I take that back... I had to get 235/45/17's -- 1/2" smaller in overall diameter than the 225/50/17. I knew there was something wrong when I wrote that. That's what I get for posting without looking (or remembering... hey, January was a long time ago right?)

 

235/45/17 should work great. Maybe a very slight increase in firming of the ride, which is offset by giving you more maneuverability because of the lower profile reducing the amount of sidewall flex and the wider tread giving more road grip. The load-carrying capacity of the 235/45/17 should be fairly near that of the OEM 225/50/17. Good choice.

 

i have them on my 5 gen. Dry traction is really good. Comfort and road noise is 10X better then from my previous michellin Energy (mxv4s??).
The sidewalls do flex a tiny tiny bit on the front tires but nothing major...

 

I assume you are probably carrying the 33 psi Nissan recommends for the Maxima. I have had very good results over the years carrying a little more than the recommended psi. I have 36 up front and 35 in the rear at the present time. With my style of driving, I find the increased psi prevents the shoulders of my tires wearing out before the center portion of thread, and gives me slightly crisper turns.

If you are in the mood to try things, you might try 35 psi. That will give a very slightly firmer ride, but balance that with giving very slightly better maneuverability. It could also tend to somewhat reduce the sidewall flexing you see up front, although that flexing isn't hurting anything.

 

You are right 36 front and 35 rear is a good fit for the Max, I have been running that for years in the Max with the 3 different brand tires that it has had on it.

 

Just replaced a set of Falken Ziex 912s with DWS earlier this week. So far, so good ... smooth and quiet ride.

I'm looking forward to challenging them on snow and ice.

 

I put them on my SV Sport but made them staggered 255/35/19 in front and 275/35/19. I love them and what a difference in the handling

 

Keep us informed as to how this staggered setup works. Very few here have gone 'staggered.'

 

wow, I didn't see this thread before I put these tires on last week.

The first hundred miles or so I was in the rain and the DWS were way better than the stocks (even when they were new). The DWS were a bit greasy at first but I attribute that to being new and not worn in at all yet. Once I got a few miles on them, they were amazing. Now I have wet, rain and dry miles on them and am impressed with the lack of noise they put out. With the tread pattern, I expected much more noise.

I highly recommend

 

There's snow in the Rocky's after the storm that moved through a few days ago... Winter snow traction review coming soon. Took a 1400 mile road trip two weeks ago and these tires continue to amaze me... quiet, handle great, nice smooth ride, mountian twists are a piece of cake and now have around 10K miles on them. Don't know what it is... either these tires or the new Iridium plugs I installed or both but I now get 100 more miles per tank than before. She'll go a little over a 500 on a tank if I keep my foot out of the throttle and speed around 80-85

 

I just purchased a set of these to put on my G35c wheels. I should have them next week!!! I read the reviews online and everyone seemed to be pleased. . .

Some of guys that have been running them for a while. . . care to chime in since you've racked up some miles on these tires??

 

I have them on my 08 max. I commute 125 miles a day. They are good tires but are not lasting as long as they should. I have about 35K on them now and on my last oil change the dealer said it is almost time for new tires. I will be going back to discount tire to see if the warranty holds.

 

Be sure and measure the tread depth carefully yourself. Tires are still functional until the tread depth is down to 2/32nds of an inch. Of course the tires grip even better with less tread than that as long as the pavement is dry, but hydroplaning begins to become more of a possibility after tread depth drops below 4/32nd of an inch, and hydroplaning kills.

If you get 40K on these low profile high performance tires, that is not too bad. In my mind, that is getting the equivalent of 80K miles on a high profile tire (say 70 or 75 profile, which we have on our trucks).

In the current (Nov) issue of Consumer Reports, they tested 21 Ultra High Performance SUMMER tires, and all but three of those 21 had either 'below average' or 'much worse than average' tread life. The other three rated 'average' in tread life.

In that same mag, CU tested 17 Ultra High Performance ALL-SEASON tires, and 16 rated average, below average or much below average in tread life. One of these was the Conti Extreme Contact DWS, which had a tread life of below average.

