# what type of tires should i buy... michelin pilot a/s, Contintnal DWS or other reccommened brands...



## godspeed01 (May 29, 2004)

Help! 
I need to buy tires this weekend, I can see the threads on my garbage factory pirelli's
what do you guys reccommend?
I have a few good contacts for pricing...I just want to get the best tire for the value


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## godspeed01 (May 29, 2004)

*its for my audi a3*

2006 fwd 2.0t


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## meshgiath (Jun 4, 2009)

I can only speak for the Continental DWS's - great grip, wonderful water traction, quiet, and surprisingly good tread life - I will probably be getting a second set when time comes.


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## TBomb (Sep 23, 2009)

I was choosing between the Conti DWS or Bridgestone Potenza RE960. I went with the RE960's and I have been really happy with them so far. Excellent dry traction, phenomenal wet grip, and they are fairly quiet. Hard to tell, really, without direct A/B testing, for me at least.


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## luvadubdub (Mar 1, 2007)

I was planning on buying the Conti's but a tire rack rep steered me towards the Dunlop Sport Signature. It's been a great tire. I highly recommend them. Tire Racks actual test as opposed to customer reviews showed the Conti sidewall gave out much quicker in hard cornering.


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## Bezor (Jan 16, 2007)

Potenza fur evar.


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## Gbeav (Jun 12, 2010)

Ibis 2.0T said:


> I was planning on buying the Conti's but a tire rack rep steered me towards the Dunlop Sport Signature. It's been a great tire. I highly recommend them. Tire Racks actual test as opposed to customer reviews showed the Conti sidewall gave out much quicker in hard cornering.


It's all season tires, why would you be doing hard cornering with those?


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## tomekpl21 (Feb 24, 2011)

I got some Hankook Ventus V12 evo and they are probably better than most of the pricier tires ive had before. Rated an 8.5 on tirerack which is pretty damn good.


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## TechnikSLR (Jul 30, 2008)

Gbeav said:


> It's all season tires, why would you be doing hard cornering with those?


high performance all season. doesnt mean you need to drive like a granny. 

i have been running bfg supersport a/s and i love them. want to try out the dunlops next


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## KnockKnock (Jun 30, 2005)

Yay, another tire thread 

My next all-seasons will probably be the Pirelli:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=119


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## Gbeav (Jun 12, 2010)

TechnikSLR said:


> high performance all season. doesnt mean you need to drive like a granny.
> 
> i have been running bfg supersport a/s and i love them. want to try out the dunlops next


All season tires are no season tires. High performance or not.


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## TechnikSLR (Jul 30, 2008)

Gbeav said:


> All season tires are no season tires. High performance or not.


not true. they are good at all, exceptional at nothing.


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## Zetetic (Mar 21, 2007)

Hankook Ventus V12... Has significant tread life issues. My son has them on his BMW5 and they're half gone at 12K miles. My nephew wore them out at about 22K on his Volvo T5.


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## Zetetic (Mar 21, 2007)

TireRack's _*OTHER*_ test of winter tires put the Conti DWS significantly above the Pirells! You decide.


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## KnockKnock (Jun 30, 2005)

Zetetic said:


> TireRack's _*OTHER*_ test of winter tires put the Conti DWS significantly above the Pirells! You decide.


wasn't that the one in snow/freezing conditions? link?
agreed - it's just a question of what you need.
:beer:


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## luvadubdub (Mar 1, 2007)

TechnikSLR said:


> not true. they are good at all, exceptional at nothing.


Not to mention a little sacrifice in performance for a huge gain in longevity.


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## maverickar15 (Mar 7, 2011)

DWS has better winter performance per test at TireRack than RE960

Personally I'd ditch A/S, grab a set of summer for stock rims and get a set of 16" for snow tires. I'd rather be driving in a FWD vehicle with dedicated snow tires than an AWD vehicle with A/S tires, and this is coming from a guy who also has a Subaru. (of course AWD with dedicated snow tires is more fun, but tire does all the stopping)

C&D did a test on 2006 GLI a long time ago. The braking performance with stocker A/S tires was at around 180 ft going from 70 mph to stop. I think that distance shrunk to ~155 ft with performance summer tires.

