In the world of Ultra High Performance All-Season tires for sports cars, sedans, and coupes, the Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus and Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus are standout contenders. Though let’s see which tire is still a better fit for you.
The Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus excels in dry performance, ride comfort, and tread longevity, offering a smoother drive with reduced noise. The Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus, on the other hand, outperforms in straight-line grip, wet conditions, and winter traction. So it all comes down your specific needs.
Let’s dive in, and see why one is better than the other, in all performance metrics.
Table of Contents
Tire Sizes
All sizes on the Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus come in 17 to 20 inches wheels, with following specs.
- Speed ratings: W and Y.
- Load ratings: SL and XL.
- Tread depth: 10/32″ on all.
- Weight in comparison: 21 to 31 lbs.
- Treadwear warranty: 55k miles.
- UTQG rating: 500 AA A.
On the other side, the Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus comes in 16 to 22 inches rims. And all those sizes have following specifications.
- Speed ratings: W and Y.
- Load ratings: SL and XL only.
- Tread depth: 10/32″ on all.
- Weight in comparison: 18 to 35 lbs.
- Treadwear warranty: 50k miles.
- UTQG rating: 560 AA.
Overall Construction
The P Zero All Season Plus comes with a unique asymmetric tread pattern.
Delving into the tread, it’s partitioned into five ribs, which together make 4 straight running circumferential channels.
The central 3 ribs are very different form one another, where the middle most rib integrates both lateral and slanted in-groove notches, paired with linear siping.
Moreover, moving towards the neighboring ribs, one of them come with curved lateral grooves and lienar sipes, while other offers wave-like siping pattern with off-set edges.
With off set edges, the groove act as in-groove notches.
Similar notches are seen on one of the shoulder ribs, where you also see similar wave-like siping.
Though the shoulder lugs on the other side feature more streamlined linear grooves and sipes (arranged laterally).
Internally, the tire boasts a construction of a single-layer polyester, supplemented by twin steel belts and encased in a spirally-wrapped nylon cap ply.
Moving towards the Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus, this tire also comes with asymmetric tread pattern, its more aggressive overall.
Now this tire is structured with four ribs, where the most notable one is in the middle.
I am talking about the rib which has a lot of blocks in it, and which is interconnected seamlessly in terms of grooves.
Moreover you also see “Plus-shaped” siping on them, and snow vices.
Though snow vices are also common with other ribs, as one can see from the image, (these are sharp saw-toothed edges, which help in biting ice and snow, enhancing winter traction).
Moving towards the shoulders, they are very simplistic, and similar to one another, as seen with minimal tread features.
Although on one side these shoulders have snow vices, both of them carry similar lateral grooves and linear sipes.
Lastly, talking about internal structure of the tire, it comes with 2-ply polyester and twin steel belts, reinforced with a more rigid nylon cap ply, relatively.
Overall Dry Performance
The assessment of a tire’s dry performance primarily focuses on its grip and handling abilities.
Let’s check them out.
Straight Line Grip
Several factors play a pivotal role in determining straight line grip, including tread composition, the rubber’s contact area with the road, tire weight, and rolling resistance.
And given these parameters, it’s understandable, why ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus is better.
The tire features a very well made central ribs, where one rib is complemented by angular lateral notches, and the other forms multi-directional in-groove notches, ensuring exceptional longitudinal grip.
Moreover, the tire’s well engineered structure is also helping here, which not only contributes to its grip but also facilitates a more even distribution of pressure points across the tread.
So even though both tires don’t differ a lot in terms of weight, the overall momentum inertai is still lower on Continental tire. That’s why the tire stops 0.5 feet shorter compared to Pirelli (in my averaged braking tests).
Cornering and Steering
Dry road handling essentially merges the tire’s lateral grip with its steering responsiveness. And here, the P Zero All Season Plus is pretty impressive.
The Pirelli’s tire outperforms Continental’s on dry handling lap tests (averaged), even though the overall difference is less than half of a second.
Even though there’s isn’t much of a difference between both tires in terms of lateral traction, as seen by their similar lateral g force readings (on tests), the Pirelli offering superb steering feedback comes out a little better.
This superior steering responsiveness of the tire, (as seen by slalom tests), is attributed to three main things:
- It’s stiffer rubber composition.
- It’s spirally wound cap ply.
- It’s rounded contact patch.
All of these tread elements, basically keep its lugs relatively less susceptible to bending.
But why is that important?
Well because with bending of the lugs, they take, or I should say waste time to recover back to their original shape (before deformity), and that wasted time is actually the delay you get between steering inputs, and wheels outputs.
Now, the overall handling performance of Pirelli would have been even more impressive, if it wasn’t for its lacking directional grip.
With that basically, the tire takes more time slowing down, before getting in to each corner, (on laps tests), and lowers overall handling performance, prolonging times.
Though its still doing great, as it comes out with best overall handling performance in its ultra high performance all season category.
Wet Performance
The performance of a tire on wet surfaces is critical, primarily determined by its ability to effectively remove water from the tread. This encompasses two key factors: wet traction and hydroplaning resistance. Let’s get deeper into these aspects.
Wet Grip and Handling
Grooves are essential for channeling most of the water away from beneath the tire treads, but the smaller water droplets that remain can cause slippage. This is where sipes come into play. These narrow slits are designed to capture and eliminate these residual droplets, enhancing grip.
For superior wet traction, a tire needs a substantial number of deep and flexible sipes. These sipes act like miniature vacuums for the water left behind by the grooves. The Pirelli tires stand out in this area with their combination of linear and wavy sipes that improve wet braking. However, when assessing overall wet handling, they are outperformed by the ExtremeContact DWS06+.
