Winter tyres or All Season ?

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philepo

Active Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2009
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294
Car
C270 CDI (2004 w203)
Hello,
I was wondering if (when my current summer tyres are dead) if I should try a set of all season tyres. I can't justify Winter tyres as the cost is prohibitive for just a few days of snow (I live where its mainly flat). Looking at Mytyres it seems that all season tyres are not that expensive and can be quiet (important to me) if you buy the right make and could be a great compromise... am I missing something, surely I am!? ;)
 
I highly recommend goodyear eagle vector EV2 four season tyres.

Dual compound with the edges being a summer tyre compound (for corners) with the centre bit being the winter tyre compound for grip when you need it. They are hard to tell the difference from a summer tyre in summer and I have used them for multiple trips to Europe and used them in seriously heavy snow conditions and found them to be excellent.

Wear rates seem to be comparable with a normal summer tyre.
 
I,too, am pondering the all-season route but wonder about them being noisier.Also would the ride comfort be typically about the same as summers?
 
i took the decision for all weather.

I just plod about so i don't really push summer tyres like some do and from my research whilst there is a reduction in summer time performance the win in winter performance (and improved safety) more than balanced that out.

If i pushed my car in the summer a bit more then i might have made a different choice.

I went for goodyear 4seasons and were decent price and have had no issues so far (only 4 months). We will have to see how they do over a full winter and also how long they last for but for me it was a decent compromise for all year round pretty safe driving.

I would of preferred seperate winter and summer tyres but space and money is tight so a compromise is required, hence the all weather.
 
I went for Bridgestone A001 all seasons and to be honest I can't see any difference in noise or ride quality at all in the summer.

Just waiting for some snow now :D
 
I have gone with the Michelin Latitude Tour HP, it is MO stamped and I am a huge Michelin fan. Read loads of great reviews of people saying it was a great tyre for the UK where there is not loads of snow, and then on the US forums the guys with loads of snow were raving about it too, saying it was as good as any snow tyre.
So thought I would give it a bash.
Not had any snow yet, but do like it as a tyre, and in the 0°c weather we have had it seems very grippy.

I will report back when the snow lands.
 
... am I missing something, surely I am!? ;)

Check what's available in the sizes on your car - mine has the staggered set-up and I can't find any All-Season tyres in exactly the right spec (load index and speed rating) for both front and rear sizes.

Also, if you're not used to it, watch for All Season tyres often being directional if you usually rotate your tyres.
 
Check what's available in the sizes on your car - mine has the staggered set-up and I can't find any All-Season tyres in exactly the right spec (load index and speed rating) for both front and rear sizes.

Also, if you're not used to it, watch for All Season tyres often being directional if you usually rotate your tyres.

Have you looked at the Continental Extreme Contact DWS ?
Can't get any higher speed/load rating..
I run them on my staggered CLK63 BS.
 
Have you looked at the Continental Extreme Contact DWS ?
Can't get any higher speed/load rating..
I run them on my staggered CLK63 BS.

They do both the sizes I need (in higher speed rating, which wouldn't be a problem, it was higher load index, or XL tyres, which I wanted to avoid) but they don't appear to be available in the UK.

Apparently Conti designed them exclusively for the North American market and they don't have the right approvals to be sold in Europe. Shame - looking at them at Tirerack they look a pretty reasonable price, even adding VAT.
 
They do both the sizes I need (in higher speed rating, which wouldn't be a problem, it was higher load index, or XL tyres, which I wanted to avoid) but they don't appear to be available in the UK.

Apparently Conti designed them exclusively for the North American market and they don't have the right approvals to be sold in Europe. Shame - looking at them at Tirerack they look a pretty reasonable price, even adding VAT.

Drats !!!! :(

They are great tires, even on a high powered car like the Black Series...

Ed A.
 
Very off topic!

Drats !!!! :(

They are great tires, even on a high powered car like the Black Series...

Ed A.

I just got back from the US and was amazed to see tyres with anything up to 90,000 mile guarantees.

Considering 25K ish is good going for the rear tyres on a Mercedes, do those guarantees really hold water?
 
I just got back from the US and was amazed to see tyres with anything up to 90,000 mile guarantees.

Considering 25K ish is good going for the rear tyres on a Mercedes, do those guarantees really hold water?


There is a bit of fine print....

"If a tire has worn out evenly across the tread well before its estimated mileage limit, it may qualify for replacement under the tread-life warranty. You must show proof of purchase and proof that the tires were rotated properly at the recommended intervals. In this situation, the manufacturer prorates the cost of the new tire based on the percentage of remaining tread on the old tire and the price of the replacement tire."

You can't rotate a staggered set, so the mileage warranty is one half of the indicated mileage warranty.

The Conti EC DWS offer 6 Years / 50,000 miles but half mileage for rear if different size than front.

Ed A.
 
Check what's available in the sizes on your car - mine has the staggered set-up and I can't find any All-Season tyres in exactly the right spec (load index and speed rating) for both front and rear sizes.
Same problem here. I'm looking well ahead because my existing tyres are still OK (other than being summer only!), but can't find any all season tyres for my car at any speed rating! If anyone knows of any all season tyres for 225/40 and 255/35 R18s please let me know.

I don't do enough winter miles to justify another set of wheels with winter boots on so please don't suggest them. Winter only tyres would probably only do 1000 miles a year so they'd rot away before getting worn out.
 
Winters always

I think it depends on what sort of driving you do, but my wife's Honda Jazz runs winter tyres (Michelin Alpin A4's) year round and they seem just fine in normal use but in the little snow we got last year I wasn't stunningly impressed.

I suspect that even though they're supposed to be a full wnter tyre, they're more biased to everyday use. The Michelin's are a very unaggressive looking tyre - the Kumho All-Seasons I've just bought for my car have a much chunkier and open looking tread pattern.

I've seen suggestions of "night and day" difference between summer and winter tyres - to be fair, the Jazz had never given a moments concern through the bad 2009 and 2010 winters on its original Dunlop SP2030 tyres, but they must have been soft as they wore out pretty quickly. The Michelins are certainly going to last longer.
 
Same problem here. I'm looking well ahead because my existing tyres are still OK (other than being summer only!), but can't find any all season tyres for my car at any speed rating! If anyone knows of any all season tyres for 225/40 and 255/35 R18s please let me know.

I don't do enough winter miles to justify another set of wheels with winter boots on so please don't suggest them. Winter only tyres would probably only do 1000 miles a year so they'd rot away before getting worn out.

I can't see any All-Seasons in the 255/35 size either.

Saying you'd only do 1K miles on winter tyres implies you don't do a lot of miles overall, so you could look at something like the Continental WinterContact TS 830P - that's a Winter tyre but is considered OK for year-round use.
 
I am going to fit Bridgestone A001s to my new Citroen XM - they have excellent wet weather grip and good reviews, plus I can get them for £50 a corner, the joys of 15 inch wheels!
 
I highly recommend goodyear eagle vector EV2 four season tyres.

Dual compound with the edges being a summer tyre compound (for corners) with the centre bit being the winter tyre compound for grip when you need it. They are hard to tell the difference from a summer tyre in summer and I have used them for multiple trips to Europe and used them in seriously heavy snow conditions and found them to be excellent.

Wear rates seem to be comparable with a normal summer tyre.

Thanks they sound like exactly what I will be looking out for in the near future. And according to the EU noise specs they are quiet... but... only E for fuel economy and (strangely) E rating for wet weather braking, though I have no idea how much difference that makes in real life.
 
I have also been looking for all season tyres for my ML, you would think there would be loads to choose from for a 4x4 but I can't find any in a 265/45R20 size.

David
 

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