Performance Snow Tires

Initial Review, 5,000 Miles on Tires
April 20, 2013

I have gone through a few different kinds of a/t tires and these tires have performed remarkably. I have a 2wd truck and had no problems In this Chicago snow. I would definitely recommend these tires to anyone.

Initial Review, 250 Miles on Tires
April 20, 2013

I just got back today from using these for auto-x on my 93 Corvette with Z07 suspension and aggressive alignment. These tires just plain work, even on a heavy car in cold/wet/dry conditions. It was actually snowing and later got up around 45 or a little less. I kept pace (within a couple tenths or so) with near FTD C5Z06 (Hoosiers, not good at all in those conditions). I was impressed, dry grip is excellent. Breaks away predictably and smoothly. Tires do perform in cold/wet/dry conditions, with due caution exercised.

Quick warm up on tires, only 3 runs and they were warm. Grip got better as I went.

Excellent tire and works well on my Corvette.

Initial Review, 75,000 Miles on Tires
April 15, 2013

I have 205/55R16 size tires on my car. Brand new they're no better in the snow than my 97,000 mile old OEM Michelins that I replaced! Sliding and spinning everywhere no matter how slow you go. I had them "road force balanced" when new and rotated them every 4000 miles along with watching how they were wearing to adjust tire pressure accordingly. Longevity is excellent but they're absolutely terrible in the snow. I now have 75,000 miles on these and they're at 3/32". They handle corners better now that they're almost slicks. I've been driving on these through 2 winters now. Was hoping to get a good compromise between cornering and snow capability. I'll just get a set of performance tires to get me through the next 4-8 seasons. I might as well get the tires I want if all-seasons don't work any better! I'm not about to waste money on winter tires.

Initial Review, 30,000 Miles on Tires
February 07, 2013

Great winter tire, but like most winter tires they wear quickly if you drive them on dry pavement. I have had these tires on for three years of Wisconsin winters and have gone through countless snow storms with no issues. Honestly I feel safer driving my 2wd truck in the snow with these tires than with a 4x4 vehicle. I could only imagine how well these tires would perform if they were studded also.

Initial Review, 2,000 Miles on Tires
February 04, 2013

There was no snow for the first month of the tire use, so when we got a few inches, I took the Miata to a parking lot to see how the tires would perform. Donuts, quick stops, quick acceleration were all tested. It's a rear wheel drive roadster so there was fishtailing, but the Miata does that with the forecast of snow. I was really impressed with the Continentals. I was able to control the slides and was able to recover every time, no matter how hard I pushed the car. I have had all season/mud & snow tires from Pirelli (P Zero Nero's), Dunlop, Goodrich (Super Sport M/S)...the Continentals beat them all. We'll see how they do in deep snow, but so far, so good!

Initial Review, 2,000 Miles on Tires
February 08, 2013

Have only 2,000 miles on these tires, but so far so good. They are amazing in the cold dry and have gotten me through a huge blizzard this year. Ultimate snow traction is less than studless tires but the tradeoff is well worth it for the dry weather performance. I would definitely recommend to other C63 drivers.

Initial Review, 5,000 Miles on Tires
April 03, 2013

Good tires for good price. They are not performance tires, not the best in cornering. Great on snow & wet road. Most surprising is that they are quieter that all season firestones I have for summer driving. I do not want to say that they are quiet but they are not noisy either. They are very good for mountain & every day driving in light & deep snow. Very good handling & steering. Over all I give them 9 from 10.

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
April 12, 2013

Excellent winter tires for my truck. They performed well in all conditions (dry, wet, snow, ice and slush, as well as cornering, acceleration and stopping). In deep snow, my truck did some fish-tailing as I had no weight on bed and I could feel it pushes the front wheels through the snow. Once I turned the 4x4 on, the truck went like a charm through the snow and didn't flinch a bit. After one winter with 10k miles, there is a noticeable tread wear on rear wheels compared to front wheels which still looks like new. Will have to rotate them after 5k miles next winter.

Initial Review, 5,000 Miles on Tires
April 04, 2013

I drive my 328i to work most days, and live in Edmonton, Canada - where we can get all four seasons in an afternoon, and our winter takes its toll on everything. I bought the Michelins because they were held out to be a great combination of ride, handling, traction and wear. They replaced the rock hard run flats that came stock with the BMW - yikes... Anyways, I was very impressed with the Michelins on everything, from dry straight to twisty wet - except the ice. At anything below freezing, the Michelins turn into hockey pucks. It makes driving more fun, but less safe!!!

I would absolutely recommend these to fellow BMW drivers, but would also recommend that they look at some of the lower cost alternatives - like the Pirellis, Contis or even the Kumho Ecstas. I will likely take a look at replacing these with a 4 Season (NOT all season) tire like the Pirelli or Kumho 4S - just so long as I don't have to take a huge hit on performance. As it is, the Michelin is a fantastic "almost" all season tire, and if I lived in Europe or south of the Snow belt, I'd buy it again. Or maybe I should just move to So Cal...

