Winter tyres vol 2

[Alan99UK]

Thanks

I did ask for the mechanic who serviced my car to fit all weathers last year and he fitted landsail all weathers only on the front

Any idea if they are any good ?

[Sporky]

So the front will have grip and the back won't?

That sounds fun!

[aeropilot]

Sporky said:

So the front will have grip and the back won't?

That sounds fun!

Sounds like he needs to find a new mechanic

[bolidemichael]

Alan99UK said:

Thanks

I did ask for the mechanic who serviced my car to fit all weathers last year and he fitted landsail all weathers only on the front

Any idea if they are any good ?

It may be for the best if you were to fit the same tyres to the rear.

[Smint]

Alan99UK said:

Thanks

I did ask for the mechanic who serviced my car to fit all weathers last year and he fitted landsail all weathers only on the front

Any idea if they are any good ?

Probably not the first choice in all season tyres, we assume they do have the snowflake and three mountain symbol designating them as winter rated?

By rights winter rated tyres even if designated all season should be fitted all round, but people have been doing things like this for years, back in the days of Austin Cambridges many people would fit 'Town and Country' tyres to the rear axle (almost all cars were correct wheel drive in those days), don't know about the rubber mixture being any different but the tread patterns were vastly different to normal tyres of the day, remember a 560 x 13 cross ply was the equivalent of a 145/155 x 13 radial both being typical sizes, those narrow tyres were generally good in cold wet and snow conditions.

Things will probably feel ok for now depending on what sort of tyres you have on the back, its when the temps drop below 7'C where diiferences in grip levels will show up, its not a combination i'd want on a car but then i always fit the same all round and can't remember the last time i bought only 2 tyres preferring to have all 4 new and rotate until needing replacement.

[Speed addicted]

MDT said:

I would say for the winters we get in the UK you would be getting on fine in your VW fitted with a set of michelin cross climate. My wife's Clio with these on was just fantastic in the past few winters, in 1-2" of snow.
I would suggest much better in a lighter car on winter tyres 90% of the winter than 2T of 4x4 on summer tyres.

if it's really bad, should you be out anyway?

We live in rural NE Scotland so get some snow of varying depths every year.
My wife’s discovery sport is on cross climates as a replacement for the Pirelli scorpions (I think) that it came with.
No issues even in deep snow and they seem to be lasting fairly well. I’d certainly fit them to pretty much anything as a good all round tyre.

I use more aggressive tyres on the pickup so I’ve got a set of Falken wild peaks coming this week.
Last winter I drove the truck through drifting snow deep enough to be dragging on the underside, it’s got about 8” of ground clearance. I’ve had various cars with winter tyres but none of the lower ones would have been able to get through.
As for the just stay home brigade, what if it snows while you’re out? Or in my case while your child is in nursery 7 miles away?

[E-bmw]

Sporky said:

So the front will have grip and the back won't?

That sounds fun!

He said they fitted Landsail, no they won't.

[Sporky]

Speed addicted said:

As for the just stay home brigade, what if it snows while you re out?

That's why I have Cross Climates. I am going to get home.

But I think staying at home if you can is pretty sensible. Being reasonably prepared is also sensible. The two aren't mutually exclusive.

[Konan]

Speed addicted said:

I use more aggressive tyres on the pickup so I ve got a set of Falken wild peaks coming this week.
Last winter I drove the truck through drifting snow deep enough to be dragging on the underside, it s got about 8 of ground clearance. I ve had various cars with winter tyres but none of the lower ones would have been able to get through.

I took my old Cherokee out through some 4ft+ drifts on Yokohama G015, which arn't the most agressive of A/T tyres and not a 'winter' by any stretch (I actually got them for the improved road grip when towing... I'd rather have decent grip on a public road whilst pulling 1500Kg than worry too about getting stuck off-road).

They handled it far better than I thought. I only gave up and backed out when I got high centered and had to throw some sticks under it. I then drove back through the Cherokee shaped hole I'd been punching through up until that point

We have these on a Forester now (as above, I thought of going back to just summers on my car and leaving it in the drive), so I'm fairly sure I'd have a reasonable chance of staying mobile if caught out. The problem, as always, would be the cars blocking the road that had already gotten hopelessly stuck.

[LeoSayer]

M11rph said:

Michelin Crossclimate 3 Sport fitted on the GR86 today. It should be a good test mule for them.

