JMR

Notwithstanding the advantages of separate tires for summer/winter, I need to put all season tires on my A5 with the 19" wheels from the sport package. The snow rating of the Pilot Sport A/S 3 on Tirerack are pretty miserable compared to the Continental ExtremeContact DWS. I'm wondering if anyone here has real-world feedback about either of these.

Zi Wang

I had Continental ExtremeContact DWS on my A4. It worked very well on plowed road, and decent on snow. Good traction, and minimal tread noise.

uberwgn

It's nice that Zi could sign up and discuss the Conti DWS as his first post.

I've had the same tire on a RWD Mercedes and it was miserable. I'd never recommend the tire to someone unless they were far south of the Mason_Dixon Line. I had to purchase proper snow tires + wheels for our car if it was to make it up our driveway. The DWS was not a happening scene Only slightly better than a stock "all season" tire fitted to these Audis.

snagitseven

I had DWS on my '09 A4 here in New England. While they were rated better than most other performance A/S tires for snow, I was never comfortable if there was more than 3" or 4" on the ground. For anything deeper than that or if on ice, dedicated snow tires will be significantly safer, particularly for stopping and turning, obviously two important operations.

SamLV

Great forum, gang. I'll put the Conti DWS on my car this fall. Couple of questions. First, at what temperature point are the summer tires useless, if any? Here in the Lehigh valley of PA I won't see cold until about Thanksgiving. Second, are the summer tires worth keeping and swapping back on next summer at all? The stock tires are noisy buggers, but fun to play on.

snagitseven

Generally, as the temp drops and approaches 40 degrees, summer tire tread compounds become hard and unforgiving. Colder and they turn into large hockey pucks.

Since you ask the question about switching summers back in the spring, why not get a set of dedicated winter tires for the weather? Would make much more sense in the NE than trying to run on A/S tires in the snow Plus you would get more overall tire life from using both sets.

SamLV

I just realized I haven't put my location in my profile yet. I'm in PA near Philly.

My brother lived in Madison though. When you live in a place where they tell you how many seconds it will be before exposed skin will freeze and you can freeze your nostrils, absolutely, winter tires and I'd guess you have block heaters too.

How do you keep rocks from chipping paint, but the way? I've seen a 3M film which is supposed to prevent that, but even in PA the cinders (sic) are a PIA. I am considering a winter beater for that reason plus the parking at the airport. That could eliminate the tire issue, I suppose. Just keep it in when under 40F or any winter weather.

snagitseven

Do an AW search on "Xpel Ultimate". Far and away the best protection against paint chips.

SamLV

I noticed you have active Mods. Thx for that tip, and I'll bet many more soon. I have evil plans for the car.... A bit worried about tuning it and blowing an engine, though. Still, all too tempting.

mokotoy

Did you cover your headlights and fog lamps too? I'm considering putting on a film on that but I don't know if it's worth it