OK, so i'm at 23,750 miles and I'm finally ditching the Continental runflats that came with the car. Despite living here in God's Country, or Wisconsin to some of you , I don't need snow tires. Still I'm looking for a good all-season tire that will last. I don't want to break the bank, but I also don't want to get a crap set of tires either. So I'm thinking Michelins based on what I've read in the past couple of minutes, but I thought I'd solicite opinions. Any suggestions? Oh, and NO runflats!

 

These have been rated extremely well. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....emeContact+DWS

MC2 magazine did a review and rated the DWS very highly.

 

That's one of the very few AS tires I'd run as well. It's really, really good.

 

Amazing tire up in the mountains of PA.

 

Lots of folks in the Pittsburgh area really like the Bridgestone Potenza G019 Grids. Great dry, wet and ok in the snow.

 

Check this out
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=124

 

I have on General G-MAX AS-03 and am really happy.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....el=G-Max+AS-03

 

Wow, sounds like a great tire guys. Any of you who have it notice any loss in performance on dry (Summer) roads?

ONE PROBLEM THOUGH, and I could be reading this wrong, but according to Tire Rack I can't get these for my 09 Clubman S because I have 16" rims. Right? Or do they just not have them in stock?

 

Continential also makes the same tire in a summer tire called the DW (Dry, Wet). It should give better turn-in response and handle better on dry roads.

 

Just to add a bit, I just switched out my Conti DW tires for the DWS model. Was ready to pull the trigger on some Michelins but noticed that Conti had an even longer mileage warranty on the DWS model.

I was very pleased with the DW model - great grip on dry and wet roads. Although I never had a problem/issue, it did make me a bit nervous being on them the few days when the temp got really cold around here or we got our annual 1" snowfall event. Nevertheless, decided to switch to the all season DWS for that and the increased tread life. Have not had a good chance to really push the new DWS hard, but my initial impression is that I've lost just a tad of grip compared to the two cycles of summer tires prior to these DWSs.

BLAUGRANA - not sure which ones you are referring to as not being available for 16" rims, but you may need to specify a 205 tire width to open up your options.

 

So basically you're saying you hardly notice the difference, right?

YOU'LL HAVE TO TAKE MY QUESTIONS AS THOUGH YOU'RE DEALING WITH... a caveman who just woke up. What I mean about not being available is if I go to Tire Rack and select my current option it doesn't come up. Here are my options:

195/55-16
205/45-17
205/40-18

The bolded one is my original size so that's what I select. When I do that though the DWS tires don't come up in the available tires. So I guess my questions are:

1 Can I get the DWS for my care based on my option?
2 Are they not showing up because "no" is the answer to question 1 or because Tire Rack simply doesn't have the size I need?
3 If I specify 205 tire width though, doesn't the "17" correspond only to 17" rims?

 

Replace the 195/55-16 with 205/50-16. They look great and fit great. If moving up to 17" tires, get the 215/45-17. Again, they look great and fit like a glove. However, you will have to get new 17" wheels.

 

For any speeds you might be doing on public roads they will do just fine.

You could check here. They seem to have them in stock. http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...95&ar=50&rd=16

 

Bilbo, have you seen me drive??? I have a feeling I'll miss the handling of the run-flats, but not the ride.

So if I am not going through Tire Rack, I can just tell them 205/50-16 and they'll fit my 16" rims right? I mean they should know either way.

BTW, what's the difference???


THANKS FOR THE TIMELY REPLIES GUYS!

 

The 205/50/16 size is a popular switch from the OE 195/55/16 size. The 205/50 is molded to fit the OE 6.5" wide wheel, and is about 10 mm wider and .3" smaller in diameter than the 195/55. Thus, being slightly wider with a slightly shorter sidewall, the 205/50 should provide slightly better dry handling (won't help in snow, however). One may or may not be able to feel the difference though.

The slightly smaller diameter of the 205/50 size should make the speedometer read slightly higher (maybe by about 1 mph) compared to the OE 195/55 size; which is probably already reading 2 to 4 mph higher than actual speed.

 

Yes, the difference between the DW and DWS is negligible imo. Only at the limit would I expect to note any loss of grip.

If you are looking up the tires on TireRack (or most other online sites), you'll have to initially start out with one of the OEM sizes (in your case, 195/55-16). Once the results are displayed, you'll have to find the option to change the size (in the red bar), select custom size, and then select what you want (as you may note, someone earlier mentioned 205/50-16. I'm running 205/55-16.) The DWS (along with several others) will now be listed in the results. fwiw, TireRack currently lists both the DW and the DWS as available in both 205/50 and 205/55 for 16" wheels.

