New tires for the my 96 Miata

I'm currently running Dunlop Direzza 102s for the last few years. I love them except for the few days a year we see under 40 degrees and they then turn to grease. I can live with that as I have other vehicles to drive on cold days. Is there something better out there now?  If anything I'd like something that's going to last a little longer but don't want to give up too much handling. 

I'm running Continental's ContiSportContact 5's on my E46.  They've got a lower treadwear rating than the Dunlops you mentioned (280 vs 420) but they grab the road like it's their job.  Noise is low and they have great wet traction.  When we bought a set for my wife's Saab 9-3 Aero to replace the cheapo-o all seasons it came with, it was like we went from a Ski-boot to a running shoe, there's no other way I could describe the difference.  We never had any troubles with low temps (40-deg, etc) but weren't autocrossing in them either (so ymmv )

Closer to your current treadwear would be Continental's "Extreme Contact Sport" which has a 340 treadwear rating.  I've never owned a set, but I would expect good things based on my experiences with continental so far.

I ran Conti DWS on my E46.  Technically it's a summer tire but some years I was lazy and it was more of a 10-month tire.  They seemed to handle sub-40 dF temps without getting too crabby or wearing too badly.  They were good enough to autocross on in the dry, and had excellent wet traction for a summer HP tire.  I even got probably 30,000 miles out of them.

Running the Continental "Extreme Contact Sports" on my 92 right now. It's been a great 3 season tire and held up to 4-5 track days now.

Conti DWS on my DD. 04 Lancer Ralliart Wagon, 3000 lbs, 162/162.

They're marketed as a four season tire, the name stands for Dry, Wet, Snow.

Can't comment on snow, only see temperatures down to about freezing here. They work fine in the high 20s. Great in the torrential rains we get here in Florida.

Great grip for a DD. Smooth ride well into triple digits.

Best tires I've had, will get another set when they're done.

Do the DWS even come in a Miata size?

In reply to red_stapler :

I don't think so, but I think its successor does.

I’ve had both  Conti Extreme Contact Sports and Michelin Pilot Sports that have started splitting between the the tread blocks at fairly low mileage. Both were original equipment in the cars. 

red_stapler said:

Do the DWS even come in a Miata size?

I was under the assumption that the o.p. ditched the 14" rims in favor of something 15"+ since I didnt see his Dunlops (or anything decent really) on tire rack.