Thanks, but that crisp turn in is fantastic to me. I would truly hope the DW,s to be like that.

 

Hi! Driven around 400 miles on my new Conti 205/45/17 s. Been good at driving conservatively, but dying to put them thru their paces. How do I know when they are broken in? Tried to stay under 55 (hah!), simply not possible at times, but roads I motored were smooth, and I cornered gently and didn't brake harshly....so frustrated....is there a way to tell? Or do I drive like a little old lady (which I am) for another hundred miles...sigh...

 

rlw...where in SoFla? I live in Pembroke Pines....

I was considering the DW's but they cost more than they DWS, and have much less thread depth. I have also been considering the V12's as I say them on a Ferrari 360 the other day in Sunny Isles. The only thing that has me a bit turned off from these is the thread depth at only 280 vs the 540 UTQ rating of the Contis DWS.

Can you tell me how many miles you have put on them so far...any issues with road noise? I have to blast my radio on the hwy just to hear it. The combination of RF and convertible really make a loud combination.

 

I have driven the car appoximately 2000 miles since I put the DW's on my 07 S which now has 18,000, I like the tires very much. They are quiet and a much better ride on rough roads, over rail road tracks etc. They are not as stiff as the run flats; but I am ok based upon the other pluses. I have driven a new S and the new run flats are night and day from the old ones.
I would buy the DWs again or spend a lot for new run flats.

 

I was about to spend $800+ installed on Yokohama AVID ENVigors, but am now leaning heavily towards $610 and the Conti Extreme Contact DWS. I had JUST gotten my emergency fund up to $1000 and am not really wanting to knock it all out with new tires.

 

Ok, driven almost 500miles on my Conti DWS tires. Raining here, so on my way to work (lots of twisty backroads) I pushed them a bit. LOVE them.

Put my Justa in sport mode, did not activate DTC and took the curves a bit faster...no slippage at all and there are leaves on the road. Have a feeling I'm gonna like these tires more every day

Next test...SNOW.

 

I now have just over 5K on my Conti DWS, and I have to say I'm pretty happy with them. They ride smoothly, turn in is fine, grip is fine and they are quiet and smooth.

I took a 1500 mile trip to North Carolina and came back hiway 64 which runs from south of Asheville to Chattanooga, a twisty tight road that's every bit as challenging as the Dragon, and goes on for a whole lot longer! The tires were excellent and performed well.

Like Giggles says, the next real test will be when the snow hits - Glad I'm not in Colorado right now, they'd be getting a real workout!

 

Great to know MINIdave going to give them around 200 more miles before I really put them thru their paces or do a Mini rally...can't wait!

 

Another satisfied user of these tires. Count me in! even W/my KW's they ride so smooth and respond well. A little more flex and less response than the dunlop sps(a lot lol) but they willl get replaced with dw's or gforce's next summer.



All in all awesome tire!

 

Oh, it pays to shop around! I found a local tire store that is charging only $557 installed. Only have to spend half of the emergency fund this way.

 

Got them today, and as I was driving home it started raining. With only 30 miles on them, I can't say anything about how they performed, but they definitely look amazing!

 

Over 600 miles on mine. Put thru paces today, and dare I say they are performing MUCH better than my RF's! Cornered more consicely, felt more grounded. Hugged the road better, seemingly....hope I'm not imagining this. They are performance tires....so hoping ...loving them!

 

I have a little over 33k on mine. No more "S" and the "W" is mostly gone. I like them still but like all other tires on my MINI, they are now loud as hell. One of these days I will find a quiet tire through the whole life.

 

Sameless plug, but I have a lighly used set of Conti DW 215/45 ZR17 for sale at a deep discount in the NAM Market Place here ==> https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...t/21399/cat/46

 

Decided to pull the trigger and ordered the 205/55/16 on some new rims. I'm a little scared now hearing about 16's and knowing I got the 55 instead of 45 like most people.

I'll be sure to update with my thoughts later.

 

I wouldn't sweat the 55 aspect ratio too much. The turn-in will be just a smidge slower. But the gain in ride quality and quietness will be well worth it. I guess if you drive in an area where the roads are glass smooth, or you use the car a LOT for track days, the 45s might be okay. But my experience is that I'd never go less than a 50 aspect ratio for street driving. The thinner aspect ratios simply do not provide enough cushioning for the, uhhhhh, "stuff" you run into on today's roads and highways.

IMHO, of course...

 

Got my rims and tires today. I was expecting to be a little disappointed after reading the reviews, but so far I'm okay.

I drove them for 25 miles with the 34psi they came filled with, and I noticed they were a little floaty. I hit a road joint/bump and the car kinda got squirrelly, but I am enjoying the softer ride over the run flats.

As far as the aspect ratio, I think they fill in the wheel well nicely, and they didn't seem to rub at all during my fitment check. Maybe the 215/55's would be a different story...