You should be able to order the same tires from other tire stores in the size you select with no problem. Note that some folks seem to have trouble with some of the big box chains like Costco refusing to put non-runflat tires on their MINIs. If you run into that, I'd walk and find a different store to buy from.

 

I've had the DWS tires for the last 20 months/15k miles and have been very pleased with them.

 

I have had conti DWS on my Acura TL for two years love this tire. When I replace my run flats I'll be going with conti

 

Ok, here's a web site that lets you calculate the difference in circumference and speed when changing different tire sizes.

http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible_pg4.html

Scroll down the page.
If you change a 195/55 16 to a 205/55 16 there is a 33mm increase in rolling radius and a 1.77% increase in speedometer reading. At 70 mph you will be doing 71.24.

Now, assuming the commonly quoted speedometer error that may be 3% low, this may actually compensate and give you a more accurate reading.

If you are concerned about speeding, going to a 205/55 16 will result in a 29mm smaller circumference and a under read giving 68.93 MPH while going 70 MPH.

So, one will correct the speedo error, the other will accentuate it.

Choose the size that fits your needs. They both will work.

 

I wanted to thank everyone for their replies. I decided after reading comments here and the Tire Rack reviews and test results on going with the Continental Extreme Contact DWS. I got them installed yesterday. Initial driving impression after about 60 miles...

Nearly exactly what I read about them. On dry roads they definitely do not have the handling or feel of the runflats. That's both good and bad. It's good because the ride is significantly smoother. However they feel... "loose" or "soft" in terms of handling and steering. The response isn't as sensitive. So while I like the smooth ride, I wish I had the handling feel of the runflats. I have yet to try them in real rain or snow and with this winter here in WI I wonder if I'll see the latter. Still I hit a few slushy spots near my folks' place. Didn't feel any loss of traction, but I wouldn't call that a test yet.

Anyway, when I get some driving in more conditions I'll post some results.

 

Hi,
Your early impressions are interesting. Your longer term review is anticipated and much appreciated. There are many Cooper S drivers whose runflats are approaching expiration and need to make the decision if it is best to "jump" to the non run flats.

The Tires you have chosen appear to be one of the best so the update is worthwhile.

What size did you choose?

 

mgs9500: I assume that he chose 205/50/16, as the DWS doesn't come in the OE size.

BLAUGRANA: Your early report description sounds very consistent with what I read too. The DWS was reported to give up some dry handling (steering response and cornering stability) to some of the other top rated performance A/S tires. On the other hand, you can feel smug driving in snow, as the DWS is still reported to be the best A/S tire for snowy/icy conditions.

 

Check your tire pressure. I wasn't happy with the DWS at first and added a few lbs at each corner and it's a totally different tire.

 

Yeah, I'm just waiting for some real snow here. This is the mildest winter I remember in years here in Milwaukee.

As Jim said, I chose the 50s. Someone else here mentioned the 55s, but the tire guy said the 50s should handle better on dry roads so I went with those.

Yeah, I'm just hoping they're consistent to what I read regarding the snowy conditions too.

I haven't noticed anything off in cornering stability, but it's hard to say with the steering response as that feel is different.

Well I just had them put on Thursday. Still I'm willing to give it a shot, especially with this mild winter right now. Any recommendations on how much pressure?

 

OK, so we've had some snow here in the last week or so. In fact it's been snowing all day.

The first thing I noticed when I hit the snow the first day was the stability kicking in. I'm sure it was down to my accelerating too quickly. Still just letting off the gas and then going back down a little less heavy did/does the trick. Actually the first thing I noticed was I had no problem getting up the slight incline just outside of my lot. The snow was dumping down, a bit slushy and not so plowed or salted yet. So that was nice. The freeway was backed up so I took a shortcut through an industrial valley and was passing pickup trucks while I was in the right lane. I felt under control and while I felt like I was taking it easy, I was definitely pushing it more than any other car on the road. Then as I was turning into to work from the main street I was on, the car slid. Not a ton, but I'm lucky no one was in front of me. It was a straight slide. Of course I came into the turn too fast, but I still didn't expect that much slide.

Taking it out today was fine. Sadly there were too many cars and traffic was slower than I'd have hoped for, but I felt like the car handled well. I think the biggest takeaway was when I got off the freeway and was on a ramp that wasn't as well cleared off as the freeway. It runs parallel for about a 1/4 mile and I was passing all cars on the freeway.

Overall I wish I could compare them to my runflats in the same weather on the same day, but I can't. Still I recall enough to say that these tires are notable improvement in the snowy conditions. Perhaps I need to push back my expectations a bit because I was expecting little if any sliding, but they aren't snow tires and unsalted snow is still unsalted snow.