Found the link with summer performance tires from C&D - 154 feet actually
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...arison_tests/2006_volkswagen_jetta_gli_page_5

I can't find anything about GLI with A/S tires. I was mistaken, I thought GLI's came with all seasons for some reason. But this article http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...gli-road_test/performance_and_interior_page_3 mentions that A3 with all season rubber took 185 feet to stop from 70 mph with similar brake systems.


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## BrandonF (Mar 16, 2010)

tomekpl21 said:


> I got some Hankook Ventus V12 evo and they are probably better than most of the pricier tires ive had before. Rated an 8.5 on tirerack which is pretty damn good.


+1 Hankook if you want cheap summer high performance tires.


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## TechnikSLR (Jul 30, 2008)

maverickar15 said:


> DWS has better winter performance per test at TireRack than RE960
> 
> Personally I'd ditch A/S, grab a set of summer for stock rims and get a set of 16" for snow tires. I'd rather be driving in a FWD vehicle with dedicated snow tires than an AWD vehicle with A/S tires, and this is coming from a guy who also has a Subaru. (of course AWD with dedicated snow tires is more fun, but tire does all the stopping)
> 
> ...


16's WILL NOT FIT AN A3. just so everyone knows here.


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## godspeed01 (May 29, 2004)

*hercules - anyone use these tires?*

http://www.herculestire.com/catalogHercules/pdfCatalogPages/raptisWR1.pdf


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## crew219 (Oct 18, 2000)

TechnikSLR said:


> 16's WILL NOT FIT AN A3. just so everyone knows here.


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## TechnikSLR (Jul 30, 2008)

crew219 said:


>


wtf! i thought they wouldnt clear the front brakes?


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## ProjectA3 (Aug 12, 2005)

Falken FK452 not great performance, but they aren't too expensive and are all season


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## Barn01 (Feb 26, 2011)

I'm running 16" on aftermarket winter rims as well ... they might even be the same damn rims in the pic haha!

Blizzak Revo1's ... amazing tire and lasts!

I have 17" Yokohama AVID ENVigor (W) on for the summer and I HATE this tire. 10k km and they are so out of round, noisy, belts shifting. Tire Rack is taking them back and I'm going to pick up some Hankook H105's this weekend.


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## G60 dude (Oct 3, 2001)

meshgiath said:


> I can only speak for the Continental DWS's - great grip, wonderful water traction, quiet, and surprisingly good tread life - I will probably be getting a second set when time comes.


All that and did very well in snow this past winter


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## NYCameron (Nov 17, 2010)

has anyone tried the Firehawk Wide Oval Indy 500?
on tirerack the price is very tempting...


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## cleanA3 (Jun 23, 2007)

Have the DWS on the car and they are super nice


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## VWAddict (Jun 12, 1999)

you haven't said WHERE you are, which affects your options.

I'm in Florida, so NO need for mud and snow rated tires, for example... For general driving, I HIGHLY recommend the Bridgestone Potenza *7*60's, which are a WAY more enjoyable tire than the 960's... the 960's are more of a touring tire, although if you find a set CHEAP, that might put a different complexion on matters, of course... Though we do tend to get torrential deluge downpours here in the summer, so standing water dispersal is important, and the 760 is WAY better than the 960 in that category.

I started off with the Pirelli P-sux tires, and they roared and droned loudly for about 38,000 miles, which pissed me off immensely that they lasted so long, because they were the most obnoxious, noisy, irritating tire that I've ever used! -They were noisy at 10,000 miles... I'm already 15,000 miles into my Potenzas, and they're still quiet. -Lasting fairly well all things considered, too!