That 17th tire was the only tire in this test to rate above average in tread life, and it actually rated MUCH above average. This tire was the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus, which retails for around $200. That was somewhat surprising to me, as the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tested with the summer tires was much worse than average in tread life.

The Michelin A/S Plus was rated the same as the Conti DWS in all facets tested except the Michelin had a much longer tread life, and the Conti had better wet braking performance.

 

So funny I read the same issue and I have bookmarked several reviews on the Pilot A/S Plus, I was leaning towards the DWS but now the Michelin seems the better value unless a sale comes along.

 

This pretty much says it all... Almost the same number of review miles and the Conti DWS has a slightly better warranty. The DWS has better rating for almost everything including tread life. I've seen so many discrepancies with various products reviewed by CU, I don't waste my time reading the mag.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...jsp?type=UHPAS

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....emeContact+DWS

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....ort+A%2FS+Plus

 

The difference in tread life for these two tires between these two rating systems is strange indeed. I wondered how one tire was rated so far above all other similar tires CR tested in tread life. Did someone at CR misread his micrometer?

The Michelin did rate higher in dry cornering stability, dry traction and dry steering response (and I do 95% of my driving in dry conditions), but the Conti swept the other areas tested. I will probably be getting the Contis when I need tires.

 

I've now put 1500 miles (2400 Km) on the DWS and can say that at this point I have no regrets. As observed by all who have them, perhaps the two greatest characteristics are how quiet they are and how smooth the ride is.

Traction is very good for an all-season and I feel confident cornering in dry or wet conditions. There was no hydro-planing during heavy downpours. Checkmark the "D" and the "W".

Snow's a comin' and I will report back after I've done a few miles to see if I can also checkmark the "S".

One small caveat ... they do not hold the pavement well during hard acceleration from zero (wet or dry). On this aspect, they have disappointed me a bit (my benchmark is the Michelin HydroEdge on a '98 Maxima).

 

Nice tires, I really like the tread pattern!

 

I have to say, now that winter is here and in full bloom for us Canadians, these DWS are looking like something I might want to invest in. Much like everyone else I literally hate these Eagle RSA's. The traction control light is flashing in my face so often on my way to work that I feel like I am at a rave or something. Keep in mind that isn't literal, I don't actually drive with my face in the dash but you get the gist of it.

It's either the DWS or the Pilot A/S plus. Right now I can't decide on either nor can I afford either but when it takes about three car lengths to stop from a mere 20 km/h because the tires have zero grip I don't know if I can afford (my life that is) to not look further into it.

 

I just ordered my new set of 4 Continental EC DWS's from TireRack since they were the cheapest around. I should have it delivered on Tuesday and then installed Wednesday AM. I will post back with an update.

 

I just purchased from Tire rack, 4- Firestone Winterforce snow tires. I dropped down to the 215/55 R17's on aftermarket aluminum 5-stars. I will review them after the first good snow

 

So I just had mine installed and drove about 50miles afterwards.

I know it's very early to judge appropriately but these tires feel much nicer than OEM. The ride feels more compliant, quieter and dare I say it comfortable? From what I gathered from TireRack after the break-in period they should only get better.

I will provide more feedback when I get a chance to try them with different weather conditions, predominantly snow/rain.

~Rich

 

they get way better after a couple hundred miles.

 

Great, thanks!!!!

 

I'm getting these for my Z06. from the Z06 owners, they're best performance/value/street rideability tires.

I wish the DW had the 50000 mile warranty too, hell I wish it had 25,000 warranty lol...

I think the DWs will last about 20,000 miles. problem is I can't rotate tires because my front and rear are 2 diff sizes so I can't get too much life from them =/

anyways, if u live in a snowy area, and want perf tires, I don't think these can be beat.

if you live in an area like me (S FL) and will never see snow, the DW are best bang for the buck

 

I think I'm gonna have to pick up a set of these!

 

I have about 1K miles on my set and after today's 1st true snowfall all I can say is they are definitely worth the investment.

 

I really haven't heard anything bad about these tires yet.

