Tyre dilemma - all season or summer.
Discussion
Yes, it's a tyre thread...
Right, my dilemma - need a new set of boots and was thinking of a set of all-season jobbies. Unfortunately Michelin cross climates don't come in my size (235 40 r18) so it would have been a no brainer to go with my original choice of Conti sport premium 6 which seem to be a good blend of comfort, grip and sportiness and price (around £120 a corner)
Recently come across a fairly new tyre of Bridgestone A005 weatherproofs (around £135 a corner) which seem to be a direct competitor of the cross climates and according to the blurb may even exceed the CC. (Although you'd expect them to say that!). Does anyone have experience of the Bridgestones? Reviews are a bit light at the moment being a new tyre.
Also, never had all seasons before so how would a tyre like the CC compare to a premium summer tyre? My use is mainly hoofing it along DCs and Motorways and I drive a Volvo so it's a heavy car with limited handling prowess but will an all-season make it feel even more wallowy?
Ta!
Right, my dilemma - need a new set of boots and was thinking of a set of all-season jobbies. Unfortunately Michelin cross climates don't come in my size (235 40 r18) so it would have been a no brainer to go with my original choice of Conti sport premium 6 which seem to be a good blend of comfort, grip and sportiness and price (around £120 a corner)
Recently come across a fairly new tyre of Bridgestone A005 weatherproofs (around £135 a corner) which seem to be a direct competitor of the cross climates and according to the blurb may even exceed the CC. (Although you'd expect them to say that!). Does anyone have experience of the Bridgestones? Reviews are a bit light at the moment being a new tyre.
Also, never had all seasons before so how would a tyre like the CC compare to a premium summer tyre? My use is mainly hoofing it along DCs and Motorways and I drive a Volvo so it's a heavy car with limited handling prowess but will an all-season make it feel even more wallowy?
Ta!
Not a definitive answer, But a post that I saw elsewhere that gave me thought:- If you are using either summer or winter tyres year round, opt for winter, because they will be better in summer than summer tyres will be in winter 
All seasons would probably be a decent choice IMO - If as you say the majority of your use is motorway / DC, Then the gains in wet / snowy traction would be more noticeable than any diminished B-Road handling.
All seasons would probably be a decent choice IMO - If as you say the majority of your use is motorway / DC, Then the gains in wet / snowy traction would be more noticeable than any diminished B-Road handling.
Conti has a new all season tyre in your size. It won’t be bad.
I’m driving on Michelin crossclimate at the moment. If you just cruise around, they are fine. They also give good mobility on snow and slush. If you drive enthusiastically then they are much less connected than a good summer tyre and worlds away from a sports tyre.
I’m driving on Michelin crossclimate at the moment. If you just cruise around, they are fine. They also give good mobility on snow and slush. If you drive enthusiastically then they are much less connected than a good summer tyre and worlds away from a sports tyre.
Had CC+ on our A6 3.0TDi and they were excellent. Incredible wear rate, had a reasonable test in the winter earlier this year (north east eNgland) with no drama and feel much less mushy than the Pilot Alpin on my Golf R. I'd say they're perfect for most people and most cars apart from really high performance stuff. I've run winter tyres on my cars for over a decade now and they all feel more of a compromise than the CrossClimate (I've tried Vredestein, Continental, Fulda and Michelin winter tyres over the years).
Haltamer said:
Not a definitive answer, But a post that I saw elsewhere that gave me thought:- If you are using either summer or winter tyres year round, opt for winter, because they will be better in summer than summer tyres will be in winter
All seasons would probably be a decent choice IMO - If as you say the majority of your use is motorway / DC, Then the gains in wet / snowy traction would be more noticeable than any diminished B-Road handling.
^ This sounds abnormally sensible and correct for PH and is the correct answer.All seasons would probably be a decent choice IMO - If as you say the majority of your use is motorway / DC, Then the gains in wet / snowy traction would be more noticeable than any diminished B-Road handling.
[In before the, I am a PH Driving God and in 99 years of driving, I have never needed winter or cross tyres and you don't need them as I drove through 6 feet of snow in a RWD car..]
Here's a great video on YouTube about all season tyres, including an explanation on the different summer vs winter bias between makes.
https://youtu.be/pe-gkTCOs7E
I'm a big fan on the Cross Climates (a summer-biased all season; it's a shame they're not available in your size) and the Goodyear 4 season on the wife's car (more snow biased).
For regular motoring, all seasons are my first choice of tyre type.
https://youtu.be/pe-gkTCOs7E
I'm a big fan on the Cross Climates (a summer-biased all season; it's a shame they're not available in your size) and the Goodyear 4 season on the wife's car (more snow biased).
