The tires on the used wheels I'd just bought were gone. I had just bought a set of 16" OEM used alloy wheels with Dunlop S8000 Z-rated summer tires on them and they were more than half gone. A few thousand miles later, they were almost bald. I used these when it was warm and 15" Eagle RS-A all-seasons in the snow. The 15" Eagles on OEM rims went up and Ebay and a local buyer took them. The money I got from them was going back to new tires.

All-season tires. So many Americans like myself swear by them to get them around all 12 months. But not all all-season are alike. Many performance enthusiasts like to call them "no-season tires" because of the fact that they are a compromise. First make sure you understand this: No all-season tire will be as good as a true summer tire in the summer and no all-season tire will be as good as a true winter tire in the winter. Keep this in mind as you shop around. Some will be close but they will compromise in other ways. For those of you in snowbelts or if your from our friendly country up north, a set of wheels plus dedicated snows is my recommendation.

Being in the NY/NJ metro area we see quite an extreme of weather. 95 degree summers and a few negative degree winter days are not uncommon; freeze to death in the winter and melt in the summer. Originally, I was going to buy dedicated snow tires for my 15" OEMs that I had mentioned above. But I thought about it and even though I am somewhat of an aggressive driver, using that extra traction in the summer is more of a luxury to me. That plus the fact my A4 Quattro AWD was already excellent in the snow told me to go the High Performance All-Season route.

All-season to most people imply all 4 seasons but as I had already stated, not all all-seasons are created equal. First of course is price. For tires, generally, you get what you pay for. But here, I'll concentrate on one this: the bias of the all-season. That is: "Is this all-season tire summer biased, winter biased, or in the middle?" I will say also, most inexpensive all-season tires are not very good in the snow. Most people reading this will know what I'm talking about. We bring our car to Sears or Pepboys and slap on those $50 Generals or Futuras and then end up ice skating through intersections.

But I digress; first the basics. This tire is Continental's top of the line all-season tire. They are a radial design like most tires today and uses a silica based compound for cold weather performance. They are all rated 400 for treadwear and A for temperature. For the larger sizes (17" and up I believe) they are W-rated and a traction rating of AA while smaller sizes are V-rated and get a traction rating of A. That means the manufacturer has given this tire a 400 treadware rating so they should last quite awhile plus have excellent performance in any temperature. Keep in mind however, it is the manufacturer itself that gives it this ratings!

As I said before, I break down all-seasons into 3 categories: summer bias, winter bias, and a middle-ground. Where do I rate these? Right smack in the middle.

The anecdote above took place roughly during the tail end of the winter of 2002 and I have had about 12,000 miles. Little did I know that the NY metro area would experience yet another medium and another small snow storm after I got these tires. These tires just got placed on the market, so review were scant but the few reviews around said they were excellent tires for the money. I got to be one of the few to have some snow experience in these newly introduced tires (We'll see more this year, the winter of 2003). Before, I had used the OEM Goodyear Eagle 225/60-15 RS-A all seasons in the slush. Now I had 205/55-16 ExtremeContacts. How did they fare? Much better improvement all around. Even though my new tires were bigger and wider, the aggressive unidirectional tread pattern plus the silica rubber mixture gave me better braking, lateral traction, and acceleration. Of course, the Goodyears were a whole price bracket down from these. For those who haven't really shopped around for winter tires yet, smaller is better. Less rubber area means more PSI on that contact patch where rubber meets road and consequently more "bite."

As spring and summer approached, I could really start breaking them in for the hot seasons. Compared to the Z-rated Dunlop SP8000s, it was no contest. The Dunlops had better traction, better steering response though had a bit more bumpy ride and definately more road noise. This was expected though. Compared to the Eagles, the Contis were about equal in noise, more comfortable, and had much better traction. But the big surprise to me came as I comparing them: the relatively cheaper Eagles had *better* steering response and less vague! The Conti to this day have a slight "floaty" and "mushy" feel to them. I attribute this to a soft sidewall as I can see clearly after a night of rest, the tires have quite a bulge at the contact patch. They do, however, break traction fluently in corners and are very controllable. In combination with Quattro AWD, I can take 35mph rated on-ramps at 90mph very comfortably (don't try this at home unless you want to).

Why do I recommend these tires? One, most all-season tires are horrible in the snow. Two, the price. For 205/55-16 V-rated all-reasons, I paid a mere $70 plus shipping from Tirerack! Costco then balanced and mounted them for a mere $9 a tire! All in all, I saved nearly $160 from a normal tire dealer. Folks, if you are in the market for new tires, TireRack is highly, highly recommended for price and service. If you have a Costco membership, their installation was also cheap and top-notch.

Keep in mind, they're are other possibilities in the high performance all-season to buy and I'll break them down.

Summer bias: Pirelli P-Zero Nero M S, Bridgestone g-Force KDWS, Michelin Pilot Sports A/S. All these will give you alright light snow performance and very, very good summer wet/dry performance. The Pilot Sports are the most expensive all-season tires you can buy and many people swear by these. For price/performance, I would recommend the Pirellis.

Middle ground: ContiExtremeContacts, Dunlop SP5000s, Falken Ziex 512, Sumitomo HTR+. All three will give you pretty good summer handling and good light, medium-ish snow handling. The Falkens are an interesting choice and could actually be put in the Summer bias category as well. Keep in mind the SP5000s are pricier and have a lower treadware rating but is the "seasoned veteran" in this category. The Falkens are the same price roughly as the ExtremeContacts but have much better steering feedback and dry handling. Out of this category, the ExtremeContacts have the best winter performance and probably the worst steering feedback. The Dunlops were the second choice for me.

Snow bias: Nokian WR. The only one I really know of. Nokians, made by Finns who know their snow, are generally always excellent snow tires. The ExtremeContacts barely miss this category. Beyond this category, you will hit the performance snow tire category such as the excellent Dunlop Wintersport M3's.

Bottom line, why buy $50-$60 bog standard retailer chain junk tires when you buy these for $70 for a 16" tire? These tires will outperform any of those in ANY condition easily. If you don't like these or live in warmer climates, the Falkens and Sumitomos are roughly the same price with a little more summer performance. But for the average joe that lives where it can get a little slushy the combination of very good relative winter performance, excellent rain traction, and above average dry performance tells me this is the tire to get.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 70