 

Had mine for about 12k miles, they are 215/35/18. Bought them about a year ago and used them in about 6-8" of snow and the blizzard we had in February. They did well. Took them on a track day and they did better then what I had expected. Not squishy at all. Though they are the RFs I don't really mind that they are. In the summer/spring I run about 35-36psi in the fall/winter I run them at like 37-39psi. Great tires overall.

 

Well I got the DWS' and mostly very happy with them. I have put on about 300+ miles on them, and in terms of ride comfort and quietness these tires rock!!!! In terms of performance, so far so good, but warm and fuzzies....well I fell the fall a little short. I had RFT Potanzas and I loved the responsiveness of these tires, but knew that I didn't want to 1) spend $1K + on tires, and 2) continue on such harsh ride.

I bought the 215/45-17 and filled to 39psi. I was expecting some roll and delay in turning, but this is more than I expected. I feel I lost a bit of responsiveness but gained much more comfort and to a certain extend control...let me explain...

On Dry pavement the tires perform well...I have yet to loose the tire on a turn on launch. You do have to adjust to the softer tire and a bit of roll when turning in hard or soft. On softer turns of the wheel you might feel more give and some roll, but when you put it through some hard paces, it responds better, but you still have some roll.

On Wet pavement....now this is where this tie shines....I actually feel more confident on wet pavement than dry.... It grips like no other tire I have ever had. You can accelerate through turns without any loss of grip. I actually think these tires like to be pushed when wet.....they are simply amazing!!!!

on Snow...well living in South Florida, snow in not a factor.

Overall I really like tires. I need to continue to adjust to them still, but I think they will be fine once I fully understand the delay. These tires seem to be very predictable so I don't expect the learning curve to be very steep.

I will update later on these tire....I'm planning on doing Minis on the Dragon this year, and just hoping these will do the trick.

Anyone used these tires on the Dragon?

 

So now I'm at about 350 miles on the new tires. I'm still not exactly sure how I feel about them.

I initially aired the tires up to increase responsiveness or whatever, but I found that the tires were not contacting the ground fully (as evidenced by the dirt accumulation on the tread). I gradually adjusted them to make full contact and they ended up around 34 in the front and 32 in the rear.

The problem I've noticed is that the car tends to wander now; I believe it's due to the tread design interacting with the drainage grooves on the freeway. It seems the grooves line up and mesh together, essentially turning my car into a train traveling inside the tracks of the roadway.

I also notice a vibration in the front end right around 70-75mph, which I think may be a balancing issue since all the weights (black finish btw) seem to be behind the spokes. I wonder if Tire Rack was more concerned with hiding the weights than properly balancing the wheels?

Overall, the ride is nicer and softer than the run-flats, but the whole riding in the grooves of the freeway thing is kinda scary and I don't think I like it.

The jury is still out as far as I'm concerned.

 

Nick, I'm with you Just not sure I make the right decision....The ride and sound is just downright amazing, and wet traction is best I've ever had....but in terms of performance...there is a lot missing from the run flats...taking the on ramps fast is not as fun any more....there is some play (squishiness) over the bumps at high speed, not to mention the sway on the turn. If I hold the turn, once the car settles it really carves, but if I have to adjust, the car will kind of bounce back and forth .... I hope raising to 41 psi will address this, otherwise I'm just gonna have to slow down

I have not felt any vibration, just a little of wondering due to a bad alignment job....

 

I usually ran them at 40psi and was happy. You will loose a little of the fun but for most of the driving they are great. They should break in well. I found them to get better and better but maybe i just got used to them? I now have them at 235/40(?)/18 on my 3 series and am just as happy.

 

great thread. i put the DWS on my wife's A4 (stock 18 in rims). they have been fantastic. we did a 2000 mile road trip and loved them. they perform perfectly in aggressive handling situations and the wet traction is top notch. the A4 is definitely not as go-karty as the MINI, but it feels rock solid on the DWSs.

i had the bridgestone 960 AS pole positions on my S2000. those were some great tires as well, but took a while to warm up when it was cold.

i'm going to put the DWS on my 17 in rims for DD duty and the DW or Star Specs on my 16 in rims for track/autox duty. Star Specs on the S2000 for track and autox were perfect.

 

I'm certainly not the most well-versed in these matters, but I thought the tire shop that installed them would be the one who balanced them, not Tire Rack?

I just got over 500 miles on mine and I am pleased. After driving so slowly for so long to break them in, it is nice to drive the MINI the way it is supposed to be driven again!

 

The balance we use is the Hunter GSP9700. It actually tells you how much weight to use, and exactly where to put it. Occasionally there are balance issues, and we are willing to reimburse you to get rebalanced. Sometimes weights fall off in transit as well.

On the tram lining, you may want to try and add a few pounds of air to the tires. Under-inflation promotes tramlining.

Continental has a 60 day customer satisfaction trial period. They will take them back if you don't like them.