Continental ExtremeContact DW vs Pirelli PZero (OEM)?

[Dan1028]

My rear tires are pretty much shot now, and the fronts don't look that much better. I have the original PZeros and am looking for a replacement set. I also have a full set (wheels and tires) of snow tires, so I'm looking at summer tires right now (unless anyone can suggest an all-season that performs as well as the Blizzaks I have).

That said, Continental ExtremeContact DW or the original PZeros? If neither, then what?

[VTSummit]

Take a look at BFG's I've had the DWS and Pirelli's and I don't buy either anymore. The cold flat spots when the morning temps are below 70 with the Pirelli's got REALLY annoying. The DWS isn't bad or anything- but BFG is making some nice stuff these days.

[Destructo09]

Originally Posted by VTSummit

Take a look at BFG's I've had the DWS and Pirelli's and I don't buy either anymore. The cold flat spots when the morning temps are below 70 with the Pirelli's got REALLY annoying. The DWS isn't bad or anything- but BFG is making some nice stuff these days.

Pretty sure he means DW not DWS.

The DW is a great tire, my brother has them on his car and they rival grip of the Pilot Super Sports, but are much cheaper.

I will say the sidewalls are soft, which makes turn in a bit sluggish, but means a good ride.

I would easily choose the DW over any Pirelli offers.

I think the only better tire would be the Michelin PSS.

Can't say much about any of the newer BFG offers, but the Geforece Comp 2's are not very good, and the DW is far superior.

[ba2ss]

I have the dws on the rear, they don't hook up as good as the pirellis, they don't seem as soft, but maybe they'll last longer

[Destructo09]

Originally Posted by ba2ss

I have the dws on the rear, they don't hook up as good as the pirellis, they don't seem as soft, but maybe they'll last longer

That's do be expected, you went from a summer tire to a all season, so they should last longer, but the trade off is obviously traction.

Softer rubber = better traction, short life.

[mar10]

I went with the DW for my car and dropped .3 in the 1/4 consistently. I've run half a second faster as my best run. I have a manual transmission BTW. On October 24th I'm heading back out to the local road course so I'll see which way my lap times go. But on the street I like them a lot more overall. At full throttle acceleration the tires will just chirp during the shifts even in the rain. I have to intentionally make the tires break loose. With the pirrellis it seemed like I was always trying not to spin the tires if I was accelerating hard.

[Destructo09]

Originally Posted by mar10

I went with the DW for my car and dropped .3 in the 1/4 consistently. I've run half a second faster as my best run. I have a manual transmission BTW. On October 24th I'm heading back out to the local road course so I'll see which way my lap times go. But on the street I like them a lot more overall. At full throttle acceleration the tires will just chirp during the shifts even in the rain. I have to intentionally make the tires break loose. With the pirrellis it seemed like I was always trying not to spin the tires if I was accelerating hard.

I've watched my brother's DW's leave tire marks accelerating out of turn 1 at VIR, they're soft for sure but seem to hold up pretty well.

I will say my M/T Street Comps hold traction in 1st without lighting up, but I can tell they're spinning a bit for sure. I'm putting down about 420 RWHP.

[CamaroSSNOLA]

Both comparisons from tire rack and car and driver said the pirellis have better steering response. Anyone whose had both feel this?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Destructo09]

Originally Posted by CamaroSSNOLA

Both comparisons from tire rack and car and driver said the pirellis have better steering response. Anyone whose had both feel this?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wouldn't surprise me, the DW is pretty soft on the sidewall which helps ride but hurts steering response.

I've never owned a set of Pirellis so can't compare to the DW. However, lots of people mention the soft sidewalled DW has slower steering response. My M/T Street Comps have great steering response but ride like bricks and don't grip as well, lol.

[ClawSS]

I did not see what your overall plan is for the tires. I have the stock P-Zeros still on the Camaro and I have DWs in 275/40R20 on the 300C SRT8. The DWs are a much nicer riding tire. They grip like you expect for their design and will actually build confidence in the rain as to your car's abilities.

Without knowing if you are going to put them to use once a month on the track...or just putt around on the street...then picking a tire is only personal preference.

I like the DWs for a summer sun and rain street tire and will probably get a set for the Camaro wrapped around a set of MRR228's when the time comes.

[mar10]

The car feels like it has a little bit more body roll but feels a lot more planted in the turns.