The GR86 hasn't got much sound insulation so should show up any issues in that area.

The current Michelin Pilot Sport 4 are unbearably loud and resonant at some speeds on the concrete sections of our beloved M25, to the point that it is necessary to modulate your speed to get out of the resonant-zone! The GR86 is keen to break traction on cool/damp roads with them on too.

PS4 only have 5000 miles of use on them so it is a fair comparison unlike many user's anecdotal assessments where worn tyres are compared against new.



First impression after 10 miles is positive (20c and dry). Feel slightly stiffer than PS4,yet equally compliant over normal road irregularities. No weird droning noises from them up to the NSL.

Once I've powerslid them around my favourite roundabout I'll report back.

Getting 4 tyres in the back of a GR86 isn't as easy as I thought.

As a fellow GR86 owner I'm very interested in your feedback.

I find that PS4 have pretty soft sidewalls for a sporty tyre, PS5 even more so.

By the way, there is a potential fix for the droning noise...
https://www.gr-zoo.com/threads/reducing-front-end-...

[Smint]

Konan said:

I took my old Cherokee out through some 4ft+ drifts on Yokohama G015, which arn't the most agressive of A/T tyres and not a 'winter' by any stretch (I actually got them for the improved road grip when towing... I'd rather have decent grip on a public road whilst pulling 1500Kg than worry too about getting stuck off-road).

They handled it far better than I thought. I only gave up and backed out when I got high centered and had to throw some sticks under it. I then drove back through the Cherokee shaped hole I'd been punching through up until that point

We have these on a Forester now (as above, I thought of going back to just summers on my car and leaving it in the drive), so I'm fairly sure I'd have a reasonable chance of staying mobile if caught out. The problem, as always, would be the cars blocking the road that had already gotten hopelessly stuck.

Those Yoko GO15 all seasons are superb in the white stuff, our Outback on full winters wouldn't make it out of our steep drive uncleared, the Prado on GO15s went up like it was bone dry, to be fair to the Subaru it dawned on me later that day that i hadn't switched traction control off (which was cutting power constantly as it detected wheelspin), whereas the Prado being a LC5 version automatically sends the power where its needed without the need to switch anything on/off.

[wiliferus]

Whilst we’re on the subject of mixing tyres. I have a full set of Goodyear Vector 4Seasons on the family bus (SMax). The fronts have obviously worn quicker than the rear as I haven’t rotated them. They’ve been fine but I’m toying with the idea of CCs or Vred Ultrac Pros.
I take it I’ll be ok to have a different set of all seasons on the front axle to the rear. Not ideal I accept, but should be ok shouldn’t it?

[Speed addicted]

wiliferus said:

Whilst we re on the subject of mixing tyres. I have a full set of Goodyear Vector 4Seasons on the family bus (SMax). The fronts have obviously worn quicker than the rear as I haven t rotated them. They ve been fine but I m toying with the idea of CCs or Vred Ultrac Pros.
I take it I ll be ok to have a different set of all seasons on the front axle to the rear. Not ideal I accept, but should be ok shouldn t it?

Not ideal but much less of a difference than snow and summer tyres. Probably best to put the new ones on the rear (as per Costco advice) to give the most predictable handling.

[Captain Smerc]

Rscut said:

Ry.Clarke said:

Have never had an issue without 4x4, but I use all season tyres.

The vast majority of UK drivers only have trouble here because they are much too cheap to buy proper rubber.

You do not need 4x4 for what you will use it for.

I have done many years on Michelin CrossClimates which are great, but have since moved to Continental All Season two as they are quieter on the road. Again, very good.

Mate, shut up.

Agreed, the Conti's are an excellent tyre.

[M11rph]

LeoSayer said:

As a fellow GR86 owner I'm very interested in your feedback.

I find that PS4 have pretty soft sidewalls for a sporty tyre, PS5 even more so.

By the way, there is a potential fix for the droning noise...
https://www.gr-zoo.com/threads/reducing-front-end-...

Early days, but I've just done a little road trip to Norfolk. 300 miles on a mix of roads, albeit dry and 18-23c.

There might be a touch of tyre hum in very small speed windows, but new tyres can often do that for a few hundred miles IME until the sharp edges of the tread wear a little. Wasn't concious of it on the return. No concrete motorway encountered yet!

