Well, I got to test out my new tires in the snow last night. For all-season radials, the Continental ExtremeContact DWS tires do a pretty good job. Decent stopping distance in snow, not a lot of sliding/fishtailing either. Granted you can't take sharp turns at speed, but let's be realistic it's snowing outside, common sense should prevail and tell you to go slow when you need to make a sharp turn. Riding comfort is good, and road noise is minimal. They don't take the corners as hard as the Michelin Pilots will, but I'd much rather have safety and performance the continentals give me in winter. The tires do have a slight lurch to them in cold weather when you first start driving, but it stops once the tires are warmed up (within 1-2 miles). Fuel efficiency is pretty much comparable to the michelins in medium and cold and medium temp's, warm weather efficiency will have to remain for late spring/summer.
Overall the tires performed well, including my hillclimb test on a mostly unplowed backroad. Would I recommend trying to take curves at the full speed limit? NO. But you're definitely not going to be sliding all over the road or unable to make it up a hill, either. Car used is a 2010 Ford Fusion SE i4, tires are Continental ExtremeContact DWS p225/50zr17 94w (runflat model= zr, not standard r) gas tank was full, so as to test at nominal driving weight without adding to the trunk load.
