Michelin Primacy MXV4
at Primacy MXV4s. I have had them on two cars and "hate" is not strong enough of a word. The performance was pathetic, especially on anything even slightly resembling a curve. I've heard people say they have fantastic wet weather performance but that's not my experience either. Your experience will vary.The Continental DWS tires are rated for snow and are very good tires. I have almost 20,000 on mine now and they've been great. In all likelihood (educated guess) they're probably cheaper than the Michelins, too.

BTW - Tirerack has amazing specials running on PS2's & others at the moment. The W204 guys are all jumping in.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Sep 2, 2010 at 08:03 AM.
MXV4 came with my 204's stock 17" btw...at least i think that's what it was... the only thing i like about it it's that they're quiet.
Last edited by FrankW; Sep 2, 2010 at 08:17 AM.
But, alot of us need an A/S tire. It appears the OP needs an A/S tire, as he is talking about snow traction. I can recommend the Michelin Pilot A/S Pluses, but think the Continental Extreme Contact DWS is a better match on our car. The tread design of the Michelin A/S doesn't seem to play nicely with the 203's large caster angle in front, and tend to literally shred the shoulder tread blocks. If the Michelins could be rotated, I bet it wouldn't be as much of an issue. The Conti DWS's on the other hand appear to hold up really well to the caster when rotated based on Matt's latest pics of his tires. A few thousand miles on the DWS's now on my car, and I am pleased so far. The Goodyear Eagle A/S's are pretty good too, but are a noisier than the other two, and have crappy treadlife.
Last edited by johnand; Sep 2, 2010 at 10:30 AM.
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I would take your advice on on All Season tyres anyday & DW (not A/S) & DWS are the only tyres that might persuade me back to Conti.
My point was good pricing at present across the Michelin range at Tirerack - Yes, I'm very pro Michelin. Maybe years of racing with them as a highly proactive sponsor & their mind blowing R&D spend convinced me. They really understand the science of tyres. Some are shaky in this regard.
At the same time I'm prepared to put a shot over their bows when a product in the range is not to my liking. That does not mean others will agree. Life is all important to many users & manufacturers have to respond to all requirements. "Super Slip non Grips" are the result.
Where I get fed up with people is when they refuse to accept that the life vs handling & grip equation is always a compromise. You can't have high life & perfect performance - they are mutually exclusive. Never mind how you play the natural rubber, synthetic rubber, silica filler et al balancing act with compounding - softer compounds have more grip in both hot & wet conditions. Going below freezing is another problem.
Carcass & tread design are both sciences all of their own.
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I would take your advice on on All Season tyres anyday & DW (not A/S) & DWS are the only tyres that might persuade me back to Conti.
My point was good pricing at present across the Michelin range at Tirerack - Yes, I'm very pro Michelin. Maybe years of racing with them as a highly proactive sponsor & their mind blowing R&D spend convinced me. They really understand the science of tyres. Some are shaky in this regard.
At the same time I'm prepared to put a shot over their bows when a product in the range is not to my liking. That does not mean others will agree. Life is all important to many users & manufacturers have to respond to all requirements. "Super Slip non Grips" are the result.
Where I get fed up with people is when they refuse to accept that the life vs handling & grip equation is always a compromise. You can't have high life & perfect performance - they are mutually exclusive. Never mind how you play the natural rubber, synthetic rubber, silica filler et al balancing act with compounding - softer compounds have more grip in both hot & wet conditions. Going below freezing is another problem.
Carcass & tread design are both sciences all of their own.
The point I know you always try to make when it comes to tires, is they are the single most important safety device on a car. Tires, then brakes, are 2 areas you shouldn't ever cheap out on.
I recommend the DWS. It's apparent that they are going to last longer than the 30,000 miles the Kumho ASXs did on my car. Then again, in fairness, I have rotated the DWS tires across the axle to change the direction every 6,000 miles.

The point I know you always try to make when it comes to tires, is they are the single most important safety device on a car. Tires, then brakes, are 2 areas you shouldn't ever cheap out on.
A good dose of defensive driving also helps in spades. My brother in law gets mad with me that I don't consider him a good driver. He is very capable of driving fast but he is always on the edge with zero latitude for unforeseen incidents. His accident record proves me correct. My attitude is if you want to race then go and do it on a race track in controlled conditions. South Africa has one of the highest road fatality rates in the world. There are many reasons for this too long to mention but a lack of defensive driving plays a big part. 8 kids died last week in Cape Town due to a Taxi driver, taking them home from school, racing a train at a level crossing & driving around the booms as they were closing. Well obviously the train won.
Of note I've had 3 sets of MXV4's they were acceptable. They were decent with no major problems in general a very blah tire. Now the Conti's can do everything with authority. Esp produce road noise (a minor price to pay). Pretty good dry weather performance, great wet, still waiting on snow but i expect good things.









