Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus vs Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4: After covering 2 of the best all season SUV in a head to head battle Continental Cross Contact LX25 vs Michelin Cross Climate SUV, we would like to compare two premium touring all season tires which are predominantly popular in the American market. The ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus from Continental was launch in 2021 while the Pilot Sport All Season 4 was launch in 2020. Both products are relatively new hence it will be interesting to see the strengths & weakness of both tires.
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 Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus vs Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 based on the relevant performance category. The ExtremeContact DWS 06 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 detail 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.
Wet
The friction of coefficient of the tire/road dramatically decrease in a 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 slight edge when it comes to wet braking, as it slightly out performing the Pilot Sport All Season 4 by braking 0.5m earlier.
While in wet handling, the performance edge in wet braking was transferred into a 0.37 seconds advantage in lap time for the ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus. While in subjective rating, the ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus was also rated 0.14 points better compared to Pilot Sport All Season 4. Overall in the wet category, ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus has a slight upper hand.
Pilot Sport All Season 4:
- -1.5% in wet braking
- -0.7% in wet handling (subj)
- -1.1% 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 consistence level. The tiers are quite equally match as the Pilot Sport All Season 4 was only slightly better by out braking ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus at less than 0.1m .While in subjective dry handling there were inseparable with a 7.8/10 rating. The Pilot Sport All Season 4 was 0.14 seconds ahead of ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus in the dry handling lap time. Overall both tires are equally matched.
Pilot Sport All Season 4:
- +0.4% in dry braking
- 0% in dry handling (subj)
- +0.5% in dry handling (lap time)
Noise/Comfort/Ride Quality
Normally in a touring segment, the noise & comfort is usually not the main requirement. People who drives fast cars prefer to focus more on traction/braking performances rather than subjective comfort Anyhow the ride comfort was tested and the Pilot Sport All Season 4 was definitely second best with a overall rating of 7.29/10 compared to the 7.79/10 of ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus.
Pilot Sport All Season 4:
- -2.5% in average of Noise, Comfort & Ride Quality.
Snow
As both tires have been rated as an all season tire, we are thrilled when tire rack included snow on its testing list. From initial checks, both tires does 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 Pilot Sport All Season 4 dominated across all test. It stopped 0.75 meters early than ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus from a speed of 40 km/h to 0. While it was also quicker in lap time and also subjectively better in snow handling. Pilot Sport All Season 4 is clearly the better snow tire.
Pilot Sport All Season 4:
- +2.5% in snow acceleration
- +4.1% in snow braking
- +0.9% in snow handling (subj)
- +1.5% in snow handling (lap time)
Ice
While snow was dominated by Pilot Sport All Season 4, the ice advantage was given to ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus. At a braking speed of 40-0 km/h , the ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus was stopping 2.6 meters shorter than the Pilot Sport All Season 4. This was the largest margin among all the tested criteria. While it took ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus 0.37 seconds faster to accelerate till 60 feet compare to the Pilot Sport All Season 4. Overall, ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus is clearly the better ice performing tire.
Pilot Sport All Season 4:
- -14.5% in ice braking
- -6.6% in ice acceleration
Price
Being the undisputed technology leader, we would expect Michelin to command the highest priced tire in the market. This was reflected somehow as Pilot Sport All Season 4 is 11% more expensive than the ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus.
Tire size: 245/40R18
Pilot Sport All Season 4: $215
ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus: $193
Difference: +11% more expensive for Pilot Sport All Season 4.
Summary
Overall, both tires have different strengths and your requirements would be the deciding factor which tire would suit you the best. For ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus, wet, comfort & ice is its strong points. While for Pilot Sport All Season 4, it is strongest in snow & has a slight advantage in dry. There is no clear recommendation this time round and your requirements should be the deciding factor.