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[Dackz]

So I had the Continental DWS put on my car about 2 weeks ago. I have them as my true 'all season' tire, since I run them ~March to November and then I have a dedicated set of snow tires for the really bad and cold winter months here in CO.

I got them in 235/35/19 and 265/30/19 on my style 230's. Last night, it was snowing like crazy, about 3" fell in a little more then 2 hours between 9-11pm. So I took the car out to see how it would do in teh fresh stuff. Needless to say I live where there isnt much traffic and I had a few parking lots at churches nearby to go and see how they would do.

Well, I couldnt break traction once. I couldnt try to break traction. DSC button once, nothing, held it in turned it all the way off, nothing. 30mph stop, the car just stopped. I was very impressed. Keep in mind they are brand new tires with ~500 miles or so on them, but even so, they took the snow like a champ. I have nothing but confidence in them if I am ever caught out in the snow from a freak October storm or a Late March/April storm. The great part about this tire, for me, is that living in CO, we can be 80 one day, then a foot of snow the next day (see last week and this week). So these tires are great for the 'shoulder' seasons of winter.

Im a RWD 335i fyi, but the car handled like it was on near dry pavement or wet at worst. I was very, very impressed. I had Toyo Proxes 4 for my last set. These DWS are leaps and bounds better so far in dry, wet and snow. Even when the proxes were new, I did the same thing, took them out in the clean snow (unplowed, I was first car and only car out and about) and they didnt feel great. The DWS gripped like my Blizzaks last night. So much so, I just might wait another 2 weeks to get my snow tires on since we will have temps back in the 50-60 range again next week, because thats Colorado this time of year!

Hope this little mini-review helps people. Dry performance = great, I have my PSI at 40 front and 42 rear to help turn in and response. I cant rave about them enough. They ride smooth, they are QUIET (HUGE plus as the Proxes got really really noisey after 5k and stayed thay way for the other 20k they lasted).

[ModBargains IV]

Contintential DWS are definitely great tires! Probably the second most popular tires that I sell on a regular basis to customers.

[Dackz]

Originally Posted by **********s IV

Contintential DWS are definitely great tires! Probably the second most popular tires that I sell on a regular basis to customers.

For curiousity sake, what are the most popular?

[ModBargains IV]

Originally Posted by Dackz

For curiousity sake, what are the most popular?

Well for the past couple months, the number one seller for me at least was the HANKOOK VENTUS EVO V12 tires - probably because of the $80 rebate promotion going on. Second place was definitely the CONTINENTAL DWS tires.

[El Duce]

I got caught in a snow storm last year in DC in my Corvette that had DWS' on them and just as you said, they performed like a boss. I was so impressed I took pictures to prove it.

I would just like to reiterate . . . in a Corvette none-the-less. Love them and they'll go on every car I have until something better comes along.

[Dackz]

Originally Posted by El Duce

I got caught in a snow storm last year in DC in my Corvette that had DWS' on them and just as you said, they performed like a boss. I was so impressed I took pictures to prove it.

I would just like to reiterate . . . in a Corvette none-the-less. Love them and they'll go on every car I have until something better comes along.

Wow, thats impressive! Thats the main reason I have them, for the time of year when you can get 'caught' and not have a chance to get snow tires on if you have summers on. I just hope they wear good, cant rotate due to staggered size, so I had my alignment set up to make them wear better at a slight trade in handling, but shouldnt notice that too much unless I push it pretty damn hard.

[Tom K.]

I replaced the worn OEM Goodyear NCT5s with the Contis on my ZSP equipped 128i. Compared to the "Summer Touring" NCTs, the DWS are at least equal in dry grip, have superior wet traction and a much better ride - plus they were about 1/2 the price of OEM and have a much longer treadwear rating. While I haven't tried them in snow yet, it's good to hear that they do so well in CO.

The only DWS downside is a slightly "mushy" feeling on initial turn in at moderate to high cornering speeds, which can be at least partially alleviated by carrying about 3 psi more pressure than stock.

Tom

[Dackz]

Originally Posted by Tom K.

I replaced the worn OEM Goodyear NCT5s with the Contis on my ZSP equipped 128i. Compared to the "Summer Touring" NCTs, the DWS are at least equal in dry grip, have superior wet traction and a much better ride - plus they were about 1/2 the price of OEM and have a much longer treadwear rating. While I haven't tried them in snow yet, it's good to hear that they do so well in CO.

The only DWS downside is a slightly "mushy" feeling on initial turn in at moderate to high cornering speeds, which can be at least partially alleviated by carrying about 3 psi more pressure than stock.

Tom

Yup, keep in mind though, like I said, it wasnt really "slushy or icy" below the snow, but then again if it was, I wouldnt have been driving too hard anyway. I only pushed it because it was wide open parking lot where I could see there were no curbs. So at least in a few inches of snow, its good, ice/compacted snow, not sure yet, and probably wont be, since they are coming off in 2 weeks for my winters.

I also noticed the 'mushy' feeling, so I have my PSI at ~40psi all around. So far so good. They should come on all the stock Xi's IMO instead of whatever they put on there. (even though Im RWD)

[crqflier]

I put the DWS on my wife's car and saw gas mileage drop 10% compared to the General UHP they replaced. Not sure how much it matters, but I was definitely surprised. Overall really nice tire though.

[Gary@TireRack]

Tires in most BMW sizes might affect fuel efficiency by a couple % when comparing two sets of new tires to each other. Most people reporting larger changes are seeing that due to the tires having full tread depth compared to a nearly worn out tire.

