Ferdie:
Carlos from Spain:
And finally, there is no "miracle" tire that does everything better than the others and for half the price; you get what you pay for...
The subject is somewhat different on the 997 since the regular Michelin Pilot Sport are not famous for their longevity as well. So I remain a bit puzzled how Leawood can extract that much more miles out of his all-season tires than out of the "correct" N-spec summer tires he had used before.
Ferdie -
The wear rating on the Conti DWS has a wear rating of 540 vs 220 for the N2 Michelin - you do the math and include that in the cost and also the safety aspect. (Half the cost and more than double the wear rating!) They are also very quiet on the highway for thousands of miles!
Carlos - It is far less than half the price and having tried BOTH I am very happy - sometimes you can pay more and get less. What do you think the cost of each tire is to manufacture? Which do you think has had more testing miles and engineering? The low volume Michelin or the DWS? Change tires when it is dry and warm? You are missing the point that these are NOT ordinary All-season tires. Not at all. Maybe it is a language barrier - these are high performance tires which work in the cold and wet better - not hard to understand. No 295/30/19 tires is going to be a NORMAL tire - in that size everything is high performance - in this case Ultra High performance. Else it would not have the same speed rating as the N tire.
First let me point out that I am talking about very special All Season tires - NOT LIKE WHAT YOU GET IN A RENTAL CAR (what was the speed rating of those tires?), lol. They work very well in warm weather on the track and also in very cold and wet. Until you try them you really can't compare them to All season tires you have used in Passenger cars. In the dry and warm they give up very little to the N tires. Very little.
The fact that they are the same exact size, speed rating, load rating etc. as the N1 tires should give you some idea they are not your average all season tire. They also weigh one pound less per tire. I would be willing to bet that since these are mass produced more money was spent on R&D and testing for these tires than any of the N1 tires. I am amused that all of you feel safer by overspending but less me assure you I am not taking any chances by using these.
It is also funny that you buy into N spec Winter tires but at the same time do not question why there is NO N spec All season Ultra high performance tire.
Again - These are rated as Ultra High Performance All-Season tires - NOT every All-Season tire is the same - these are very special.
From Conti - a brief summary
ExtremeContact DWS features an advanced silica-based, high-grip, all-season tread compound molded into a unique asymmetrical tread design with stable shoulder blocks and a continuous, notched intermediate rib on the outboard side to enhance responsiveness and cornering stability. The center of the tread features independent blocks separated by high-angle, crisscross grooves to provide the biting edges necessary to deliver wet road and light snow traction while independent inboard shoulder blocks help disperse water to further enhance hydroplaning resistance and foul weather traction.
The ExtremeContact DWS features Tuned Performance Indicators — visible letters molded into the second rib from the outboard shoulder to alert drivers of the tire's performance levels. A visible "DWS" indicates the tire has sufficient tread depth for dry conditions, as well as wet roads and light snow. After the "S" has worn away, the remaining "DW" indicates the tire only has sufficient tread depth for dry and most wet road conditions. And after the "W" and "S" have both worn away, the remaining "D" indicates the tire has appropriate tread depth for dry conditions only.
The tire's internal structure includes twin steel belts reinforced with spirally wound jointless nylon cap plies to provide long-term integrity under high-speed conditions while reducing weight and helping to provide more uniform ride quality.
El neumático ExtremeContact DWS (Dry, Wet y Snow: seco, mojado y nieve) de Continental pertenece a la categoría: Ultra Alto Rendimiento Para Toda Estación y fue desarrollado para conductores de autos deportivos, cupé deportivo, sedán de rendimiento y camiones ligeros deportivos. El ExtremeContact DWS ha sido diseñado para satisfacer la necesidad que tienen los conductores, durante todas las estaciones del año, al combinar el rendimiento sobre superficies secas y mojadas, con tracción sobre poca nieve y aguanieve.
El ExtremeContact DWS (Dry, Wet y Snow: seco, mojado y nieve) posee una mezcla de caucho basada en sílice de gran agarre para su uso durante todas las temporadas del año. Esta mezcla es moldeada en una banda de rodamiento asimétrica con bloques o tacos estables en los hombros y un segmento intermedio cóncavo continuo en la parte de afuera (opuesta al motor), que mejora la respuesta y la estabilidad al tomar curvas. El centro de la banda de rodamiento posee bloques independientes separados por ángulos abiertos, además, ranuras que se cruzan proveen la “mordida” necesaria para proporcionar tracción sobre superficies mojadas y con poca nieve. Bloques independientes en el hombro interno (cerca del motor), ayudan a dispersar el agua y así mejoran la resistencia al deslizamiento en agua (hydroplaning) y la tracción en condiciones climatológicas difíciles.
El ExtremeContact DWS, posee indicadores Tuned Performmance , estos, son letras moldeadas en el segundo segmento de la parte exterior del hombro, para alertar al conductor los niveles de rendimiento del neumático. Una marca visible con las letras DWS indica que el neumático tienen suficiente profundidad para su uso sobre superficies secas, mojadas y con poca nieve. Luego de que la letra “S” se desgasta las letras “DW” indican que el neumático solamente posee un profundidad para trabajar óptimamente sobre superficies secas y la mayoría de superficies mojadas. Y cuando se desgasta, la letra “W” la letra restante “D”, indica que la profundidad de la banda solo es apropiada sobre superficies secas.
La estructura interna del neumático incluye correas gemelas de acero reforzadas con capas sin unión de nailon envuelto en espiral, para proporcionar una integridad a largo plazo bajo velocidades elevadas, al mismo tiempo de reducir peso y proporcionar un andar más uniforme.