[arpad_m]

Lieutenant Columbo, you'd be in for a nice surprise with a modern summer tire, these are head and shoulders above anything you may have had 15-20 years ago.

Yeah, your weather is enviable, I can understand your bike preference My "mistress" doesn't get many miles either, since I work from home, but I don't mind, every drive is such a great experience. Feels very good even driving like a grandma, and then of course when the horses are awakened, it's all the more fun

[Msquared]

I run 245/50/18 Continental DSW 06+ tires in winter months on base model wheels (18x8.5). They don't make noise. I've had DSWs in various iterations on several cars over the years and they don't make much noise. LtColumbo, your experience is something abnormal, and I'm not sure how to explain it. This tread pattern has been the most successful one Conti has ever produced - they've been using it at least 20 years - so that's not the root cause of your noise. But if the tires are really making the noise, then it's due to strange wear. Even if you fix the problem that caused it, the tires will still be noisy. The only way to change that is probably to have them shaved, to effectively "start over." If something wore a feather pattern into the tread blocks, it will happen again until it's fixed.

The DWS is not a sharp-handling tire. Never has been. It's very fast (i.e. grippy) as all-season tires go, though. The only other all-season in the same league is the Michelin PS All Season 4. But the others above are correct: you don't need an all-weather tire at all, especially if you value sharp handling response. All all-seasons (at least all the ones that are actually good in all seasons) will necessary have squirmy tread and slower steering response. Conversely, the run-flats that came on your car have fast response only due to the fact that their sidewalls are not compliant. They might have felt "sporty," but they weren't especially grippy or fast tires. I guarantee that the squishy Conti DWS tires will run circles around those stock Goodyears when it comes to actual lap times or grip numbers.

As arpad_m mentioned above, the Conti EC Sport and the Michelin PS4S are really "three-season" tires that would fit your needs much better. They are excellent performers in dry, warm weather while still remaining reasonably quiet and comfortable in ride. They are the two best rain you can put on your car, bar none: much faster than even the best all-season tires, and so good that in some classes people race on them as rain tires. They are fine down to below freezing: I did a track day on mine one when the temps started out around freezing, and then switched to steady rain ~40F for the afternoon. I was one of only three drivers would even go out on track in the afternoon. There are definitely plenty of "summer" performance tires on the market that suck in cool or wet conditions, but not these two. Nobody needs all-seasons unless they are going to experience actual winter conditions, and that's not happening in Santa Clarita.

[LtColumbo]

Thanks for the replies. I did not think this noise was a normal characteristic of the tires. Perhaps I would have been better off with a 3-season tire.

Continental made me an offer that was too easy to refuse. And that was a stretch on their part! I think that if this was being handled during the first 60 days (satisfaction guaranteed?) they might have done more. Maybe. Maybe not!

I don't see the value in spending another $550+ on better 3-season tires at this point. I'll just keep buying lottery tickets in the mean time!

Thanks!