I originally posted a question in the tire sub forum, but no one has piped up and answered, nor have I received a response from the Tirerack rep (I sent a pm, but he may be on vacation, seeing it was a long weekend).

The question, many of the summer tires listed specify that they are not to be used in extreme cold weather, snow and ice. Is this due to the compounds used in the tire itself changing (or hardening), or due to tire tread design not designed for the resultant slush and sludge from salting the road surfaces, or slick surfaces from compacted snow and ice?

 

Tread compound

 

Actually it's both, extreme summer performance tires use a different tread compound for aggressive grip and wet water performance. Summer tires used a softer rubber compound, so that they grip the road better. If you ever look at winter tires, they have all together different tread pattern as compared to extreme wet or summer tires. I used a extreme summer tires, during last winter. As long as the roads were dry, they performed well, but if there was any snow, even 1/8th of an inch, watch out. My E63 would get squirrely in a heart beat, with over 500 hp in your right foot.

 

Thanks, that's what I figured. Regardless of the outside temps, with clear roads, and friction, the tires will eventually warm up, my worry, living on the other side of DC from you (near Annapolis).. the snow we got this past winter kinda sucked... but I plan on running chains this year and getting max performance summer tires..... Oh, and calling out from work when it gets crappy outside

 

jvanbrecht,

I good extreme all weather tires to purchase is the Continental Extreme Contact DWS.
The fronts are $148 and the rears are $211 for your car, from www.tirerack.com out of Newcastle, DE. They can have them to you the next day. These are some very nice tires, I have them on the 07 E63, and I have no compliants. I absolutely love these tires, I will replace the tires on my C63 with these when they wear out. And the best part, they have a 560 UTQG tread wear rating. The tires on our C63 are rated at 220. So they will last a long time. I order them several months back, delivered $883 with a 245/35-19 front and a 275/30-19 rear. They have an aggressive tread pattern for an AMG. Not some wimpy looking tires either. The ExtremeContact DWS (DWS for Dry, Wet & Snow) is Continental's Ultra High Performance All-Season radial developed for drivers of sports cars, sports coupes, performance sedans and sport trucks. The ExtremeContact DWS is designed to satisfy their year-round driving needs by blending dry and wet road performance with light snow and slush traction. ExtremeContact DWS features an advanced silica-based, high-grip, all-season tread compound molded into a unique asymmetrical tread design with stable shoulder blocks and a continuous, notched intermediate rib on the outboard side to enhance responsiveness and cornering stability. The center of the tread features independent blocks separated by high-angle, criss-cross grooves to provide the biting edges necessary to deliver wet road and light snow traction while independent inboard shoulder blocks help disperse water to further enhance hydroplaning resistance and foul weather traction.
The ExtremeContact DWS features Tuned Performance Indicators — visible letters molded into the second rib from the outboard shoulder to alert drivers of the tire's performance levels. A visible "DWS" indicates the tire has sufficient tread depth for dry conditions, as well as wet roads and light snow. After the "S" has worn away, the remaining "DW" indicates the tire only has sufficient tread depth for dry and most wet road conditions. And after the "W" and "S" have both worn away, the remaining "D" indicates the tire has appropriate tread depth for dry conditions only.
The tire's internal structure includes twin steel belts reinforced with spirally wound jointless nylon cap plies to provide long-term integrity under high-speed conditions while reducing weight and helping to provide more uniform ride quality. Trust me, you won't be dissappointed.

 

Those are the ones I am looking at, or the straight up DW. Problem is, the DWS does not come in 245/35/18, only 235, and the DW which does come in 245, is currently on back order (I called tire rack, they said the the manufacturer has not given them a time frame, it appears that there is no schedule production run for that size).

I had planned on going 245 front, and 275 rear, but looks like if I want to go with DW or DWS, its going to be 235 front 265 rear (would look odd with 275's on the rear with the 235's on teh front)

 

But the Continental Extreme Contact DWS does come in a 245/40-18, which would be better from a pothole standpoint. And you could go with a 275/35-18 for the rears. I don't think that there would be fitment issues. When I bought these tires for my E63, I was going with a taller tire, when I placed the order online. 15 minutes later, I received a call from tirerack, teling me I might have fitment issues going with a 245/45-19 (F) and a 275/40-19 (R). I explained to him that my car is lowered some, not extreme. And he talked me out of getting them, I have Monarchs Euro 63RS wheels, I provided him with the wheels specs, and he provided me with advice in getting the correct size for my wheel and tire package. So what I'm saying in examine your options, the DWS are killer tires, you will not be dissappointed, trust me. I settled on 245/35-19 (F) and 275/30-19 (R), good compliant ride, no pothole issues thus far, although I due my best to aviod them, whenever possible. Don't want another bent wheel.....LOL

 

Trackable? I am no race car driver.. but I do like to hit the track (well once so far, but I have only had the car for 4 months heh..) sometimes..

 

I don't track my cars, I'm afraid of wrapping them around something. Besides I paid too much money for both the C63 and my E63 to screw them up. But I would say why the hell not. Great dry grip, the rubber will last due to it's 540 UTQG rating.

 

I run the extreme dw also

 

Allot of people will overlook the Continentals DW or the DWS. These are really outstanding tires, in their tread compound, tread pattern and long life.

 

Some on you already know about the Blizzard their calling for up North. Well NJ, PA, NY and points North of their took a whallup this past Sunday. With over a foot or more in some places. Well on Sunday, I my E63 back from Pittsburgh, PA to New Jersey. Luckily for me, I had the Continental ExtremeContact DWS tires on my car, and I knew that they were up to the task. I didn't get stuck not one time, Thank God. Their were a few times, that I was fighting for grip, these aren't snow tires mind you. Their rated fair in 2-3 inches of snow, not a foot. My front lip spoiler acted like a snow plow. I had so much freaking snow plowed up on the front on my car, that I could see the oil temps starting to rise, as the coolers couldn't get any air. So I pulled over to a rest area, and began to chisel away at the ice berg, that has generated on the front of my ride. So once we reached my mother house, I spent the night. There was no way, I was going to be able to drive back down to Virginia in this mess, DWS or not. But I have to say that these are great tires. I will say this, in deep snow you want narrow tires, not these big fat meats, that I have on my car. The roads and the Turnpike weren't plowed or salted in any way, man it was a mess out there. But I back home now, the spolier took a few good whacks, show some battle damage from scraping the snow for several hundred miles, but nothing a little touch paint can't fix.

 

Another great all-weather tire is the Yokohama Avid Envigor. Comes in all the possible C63 sizes and has a 560 treadwear rating. I am running 235/40/18 & 275/35/18 and have no issues. Love them.