[mar10]

As promised earlier in the thread here is my post track review of the Continental Extreme Contact DW tires I have on my car. You can see my street and drag strip opinions in post #6.

My first session I had set the psi to 30 psi, big mistake. They felt greasey as soon as they heated up. But the front seemed to hold as well as my pirrellis did at the last track day. Lap times were a little slower but not off by much for the first session.

2nd session I aired them up to 36 psi after being off track for about 45 minutes and went back out. It took a couple laps to get used to the softer feeling of the tires while pushing it. Once I built up my faith in the tires they felt really good. But the ass end wanted to come around when I tried to accelerate too hard while coming out of the turns. The telemetry thing in my Harry's Lap timer showed I could do 1g (don't know how accurate it is) and accelerate fine without sliding. But if it hit 1.1g and I got on the gas to hard it would start to spin the tires but maintain the line if I held the throttle steady. If I gave any more throttle at that point the back end would step out. I'll have to dig up the videos from the track day on the pirrellis to see how the G's compare.

On the pirrellis the front end wanted to keep pushing forward so maybe that prevented me from being as overly confident on accelerating out of the corners. I'm not sure. But I do know the front end felt significantly better all the way through the turns with the DW tires. From braking through accelerating out of the corner they never broke traction even when I came into the corners a little faster than intended.

The fronts I'd say worked perfect the entire day. The rears did good but leave a lot to be desired while trying to put 470 hp to the ground while turning. In a straight line they hook great but once you start pushing them sideways they spin a little too easy.

Front tires the DW are the better choice by far in my opinion.
Rears I'd still go for the the DW as a better tire because the straight line grip is noticeably better and even the turning grip felt better until I started pushing the accelerating out of the corners. Also once the DW broke loose they were easier to bring back into control without unsettling the car.

Its hard on a tire to keep traction in a RWD car that puts down 470 HP to the wheels while your pitching it sideways. But I never spun out so that's a plus.

As for my lap times my best for the day on the pirrellis was a 2:01.8* and on the DWs was a 1:59.60. So I improved by 2 seconds. My slow times on the DWs were faster than most of my average times on the pirrellis.

[xc_SS/RS]

Originally Posted by mar10

As promised earlier in the thread here is my post track review of the Continental Extreme Contact DW tires I have on my car. You can see my street and drag strip opinions in post #6.

My first session I had set the psi to 30 psi, big mistake. They felt greasey as soon as they heated up. But the front seemed to hold as well as my pirrellis did at the last track day. Lap times were a little slower but not off by much for the first session.

2nd session I aired them up to 36 psi after being of track for annoy 45 minutes and went back out. It took a couple laps to get used to the softer feeling of the tires while pushing it. Once I built up my faith in the tires they felt really good. But the ass end wanted to come around when I tried to accelerate to hard while coming out of the turns. The telemetry thing in my Harry's Lap timer showed I could do 1g (don't know how accurate it is) and accelerate fine without sliding. But if it hit 1.1g and I got on the gas to hard it would start to spin the tires but maintain the line if I held the throttle steady. If I have any more throttle at that point the back end would step out. I'll have to dig up the videos from the track day on the pirrellis to see how the G's compare.

On the pirrellis the front end wanted to keep pushing forward so maybe that prevented me from being as overly confident on accelerating out of the corners. I'm not sure. But I do know the front end felt significantly better all the way through the turns with the DW tires. From braking through accelerating out of the corner they never broke traction even when I came into the corners a little faster than intended.

The fronts I'd say worked perfect the entire day. The rears did good but leave a lot to be desired while trying to put 470 hp to the ground while turning. In a straight line they hook great but once you start pushing them sideways they spin a little too easy.

Front tires the DW are the better choice by far in my opinion.
Rears I'd still go for the the DW as a better tire because the straight line grip is noticeably better and even the turning grip felt better until I started pushing the accelerating out of the corners. Also once the DW broke loose they were easier to bring back into control without unsettling the car.

Is hard on a tire to keep traction in a RWD car that puts down 470 HP to the wheels while your pitching it sideways. But I never spun out so that's a plus.

As for my lap times my best for the day on the pirrellis was a 2:01.8* and on the DWs was a 1:59.60. So I improved by 2 seconds. My slow times on the DWs were faster than most of my average times on the pirrellis.

Good to know these tires are worth it as I was on the fence between these and the BFG Sport Comp 2's. For the greasy feeling I think you should have taken more air out to fix that but you still ran faster laps which is good.