There are times when the tires must have the ability to survive in every season and terrain because it is these tires can traverse any obstacles without having to replace the tire as needed in every season. We know for sure that there are many tire manufacturers out there claiming that their tires can survive in any season without having to replace them every season. Such types of tires can be referred to as “All Seasons and Terrain” tires.
One tire manufacturer that creates tires to face obstacles in every season is the Continental company also known as General Tire. This American company has made a lot of tires for motorized vehicles. One of the tires made by General Tire is a All Season type tire developed for sports vehicles. They are ExtremeContact DW and ExtremeContact DWS. Well, this time we will discuss and compare these two tires. Which one is the best for you? Let’s find out your answers here.
Overview
ExtremeContact DW and DWS are actually tires of the opposite type. DW tires are developed only for the summer while DWS tires are designed for all seasons but Continental classifies them into the “Perfomance” group so that these two tires can be compared. (To simplify writing, we will write this brand product with DW and DWS so readers can understand it).
DW is a tire designed for sports cars and developed for the summer that can pass all obstacles in the summer such as dry and wet roads. Designed with premium quality performance, this tire produced by Continental is the best season tire developed by Continental. Like other summer tires DW is not designed to face extreme winter conditions and cannot be traversed on snowy roads. See also: General Altimax Arctic vs Firestone Winterforce.
DW is designed asymmetrically with chamfered tread blocks, making tires more responsive and stable when on road bends. DW is designed asymmetrically with chamfered tread blocks, making tires more responsive and stable when on road bends. When braking the middle ribs will reduce noise and provide constant rubber-to-road contact to control the longitudinal force.
Circular tread grooves are wide and notched shoulder blocks located between the tire and the shoulder ribs can help evacuate water to improve resistance to hydroplaning and traction during wet weather conditions and wet roads. The traction performance of DW in passing wet and slippery roads is very satisfying because the performance of the tire will not decrease.
The Continent also designed a performance indicator printed with the letters “DW” which can be seen on the second rib of the outboard shoulder in increasing the driver’s tire performance. The indicator works by showing the tire has sufficient tread depth for the dry and wetest road conditions.
The indicator will give a warning to the driver by showing missing letters as if the letter “W” is missing and the remaining letter “D” then the tire can only cross dry road conditions. Tires designed on internal structures include steel belts reinforced with nylon linings to provide long-term performance in high speed conditions and also help reduce weight.
What about DWS? DWS and DW have the two equations this tire was designed by the same company and developed for sports vehicles. The difference between DWS and DW is only on the type DWS is designed for all seasons and certainly there is additional technology needed to cross the winter.
The center of the tire is designed with a tread featuring independent blocks separated by high-angle crossings in providing the necessary edges to produce the best traction performance on wet roads and light snow.
Same as the “brother” (DW) DWS also displays a performance indicator printed with the letters “DWS” located on the second rib from the shoulder to remind the driver about tire performance. After the letter “S” has disappeared, only the letter “DW” remains, indicating that the tire only has enough tread depth for the dry and wettest road conditions. After the letters “W” and “S” are both worn, the remaining “D” shows that the tire can only be passed in dry conditions. DWS also combined with exceptional treadlife and fuel efficiency which can save fuel consumption of your vehicle.
Performance
After explaining the features and designs built on these two tires we can already guess one of these two tires is the best to choose because both of these tires fall into different type categories. Well, the explanation of this performance itself was obtained from reviews of the customers of these two tires who have used DW and DWS.
DW has a pretty good performance for use in summer while on vacation because it provides driving comfort. If you cross a wet area, the DW can “conquer” even the wetest road conditions. Unfortunately, DW’s performance does not last long if we have traveled for many miles because the fuel consumption of these tires is very wasteful so that the tire performance decreases.
On the other hand, the performance of DWs is highly recommended by its users because besides being a tire for all seasons, DWS is also able to withstand any conditions and weather. If you want to travel far away DWS is highly recommended because of its good traction performance on snowy, dry and slippery roads.
In addition to that, the plus score of DWS is that we can save on fuel consumption used by your vehicle, making drivers more comfortable and confident in driving. If we compare it with DW, DWS has a weakness in wet traction and handling but overall the performance of DWS is better than DW.
Available Sizes
Unfortunately, Continental does not provide many options for the sizes available to these two tires. Available sizes of DW are only one with rim diameter 21″. Whereas DWs only have two sizes available with rim diameter 20″ and have different specifications. Continental also did not mention detailed information about the size and specifications for these two tires so that if you want to choose both tires, ask first to the local dealer in your city.
Warranty Information
The warranty provided by Continental can be obtained through law imposed by Continental or an authorized distributor. However, a warranty imposed by an authorized distributor may not exclude provisions that have been enforced, but authorized distributors can add a warranty for customer satisfaction.
Both of these tires have similarities in the warranty policy. However, for guaranteed treadlife and mileage DW does not provide such guarantees so there is no guarantee for treadlife while DWS provides a treadlife guarantee with a long warranty of six years for 50,000 miles. The second guarantee imposed by Continental for DW and DWS is the Uniformity Guarantee so that if the four tires used are damaged both in the process of tire construction in the factory or the accident experienced by the driver, the guarantee will be given for one year from the date of purchase.
The third guarantee is the workmanship and material guarantee that is given for six years from the date the purchase of the warranty is imposed due to workmanship and material that is used poorly or can also be called a manufacturer’s error. The advantage of Continental is to provide a manufacturer’s Road Hazard Coverage guarantee for one year; this warranty is provided for both tires. This guarantee is given because of accidents experienced by drivers such as punctures and tears caused by bad roads experienced by drivers.
Price
Unfortunately, DW and DWS cannot be purchased online and Continental does not provide authorized distributors to online retailers so the specified price is adjusted to the official distributor at the nearest dealer in your city. If you find DW and DWS tires sold online then it is not a factory tire from Continental, these tires can be said to be used tires from DW and DWS customers. If you are interested in buying DW and DWS we recommend that you come to the nearest dealer and consult with them to get more accurate and certainly complete information in order to avoid misunderstandings in the future.
Continental ExtremeContact DW vs DWS
| ExtremeContact DW | ExtremeContact DWS |
|---|---|
| - Excellent traction performance on a wet road. | - Good performance in all fields, but when the road is wet and slippery the performance decreases. |
| - Fuel consumption is quite wasteful. | - Fuel efficiency |
| - There is no treadlife warranty | - Various kinds of warranties are provided to satisfy customers. |
Conclusion
Overall, these two tires have their strengths and weaknesses. If driving on a wet road the DW traction is very good but overall the DWS is superior to DW.