Ran them at the recommended pressure (2.4 all around) on the way out and 2.3 on the way back. (Original PS4 I ran at 2.2, as the recommended 2.4 made it very tail happy).

The lower pressure was better and 2.3 front 2.2/2.1 rear might be better still. Broadly they feel quite like the PS4 if you run it at the recommended 2.4 BAR, a fraction floaty but without the tendency to breakaway so easily. Those lower pressures and a bit less in the rear than front might well help.

Impressive levels of dry grip, similar to the PS4. Turn in is a touch less direct, so when "making progress" I started turning in fractionally earlier so the tyre was loaded up when you get on line.

Obviously not really used in the conditions for which they should be "better" than a pure summer tyre, but so far nothing that stands out as being annoying or an obvious weakness.

[Davie]

Sat here deliberating ordering fronts for mine....

It had Vredestein Quatrac Pro fitted last May soon after purchase because that's my default, year round tyre for life in central Scotland and it's done about 13,000 miles and they're down to 4mm on the front and 7mm on the rear.

Black Circles have a promotion on so £250 for the pair, fully fitted but part of me thinks "Hold. Hold. Hold..." and wait a few weeks / couple of thousand miles until they're down to 3mm then change ahead of the crappy weather coming...

But I'm also doing 1000 miles down south in a couple of weeks time and it's already noticeably "looser" in very wet weather / standing water.

The other car was bought a few months ago and came with "as new" Goodyear summer tyres that are still 7mm all round but they'll be getting swapped to the "as new" Quatracs that were liberated from my last car before it died.

I'll sleep on it...

[Salted_Peanut]

I hope Michelen will offer the CrossClimate Sport in more sizes. Currently, it's available in fewer sizes than the CrossClimate 3 and far fewer than the CrossClimate 2.

[mmm-five]

Salted_Peanut said:

I hope Michelen will offer the CrossClimate Sport in more sizes. Currently, it's available in fewer sizes than the CrossClimate 3 and far fewer than the CrossClimate 2.

It's brand new - give it time!

But if it's like some of there other tyres, the may never produce it in some sizes/profiles.

If that's the case then the Continental AllSeasonContact 2 or Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF3 are very good alternatives (i.e. the Michelin CC2/CC3/CC3Sport are better in actual snow/cold&dry, but the Continental/Pirelli are better in 'English' weather of warm, warm+wet or cold+wet).

Edited by mmm-five on Monday 29th September 12:47

[Salted_Peanut]

mmm-five said:

the Continental AllSeasonContact 2 or Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF3 are very good alternatives (i.e. the Michelin CC2/CC3/CC3Sport are better in actual snow/cold&dry, but the Continental/Pirelli are better in 'English' weather of warm, warm+wet or cold+wet).

Many thanks—that’s helpful info. I’ll look for reviews of how the AllSeasonContact 2 compares with the Cinturato All Season SF3 for ‘English’ weather. Have you tried them?

[mmm-five]

Salted_Peanut said:

Many thanks that s helpful info. I ll look for reviews of how the AllSeasonContact 2 compares with the Cinturato All Season SF3 for English weather. Have you tried them?

Haven't tried any of the latest models, be that from Michelin, Pirelli or Continental...but have had experience of the previous generation(s) of the Cross-Climate 1 + 2, AllSeasonContact 1 and Bridgestone A005 WeatherControl (great in the wet, but relatively high wear) on a 320D, a 330D, a 335D and an Alfa 147.

All my performance data/comparisons are from the TyreReviews videos/websites (not the subjective user reviews, the magazine/independent tyre reviews).

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre-Tests/All-Season/

Jon's latest all-season test (missing the newest Michelins...which were covered in an earlier video)


Earlier CC3 video...


Wanted to try the AllSeasonContact 2 - but ended up with the ASC1 because the online tyre company sent the wrong ones and neither I, nor the tyre fitter noticed until it was too late - about a month / 1000 miles later when I was checking the tyre pressures.

I complained to the supplier and they said their website was showing the ASC2 in error, and they weren't released yet, so that's why they sent the older model...without telling anyone of course...and wouldn't even discuss a return/refund.

They're not a terrible tyre, so didn't get too worked up, but the newer model does move their performance on a bit, so I felt a bit peeved that I was 'stuck' with the worse performing version.