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## TBomb (Sep 23, 2009)

VWAddict said:


> you haven't said WHERE you are, which affects your options.
> 
> I'm in Florida, so NO need for mud and snow rated tires, for example... For general driving, I HIGHLY recommend the Bridgestone Potenza *7*60's, which are a WAY more enjoyable tire than the 960's... the 960's are more of a touring tire, although if you find a set CHEAP, that might put a different complexion on matters, of course... Though we do tend to get torrential deluge downpours here in the summer, so standing water dispersal is important, and the 760 is WAY better than the 960 in that category.
> 
> I started off with the Pirelli P-sux tires, and they roared and droned loudly for about 38,000 miles, which pissed me off immensely that they lasted so long, because they were the most obnoxious, noisy, irritating tire that I've ever used! -They were noisy at 10,000 miles... I'm already 15,000 miles into my Potenzas, and they're still quiet. -Lasting fairly well all things considered, too!


Aren't the 760's a high performance summer tire? If so, you wouldn't want to drive them in near-freezing temps, at least not without being really careful. Not a problem for people in Florida, maybe  Here in Dallas, though, the temperature fluctuates so widely and quickly that I felt better off with the 960's for all-season performance. Although, I will probably get a new set of wheels before the 960's wear out, and get some nice summer tires to use from April-September and then use the stock wheels with the 960's for October-March or so.


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## godspeed01 (May 29, 2004)

*sailun tires? has anyone heard of these?.*

i am researching these sailun tires. they say they are manufactured by the guys that manufactured Michelin tires orginally.
thoughts?


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## keithermadness (Mar 26, 2007)

TechnikSLR said:


> not true. they are good at all, exceptional at nothing.


Not true, Allseasons geared towards summer performance suck in the snow.

I run Nokian Hakka Rs in the winter and recently put on Yoko S-Drives (Summer performance, no M&S). Best of both worlds.


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## godspeed01 (May 29, 2004)

*considering the hankooks now...*



tomekpl21 said:


> I got some Hankook Ventus V12 evo and they are probably better than most of the pricier tires ive had before. Rated an 8.5 on tirerack which is pretty damn good.


they rate well, havent met anyone in person with them on their ride. better than the conti DWSs?


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## godspeed01 (May 29, 2004)

*in canada*



TBomb said:


> Aren't the 760's a high performance summer tire? If so, you wouldn't want to drive them in near-freezing temps, at least not without being really careful. Not a problem for people in Florida, maybe  Here in Dallas, though, the temperature fluctuates so widely and quickly that I felt better off with the 960's for all-season performance. Although, I will probably get a new set of wheels before the 960's wear out, and get some nice summer tires to use from April-September and then use the stock wheels with the 960's for October-March or so.


in mississauga, outside of Toronto, 
some heavy days of snow, but bitter cold for months on end.

i put Goodyear tires on my jetta and i didnt even put my winters on this year, they were that good and we only had a few weeks total of snow all winter. I might go for the Goodyear GTS because of this


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## Teejay80 (May 24, 2011)

ProjectA3 said:


> Falken FK452 not great performance, but they aren't too expensive and are all season


I've got Falken 452's for the 3rd time now. Previously had:
Michelin Pilot's (great in the wet, not so great in the dry)
Bridgestone RE050's(great in the dry, crap in the wet and wore VV quickly)
Uniroyal Rainsport 2's (great in the wet, pretty good in the dry, average wear rate)
Marshall ???? (good in the wet, awesome in the dry, seemed to last forever) - but can't find any local stockists now and going by the tread patterns on the Marshall website, they don't make the same ones any more


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## TBomb (Sep 23, 2009)

godspeed01 said:


> in mississauga, outside of Toronto,
> some heavy days of snow, but bitter cold for months on end.
> 
> i put Goodyear tires on my jetta and i didnt even put my winters on this year, they were that good and we only had a few weeks total of snow all winter. I might go for the Goodyear GTS because of this


I'd look at the Conti DWS then. Of the high performance all-seasons, they tested the best in snow, at least according to this shootout by Tire Rack: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=124

Lost of people here run that tire and love it.


