Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus vs Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus: After covering 2 of the best ultra high performance tires Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus vs Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4, we would like to continue the trend by introducing another premium competitor in the form of Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus. Unlike Continental’s DWS 06 Plus which is an exclusive North American product, Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus is a global product as it is sold in most markets around the globe. It was launched in 2014 and covers most of the 17-20″ popular sizes. The ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus on the other hand was launched in 2021 with sizes primarily above 16″. Let’s put them in a head to head battle and see who comes out on top!
Table of Contents
Results
Results below were taken from tire rack’s “Testing Premium Ultra High Performance All-Season Tires 2021” test. A total of 4 tires were tested this time around. The graph below shows the comparison between Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus vs Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus based on the relevant performance category. The P Zero All Season Plus was set as a reference hence at the 100% mark.
As both tires are categorized as all season tires, Tire Rack has included snow & ice in its testing portfolio. A detailed testing on snow including acceleration, braking & handling were evaluated. The tire size of interest is a 245/40R18 which is a common tire size for Audi A4 & Mercedes-Benz C 200 Amg Line. You can check out our latest tire size table for more information. The testing vehicle for this tire test is a 2020 BMW F36 430i Gran Coupe.
Wet
The friction of coefficient of the tire/road dramatically decreases in wet roads compared to dry roads. Hence it is more likely to get into a road accident during wet conditions rather than on a sunny day. It was so important that the EU label has wet braking as one of its three criteria. With regards to our comparison, ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus has a big edge when it comes to wet braking, as it out performed P Zero All Season Plus by braking 13.8 feet (4.2 m) earlier.
With its superior wet braking advantage, ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus continued its dominance over P Zero All Season Plus in wet handling. ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus had a 1 second advantage in lap time over ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus. This advantage in lap time was also reflective in subjective rating, as ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus had a slightly higher rating of 7.5/10 compared to 7.38/10 of P Zero All Season Plus.
ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus:
If the Continental had been tested by itself, our team likely wouldn’t have found anything to change. When tested in a group, however, it revealed that the tire didn’t combine its impressive attributes quite as well as the Eagle Exhilarate. Our drivers had to separate inputs just a little bit more, resulting in an ever-so-slight speed deficit that nonetheless added up over an entire lap and didn’t build quite as much confidence and comfort for our drivers
Test driver feedback on ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus
In a nutshell, ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus dominated on wet surfaces convincingly over P Zero All Season Plus.
ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus:
- +13.7% in wet braking
- +0.6% in wet handling (subj)
- +3.1% in wet handling (lap time)
Dry
As for dry, safety is usually not an issue as the braking distance is much longer than wet. However this is the default daily usage and the tires have to perform at a very consistent level. ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus was ahead of P Zero All Season Plus in dry braking by stopping 3.4 feet (1 m) earlier.
Even though ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus had a clear advantage in dry braking, P Zero All Season Plus managed to outshine its rival in both subjective & objective(lap time) dry handling. P Zero All Season Plus managed a subjective dry handling score of 8/10 while ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus had a 7.81/10 rating. Lap times were really close with P Zero All Season Plus only 0.27 seconds faster.
P Zero All Season Plus:
The Pirelli felt the most agile of the group, dancing through the slalom and around corners exactly as our drivers intended. A slight deficit in outright traction for braking and ultimate lateral grip kept the tire from leading in every objective metric, but the Pirelli did the best job of easily maximizing everything it had to offer.
Test driver feedback on P Zero All Season Plus
Overall, ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus has an edge in dry braking while P Zero All Season Plus was better in dry handling.
ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus:
- +4.2% in dry braking
- -1% in dry handling (subj)
- -0.9% in dry handling (lap time)
Noise/Comfort/Ride Quality
Normally in an ultra high performance segment, noise & comfort is usually not the main requirement. People who drive fast cars prefer to focus more on traction/braking performances rather than subjective comfort Anyhow the ride comfort was tested and the P Zero All Season Plus was slightly better with an overall rating of 8.05/10 compared to the 7.79/10 of ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus.
ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus:
- -1.3% in average of Noise, Comfort & Ride Quality.
Snow
As both tires have been rated as an all season tire, we were thrilled when Tire Rack included snow on its testing list. From initial checks, both tires do not include the 3 peak mountain label to legally certified the tire as a winter tire. Hence they do not have to pass a certain threshold of snow traction level as determined by the legislation.
When it comes to snow, the ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus dominated across all tests. It stopped 9 feet (2.7 m) earlier than P Zero All Season Plus from a speed of 25mph (40 km/h) to 0. While it was also quicker in lap time (-7.4 seconds !) and also subjectively better (+0.7 points) in snow handling. ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus is clearly the better snow tire without a doubt.
ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus:
- +14.5% in snow braking
- +19.2% in snow acceleration
- +3.3% in snow handling (subj)
- +10.4% in snow handling (lap time)
Ice
ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus continued its winter dominance with a strong ice performance. At a braking speed of 12 mph (20 km/h) to 0 , ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus was stopping 21.8 feet (6.6 m) shorter than P Zero All Season Plus. While in acceleration, it took ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus 1.4 seconds faster to reach 60 feet compared to P Zero All Season Plus. As with snow, ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus is a far better tire in icy conditions.
ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus:
- +43.5% in ice braking
- +26.4% in ice acceleration
UTQG rating
We have previously shown that UTQG tread wear rating can be a good indication of your expected mileage. Below are the UTQG values of both of the tirelines.
| Brand | Tireline | Size | Tread Wear | Traction | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Continental | ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus | All | 560 | AA(A) | A |
| Pirelli | P Zero All Season Plus | All | 500 | AA | A |
Both ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus & P Zero All Season Plus have the same mileage warranty of 50,000 miles. This was despite ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus having a 60 point more advantage against P Zero All Season Plus. With the UTQG tread wear rating & mileage warranty in mind, we can safely assume that both tires should end up with roughly the same expected mileage.
For more in depth information about UTQG, please check out this article here. We even have a free download on the latest UTQG values from the leading tire manufacturers.
Price
As both tires are considered premium in the market, we would have expected a similar pricing. However from what we have checked, P Zero All Season Plus was 13 dollars more compared to ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus.
Tire size: 245/40R18
ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus: $196
P Zero All Season Plus: $209
Difference: -7% more cheaper for ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus.
Summary
Overall, ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus showed clear dominance in wet, objective dry, snow & ice while P Zero All Season Plus was strong in dry handling & noise. Taking into consideration the whole package, it is clear from our point of view that ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus is the clear winner in this duel !