For regular motoring, all seasons are my first choice of tyre type.
IME, Summer Tyres are perfectly adequate for 365 motoring, they're not hot sticky track tyres.
I run OEM P-Zero Corsas which are amongst the most extreme 'normal' summer road tyres, and even they are fine throughout winter. Normal summer tyres will be absolutely fit-for purpose for UK motoring this side of -10 degree/2 feet of snow, and the performance benefits in drier conditions will make it even more worth it.
I run OEM P-Zero Corsas which are amongst the most extreme 'normal' summer road tyres, and even they are fine throughout winter. Normal summer tyres will be absolutely fit-for purpose for UK motoring this side of -10 degree/2 feet of snow, and the performance benefits in drier conditions will make it even more worth it.
Our Jag XF was undriveable in the snow in 2010 on its OEM Pirelli Pzeros. The folllwinf year on Vredestein Wintrac it was unbelievably good - you could set off in the snow uphill without a hint of wheel spin. It managed when even front wheel drive cars were getting stuck all over the place. My petrol head neighbour couldn’t believe how good it was and as a result has been running winter tyres on all his families cars since. Autocar reported a similar transformation when they were running a long term XFR about that time - even with 285 section rear winter tyres it was awesome whereas they couldn’t get it to move on summers.
Ares said:
IME, Summer Tyres are perfectly adequate for 365 motoring, they're not hot sticky track tyres.
I run OEM P-Zero Corsas which are amongst the most extreme 'normal' summer road tyres, and even they are fine throughout winter. Normal summer tyres will be absolutely fit-for purpose for UK motoring this side of -10 degree/2 feet of snow, and the performance benefits in drier conditions will make it even more worth it.
Agree. After many decades of using ‘normal’ tyres all year round, we now need to have winter tyres available, or all-season tyres.I run OEM P-Zero Corsas which are amongst the most extreme 'normal' summer road tyres, and even they are fine throughout winter. Normal summer tyres will be absolutely fit-for purpose for UK motoring this side of -10 degree/2 feet of snow, and the performance benefits in drier conditions will make it even more worth it.
I had this dilemma and a similar budget - £120 a corner. I chose Michelin PS4s because in reviews their wet grip was significantly better than other similarly priced premium tyres. Of course, they are a compromise between having two sets.
The PS4s feel amazing, relative to the T1Rs I had previously which performed very badly on my FWD car.
I went out to test their limits to see how the car responded. I have a 'test roundabout' and found that I couldn't reach their limits at a sane cornering speed, even if I floored it mid-corner to try and induce understeer. In fact, they almost seem too grippy for the chassis/suspension stiffness.
Haven't really 'tested' them in the rain and don't intend to.
It feels like they can cope with up to 180-200bhp, without gaining much benefit from upgrading further, e.g. PS4 SS.
The PS4s feel amazing, relative to the T1Rs I had previously which performed very badly on my FWD car.
I went out to test their limits to see how the car responded. I have a 'test roundabout' and found that I couldn't reach their limits at a sane cornering speed, even if I floored it mid-corner to try and induce understeer. In fact, they almost seem too grippy for the chassis/suspension stiffness.
Haven't really 'tested' them in the rain and don't intend to.
It feels like they can cope with up to 180-200bhp, without gaining much benefit from upgrading further, e.g. PS4 SS.
Pica-Pica said:
Ares said:
IME, Summer Tyres are perfectly adequate for 365 motoring, they're not hot sticky track tyres.
I run OEM P-Zero Corsas which are amongst the most extreme 'normal' summer road tyres, and even they are fine throughout winter. Normal summer tyres will be absolutely fit-for purpose for UK motoring this side of -10 degree/2 feet of snow, and the performance benefits in drier conditions will make it even more worth it.
Agree. After many decades of using ‘normal’ tyres all year round, we now need to have winter tyres available, or all-season tyres.I run OEM P-Zero Corsas which are amongst the most extreme 'normal' summer road tyres, and even they are fine throughout winter. Normal summer tyres will be absolutely fit-for purpose for UK motoring this side of -10 degree/2 feet of snow, and the performance benefits in drier conditions will make it even more worth it.
So instead of 'managing' with summer tyres, why not switch to an all season tyre that will perform to a similar level in the dry and provide a very noticeable difference in the occasionally snowy conditions that we get?
Just because we used to manage a certain way is no argument against a better alternative when it comes along, IMO.
The only minor negatives with all seasons is that they may not be good enough for a high performance vehicle and slightly higher cost compared with a summer tyre. But in the grand scheme of things, its a tiny percentage of overall motoring costs.