[crqflier]

True the Generals were worn, but still well above the wear bars. And we didn't see a drop going from the OEM Conti's to the Generals. I'm not saying these are bad tires at all - just relating our experience on MPG.

[Dackz]

Originally Posted by crqflier

I put the DWS on my wife's car and saw gas mileage drop 10% compared to the General UHP they replaced. Not sure how much it matters, but I was definitely surprised. Overall really nice tire though.

When did you do this? If recently, it could be the winter gas blends. That will cause a dip. You also have a 335, might be time to do a seafoam/carbon buildup clean to help too.

[Tom K.]

Originally Posted by Dackz

When did you do this? If recently, it could be the winter gas blends. That will cause a dip. You also have a 335, might be time to do a seafoam/carbon buildup clean to help too.

Agreed as it is hard to believe a 10% decline in mpg with all other things being equal.

As far as I can tell, my 128i mpg improved by about 2 or 3 percent when switching from worn OEM to new DWS tires.

Tom

[crqflier]

Originally Posted by Dackz

When did you do this? If recently, it could be the winter gas blends. That will cause a dip. You also have a 335, might be time to do a seafoam/carbon buildup clean to help too.

Tires are actually on my wife's car, not my 335 (I've got the new Pilot Super Sports which are amazing). Did the switch about 4 months ago, so not a winter blend issue - though that's a factor out here. The change was immediate - noticed on the very first tank with the new tires. Thought I may not have filled the tank it was that noticeable. But verified it on the second tank.

[Dackz]

Originally Posted by crqflier

Tires are actually on my wife's car, not my 335 (I've got the new Pilot Super Sports which are amazing). Did the switch about 4 months ago, so not a winter blend issue - though that's a factor out here. The change was immediate - noticed on the very first tank with the new tires. Thought I may not have filled the tank it was that noticeable. But verified it on the second tank.

She's leadfoot around with all the extra traction! Thats what it is.

[App0602]

Originally Posted by Dackz

So I had the Continental DWS put on my car about 2 weeks ago. I have them as my true 'all season' tire, since I run them ~March to November and then I have a dedicated set of snow tires for the really bad and cold winter months here in CO.

I got them in 235/35/19 and 265/30/19 on my style 230's. Last night, it was snowing like crazy, about 3" fell in a little more then 2 hours between 9-11pm. So I took the car out to see how it would do in teh fresh stuff. Needless to say I live where there isnt much traffic and I had a few parking lots at churches nearby to go and see how they would do.

Well, I couldnt break traction once. I couldnt try to break traction. DSC button once, nothing, held it in turned it all the way off, nothing. 30mph stop, the car just stopped. I was very impressed. Keep in mind they are brand new tires with ~500 miles or so on them, but even so, they took the snow like a champ. I have nothing but confidence in them if I am ever caught out in the snow from a freak October storm or a Late March/April storm. The great part about this tire, for me, is that living in CO, we can be 80 one day, then a foot of snow the next day (see last week and this week). So these tires are great for the 'shoulder' seasons of winter.

Im a RWD 335i fyi, but the car handled like it was on near dry pavement or wet at worst. I was very, very impressed. I had Toyo Proxes 4 for my last set. These DWS are leaps and bounds better so far in dry, wet and snow. Even when the proxes were new, I did the same thing, took them out in the clean snow (unplowed, I was first car and only car out and about) and they didnt feel great. The DWS gripped like my Blizzaks last night. So much so, I just might wait another 2 weeks to get my snow tires on since we will have temps back in the 50-60 range again next week, because thats Colorado this time of year!

Hope this little mini-review helps people. Dry performance = great, I have my PSI at 40 front and 42 rear to help turn in and response. I cant rave about them enough. They ride smooth, they are QUIET (HUGE plus as the Proxes got really really noisey after 5k and stayed thay way for the other 20k they lasted).

I also just put the DWS's on my 335i coupe.. Stock 18's.. They are a solid 9/10. I dont have much snow where i live, mostly rain. Now they have about 4K miles on them and still GREAT! Rides smooth (way better than the stock run-flats) and I am really impressed. The only reason I didn't go 10/10 is because i really dont have much other to compare them to other than the stock poneza's that came on them.

I have heard the Coopers were good but for the money i dont think i went wrong with the CWS's. I think they were 820$ installed and driving away..

[G-Bus]

You guys will shit bricks if you actually drove on snow with REAL winter tires. Theres sooo much difference its crazy. Yes the DWS is a good tire but far from being good on snow.

[Tom K.]

Originally Posted by G-Bus

You guys will shit bricks if you actually drove on snow with REAL winter tires. Theres sooo much difference its crazy. Yes the DWS is a good tire but far from being good on snow.

Been there, done that - it depends on how much snow you are talking about. For those of us considerably south of Montreal, some all-seasons work quite well.

On average, my area receives less than 12" of snow for the ENTIRE winter. I've done the twice yearly changeover with studless winters (handled like jelly on dry roads), performance snows and will now stick with a good performance A/S like the DWS for year round use.

Tom

[Dackz]

Originally Posted by G-Bus

You guys will shit bricks if you actually drove on snow with REAL winter tires. Theres sooo much difference its crazy. Yes the DWS is a good tire but far from being good on snow.

Did you NOT read my review? I have a set of blizzaks for the winter, going on next week. The car drives like a tank with them, Ive drove through two Colorado winters on them. I have the A/S for the time of year when its 70 for 5 days then 10" of snow falls but barely stays on the ground the next. The blizzaks are only needed when our daily temps are below 40 and the snow stays packed for a few days, so I really only use the snow tires for about 3 months, but I need the ability to handle light snow and slush for up to 6 months, which makes the DWS great for that.