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## Zetetic (Mar 21, 2007)

*Take a look at the new General G-MAX AS-03*

Take a look at the new General G-MAX AS-03. Made by Continental in France and early reviews are promising. But I know... regression towards the mean will eventually win out. New tires often get rave reviews.


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## RedLineRob (Feb 8, 2009)

Ventus V12 evo K110

just got them on my car and am very impressed they ride great aren't noisy and grip good


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## atrociousa3 (Aug 6, 2007)

NYCameron I have Firehawk Wide Oval Indy 500 and I spin these tires out without trying, but i guess they handle alright.


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## NYCameron (Nov 17, 2010)

atrociousa3 said:


> NYCameron I have Firehawk Wide Oval Indy 500 and I spin these tires out without trying, but i guess they handle alright.


that doesn't sound like it's a good thing...

I guess luckily I went "premium" with the continental DW


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## number17 (Jun 28, 1999)

VEntus V12 all the way ... can't be happier with them since I put them on and they are the best bang for the buck in terms of summer tires.


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## twisted turbo (Mar 12, 2005)

i got the Conti DWS and im fwd and and are awsome great tire i just wish they lasted a lil longer


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## LM Spec (Jan 2, 2008)

I just picked up a set of Conti DWS as well. They are so quiet compared to the pirelli P6's.
Can't wait to try them in the rain or on the highway.


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## 3G3T7I (Sep 30, 2005)

I'm on a second set of DWS's. Living in SE PA they were great this past winter in the snow with the Quattro. Yes the sidewalls will flex a bit with hard cornering but it's not intolerable especially if they are properly inflated.


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## godspeed01 (May 29, 2004)

*conti DWS is the one i like... what about the 91 load rating where the A3 requires a 94 load*

does that matter?


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## TBomb (Sep 23, 2009)

godspeed01 said:


> does that matter?


Fairly sure you can compensate for the softer sidewalls by inflating the tires to a little more than the factory specs. Tirerack tells you what you have to inflate them to I think :thumbup:


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## wall man (Jan 2, 2008)

LM Spec said:


> I just picked up a set of Conti DWS as well. They are so quiet compared to the pirelli P6's.
> Can't wait to try them in the rain or on the highway.


Did you buy locally, somewhere in the GVRD? I'm thinking of getting a set, but was looking to head down to the US to purchase.


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## Barn01 (Feb 26, 2011)

I've got about 2000km on my hankook ventus v4 es h105 and they're the best all season I've ever used. Showing almost no wear so far and are very smooth and quiet with fantastic wet grip. These tires are heads and tails better than the yokohama avid envigor that I had on there before. The envigor's were noisy, wore fast and a TON of vibration from 2 of the 4 breaking belts and warping with less than 25% wear. Hankook all the way


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## trucaliber (May 13, 2009)

I just picked up a set of DSW's this weekend. They are much softer than my OEM Contipro's. Pot-holes are less of a concern but road-feel is very vague. Should be a good set to get me through to next spring, and then I can pickup a set of summer wheels and tires.

I had my TPMS sensors pulled and will test out a pressurized PVC chamber in a few weeks. I'm hoping the stems can be contained completely and still function. Building a can with 4 stems sticking out would be a pita, but better than running with the annoying buzzer all summer or spending a ton of cash on every swap.


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## KnockKnock (Jun 30, 2005)

Excellent thread resurrection.


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## trucaliber (May 13, 2009)

Two months have passed since the last post. I only woke it up from a nice slumber. eace:


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## VWAddict (Jun 12, 1999)




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## KnockKnock (Jun 30, 2005)

*Updated Bridgestone Pole Position*

Just noticed this, looks like the 960 just got replaced by: Bridgestone's Potenza RE970AS Pole Position

I use all-season tires as California winter tires, then put dedicated summer tires on the other three seasons. Might have to try these.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=147


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## Audi'sRevenge (Mar 24, 2008)

TechnikSLR said:


> high performance all season


That's an oxymoron!


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