Conti DWS vs Micheline A/S 3?

[Jon D]

Time to replace the tires on the A4 Avant [ZHP gets Pilot Super Sports]. Been running DWS and they are better that what was on prior [Pirelli P6]. Want to run all seasons just in case need to take the car north during the fall/winter but primarily used here in SFL. Based on the reviews it appears the A/S 3s look like the better option but figured I'd ask here for direct experience when switching between the these two.

Comments?

[HokieZHP]

Both are great tires. Largest difference is the DWS have a softer sidewall so since you have been running them, the AS 3's will handle better. Personally I run the A/S line of michelin tires. Just about to order a new set of A/S 3's for my new wheels as well :rockon

I had a set of DWS on my ZHP and a set of A/S tires and I prefer the A/S tires. I found the DWS to have a lot of road noise when I had them and overall was not a fan of the soft feel. The new A/S 3's are more like a summer tire in my opinion. I have driven them on a porshce and an audi and liked them a lot.

[TheFinanceGuy]

Oh- I'm interested in this as well. I've been reading the pros/cons of each. Price seems to be about the same. My local indie had very good things to say about the DWS and not such nice things to say about the micheline A/S's.

[Newjack]

Both are great tires. Largest difference is the DWS have a softer sidewall so since you have been running them, the AS 3's will handle better. Personally I run the A/S line of michelin tires. Just about to order a new set of A/S 3's for my new wheels as well :rockon

I had a set of DWS on my ZHP and a set of A/S tires and I prefer the A/S tires. I found the DWS to have a lot of road noise when I had them and overall was not a fan of the soft feel. The new A/S 3's are more like a summer tire in my opinion. I have driven them on a porshce and an audi and liked them a lot.

This. I don't have the newer A/S 3's, I'm running the older Pilot Sport A/S Plus' and I love them. I had Conti's on my car before I put the Michelins on too.

[HokieZHP]

Oh- I'm interested in this as well. I've been reading the pros/cons of each. Price seems to be about the same. My local indie had very good things to say about the DWS and not such nice things to say about the micheline A/S's.

I wonder why no good things about the michelins. Everyone I've talked to who has them love them. My family runs them on all of our cars

[fredo]

I never had Conti DWS before. I have the Michelin A/S 3 on the Mini Cooper and the e90 (front tires only). I'm very happy with them. IMHO, Michelin is the way to go.

[Vas]

I had a set of Conti DWS and did not like the soft sidewall and the fact they flat spot when its cold.

BTW Michelin A/S and Michelin AS3 are two different tires.

[HokieZHP]

I had a set of Conti DWS and did not like the soft sidewall and the fact they flat spot when its cold.

BTW Michelin A/S and Michelin AS3 are two different tires.

Yes they are very different. The new A/S 3s are vastly superior to the last generation A/S tire IMO. The dry handling is much closer to a summer tire than the older A/S tire

[bshovers]

DWS performed well for me in the rain the other day. And they saved my life and my car yesterday. Was doing 65 on a county line road and an on moving fedex truck was turning left and I had to swerve into oncoming traffic and back into my lane to avoid a collision. They were very responsive to say the least.


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[TheFinanceGuy]

I wonder why no good things about the michelins. Everyone I've talked to who has them love them. My family runs them on all of our cars

Just his experience I guess. He had them on his E90 330, but didn't like em. Said he had a few customers come back after having installed them with complaints.
I'll be by there tomorrow- I'll ask him for specific items.

[WolfBMW]

DWS performed well for me in the rain the other day. And they saved my life and my car yesterday. Was doing 65 on a county line road and an on moving fedex truck was turning left and I had to swerve into oncoming traffic and back into my lane to avoid a collision. They were very responsive to say the least.


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That's terrifying, but I'm glad they came through for you!

[Jon D]

DWS performed well for me in the rain the other day. And they saved my life and my car yesterday. Was doing 65 on a county line road and an on moving fedex truck was turning left and I had to swerve into oncoming traffic and back into my lane to avoid a collision. They were very responsive to say the least.


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Glad your ok and I agree DWS are good wondering if others better and from what I'm reading so far they seem to be if you want a close to summer high perfomance.


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[kowww]

Absolutely love my as/3's.

At first I had some regrets about not getting the super sports but they have tons of grip and have lasted really well so far

[Simmsled]

My brother just made this change on his e46 325i Sport (DWS to A/S 3). The best description that he gave was that the DWS was like a true decathlete, high marks in everything... just not the highest, whereas the A/S 3 was more like a sprinter that is doing the decathlon.

So... I would imagine it would come down to how "all" season do you really want?

[NorCal-Dimitri]

I love my A/S 3s. I have no experience with conti though. The Michelins certainly perform better than the Nittos I bought with the car.

[HokieZHP]

Just got A/S 3s mounted on my new wheels. Fantastic. My mechanic told me something interesting though. You have to be super cautious when wearing off the tire coating on these specific tires. If you attack corners and drive aggressively the coating will glaze and make the tires hard. However if you drive very carefully the first 100 miles or so, they'll stay soft their whole life. Thought that was interesting

[Go Horns!]

Just to throw a wildcard in. I've been running the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric All-Season (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Eagle+F1+Asymmetric+All-Season&frontTire=24YR8F1AASXL&rearTire=535YR8F1AASXL&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&autoMake=BMW&autoYear=2004&autoModel=330i%20Sedan&autoModClar=Performance%20Package). Plenty of grip in the dry and the wet and low road noise. A/S 3 was not available when I needed tires. 23K miles so far.

[zhpnsnv]

Looking at this comparo, too. I'm typically a summer tire/winter tire guy, but I might be convinced to move to these A/S 3s as my summers since their grip level is just short of a real summer tire, and it has a 500 tread wear rating. Seems like the michelins are better performers than the contis, though the contis might be more comfortable. Comfort is cool, but the thing that will keep me on the road or stop me when I need to stop is performance, not comfort.

[Jon D]

Just wanted to close the loop on this, I ended up getting the AS3's and have now put some miles on them. All in all like the AS3's better than the Conti DWS's. They drive much more like a performance summer tire, while the DWS's are more than acceptable, the AS3's are much tighter on the road, the Conti's felt plush the AS3's feel tight. Comfort not any different just a sensory thing. Glad I made the switch, for me worth the premium.

[HokieZHP]

Glad you like them. IMO the A/S 3s are the absolute best all season tire on the market.