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Last updated 4/26/2024 - Originally published 4/22/2024
Written by SimpleTire
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Among the world’s largest tire manufacturers, Bridgestone and Continental produce high-quality tires that last long and offer superior performance in their respective categories. While Bridgestone is a Japanese tire maker, Continental is a German tire brand. When it comes to ultra-high-performance tires, both tire brands offer a wide range of products under UHP summer and UHP all-season tires. The Potenza RE980AS+ and ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus are two of their best UHP all-season tires that perform year-round.
While the Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+ is engineered for sports cars and sedans, the Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus is for sports cars, sedans, CUVs, and SUVs. Coming from the leading tire brands, both tires offer incredible traction, grip, handling, and stability. If you are shopping for a UHP all-season tire for your sports car or sedan, picking one of the two is an uphill task. To ease your selection process, let’s compare Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+ vs Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus based on our proprietary scoring system – SimpleScore, which rates tires on traction, handling, and longevity.
Launched in 2021, the Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+ features significant updates over its predecessor such as increased snow performance, enhanced ride comfort, and improved wearability. Using the latest compound technology, the Potenza RE980AS+ features an asymmetric tread pattern and 3D sipes that provide extra biting edges for enhanced traction in snow. Backed by a 50,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty, the Bridgestone tire has see-through voids and open shoulders for quick water evacuation to avoid the risk of hydroplaning. Boosting wet and dry braking are the chamfered slots and 3D full-depth sipes, while the special tread compound promotes uniform wear throughout the tire’s lifespan.
Scoring an excellent 9.4 out of 10, the Potenza RE980AS+ promises superior traction, steering response, and longevity.
Introduced in the same year as the Potenza RE980AS+, the Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus is also an improved version of its predecessor, the ExtremeContact DWS06. With all key areas covered, the latest iteration offers better dry and wet braking, handling, and snow performance. With the special rubber compound, the wearability also takes a bump, and now, the Conti comes with a 50,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty. While the SportPlus technology delivers precise handling and enhanced wet performance, the QuickView Indicators visually inform drivers whether the alignment is right, and that the tire has enough tread left for dry, wet, and snow performance (DWS).
Giving a befitting reply, the Continental, too, scores an excellent 9.4 thanks to its superb handling, traction, and durability.
The prime function of a tire is to provide a grip through which the wheel can move. Traction ensures your vehicle remains in constant contact with the surface and does not skid. Being UHP tires, both promise excellent traction around the year.
Boasting a near-perfect traction score of 9.9 out of 10, the Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+ just nails it with its new ultra-high compound that delivers excellent snow traction and confident dry and wet performance alongside a comfortable ride quality. The see-through void and open shoulder slots help in quick water evacuation to avoid hydroplaning.
With a superb 9.8 traction score, the Continental features a unique and stylish tread pattern that reduces braking distances in dry and wet conditions besides offering great snow performance. While the SportPlus technology enables stronger grip and traction around the year, the circumferential grooves with lateral grooves help in the quick evacuation of water from the tread to mitigate the risk of aquaplaning.
Both the tires are neck-and-neck in terms of performance, however, the Bridgestone fares slightly better (0.1) than the Continental in SimpleScore and is the winner here.
ADVANTAGE: Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+
While traction is vital, control is equally valuable. Its importance is further enhanced if we consider a UHP tire, which is equipped on high-speed vehicles.
With an incredible 9.9 handling score, the Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+ offers excellent control and stability with precise steering response and confident cornering. Utilizing the soybean oil-enriched tread compound, the tire rebalances the performance of its predecessor while improving snow handling. The asymmetric tread pattern with a solid center rib promotes responsive handling and enhanced stability.
Boasting an excellent handling score of 9.8, the Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus features SportPlus technology that offers responsive handling and enhanced grip. The asymmetric tread pattern and solid shoulders not only boost stability but also help promote excellent steering response.
Just like the traction, the Continental produces a gem of a handling performance but misses it by a fraction (0.1); the Potenza RE980AS+ emerges as the winner.
ADVANTAGE: Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+
With traction and handling sorted, the next critical thing is longevity. The rubber compounds and tread patterns decide the life of a tire. For performance tires, the tire life is usually limited due to the use of a softer compound that leads to fast wearing of the tread.
Boasting a solid 8.6 in longevity, the Potenza RE980AS+ continues to impress here as well. With the backing of a 50,000 mile limited manufacturer warranty, the UHP all-season tire features an advanced tread pattern and soybean-enriched tread compound for excellent wearability and a longer service life.
The ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus returns a fantastic 8.8 out of 10 for longevity. With the Alignment Verification System, you can always check visually whether the alignment is correct and resist uneven wear by rectifying it. The special rubber compound not only aids in returning better grip and traction but also promotes uniform wear throughout the tire's life cycle. It comes with a 50,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty.
In the longevity race, the Continental finally counters the Bridgestone storm by offering a better service life (0.2).
ADVANTAGE: Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus
For maximum performance from your sports or luxury car, you should go for UHP tires that offer excellent traction, grip, handling, and stability at high speeds. And for people seeking all-season performance from their UHP tires, the UHP all-season tires will be the best as they provide the best of both worlds.
While they work fine in summer and moderate conditions, they’re not meant for use during extreme winter conditions as their rubber compound isn’t tuned to handle low temperatures; you need dedicated winter tires to tackle 45 degrees Fahrenheit or less temperature.
Despite a tough fight, the Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus manages to win only the longevity aspect and goes down 1-2, with the Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+ winning the traction and handling rounds. However, with each scoring 9.4 overall SimpleScore, this comparison will be termed a tie as the winning margin is minimal.
Coming to the prices, the Bridgestone costs $186 per tire for a size of 205/50R17 93W XL, while a set of four such tires costs $744. Similarly, a Continental tire of the same size costs $166, while four such tires cost $664. The difference between the two brands for four tires is $80.
Based on the SimpleScore, you should pick Potenza RE980AS+ if you:
On the other hand, the Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus is a great option if you:
Still not sure which tire to buy? Fortunately, SimpleTire is here to help as our helpful agents are more than happy to assist you in selecting the right tire for your ride and budget.
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