In this thread I will be reviewing, and specifically comparing the Continental ExtremeContact DWS to the OEM Bridgestone RE-050.

I have a 2005 Honda S2000 "AP2". The car has a D2 coilover suspension with ~1.5 inch drop. The wheels are OEM. The rear tires are ~a year old and are Michelin Pilot A/S in 245/40/17. The front tires were the ORIGINAL Bridgestone RE-050 with a production date from 2004. While there was still plenty tread (at 35,1xx miles) the tires were showing cracks along the lengthwise of the tire tread. The wear was fairly even on the right tire and there was a little bit of feathering from the inside of the left front.

Anyway, I was worrying about a blowout on these old tires and while the cracks were not so bad, why risk it? I ended up ordering form Tire Rack the aforementioned Continental tires ( http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....0&autoModClar= ) for the front in the stock size.

Put them in the passengers seat and drove them out to my installer. Mounted and installed and on my way back home the difference in driving dynamic was instantaneous and prevalent.

Even though the tire still had the sealing agent on it they felt more "grippy" than the RE-050s especially in the cold (~50F). The sidewall is significantly more "flexy" and the response to turns is not as sharp. It feels more stable and planted rather than razor quick; too quick. The forgiving flex seems to make turns more smooth and in turn stable with less turn in under-steer.

Further review to come for autox, wet traction and snow.

 

So I broke the tires in and put some 100 miles on them and some light autocross action. Chicago got hit with some nasty storms and even with a layer of water on the asphalt no aquaplaning. Wet traction is considerably better than the RE-050s and much more progressive when it gets to the edge. I'm running 36psi all around. Going to drop it a bit and see how that works.

 

Sounds about right. Snow tires for autocross are hardly ideal, but I would imagine these tires strike a nice compromise.

 

In the colder weather they are going to grip better. If you are going to run one set of tires year round in Chicago the DWS is a good choice. I would not auto cross the tire though as you are going to really chew up the tires.

 

My rear tires (Bridgestone's) wore out at 20k miles, but the fronts were fine. So I bought a Conti set just for the rear. In dry weather, at 65mph, the rear felt like it was slinging all over the road - it was scary to drive. Went back to the tire shop and had them replaced with Michelin Pilot Sports - a great improvement.

 

Previous owner had non-spec alignment and prematurely worn summer tires. I replaced with 4 x Conti DWS and spec alignment. Been great for 7K miles over 14 months. I usually don't push corners hard, but can slide the rear with a short,hard burst in second gear if turning hard enough - these are not sticky tires. On the other hand, I've given the car some minor test swerving in heavy rain and poor winter weather and never felt out of control. I'm reasonably confident heading out to face anything but glaze/black ice. These are my 'no surprises' heading out tires. Only minor negative has been a bit of flat spot memory that takes a mile in cool weather, up to four miles in cold weather, to relax and let me drive on 'round' tires.