Continental DWS vs. Nokian WRG3

Has anyone had experience with both that could offer a comparison.

 

My intuition is that the WRG3s are better in snow than the DWS, but the DWS are slight better in dry.

Anyone?

You are probably right. The WRG3 is an "all weather" tire designed to have better ice and snow traction than an "all season" tire. The DWS is a UHP "all season tire" tire, and will have better dry and wet traction.

i have the continental DWS on my 05 wagon. i manage a ski shop in NJ and i also snowboard, these tires have never given me any issue with snow conditions. last year with the state of emergency storms i was out in most of them not only driving but pulled a few other cars out of ditches. Cant give you any input on the other tires but the dws are a solid all season tire for the price.

I find the WRG3 better for year round driving. The DWS is much squishier in the dry and not any better than the WRG3 for snow. My experience with both are on non-LGTs but seem to follow the typical feedback you find in online reviews.

None of these will be great in the Snow. If you want better performance in Snow, perhaps it'll be best to not look in the Ultra High Performance All Season category.

The new DWS-06 is supposed to have better dry handling than the DWS.

 

http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f72/continental-extremecontact-dws06-491345/

DWS extreme contacts are the way to go. Great in the snow and excellent in dry conditions. Tires helped a lot in hard braking situations saving my behind.

Or just get a set of dedicated winter tires to enjoy driving in the snow.

Or just get a set of dedicated winter tires to enjoy driving in the snow.

 

Its not always an option. A lack of storage space for another set of wheels/tires is my reason.

I currently have the same issue.......nowhere to keep them. I, however, am going to make the room needed because I already know that I'm gonna want a set of wheels for my car and I refuse to put those wheels through an eastern PA winter. While I was in the deciding phase I too looked hard at both of your choices here. I have had experience with both (to a certain extent) in the past: DWS on a 2004 Acura TL and the original WR's on a 2004 Si. Just my $0.02...

 

...it comes down to what you are more interested in...winter performance or longevity. Both are gonna get you where you need to go. I have read it somewhere on here and i share the same sentiment, if it's not Hakka's, it's not snow tires. Nokian just knows how to make a tire that works in the winter. That being said, I think the WR G3's are gonna perform better in the heavy slush and deeper snow whereas the DWS06 might give you a slight edge in the wet and dry while lasting longer.

 

When I was only considering one tire choice I think I was gonna go with the DWS06 as I was interested in the longevity. Now that I have decided to go with 2 different sets I'm going with one as a summer tire and one as a winter tire and I figure if I happen to get lazy and leave one set on a bit too long, no big deal.

looking at a set for my daily driver....225/40/18's. I was thinking the new DWS but the old ones were roly-poly in the corners. Goodyear Eagle Sport get good reviews and are cheap to boot. I'm thinking they might be a good choice w/ focus on the three days each winter we don't get really bad snow.

 

I've never had dedicated snows....how do the hi-perf snow tires do on dry and wet winter roads when there's no inclement weather? That much of a drop over an hi-perf A/S? Sort of open but cheaper is better.

As far as I can tell performance winter drive very comparably to performance all seasons in dry and wet (I had Dunlop 3D and Continental TS810).

 

Krzys

The Hakka R2 is better in snow/slush/ice grip than the WRG3 but the WRG3 will feel less squishy on mild winter days with dry roads. That being said I never found the Hakkas unbearable, but it is on my OBXT with stock sized tires and only WL sways for the suspension so it is not a direct comparison to even a stock LGT. On the LGT I always ran Dunlop WinterSports (M3 then 3D), which were a "winter performance" tire like the WRG3. I always had excellent winter traction on the Dunlops and only got into trouble when I wanted to or when I really shouldn't have been on the road (extreme blizzard conditions).

Anyone research Nitto Motivo NT-90W?

Just got back from TireRack with the old model DWS which is now discontinued. Can't speak about snow yet, but my first impression is how much softer a ride they have compared to my old Kumho uhp A/S tires especially on rough roads. However, they are still have a pretty crisp turn-in, just not as crisp as the old Kumhos. A good trade off with my Swift springs and Koni shocks.

 

BTW, TIreRack has the old style DWS for $111/tire and a $70 rebate. The new DWS-6s are $122/tire with a $70 rebate.

None of these will be great in the Snow. If you want better performance in Snow, perhaps it'll be best to not look in the Ultra High Performance All Season category.

Sounds like someone who has never used WR G3's in snow conditions....I have used them (And WR G2's) for years....awesome snow tire....turns your Subbie into a snow mobile

My wife had wrg3 on her last SUV. She had a short commute so it was a good compromise for buying a set of dedicated snow tires. They were by far the best allseason tire I have ever used in the snow. The only downsides is they are relatively expensive and it seem like I was only going to get 35k miles out of a set of them. (Sold the car before I wore out set)

I just Installed Continental Pure Contact. I called American Tires and they had them for $130/tire. See the pics. Used them on snow already and must say I find them very responsive. One the main reasons I bought them because of the warranty (70K).

http://i66.tinypic.com/2s0zakw.jpg

http://i65.tinypic.com/x5o0es.jpg

I have about 200 miles on my new Nokian WR G3's 225/50-17 on my wagon.

 

I will not buy these again. The past winters I had Blizzaks. The Blizzaks would hold the power (full boost) in second gear in the wet.

 

The Nokians will spin, before I hit full boost in second gear in the wet. They also spin easier when pulling out of the gas station when I get almost straight and roll into the throttle in 1st gear.

 

They do seem to hold ok at higher cornering speeds. But I'm being careful about that with them.