I do have one caveat about these tires. Im not sure if its the tire or me just having bad luck but this happened with my DWSs. Yes thats an adjustable wrench in my tire.

 

Hmmm, that would indicate bad alignment for the car, not a case of poor wear quality. Everything I had seen indicates the Hankooks wear very well with little loss of performance. I hope to put more miles on this set than I did my last.

 

That's a rather expensive way to aquire new tools!

Thanks for the info on the tires. I'm definitely looking at these.

--Spike

 

Tell me about it. This was a big tire year.

PM me if you have anymore questions. I forget to check this thread a lot.

 

I've been lookin for that darn thing the past 2 weeks!

 

I recently purchased a set of Continental Extreme Contact DWS (245/40-18” Front, and 245/45-18” Rear) on my 350z. This tire has been discussed here a few times, but I’ll add my opinion to previous discussions.

I should mention that I did not buy this tire with the intention of driving it in snow. I have a set of studless snow tires I drive during the winter. I bought an all-season tire for use on the street simply because I was tired of hearing the noise from summer-performance tires. Tires I have experience with are OEM Bridgestones, Avon (too long ago to remember the model), Michelin PS2, and most recently, Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3.

The Continental Extreme Contact DWS tires are very quiet-running. There’s almost no road noise at all. The ride is exceptionally comfortable. These tires run just great on dry roads and in the rain.

The characteristic that some people will not like is the softer handling feel. I guess that is because of the deeper tread and more flexible sidewall (probably a factor in the tire’s very comfortable ride). People who prefer the rigid feel of a summer performance tire when cornering or doing a fast lane change may not like this tire as well.

Reviews of the Continental Extreme Contact DW (the summer performance version) suggest this might be a better tire if you never deal with freezing weather or snow in the fall and spring. I live in a climate where freezing temperatures and even snow can happen early or late in the year. I end up mounting my studless snow tires much earlier and run them much later in the year than I need to avoid that situation.

--Spike

Other reviews/opinions/posts discussing Continental Extreme Contact DWS and DW:

https://my350z.com/forum/wheels-and-...-k110-evo.html

https://my350z.com/forum/wheels-and-...dw-review.html

https://my350z.com/forum/wheels-and-...in-review.html

 

Nice writeup. I have the same ones and love them. They are also decent in the snow. The only thing that I would change is the softness of the sidewalls, but like you said, that probably contributes to the ride comfort.

 

Thanks for the critique. 90 percent certain these will be my next tires.

 

I also have these on my 03' Touring. The only thing i dont like is the soft sidewall it is very skatey on the highway, but them again I have only driven them in 90 degree + days. I hope they firm up in the colder weather towards the fall.

 

^^ I’m not sure you will see a significant difference in colder weather since the tires heat at highway speed.

I haven’t noticed much “wiggle” when driving straight, but I’ve been monitoring the tire pressure closely. The tire feels much differently depending upon the psi.

What psi are you running?

--Spike

 

i only feel the softish sidewall when i corner hard. Not at highway speeds

 

I have them in the rear in a 285/35-19. They feel great. Your review is spot on. Very quiet and much more comfortable than BFG KDW but less steering response. Will see how I like them once I replace the fronts next year.

EDIT: I'm sorry, mine are the DW, not DWS

 

^^ …Easy to mix-up the two (Continental Extreme Contact DW and DWS)… one letter designates two different tires.

I would have loved to drive a Z with Continental Extreme Contact DW tires before making my purchase (DWS’s). It would be interesting to see a side-by-side comparison. If I knew that the DW’s were even close to the DWS’s in noise and comfort, I probably would have gone with the DW’s since I have studless snow tires for the winter.

With that said, I’m having no problems with the DSW’s and love how well the tire drives/handles on dry surfaces, and the exceptional grip on wet roadways. And it’s so quiet… I can actually hear the radio, and my passengers don’t mention how noisy the car is. After driving on the tire for a couple of weeks, the flexible sidewall isn’t a significant issue. I don’t even notice it now because the tire’s superior design.

I like this tire much better than any of the summer performance tires (listed in Msg. #1 on this thread) I’ve had on my car. The Avon’s and Bridgestone’s were ridiculously noisy on the Z, the Eagles were not much better, and the Michelin’s were tolerable (but not silent).

--Spike

 

I run my DWS' at 39-40 psi, and on the highway the car feels very wiggley and its to the point that im nervous to make quick steering changes. I originally ran the 35psi thats widely accepted as normal then increased to 40psi and its is a little better. But i will say that in cooler weather, lets say 70 degrees instead of 100, they feel much harder and responsize !

 

I run 36psi at cold but when it warms up they go up to around 38-39psi and I have the DW in the rears and I love them. Great traction support. Last weekend going home from work I got on a back road, it was wet, turned VDC off and stepped on it in first and went to second just to see how the traction was. The tires didn't even sweat it hahaha

 

Thanks for the reply.

I fill my Continental Extreme Contact DWS tires to36 psi. It’s been hot here lately (>90 degrees F), and the pressure does creep up a bit when driving at high speeds on the expressway. However, I do not notice any “wiggle” whatsoever when driving straight down the highway.

I wonder if the tire size to wheels size makes any difference. I’m running 245/40-18” front and 245/45-18” rear on 18x8” wheels.

More about psi: Initially I did not like the handling in corners with the DWS’s softer sidewall (more flexible than the summer performance tires I have run). So, I tried increasing the psi to 39. Doing that actually made things worse since I did notice a slight amount of movement when going straight with the higher psi. I’m only guessing here but believe the higher pressure prevents the tread laying flat to the roadway. Once I backed down to 35-36 psi, the tire felt a lot better, and I did not perceive any lateral wiggle when driving straight. In fact, I no longer even notice the softer sidewalls.

When cornering; I did not notice much difference in the front when running 36 psi vs. 39 psi, but the rears were definitely wiggly at 39 psi and felt much better at lower pressure.

--Spike