Initial Review, 50,600 Miles on Tires
April 08, 2013

I have a set of these Michelin LX4 on my Odyssey EXL. I had always been happy with Michelin in the past on my Honda Accords and Nissan. They are generally more quiet than any other tires of comparable costs, particularly when they get olders (35K+). This set performs well for the most part with no exception. I rotated my tires every 7.5K so they wear evenly and keep the pressure between 35 to 40 psi depending on the weather (high pressure during the winter months). They are very quiet on the city and highway unless the road surface have grooves but never pave up in some states. I'd say that we did about 30K on high way and 20K in city. They are probably good for another 4-5K in the summer before I have to replace them. The tires traction is very good in dry, wet or light snow conditions now that the tread had worn out but it is used to be good in 4-6 in" of snow too when it was newer. I will likely replace them with the Michelin Defender which has a better tire life (60K+) for almost the same price. I think if the Defender is quiet as this tire, I will be happy.

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
March 26, 2013

I replaced my Bridgestone Turanza Serenity tires with the Continental ExtremeContact DWS. I am very impressed with how quiet the ride is (I can faintly hear the engine at highway speed now), and the ride is smoother than the Bridgestones too. What impressed me most about the tires is the snow traction. This is not a car made to perform in the snow. My wife and small child got home from the airport in a snowstorm recently with no trouble and I was very happy to have chosen these tires, which were better in the snow than the Bridgestones ever were. I have a steep lip on my driveway, and it is difficult without 4WD in the snow - I was very surprised that the Continentals had no problem getting the car into the driveway that night.

The only negative I can say is that maybe they seem to drift a little bit more than the previous set I had on at highway speeds, but well worth it for the above improvements. I have only had them a couple months, so cannot speak to the durability yet, but at this price and performance vs. the Michelins I was considering, I would be ok to replace at 40k instead of 50k.

Initial Review, 2,000 Miles on Tires
March 14, 2013

I got this new set replace the old one under milage warranty. They last 60000 out of 80000. Still feeling the new one. I love the old Triple Tred. Connering speed is incredible, I can took freeway off ramp and pass most of the passenger cars. They are surprice getting pass by minivan with crazy driver.

Snow performance is not good but ok. It is What I expect is all season tire.

Wet performance is good.

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
April 06, 2013

These are great winter tires. I have a jeep 4x4 and these out perform my wrangler with its all terrain tires in the snow any day. If you are looking for a set of snow tires these are the ones you want.

Initial Review, 2,000 Miles on Tires
March 19, 2013

Purchased these to replace Bridgestone 960A/S that lasted 73000 and no longer had tread depth for any snow. The Conti DWS tires really offer a far superior winter experience. In icy slush last night I had no wheel slippage on fairly steep hills. Something the 960A/S could never have done even when new. The trade off is in dry handling: I notice more roll in turns and less on center feel. So far tire seems to be a little quieter. Overall very happy and after experiencing the winter performance would highly recommend.

Initial Review, 80,000 Miles on Tires
March 13, 2013

Quite surprise on its durability, although its performance degraded rather quickly after the 60000 Mi mark. I basically run them down to the max I could and were still good under dry conditions but obviously not safe in wet or snow conditions.

Initial Review, 5,000 Miles on Tires
April 02, 2013

I purchased this tire to replace an aging set of Continental ContiProContact tires that were on the car when I bought it. Let me say first that these tires are an enormous upgrade over the Continentals. I commute 35 miles each way to work and the weather in Northeast Ohio is nothing if not unpredictable. These tires have given me a tremendous amount of confidence in every situation I've encountered. Wet and dry traction is outstanding but it's the wet traction that really stands out. I have never had more confidence at speed on slick roads. I enjoy throwing my car around as much as possible and these tires are an ideal compliment to my driving style. At highway speeds they are quiet, comfortable, and have a reassuring sense of straight ahead. I've made it through one winter now and although these tires are not particularly good in deep snow, they are passable. Performance in light snow is excellent. I would highly recommend these tires to anyone looking for a meaningful performance upgrade over a standard all season tire. In addition, with their combination of wet and dry capability, I think these tires are a tremendous value in the Ultra High Performance All-Season class.

Initial Review, 6,000 Miles on Tires
March 01, 2013

This is the first set of snow tires i've purchased, after trying to simply get by with all season tires in a region where it is quite snowy in the winter. The tires perform extremely well in the snow, and I've driven on snow covered highways, and up and down pretty steep hills. I would definitely buy the tires again, for a winter scenario. I've noticed a bit more "wander" with the tires, and they are noisy but the agressive tread is going to lead to increased noise. But overall, the snow traction is very very good. In fact, I think i have better traction with my Altimax-Arctic equipped FWD minivan now than my 4WD F150 (with very good tires) in the snow.

Initial Review, 5,000 Miles on Tires
March 26, 2013

I've been a long time skeptic of all season tires. Having spent a decade switching between dedicated summer and snow/winter wheel sets, I decided to give the DWS a try. My previous set of A/S tires, RE960 AS's were a huge disappointment. The dry weather in early January gave ample opportunities to test traction and stability and although the DWS' are a little less responsive than say the SportContacts it's certainly enough for a small AWD sedan. The snow storms in February/March however have made me a believer. Braking on snow is as expected. Ice performance is as well (since nothing is "great" on ice, "OK" performance is acceptable. The light/heavy snow traction though is what impressed me. This does have something to do with the fact that I drive an AWD with a manual transmission, but the tires rocked the snowy roads. I actually found myself detouring down unplowed streets just to keep the smile on my face!