New tyres - cross climates?
Discussion
Morning
Sorry for the stupid question, but I've never really been in a position that this has been an issue before.
I have an Civic FN2 Type R with 18s front and back (and FWD, obviously). It currently has PilotSports on all round that I fitted 14 months or so ago. The front two tyres have about 3 or 4mm left, so are looking to be changed out in the next month or two, dependent on usage. Rears have 6mm or so, so plenty of life left.
The small change is that I've gone from not needing the car in adverse weather, to now being reliant on it solely to get partner to work as of October this year, regardless of weather. Only having had the car for one winter season, I found that it was relatively awful in the snow/sleet/slush, albeit I'm a careful driver. But, not ideal for being reliant on it.
My thoughts turn to winter tyres to give continuity (I know it's August, dont shoot me) but I'm reluctant to replace the two rears to have winters all round. Is running 2 Michelin cross-climates on the front likely to cause much problem and/or provide any real benefit? logic would say mis-match tyres aren't good, but equally, its FWD, those are the driven wheels, the weight's over the front.. it's got to be better, right?
Help!
Sorry for the stupid question, but I've never really been in a position that this has been an issue before.
I have an Civic FN2 Type R with 18s front and back (and FWD, obviously). It currently has PilotSports on all round that I fitted 14 months or so ago. The front two tyres have about 3 or 4mm left, so are looking to be changed out in the next month or two, dependent on usage. Rears have 6mm or so, so plenty of life left.
The small change is that I've gone from not needing the car in adverse weather, to now being reliant on it solely to get partner to work as of October this year, regardless of weather. Only having had the car for one winter season, I found that it was relatively awful in the snow/sleet/slush, albeit I'm a careful driver. But, not ideal for being reliant on it.
My thoughts turn to winter tyres to give continuity (I know it's August, dont shoot me) but I'm reluctant to replace the two rears to have winters all round. Is running 2 Michelin cross-climates on the front likely to cause much problem and/or provide any real benefit? logic would say mis-match tyres aren't good, but equally, its FWD, those are the driven wheels, the weight's over the front.. it's got to be better, right?
Help!
Cross-Climates are a very good choice IMO. They're the best of both worlds by a long way.
They're an all season tyre rather than a full on winter tyre - but they do have the snow symbol and grip very well in the wet. We have a set on the front of my daughters Focus (decent Pirelli's on the rear) and she managed to drive out of the Reading Festival parking field on Sunday evening with ease, while everyone else was getting stuck in the mud!
They're an all season tyre rather than a full on winter tyre - but they do have the snow symbol and grip very well in the wet. We have a set on the front of my daughters Focus (decent Pirelli's on the rear) and she managed to drive out of the Reading Festival parking field on Sunday evening with ease, while everyone else was getting stuck in the mud!
We have CCs on my wife's daily and I've never found them wanting. However on something with a bit of performance I'd be tempted to get some winter tyres (or even CCs) on other wheels (you'll probably get some alloys on eBay fairly cheap as people upgrade) because you're more likely to want proper tyres in the summer. CCs are a good all-rounder but not miraculous.
I've also got an FN2 Civic, albeit not a Type R. I've been running CrossClimates on it for the last two or so years. They're a very good all-round tyre but not very performance orientated. My fronts are very visibly worn on the edges from cornering. I've found them decent in the wet and quite useful in the snow. I've driven another car with CC's in much colder temperatures and have noticed they grip quite well on snow but they're really appalling on the road surface below -10 degrees. Like dangerously bad. In the UK you should be fine but I thought it worth mentioning.
Personally I think it would be best to buy a smaller set of steel wheels (17's or 16's if they'll fit over the brakes) with a dedicated set of winter tyres. Keep your alloys with the summer rubber on them and change them up for winter/summer. You get a no compromise best of both this way, cost effective too as although you need to buy more tyres they'll last twice as long as each set will have half the use.
If you don't want to do that or don't have the space then the CC's are a decent compromise in which case swap over front to back for now to get some extra use out of your existing tyres. Then go for CC's all round. Don't mix and match tyres front to back, this could be dangerous whichever way round you do it. If you go down this route make sure you order the tyres in November or so as they tend to get sold out quite quickly in the winter months.
Personally I think it would be best to buy a smaller set of steel wheels (17's or 16's if they'll fit over the brakes) with a dedicated set of winter tyres. Keep your alloys with the summer rubber on them and change them up for winter/summer. You get a no compromise best of both this way, cost effective too as although you need to buy more tyres they'll last twice as long as each set will have half the use.
If you don't want to do that or don't have the space then the CC's are a decent compromise in which case swap over front to back for now to get some extra use out of your existing tyres. Then go for CC's all round. Don't mix and match tyres front to back, this could be dangerous whichever way round you do it. If you go down this route make sure you order the tyres in November or so as they tend to get sold out quite quickly in the winter months.
Thanks all, sorry for the strange question - never been reliant on driving to get to work (and I'm responsible for opening up/closing the site so I will need to get there) as bike or walking as worst case have previously been options.
