Sportstick

BTW, there are places which will store your off-season tires, so having a winter set is not really a hassle. Pull in....NASCAR pit stop....and off you go, twice a year. Belle Tire in Michigan does this, and our local indy shop does as well in Commerce Township. As good as DWS06 are, I don't suggest relying on them to stop and turn as well on snow/ice as dedicated winter tires...they just are not designed to do that.

snagitseven

While what you state may be true in general, I wouldn't be too quick to discount the DWS 06 tread life. I had 45K miles on the old DWS on my 2009 A4 when traded and the tires still had 4/10ths remaining all around. Conti claims, among other improvements i.e. turn in handling, ride comfort and snow traction, the new DWS 06 model has even better tread life.

Maverick61

While they may have made some improvements, they are warranting the treadlife at 50K miles which is less than the 70K or 60K miles in the Grand Touring category

My experience with the old DWS tires on my previous vehicle did not yield good treadlife - they were done after 35K miles

BlueSander

DWS06 is the way to go. I have 2 AWD cars and one with DWS06 and the other is running Micheline A/S3. Depending on where you read, these 2 will be switching around for being 1st and 2nd places for being best all season tires and that's mostly true, however, there are a few things to note: DWS06 has a slight less direct feel of the road, in another word, its side wall isn't as stiff as the Micheline. It also performances marginally better on snow/ice. You can improve the Micheline tires' bite on snow/ice by reducing the tire pressure by just 1psi (i have it at 31 instead of 32 as recommended) and my car stopped being tail-happy in the winter like it used to scare the living hell out of me.

snagitseven

Warranties are a marketing decision and don't necessarily indicate expected or actual tread life.

As I mentioned, I had 45K tread life at trade in time with the old model DWS and they still had at least another 5K+ miles left. I also mentioned the manf claims the new DWS 06 will have longer tread life than the old model, among other improvements. And driving style will always play a role. So, your previous experience with the old model may not translate to the new one as they are markedly of a different design. As you pointed out to me in the past, as I recall.

Maverick61

Warranties are more than marketing decisions. A company isn't going to offer to warrant a tire at 60,000 miles if it knows it will last 30,000 miles in average use. Companies are not in the business to lose money. Warranties have to make financial sense - so there is correlation between the miles a tire manufacture warrants it for and its expected life

keithl

True, but most tire warranties require the tire to be at the tread wear bars 2/32. Michelin is more flexible, but you have to fight as a safety hazard. They offered me 45% with 4/32 left on my AS/3, but considering they are considerably more expensive I passed since I only got 17K miles. I swap tires usually at 4/32 since the wet traction below 4/32 on most tires is port.

snagitseven

Exactly my point. Why would a manf. warranty a tire for more miles if they can get away with less? Major TV brand A provides a one year warranty and major TV brand B offers two years. Does that mean brand A is more likely to fail in in the second year than Brand B? Probably not. Therefore, warranty limits do not necessarily provide a direct correlation to anything other than marketing vs. profit.

Sportstick

True, and I can add that the domestic OE I worked for had varying vehicle warranties over the decades. When competition heated up, the cars were just as reliable (or not) as before, but the warranties were lengthened just to meet competition and the vehicle program margin took a hit. Other times, when warranties were lengthened, vehicle prices were adjusted to offset the average vehicle cost effect of the anticipated cost of more warranty coverage. In other words, it was about marketing strategy, with financial impact and effects managed as needed.

irenesbob

Having had Conti Pro Contact's (18") on my 2010 and 2013 A6's, my new 2016 A6 came with 19" Pirelli P7's. So far I have been pleasantly surprised at how quiet and smooth riding they are. I compared the Conti Pro Contact’s and the Pirelli P7's on Tire Rack and in all the rating categories the Pirelli's scored higher. I will see how they do in the long haul. They are both UTQG rated 500.