Ok...the tire dealer is a friend of mine so he was able to get the return worked out and told me I could switch brands as long as it was a tire available at the same distributor he got the Conti's from.

They didn't have the sizes in the Bridgestones or a couple of other choices I wanted so I ended up getting General G-Max AS-03's in the OEM sizes.

They may suck but I doubt they will be as balloon like as the Conti's--I had Exclaim UHP's on a car a few years ago and they were decent performance for a cheap tire.

I'll post up a review when I get them on--hopefully tomorrow or Wednesday.

 

The rears are a tad too short if we're talking about the OEM 18s here. You're better off with 255/45 if you can't get the 245/45's.

The G-Max seems to have some decent reviews, but it's fairly new.

p.s. FWIW General is made by Continental.

 

You know I noticed some of the wording in the warranty was similar between those two brands....that is very interesting to know.

I took another short trip with the Conti DWS still on today and they really behave like a balloon tire. This is not a case of "don't expect high performance" it is a case of a tire severely degrading performance. I will be very happy to get the General's on

 

I have 245/45-18 all around at 35psi these do not feel like balloon tires at all, also I have gone autoxing on them and they were decent.

 

The ones I have on now are 255/45-18 and they are awful...maybe I got defective tires...hard to imagine that tiny difference in size could make that much difference.

 

^^ I think what's happened is that you got the All Season version, not the summer high perf version which are supposed to be quite respectable.

 

The DWS all seasons I got are the #1 ranked ultra high performance all season tire on tirerack.com.

Oh well...I couldn't get the new ones on today but hopefully I can do it tomorrow.

 

hmm...can anyone spot the oxymoron in that sentence?

 

Have you checked the tire pressures? Last couple of times i ordered wheel/tire combos from TR, they were inflated to 40+ psi. And every time i go to a local Discount Tire they under-inflate to 30psi.

255/45/18 shouldn't feel bouncy (which i assume is what you're referring to with the balloon-like ride), i run those sizes on the V12's, albeit with much wider rims than OEM.

Also, take note that tires require a bit of break-in to burn off the mold release chemicals. Some more than others.

 

^^ Mike, I think he's talking about them having too much sidewall flex and being all rolly-polly in a sideways direction when taking turns; sort of like when you have a very low tire.

 

Oh!

In that case, yeah, soft sidewalls. You can only bump up pressures so far to stiffen them up. Continentals and General's, generally (heh) have somewhat thinner sidewalls. It's one reason they also have some of the more lightweight tires in any category.

 

Ok...I appreciate all of the input guys but I drive like 25000 miles a year and have for 20 years now for my job. Most of that time has been in performance cars so I end up replacing tires at least every other year.

These were seriously the strangest feeling tires I have ever had...not just sidewall flex, although the flexing sidewalls may be the problem, it is not what you normally associate with sidewall flex.

When I would drive down the interstate at 80 I literally had to constantly correct with the steering wheel due to the instability introduced in the back end of the car. It's really more than typical sidewall flex. As soon as I drove them away from the tire shop I thought they must have under-inflated and immediately stopped to add air. They had 35 PSI in them and I upped it to 40 but it didn't help at all.

And everybody's joke about all season performance tires I also get--but I'm not tracking the car and I have driven all season tires with decent performance...the Falken's I took off wore out quickly and got crappy grip in the rain but they handled really well in the dry. The Eagle GT's I have used on my BMW 330i with sport suspension for the past couple of years handle very well also. The Pirelli Pzero nero M&S I had on my WRX before that were awesome tires with great handling and performance--not noticeably worse than the Eagle F1-GSD3's that replaced them. I think I have reasonable expectations about the performance of an all season "performance" tire.

I got the new General G-Max tires on late this afternoon so I only got to drive about 6 miles on them but I could already feel an improvement. They look really good--very aggressive tread design. They have a bit of tread squirm that you would expect on brand new tires and the sidewalls are definitely not going to remind anyone of high performance summer tires, but they are predictable and have no wobble at all. I'll drive about 140 miles tomorrow and have a better review after that.

Once again, I'm not trying to be a know-it-all but please, take my word for it, this is not your typical sidewall flex problem. If there were no risk involved I would love to try a different size of the Conti's because they were really quiet, balanced with tiny or zero weights and performed fantastic in the rain. Unfortunately I don't feel comfortable risking it...if I ever put 19's on the car I might try them again in a suitably lower profile.

 

I bought these same tires in November. The stock Dunlops were pure garbage for rain/winter driving. I know some people like them, but here in NY and on my car, they created a very unsafe driving experience (wife drives the car with my son), so I didn't want to let anything happen.

I definitely think they are less "sporty" of a tire, but that was a compromise I was willing to make for a better A/S tire. As for winter and wet driving, the DWS tires are fantastic.

If I can afford another set of wheels soon, I may try to get some summer tires for better warm weather driving. I've had great success using the Goodyear F1's, so we'll see if the money situation is better for those.

 

I have about 500 miles on the General G-Max tires now and have no handling issues at all. Like I said right after installation, they are clearly not summer max performance tires but they handle predictably in the dry and--at least when new--resist hydroplaning well.

My only problem with them at this point is they are a little loud--not bothersome now but I am a little concerned about how loud they will be when the rears are nearly worn out.

I'll do a real review of the Generals when I have some mileage on them.

As to the Conti's, I wish I could try them in a different size risk free because everyone seems to love them so maybe I just got defective tires.

 

Rollo, I hear you loud and clear on the DWS'. As I mentioned before the ones on my GF's car are very unstable when hitting bumps. I've tried all sorts of different pressures, higher pressure stiffens the sidewalls and helps them feel more solid while turning but makes them bounce much more over bumps. Lower psi reduces the bouncing to an extent, but they look so under inflated that I feel like the tires will wear unevenly.

I too am totally mystified how they are so bouncy on her car while others have such great results with them. This is not personal preference, anyone would feel the bouncing. She pretty much has to live with them until they wear out. Really wish we didnt have this issue as they are great in the snow while still being high performance, which is why I picked them. I've had thoughts of making these her winter wheels and getting another set for summer.