DJ_AS said:
Pica-Pica said:
Ares said:
IME, Summer Tyres are perfectly adequate for 365 motoring, they're not hot sticky track tyres.
I run OEM P-Zero Corsas which are amongst the most extreme 'normal' summer road tyres, and even they are fine throughout winter. Normal summer tyres will be absolutely fit-for purpose for UK motoring this side of -10 degree/2 feet of snow, and the performance benefits in drier conditions will make it even more worth it.
Agree. After many decades of using ‘normal’ tyres all year round, we now need to have winter tyres available, or all-season tyres.I run OEM P-Zero Corsas which are amongst the most extreme 'normal' summer road tyres, and even they are fine throughout winter. Normal summer tyres will be absolutely fit-for purpose for UK motoring this side of -10 degree/2 feet of snow, and the performance benefits in drier conditions will make it even more worth it.
So instead of 'managing' with summer tyres, why not switch to an all season tyre that will perform to a similar level in the dry and provide a very noticeable difference in the occasionally snowy conditions that we get?
Just because we used to manage a certain way is no argument against a better alternative when it comes along, IMO.
The only minor negatives with all seasons is that they may not be good enough for a high performance vehicle and slightly higher cost compared with a summer tyre. But in the grand scheme of things, its a tiny percentage of overall motoring costs.
DJ_AS said:
Sure, most of us used to drive on summer tyres all year. But part of that was through lack of choice, save for the inconvenience and cost of swapping between summer and winter tyres.
So instead of 'managing' with summer tyres, why not switch to an all season tyre that will perform to a similar level in the dry and provide a very noticeable difference in the occasionally snowy conditions that we get?
Just because we used to manage a certain way is no argument against a better alternative when it comes along, IMO.
The only minor negatives with all seasons is that they may not be good enough for a high performance vehicle and slightly higher cost compared with a summer tyre. But in the grand scheme of things, its a tiny percentage of overall motoring costs.
Many modern car "summer" tyres are arguably a bit too dry performance oriented for smooth roads, even on fairly mild cars that never get driven hard or fast, and never anywhere near a track. The tread patterns are often useless for anything other. So instead of 'managing' with summer tyres, why not switch to an all season tyre that will perform to a similar level in the dry and provide a very noticeable difference in the occasionally snowy conditions that we get?
Just because we used to manage a certain way is no argument against a better alternative when it comes along, IMO.
The only minor negatives with all seasons is that they may not be good enough for a high performance vehicle and slightly higher cost compared with a summer tyre. But in the grand scheme of things, its a tiny percentage of overall motoring costs.
Driving on snow, wet grass or light mud is often hopeless. Many normal cars of 30 years ago would have coped much better on their tyres.
DJ_AS said:
Sure, most of us used to drive on summer tyres all year. But part of that was through lack of choice, save for the inconvenience and cost of swapping between summer and winter tyres.
So instead of 'managing' with summer tyres, why not switch to an all season tyre that will perform to a similar level in the dry and provide a very noticeable difference in the occasionally snowy conditions that we get?
Just because we used to manage a certain way is no argument against a better alternative when it comes along, IMO.
The only minor negatives with all seasons is that they may not be good enough for a high performance vehicle and slightly higher cost compared with a summer tyre. But in the grand scheme of things, its a tiny percentage of overall motoring costs.
All-season tyres have worse wet-braking performance in virtually every scenario they are likely to encounter. The proportion of heavy rain that occurs in this country at near-freezing temperatures is very small. So instead of 'managing' with summer tyres, why not switch to an all season tyre that will perform to a similar level in the dry and provide a very noticeable difference in the occasionally snowy conditions that we get?
Just because we used to manage a certain way is no argument against a better alternative when it comes along, IMO.
The only minor negatives with all seasons is that they may not be good enough for a high performance vehicle and slightly higher cost compared with a summer tyre. But in the grand scheme of things, its a tiny percentage of overall motoring costs.
If you want to sacrifice wet-braking for improved ability to drive on ice, I would assume you live somewhere very dry and cold.
jamei303 said:
All-season tyres have worse wet-braking performance in virtually every scenario they are likely to encounter. The proportion of heavy rain that occurs in this country at near-freezing temperatures is very small.
If you want to sacrifice wet-braking for improved ability to drive on ice, I would assume you live somewhere very dry and cold.
For reference http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2018-AZ-Summe...If you want to sacrifice wet-braking for improved ability to drive on ice, I would assume you live somewhere very dry and cold.
Gassing Station | Suspension, Brakes & Tyres | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff