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[liang]

Hey,

My 335i eats up rear tires very quickly. My front Continental DW are at 7.5/32 while my rear Continental DW are at 2/32 (down to the wear bar).

I was thinking, why not replace the rears with 275/30/19 Continental DWS (high performance all seasons) because their wear rating is 540! The DW wear rating is only 340... Not to mention the DWS is cheaper than the DW too.

I don't track my car. I'm running JB4 and DCI and I'm not adding anymore HP to the car. So 275 DWS rears should be able to grip equally good as 255 DW rears on dry road right? In other words, the tires are less grippy on dry road but I'm adding 4cm extra grip at the rear to compensate.

The main complaints with DWS is that the sidewalls are relatively soft so it doesn't corner as well. But I'm still running DW on the front so that should eliminate 75% that problem. Plus I never take turns at 9/10 of the car's limit...

I know there are tons of people in warm weather (Texas, Miami, etc) are running DWS all year round on their 335i. They choose this tire because its tread wear is amazing and but you sacrifice a bit of handling and dry grip.

Let me know your thoughts.

[Gary@TireRack]

These tires are *very* different from each other. Mixing them in this manner will cause unstable handling.

[turo]

Why are your rears wearing so much faster? Do you drive aggressively often, or is your alignment off?

[Bavarian Black]

Originally Posted by Gary@TireRack

These tires are *very* different from each other. Mixing them in this manner will cause unstable handling.

Correct. Tire rack no there stuff. I once consulted them a few years ago regarding my Bridg-potenza tires; I had A-directional in the front and directional in the back...wrong set up so I changed it all together on my existing 328i.

Regarding mixing all year round tires with anything else as u mentioned, I would just stick with DW. They handle nicely, temp absorb is acceptable, and as long as you don't push the hell out of them they will give you a pretty good 3-4 year life span(NO TRACK DRIVING) if maintained properly( check tire pressure once a month plus visual inspection of inner and outer sidewalks).

Happy Drving
BB

[Dominus]

DWS stands for Dry Wet and Snow, so essentially the extra wear ratings are because of an extra snow and ice tread that is not optimized for dry as well as the DW

[liang]

But wouldn't a 275 wide DWS have the same grip on dry road as a 255 wide DW? Even if a 275 DWS has 90% the grip on dry as a 255 DW, what's the harm if they are 10% less grippy? I'm only driving the car at 7/10 max so its not like the rear is going to spin out. I'm pulling probably 0.6g max if at all on public roads.

How will this negatively affect my car's handling based on my driving needs?

Not the mention the DWS is better in rain so I can accelerate faster in rain and will less likely have the rear swing out compared to the DW in rain.

I've turned very aggressive when I had my 328i on all season tires and the rear never swung out of control. I'm not taking turns that fast anymore, those reckless days are over for me.

[///M3NACE]

They will effect it on how they grip the roads. You will be fine but when you try to handle aggressively it will definitely show.

[Tom K.]

Stick to under 35 mph on dry roads and you should be fine - unless, of course an emergency situation arises....

Tom

[liang]

Can someone explain this to me? Will 4 DWS tires perform better in summer than 2 x DWS all season rear tires mixed with 2 DW summer front tires?

I'm going to get the same rear traction using a 255 wide DW tire vs. a 275 wide DWS tire. Not to mention the DW wears faster its grip ability diminishes faster than the DWS.

In what way does this negatively affect handling? Please give me specific scenarios or driving conditions so I can understand.

Thanks

[VTECaddict]

Originally Posted by Liang

But wouldn't a 275 wide DWS have the same grip on dry road as a 255 wide DW? Even if a 275 DWS has 90% the grip on dry as a 255 DW, what's the harm if they are 10% less grippy? I'm only driving the car at 7/10 max so its not like the rear is going to spin out. I'm pulling probably 0.6g max if at all on public roads.

How will this negatively affect my car's handling based on my driving needs?

Not the mention the DWS is better in rain so I can accelerate faster in rain and will less likely have the rear swing out compared to the DW in rain.

I've turned very aggressive when I had my 328i on all season tires and the rear never swung out of control. I'm not taking turns that fast anymore, those reckless days are over for me.

You already had an expert tell you not to do it. Do you think you know more than Tire Rack?

I don't know where you're pulling those grip numbers from, but if you're just making up numbers to try to justify what you want to do then it's not going to work.

Front end being more grippy than the rear will make the car oversteer prone. And don't think that just because DWS is all season it's better in the rain. DW still has more grip than DWS dry or wet as long as you're not in freezing temps or in snow/slush.

[driverman]

Originally Posted by Liang

Can someone explain this to me? Will 4 DWS tires perform better in summer than 2 x DWS all season rear tires mixed with 2 DW summer front tires?

I'm going to get the same rear traction using a 255 wide DW tire vs. a 275 wide DWS tire. Not to mention the DW wears faster its grip ability diminishes faster than the DWS.

In what way does this negatively affect handling? Please give me specific scenarios or driving conditions so I can understand.

Thanks

There is no doubt that BMW designed, built and tested our cars to use the same type of tires in front and back. They tested our cars in cold climates, hot climates, light rain, heavy rain, light braking, heavy braking, full acceleration, emergency maneuvers, DSC on, DSC half off, DSC fully off, partially worn tires, new tires and the list goes on. Plus, BMW went to great lengths to achieve the legendary 3 series handling.

When you install different tires in front and back, you are upsetting the balance that BMW designed into our cars. Different tires have different tread patterns, sidewall stiffness, hardness/softness of rubber and more. For example, summer tires are typically softer and stickier than A/S tires, which is why they typically don't last as long. You don't want the tires in front losing traction before or after the rears when you are taking a turn. Another example is that A/S tires usually perform better in light snow and cold weather than summer tires. You don't want to take a turn and have one end of the car losing traction way before the other end.

The bottom line is I'd follow Gary's advice. If you have a staggered setup, plan on going through about twice as many rear tires as fronts. It comes with the territory.

[ashmostro]

A few reasons why not to do this:
- Throws off your brake bias, which can affect max braking capability, balance at the limit, and abs actuation
- Will make your car oversteer unpredictably, since the way the dws break away will differ from the DW compound
- You won't be able to accelerate as aggressively since you will have less rear grip.

Just don't do it.

[persian54]

Toss them and get some Michelin PSS tires

If you cannot afford them, then sell the Jb4.

Great tires > power

Track or not, what's the point of driving any car (let alone a BMW) on subpar (cough*shitty*cough) tires?

Performance aspect aside... safety first. as ashmostro mentioned, your braking will be off

I have ran different tires in the past, but only for extremely limited times and only due to an emergency (had a nail, needed to wait until new tires arrived).

[liang]

Last three replies are what I was looking for. Thanks for providing a detailed explanation.

Looks like I'll be replacing the rears with some 275 DW.

[Gary@TireRack]

Originally Posted by Liang

But wouldn't a 275 wide DWS have the same grip on dry road as a 255 wide DW?

Nope. Not even close.

[VMRWheels]

Originally Posted by Gary@TireRack

These tires are *very* different from each other. Mixing them in this manner will cause unstable handling.

Agreed. Don't mix the two.

[BAFOMET]

I bought a car setup this way before, but the 275 was stretched on a 12 inch wheel, on a car with air that never saw performance driving. That got changed as soon as the car got home. The ride characteristics alone, after changing to a matching set, improved enough to warrant never dealing with that again.

[liang]

So mixing tires will affect the handling characteristics even if its not driven at the limits (normal city and highway driving)?

[ashmostro]

Depending on the severity of the mismatch, yes it can affect daily driving too.

Add in inclement weather and multiply the effect by two, for good measure.

Think of it this way- tires are the only part of the car that touch the ground- how important do you think that makes them?

[liang]

Alright alright. I'm convinced!

[gimmethemuumuu]

I've got a pair of nearly brand new Continentsl ExtremeContact DW tires in 265/35-19 size for sale.

PM me if you're interested. I'm sure we could work out a deal

[vertigo44]

I just thought I would validate for the OP of this thread what his idea would have resulted in. Since I did not see this thread until recently and didn't bother to consult with anyone I did exactly what you were asking. I had OEM sized DW all around 235 and 255 in the rear. After 7 months of no burn outs i noticed my rear end was hydroplaning in the rain one day so I got out to check it out and noticed I had NO tread. In fact I was almost to the steel belts. I ran back to sears and ordered two DWS in 275 width and now my car feels like the rear wants to come around in a straight line down the highway! The front end is VERY quick while the rear is SLOOW and mushy on those soft side walls. I completely regret going with the DWS.