Basically the DWS06+ utilizes multidirectional sipes that facilitate water clearance from all angles, contributing significantly to its adept handling on wet roads.
In short, while both tires showcase almost similar wet braking, you see Continental tire taking a lead considerably in terms of overall wet handling.
In fact it outperforms all the other tires coming in its ultra high performance all season (UHPAS) league, when it comes to overall handling times. See the list of top UHPAS tires here: https://tiredriver.com/best-ultra-high-performance-all-season-tires/
Hydroplaning Resistance
Effective water clearance is essential to prevent hydroplaning, where a layer of water builds under the tire, causing it to lose contact with the road surface. The design and efficiency of tire grooves are crucial in avoiding this.
The Continental DWS 06+ excels due to its complex network of multi-directional grooves. These grooves create more effective pathways for water expulsion, considerably boosting the tire’s hydroplaning resistance.
Furthermore, the efficient design of these grooves means less water remains for the sipes to handle, indirectly enhancing the tire’s overall wet handling capabilities. This integrated approach makes the DWS 06+ a standout choice for wet conditions.
Winter Performance
When assessing winter traction, both boys offer pretty decent overall performance, even though they don’t have the 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake certifications.
But overall, the Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus emerges with higher performance ratings, as it’s central interlocking lugs and a multitude of biting edges (including snow vices), collectively catch/trap snow particles, facilitating efficient snow-on-snow traction.
This is crucial considering snow’s inherent ability to adhere more effectively to itself than to rubber.
On the other side, the Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus’s shortcomings stem from its stiffer rubber composition. Basically, this rigidity stiffens up it’s biters in freezing temperatures, hindering it’s ability to offer/maintain adequate traction.
P.S. The 3 peak certification signifies that a tire offers roughly 10% superior acceleration compared to standard all-season tires, (without that label).
Side Note: If you still need a better winter tire (in these tires’ category of ultra high performance AS), check out Nokian WRG4. Review it here: https://tiredriver.com/nokian-wrg4-review/
This tire ranks on top in UHPAS category.
Overall Comfort Performance
A tire’s ability to dampen road noise and bumps greatly influences the comfort level passengers experience during a ride. Let’s dive deeper into these aspects.
Ride Smoothness
A tire’s effectiveness in ensuring a smooth ride hinges on its capacity to mitigate road imperfections. So it makes sense why it highly depends on tire’s contribution, and tread’s material composition.
But even though Pirelli’s rubber gets to be relatively stiffer it offers a better ride comfort overall, where it’s adeptness, predominantly lies in it’s internal construction, neutralizing minor surface inconsistencies with ease.
On the other side, the ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus lacks with it’s stiffer nylon cap ply, especially around its shoulders.
And needless to say, this rigidity hampers its ability to effectively absorb road vibrations, (especially when the tire is turning, where it feels very jittery).
Looking for the best UHP all-season tire for comfort? Well, I’ve finally found it – https://tiredriver.com/general-g-max-as-07-review/
Road Noise
Road noise is shaped by a lot of elements, encompassing rolling resistance, groove resonance, and the overall tread design construction.
In this context, the Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus stands out with it’s more closed shoulder design and sophisticated tread compound. But how is that important here? Let me explain.
Noise mainly comes from air particles hitting the tread walls. They enter mostly through shoulders voids, and it’s the impact of their strike with the tire’s rubber that creates noise.
Now with tightly packed up overall structure, the Pirelli’s tire act as sonic barriers, significantly attenuating rolling noise.
On the flip side, with such voided up structure, it makes sense why the Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus registers higher noise, as seen on the decibel scale.
Tread Life
The longevity of tread life is determined by several variables, including the tire’s weight, composition, and tread depth.
Now with a unique rubber composition, the Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus exhibits enhanced resilience to elevated temperatures, and offers better characteristics ensuring better structural integrity.
That’s why even though the tire is heavier out of the two, it still offers slightly longer tread life, in comparison.
On the other hand, the Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus may be lighter, its design features more void spaces, leading to substantial weight pressure on each individual lug.
Meaning, it still generates greater rolling resistance in comparison, as it’s lugs get rubbed with the road with great force. I mean sure, they give out superior grip, but this is the trade-off.
And yes, it’s softer composition isn’t helping to that either.
That’s why with superior tread longevity, the Pirelli offers 55k miles warranty, whereas the Continental comes with 50k miles.
Take-Home Points
Both ultra high-performance all-season tires have unique performance metrics.
In terms of dry performance, the Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus edges out with its impressive lateral grip and steering responsiveness. However, when it comes to straight-line grip, the tire lacks to its counterpart.
In wet conditions, the flexibility and design of the Continental’s sipes and grooves give it a notable advantage, whereas it’s interlocking lugs also offer superior winter performance.
Comfort-wise, Pirelli’s internal construction ensures a smoother ride and its closed shoulder design significantly reduces road noise.
And yes, the tire also excels, when it comes to tread life, where it also offers a longer mileage warranty compared to the Continental tire.
I think there may be problem with the “Wet Traction” section. It seems to be talking about Pirelli’s dry handling characteristics.
In the “Take-Home Points”, it says Continental’s sips and groove give it a notable wet advantage. However, I can’t find this info in the main article under “Wet Traction”.
I’m guessing you’re missing the text description for Continental’s superior wet performance explanation. (Of course I can also read the individual review for the Continentals.:)
Your articles are great and extremely appreciated. Other sites might give test results, but you actually explain why the results are the way they are.
Thanks for pointing out. It was a mistake, its fixed now. DWS06+ is the best tire for wet handling while Pirelli showcase superior wet braking (slightly).
Overall its a win for Continental when we talk about the whole wet performance.