Tires Pirelli or Continental

I live in the PNW, we don't get enough snow to warrant a whole set of tires (for me, anyways). I've been running the Continental dws06 Plus (and the prior non plus version) for years, they do exceptionally well in a couple inches of snow, even ice. I have cable chains for when it gets really bad.

Replaced my Geolandars with Conti ExtremeContacts and the ride and handling both improved.

I had the precursors to those viking contacts on my 17 forester and thought they were great.

I've run Hakkapeliittas, Blizzaks, and currently VikingContacts on my various Subarus. They've all been great but the VikingContacts have been my favorite of the 3.

I've had the Altimax in the past and they are totally fine. But the Vikings are really great. Between these two I would get the Contis unless you can get a killer deal on the Altimax

With a set of Continentals, I was pretty much able to drive with impunity, even the heaviest rain.

I eventually got a set of Pirelli tires and upsized to 205-50/16s. Earlier this year I ran over a nail but the tire couldn't be patched because the puncture was too close to the tire edge. When I went to get another I was told that Pirelli tires were backordered because of the pandemic. So I opted for two new Falken tires at the same size because I want the tread to match on the rear axle.

Contentinal DWS06 - probably my favorite daily driver Tire I’ve experienced, for the extremely health blend of comfort, performance, road noise, longevity. These tires are underrated. So perfect on my partner’s JSW TDI.

They flat spot sitting overnight, but only noticeable really in colder temps (below 40 or so I'd say?)

Terrible tires with tons of road noise.