jdong

I'm approaching the end of life of my OEM Dunlop tires on my 2011 A4 S-Line. For my next set of tires, I think I'd like to trade some performance for road noise reduction as well as the occasional venturing into snowy territory.

In the past, it seemed like the ContiExtremeContact DWS was a very popular choice for this category of tires. Is it still the best, or are there others worth looking at? I did a quick search at Tirerack and saw that there's more contenders in the "High Performance All-Seasons" category than I had previously seen.

equinox

I have the Michelin Pilot AS+ Sport and they are good. Have driven them in all conditions. I have 18" wheels though.

gunsmoker

I have the Conti DWS right now (18"). 17k miles on them. Good grip, steering response so-so. Got noisier and more rough mid-life. I'm glad I didn't go with 19's for that reason. My next target was Yoko Advan S.4. Slightly more expensive, but with a better dry performance. Looked like a better match for my driving conditions (~a week of driving on snow per year). Got one set for the wife's car. Side wall doesn't look very impressive. The performance is decent.
Then the next step up is Bridgestone Potenza RE970AS. More expensive, but a much better dry performance and a comparable winter performance compared to the DWS (according to tirerack). I think I'll be going with these.

Next step up in price is Michelin Pilot Sport A/S. I don't believe it can be worth this much money. The RE970 has better performance reviews for less money.

These are the brands I have been looking at. I have had Toyo Proxes in the past, but tirerack doesn't carry them and I can't compare them with the others.

ghag_S4racing

I'm in the same boat as you JDONG. I'm due for a tire replacement now as well. I currently have a set of almost warn Michelin Pilot AS+ Sport ready to go. I'm an aggressive driver when there are curves and dry these tires are great. Where these tires falter a great deal is in wet. I've hydroplaned several times even when the tires were new, currently have 20k on the tires. Each time I have had full recovery but still a feeling I was not use too from allwheel drive or quattro cars.

My previous B5 S5 never hydroplaned no matter what stupid thing I did but I did do the summer/winter tire swap as the seasons came and went. I have read reviews/tests on Tirerack and they do talk about this tire having a hydroplane issue, so basically I am definitely staying away from these tires for a wet safety perspective.

I've been leaning towards the ContiExtremeContact DWS. I currently have them on my wife's car but her driving style and type of car do not test them properly for our cars but they are quiet. (Toyota Matrix FWD) Also in the running is the Kuhmo Ecsta 4X due to positive experiences with other Kuhmo tires and the price is hard to be as well.

I will be paying close attention to this thread.

FYI Toyo Proxes4 was a great all season tire, but discontinued. I've thought about getting a set w/ the remaining that are still out there for sale. My only concern is how old the tires are. Yes there are dates on the tires of when they were mfg. You'd be amazed at how old your new tires can be. Do a couple of google searches and you'll see what I mean.

Quote
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."


'10 A4 S-Line 6-Speed
'07 STi "Stage 2"
'01 S4 6-speed "Stage 3+"
'01 S2000 "S/C" "Spoon"

av_audi

AWD has no bearing on hydroplaning.

ernestolopez

ContiExtremeContact DWS.love them

ECS Tuning-Audi

Be cautious with "performance" all-season tires. Most are great in dry and wet weather but once you start to throw a little snow or ice into the mix they can be sketchy.

Being that they are performance oriented, the tread compound is usually pretty hard, and we all know that hard tread compounds do not grip well in poor weather conditions.

A touring all season is a great mix of performance, poor weather confidence, and great drive-ability, not to mention usually longer tread life.

Definitely read a lot of reviews and do your homework.

Jason

jdong

Thanks for the advice everyone. I guess I'm trying to decide between the DWS or the RE970 at this point -- reviews wise, the RE970 seems fairly favorable, though it's too bad that tires can't be one of those try-before-you-buy things. It's an expensive decision that lasts for quite a long time too.

UmIsThisThingOn

I have an Sline on 19" wheels too. I had the OEM Pirellis, that I ran through in 19K miles, the current setup is Michelin Pilot AS+ Sport which lasted 31K+ at this time, and I'm about to go with my first Summer tire, the Hankook Ventus V12's. If I was going to get another All Season, I'd probably try out the DWS - they get rave reviews everywhere.

+1 Very capable tires.

I would say I'm a 'Spirited' driver, and love the curves as well - the Michelins, IMO, are very good tires in all 3 seasons we get here in Northern Virginia. I have hydro planed a few times with both sets of tires, not any more so on the Michelins.

I would disagree on this with regards to the Michelins. They were great in the snow/ice during the two Winters I had them.

I'd say go DWS. Great price and very favorable reviews across the board.

sergeyv

I have DWS on my 17" winter set and Brindgestone Potenzas 970AS on 18" summer set. I love DWS in winter conditions. They feel a little soft when it's warmer. Very pleased with Potenzas: firm, precise, low noise. However when I had them on during November snow storm I did not feel as comfortable as with DWS.