Continental DWS06 Real World Road Test By Thom Cannell

By Thom Cannell
Senior Editor
Michigan Bureau
The Auto Channel

There’s a story behind the new Continental Extreme Contact DWS06, a new premium tire that delivers. All too often promises don’t work out the way you wish. Claims are inflated, inaccurate, or just plain false. Not so with the updated Conti DWS.

In fairness, recent declarations that new tires are better than their predecessors have proven true, and even understated. This premium tire claims to better its predecessor, the Continental Extreme Contact DWS by a mere 8-10% in the Dry, the Wet, and in the Snow—hence the DWS naming. You’d not expect to feel such a small difference, but you can.

In early testing we scrutinized this new tire in the wet, extremely wet, and in the dry. Each of Continental Tire Company’s claims proved to be true. However that day-long test, as fun as it was to play with fast cars on race tracks, skid pads, and full wet-stop testing troughs, isn’t the real world. So we put a set onto a staff car. As a bonus, a friend did the same after our initial review.

For The Auto Channel’s comparison the just-released Continental Extreme Contact DWS06 replaced a very good tire, but with aging design. The test vehicle is a supercharged Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS driven by a former part-time drag racer known for fierce acceleration, if not tire smoking cornering. So we think the comments we gathered are a good representation, as well as tributes to the new Continental Extreme Contact DWS06PHOTO Cannell_continentaldws-8609

Here’s how Continental’s new Extreme Contact DWS06 tires are improved over their DWS sibling. Changes in the structure of the tread add more biting edges and improve cornering. Like most new tires, Continental uses slica (very pure and specifically sized sand) added for tread flexibility and new processes improve the way polymers bond to other polymers—natural and artificial rubber among them. The big tread blocks have x-shaped sipes—razor cuts—to further increase biting edges as the contact patch rolls forward.

To show wear so you know what’s happening where the rubber meets the road Continental uses molded-in indicators to alert customers to both wear and alignment issues. At the outer tread, alignment indicators will rapidly show if tire alignment is incorrect by wearing unevenly. Also molded into the tire are letters D, W, and S. Once the S disappears, the tire is no longer rated for light-to-medium snow. Once the W is gone wet weather handling won’t be quite as good. And if you cannot find the D it’s time for new tires.

According to Continental, the ExtremeContact DWS06 is only 1-10% better than its predecessor in each area of performance, Dry, Wet, or Snow—which we have yet to test, thank goodness! We assure you, the changes can be felt when turning wet corners, dry corners, and when on very wet simulated highways. Along with these perceptible improvement, the new tire mounts to your wheels more perfectly, and all DWS06 tires use two plys to create better impact resistance, especially resistance to potholes.

While tire performance is important to many, others are primarily interested in longevity. For them (and every buyers) Continental offers its “Total Confidence Plan” of a 50,000 limited mileage warranty, a 60 day or first 2/32 of tread wear satisfaction trial, 3 year flat tire roadside assistance, 12 month road hazard (or 2/32 tread wear), and 72 month limited warranty. That’s total confidence in their new tire.

Currently Continental manufacturers the Extreme Contact DWS06 in 55 sizes. These range from 16” to 22” in diameter with section widths as low as 30 and up to an aspect ratio of 50 in W or Y speed ratings.

One of the most important attributes of a new set of tires is how they make you feel when you drive distances in the rain or dry, how they react in daily commutes when your mind might wander into the upcoming work day. Thus we’re happy to repeat a seemingly innocuous comment, “I felt much more confident when driving”. Along with that note was the report that the Continental Extreme Contact DWS06 was quieter and handling was much improved. Obviously that feeds into the overall confidence.

Another comment is one we wholeheartedly agree with from our track testing. “This tire is great in the rain.” It’s our opinion that wet weather driving is where everything can fall apart in tire design. Hydroplaning, where tires cannot expel water as fast as it collects in front of the leading edge, lifts tires off the road and really bad things happen to inexperienced drivers. Hydroplaning isn’t like skidding on ice and counter steering is not a good idea. Holding your course is. With the massive by-weekly rain we’ve been experiencing in the Midwest, often nearing 1” per hour downfalls, the Continental Extreme Contact DWS06 rated highly in its ability to keep all four wheels rolling at local and highway speeds.

Interestingly a friend who manages a Sears Auto Center put a set on his Mercedes at our suggestion. His C Class is approaching its tenth year and had been riding on very highly rated tires. All he wanted was good tires, ones hopefully somewhat better than those being replaced. What he gained was much much more. “It was like having a new car, one with more grip though riding softer and quieter, and with much more assurance. Then, in the rain, it sliced through curb-to-curb water with complete assurance.”

We think that says it all, at least until we can get some snow miles under the chassis. For that, after the first few Northern snowfalls, when expecting 6-9” of snow, we still recommend winter tires. If you never see more than 2-4” of snow try the Extreme Contact DWS06, they’re designed for it.