I'm running 245/35/20s all around. I'm getting ready to buy the same size in the Continental ExtremeContactDWS. On Tirerack.com, they're listed at $692 for a set.

I was thinking about going up a little in size to a 40 to soften up the ride but the price jumps to $940 a set! Anybody know why?

Also, I read somewhere that Continental Tire is to General Tire as Infiniti is to Nissan. Is that true? If so, is there a General equivalent of the ExtremeContactDWS?

Thanks!

 

Probably expensive because it's not a common size. You could run a 255/35/20. It would be slightly wider and slightly taller. But if your main concern is better ride quality, i would look for softer tires. a taller sidewall doesn't always equal better ride quality.

 

True about taller tires. I've run the Contis before on my Sentra. I have Falken FK452s on the Max and don't like them at all.

 

When I got new wheels I had originally wanted the continentals but discount said that they were on back order. When I asked what they recommend that was similar to the dws, they suggested the General G-Max. I ended up going with those in a 255/35r20. I only have about 200 miles on them so far but they are far superior to the oem tires.

 

Continental Tire AG is an old-line German corporation. They bought General Tire, an American tire company that has been around since 1915. Continental did this because it was the quickest way to rapidly expand their North American footprint.

One could say that General is the 'Nissan' to Continental's 'Infiniti', but things aren't quite that simple. Every tire performs differently. General will have tires that might fall loosely in the category of being similar to the Conti Extreme Contact DWS, but in actuality, would have slightly different characteristics in almost every attribute that is measurable.

Every tire stands on its own, and, unlike cars, no tire is truly the 'little brother' of another tire. More expensive tires usually (but not always) have superior performance in most measurable categories than cheaper tires, but the Goodyear RS-As are exhibit 'A' as to this not always being true.

I would urge you to go to a site such as tirerack and check the measured characteristics and prices of each tire you are considering, as well as the comments from folks using those tires.

 

Thanks Hill...

I have been out to both Tirerack and Discount Tire. Good information on both. I like that Tirerack has the "Survey" section where it shows the ratings for the tires. Unfortunately, while they have them for the DWS, there's nothing for the General G-MAX AS-03.

 

Update: there are finally some ratings for the General G-Max AS-03 tires on Tirerack.com. I compared them to the Continental ExtremeContact DWS. I think I'm gonna go with the G-Max.

 

There were a lot of comments on the DWS's about flat-spotting when the car sits overnight, especially when cold. Well...they were right. I've had a set on for ~6000 miles. It's somewhat of a nuissance, but they are fine after 10 minutes or so.

Also been caught in several bad snowstorms here and have to say, they are WONDERFUL in snow (for being an all-season tire). Can't say anything bad about them other than the flatspotting.

Late,
Trav

 

how do you think the dws' are overall? i was going to buy them in a month or so because i heard they were good tires but id like to hear some different opinions

 

I have numerous friends with 370Z's that run the Conti DWS in the winter as their cold weather tire. All of them have had nothing but positive reviews about this tire. Their only real complaint was the sidewall can feel a tad squishy under lateral load, but then again, they also run summer tires from March-October lol. You really won't find a better High-Perf A/S tire out there for the money that has the dry/wet and light snow grip the DWS has.

 

If there were only a place where one could find detailed info and reviews on tires on this site. Oh, if only.

http://forums.maxima.org/tires-wheels-53/

 

I have the general gmax tire sand thus far,really like them. They are fairly quiet, handle light snow pretty well and are excellent so far in the rain. They also seem to hold up pretty well on the track with mild front sidewall flex at 36lbs up front 38lbs in the rear on the road course. The are pretty forgiving when pressed and easy to read when up to speed. Did not get greasy after 3, 35 min lapping sessions at about 85% of the cars handling potential. Not sure with the cvt you could ever get 100%. Runout of steam (read decent acceleration) at about 115 mph down the front straight topped out at 123mph....it just doesn't want to go...no urgency kind of disappointing since my 2003.5 G35 pulled hard to 135 on the same track with 265hp.