I did read some people complaining about over airing it though. they were putting 36-38 psi when it says to leave it at 32 PSI warm. (not cold, ie when u haven't driven the car in the morning. 32 psi after the tires have warmed up)

I'm just looking for a place that has them in stock in 295/35/18 and 275/40/17

 

Nyce pic!!!!

 

 

Haha! Thanks!

 

I'm thinking these will be my next set. RS-A is OK. Tried Michelin Primacy MXV4 on front, and didn't like them. Too soft in cornering, vague in steering feel, and lost the on-center crispness in the steering wheel. MXV4 feel much better when I rotated them to the rear wheels and put the RS-A on the front. Will probably go Conti DWS all around when the RS-A's wear out (now at 30K miles).

 

After more than 4 weeks of snow and ice, I am happy to say my DWS performed as I had hoped. My tires now have about 3000 miles (4800 km) on them and the grip on ice/snow is excellent.

Check-mark next to the "D", the "W" and the "S".

I would be very happy to get good performance to 20K miles.

 

Since they have a 6 year, 50,000 mile warranty I don't think 20K will be that hard to attain.

 

Perhaps for the overall life of the tire in dry conditions, but by that time their utility in wet and snow conditions would be long gone. The literature says that the DWS markings wear a different rates; the S is the first to go indicating that the tire is no longer optimal for use in snow, followed by the W for wet conditions.

I like the reviews of the tires so far, and my main purpose for considering them would be their performance in snow and wet conditions. But how long the tire lasts for snow is a big question to me; if the S wears too quickly it dramatically reduces the value of the tire, in my opinion.

 

For those who have replaced their RS-A's with the Continental DW's or the DWS's on an SV Sport I have a question. My wife has developed a serious back problem and the ride with the stock RS-A's is quite firm. Has the change to the Continentals improved the ride quality? I need something softer to make it better on her back so any input is appreciated. Or any other tire for that matter with better ride quality.

 

While we wait for word from those drivers with DWSs, you might consider lowering the psi of your RS-As temporarily. I carry 37 front and 36 rear, but Nissan recommends 33. We had a poster from Texas on the 6th gen board who said his '06 Maxima drove and rode best with his tires at 28 psi. I don't think the TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) on the 7th gen will let us use 28 psi, but you could try 30.

If I recall correctly, some tire boards (such as www.tirerack.com) include ride comfort as one of the characteristics presented in their tire rating grid. But I haven't checked there lately, and things change. Certainly the user comments on tirerack and other sites will mention the ride.

The November 2010 issue of Consumer Reports tested high performance tires, and included 'ride comfort' as one of the things they rated.

Among the 21 'ultra high performance summer tires', only the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 was rated above average in ride comfort. The Conti Extreme Contact DW was rated average in ride comfort.

Among the 17 'ultra high performance all-season tires', only the Sumitomo HTR A/S P01, the Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS and the Nitto Neo Gen were rated above average in ride comfort. The Conti Extreme Contact DWS was rated average in ride comfort.

If I were in your situation, I would do this:

If you have the 19" Sport wheels, change from the OEM 245/40R19 tires to 245/45R19. That will fit your Maxima, and gives a tad more sidewall height for more tire flexibility and slightly softer ride.

If you have the 18" wheels, change from the OEM 245/45R18 tires to 245/50R18. That will fit your Maxima, and the slight increase in sidewall height offers a slightly softer ride.

 

It may be just me but IMO these DWS suck in the snow... My VDC/Traction Control keep kicking in and going up a hill I have to freaking turn of the VDC to go anywhere... The grip in snow is not worth the price of the tire.

 

Thanks light, I will try the lowering of pressure and see if that works. It is 15 degrees outside now and probably around 50 in the garage so it is probably a good time to lower the pressure. As my tires only have 20K miles on them and look almost new it may be a little time before I replace them. Another thought would be to see if one of the members here has lowered their Premium Max by changing the springs and would want to sell their original ones.

 

IMO everybody on here who has to drive in the snow should buy Blizzaks to run in the winter. At least just put 2 on the front. At the end of day snow tires don't really cost you anything because they are saving the life of your summer tires while they are on. And all-season tires aren't all season tires like they claim. You simply can't beat a good snow tire in the winter.