Just got the tyres swapped around, £10 at the local F1 autocentre means it was daft to get my hands dirty. Get some wear then probably put CCs on, I sadly don't tend get much chance to really test the car with hard driving as much as I'd like, so only giving 8/10ths instead of 10/10ths is probably not a show-stopper.
Just got the tyres swapped around, £10 at the local F1 autocentre means it was daft to get my hands dirty. Get some wear then probably put CCs on, I sadly don't tend get much chance to really test the car with hard driving as much as I'd like, so only giving 8/10ths instead of 10/10ths is probably not a show-stopper.
I put cross climates on our everyday CRV when they first came out.
They are going to need replacing at some point in the next 6 months or so.
What I am going to get fitted to replace them is a easy choice.
I am going to replace them with some more cross climates.
Wet grip is superb & I have managed to drive where ever I wanted without a thought.
That includes a muddy field carpark and whatever the weather has thrown at us.
They are going to need replacing at some point in the next 6 months or so.
What I am going to get fitted to replace them is a easy choice.
I am going to replace them with some more cross climates.
Wet grip is superb & I have managed to drive where ever I wanted without a thought.
That includes a muddy field carpark and whatever the weather has thrown at us.
Cross Climates are brilliant - I just wish they'd do them in bigger, so-called "sportier" sizes. I'd fit them to everything.
I believe that they are really made as a winter-capable summer tyre. Given that weather in the UK is temperate, unpredictable and often wet then personally I want and rate a tyre with wet/cold grip way above a summer tyre; it's why I use Uniroyal Rainsport 3s now. If you're going to lose grip then it's 90% of the time going to be in the cold and/or wet in normal use.
I believe that they are really made as a winter-capable summer tyre. Given that weather in the UK is temperate, unpredictable and often wet then personally I want and rate a tyre with wet/cold grip way above a summer tyre; it's why I use Uniroyal Rainsport 3s now. If you're going to lose grip then it's 90% of the time going to be in the cold and/or wet in normal use.
I recently put Crossclimate+ on our Octavia VRS - so similar power and weight. They seem to cope alright; I'd say they have slightly less grip than the Eagle F1s they replaced but obviously a damned slight more than the budget summer tyres which were on it when we got it. I'd say if anything they're slightly less precise feeling than even the Goodyears which themselves have pretty soft sidewalls so I wouldn't put them on anything I intended to drive hard but on a family car they seem very good. There's certainly no way I'd put them on the Elise!
The Michelin cross climates have been very popular although some say they are more of a summer tyre with some tread as opposed to the semi slicks that pass for dry weather tyres .
Have a look for "all season" tyres such as these https://www.oponeo.co.uk/tyre-details/nankang-n607...
They wont have the outright grip of true summer tyres in the dry but what value they are . Hankook do a very similar tyre as well
Have a look for "all season" tyres such as these https://www.oponeo.co.uk/tyre-details/nankang-n607...
They wont have the outright grip of true summer tyres in the dry but what value they are . Hankook do a very similar tyre as well
We replaced the summer bridgstones that came factory fitted to our Tiguan with Crossclimates and noticed a big improvement.
I noticed very little difference in the dry with possibly even a slight improvement, but grip in winter and when driving through snow is far superior as is wet weather grip inc better braking.
For an everyday car used year round it's the ideal tyre,
but as others have said, I'm not sure they're well suited to anything that would be considered high performance,
Another vote for Cross Climates here. I put a set on my car (Audi A4 Avant quattro) in March this year and by a stroke of providence this was about a week before the snow fell. Performance was absolutely fantastic - it was like the snow wasn't there. However, not so good in the mud, as I discovered last weekend n Dorset on a trip to the Great Dorset Steam Fair. Didn't get stuck but a few slippy-slidey moments getting in and out of the parking field.
kharma45 said:
I know certain places won’t put CrossClimates on one axel. It’s either put them on all four corners or not at all.
Try a triple-axel!https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GBWLP-iDUqg
HustleRussell said:
Same rule as every other time you buy tyres.
New tyres on the rear
Old tyres on the front
Then you can wear the fronts out and have crossclimates all 'round by the time the cold bites.
I've read this advice so many times and I believe it can be backed up with some testing. I still can't bring myself to put the "newer tyres" on the axel that does less braking, next to no steering and with most cars on the road, deploys less or no power.New tyres on the rear
Old tyres on the front
Then you can wear the fronts out and have crossclimates all 'round by the time the cold bites.
I'd rather plow through a big puddle with my wheels that steer given the best grip. I'll correct the back end using my steering wheel which has tyres that are in contact with the road and not aqua planing.
I know everyone on pistonheads will tell me I am wrong but many hundreds of thousands of miles later and several million miles across the family and this is how we operate.
The only thing I can think that we have done that kept us out of the trap that is suggested with new fronts older backs is we don't end up with a large differential in wear front to rear as we rotate our tyres to try and even the wear out.
(off topic flame suit on?).
RW
Gassing Station | Suspension, Brakes & Tyres | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff