@Yinn @Krazaak Thank you both for the info and insight. I actually changed my mind and went with the 255/45/20 XL in the DWS06 for the front tires. Quite honestly with the ContiSilents today, the ride is great and smooth, it's the road noise that's obnoxious and annoying. I'm hoping the DWS06s provide a quieter ride and better performance in inclement weather.
The tires just shipped from Tire Rack and should be arriving by early next week, so I will probably get them installed next week. Once I have some miles on them, I'll continue to post some feedback about efficiency, ride quality, and performance.
I've had my new DWS06 tires installed and on my vehicle for just over a month and about 2k in miles. Please note, I changed from the 265/45 ContiSilents in the front tires, to 255/45 with the DWS06 due to the XL rating. The rears are still 275/45. Here are my "first impressions":
Ride Quality/Road Noise
Keeping in mind it's still only 2k miles, there is a noticeable improvement in road noise and overall ride quality between the ContiSilents I used to have and the new Continental DWS06s. While
definitely not scientific, the most telling way to know road noise is less is I used to have to play my music/radio at the 5-6 volume setting and now I can easily keep it at 4-5 and feel like it's loud enough. Even when the music is muted or off, I feel I can hear the road noise less than before. I hope this is not just a "new tires" result, but really the result of this particular new tire. I'll update again later this year or early next year after I have about 5-7k more miles.
Performance
In terms of acceleration performance, no noticeable changes. When the tires were first installed, I felt a slight shudder or maybe lag in acceleration, but not sure if that was just me or maybe a result of the new tires and increased weight of these tires compared to the ContiSilents. However, the more I drove and I did do a lot driving this past month, this went away or is not even noticeable anymore. Who knows...may have just been my imagination as well.
In terms of all-weather performance, I think it's still a bit early to say. We have had A LOT of rain where I live and I've been driving both local and long distance through some severe thunderstorms with downpours during this last month. I've felt the tires are performing excellent and maybe better than the ContiSilents, but I was never as disgruntled as some others have reported with the ContiSilents. I would definitely say equal to if not better than my ContiSilents. I will be able to report more about all-weather performance as we head into the winter months and, depending on weather, will be able to put these DWS06 tires through their paces in those coming months.
Efficiency
So, this is the one area that I probably have noticed the biggest difference and probably my only area of mild concern so far. These tires are noticeably, dare I say dramatically, less efficient than the ContiSilents were. In local driving, anywhere from ~30-75 Wh/Mi more energy being used compared to the ContiSilents. For example, local driving on a 70-75 degree day with my front two windows slightly down to let air flow (i.e. not running the A/C), with my ContiSilents averaged anywhere between 270-330 Wh/Mi. Now, I'm seeing anywhere from 300 - 400 Wh/Mi with the DWS06s. My driving hasn't changed in any way, my roads have not changed nor where I usually drive, so I have to assume these numbers are the direct result of the new tires. That all said, the good news is the last ~500 miles I have started to see the Wh/Mi come back down a bit. I'm hoping this is/was a temporary spike in energy usage as a result of new tires and these weighing more and/or being better inflated.
I did make two long-distance trips (~250 miles one-way) during this last month on the new tires. Again, much less efficient and the best way to measure this was that these were the same trips I had done a half-dozen times before on the ContiSilent tires. When I would get to the Super Charger I normally stop at to re-charge, I would have anywhere from 25-40 miles remaining. On the new tires, I only had 6 miles remaining (cutting it scary close...) on the first time I did this drive, 11 miles then second time. Obviously, I recognize that weather and other factors can impact this, but at the same time I think the numbers do seem to indicate that the new tires are not as efficient as the ContiSilents were.
I'm planning to do a few more road trips in the coming months. I will report back if this is/was just a temporary spike in using more energy, just the reality of needing to "break in" the new tires and efficiency will get back to "normal" or, if in fact this is the new norm.
Please keep in mind, these are initial impressions after only about 2k in miles and I'll post another update after a few thousand miles more. Overall, so far I'm very happy with the new Continental DWS06 tires and I hope my experience remains positive. I think they are an improvement over the ContiSilents and would recommend them to Model X owners looking for new tires.
I hope this initial review helps folks, but please don't hesitate to ask any questions or about something I may not have covered.
