All season instead of winters for north/south divide use?

[DickP]

I'm about to get another set of wheels and tyres for my Skoda Superb to run in the winter months. I use the car for work and leisure. Work can have me down as far as the south coast and across the northern regions of England. For leisure, particularly during winter, the car will also be used in the Scottish highlands.

As you can imagine there are sometimes quite significant climate differences between these places during the winter season (i.e. south coast around double digits but Scotland below freezing with snow down). With this in mind, would going for an All Season tyre over a Winter Tyre be a more practical option?

Thanks!

[Earthdweller]

I have full winters on one of my cars ( Bridgestone blizzak’s) and Goodyear vector four seasons on the other

Driving them on wet, icy and snowy roads last year there was hardly any difference in them

Tbf I think that “all seasons” should probably be the default choice for the U.K.

The performance of the Goodyear’s in wet weather has been faultless and even through this summer no issues at all

I’d certainly recommend all seasons

[DickP]

Thanks for the reply, informative. For clarity of anyone else reading, I have Michelin Pilot Sport 3 on the car on the stock 18 inch rims for during summer months, but the winters will be the smaller 17 rims (once I get them!).

[h0b0]

I had Continental DWS06 on my Cayenne for 30k miles and was very impressed both with the Summer performance and Snow capability. Where I live we measure snow in feet and I did not experience any issues while others around me were struggling. I was concerned about the Dry weather compromise but was very impressed with the grip. .


I just changed them for Michelin All Weather PS4s. After 1000 miles I can tell these are no way near as good in the dry as the DWS06. I went out today and when putting my foot down coming out of a corner the car squirmed when the DWSs would not have had missed a beat. I wondered if it was surface related so tried it again and the same thing happened. For reference, I had the kids in the car so was not going for it at all. I did not feel like I was out of control but I was sure on the limits of the tyres much sooner than expected.


In conclusion, The right all Seasons can be great in the Winter without significantly negatively impacting driving in the dry. I hope the PS4s astound me in the wet/snow because they are not impressing in the dry so far.

[Pica-Pica]

If you already have a set for summer, then I’ve seen tests showing Continental TS860 winters do a fair job in warmer spells. They may be a good solution. Otherwise Continental AllSeason Contact, or Vredestein Quatracs all-season? We have the Quatracs on a Skoda Fabia. Not been seriously tested in the winter, but certainly fine during the summer, and quiet too.
Also see:

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Article/2020-Tyre-Revi...

[voram]

Sounds like a lot of faffing about to me in these days of tyre pressure sensors and who knows what else.

I'm a big fan of Michelin Pilot Sport and rate them as a great "wet grip" tyre for all-year-round use.

[loafer123]

I put Nokian WRs or Vreidstein Quatracs on my cars.

The Nokians in particular have great grip, are quiet and last for 30k+ miles.

[timberman]

If I were running different sets of wheels for both summer and winter I think I might be inclined to fit full on winter tyres to the 2nd set of smaller wheels,
All season tyres are meant to replace both summer and winter tyres and are supposed to be a one tyre suits all weather solution

IMO they're perfect for UK weather and are designed to be used year round which is what we have on our Tiguan ( Michelin Crossclimates ) and when they need replacing we will be fitting the same again.


I think they work best on family cars / SUV's best and would never have considered fitting them to my 911 or anything else high performance, in my case, come winter time the 911 remained on the MP4S's and was only used as an when needed in colder months.

[Lester H]

Depends on definition of North, but south of Scottish Highlands, Crossclimate or similar will be absolutely fine. I agree with poster who remarked on the faff of changing/ storing tyres. (Emperor’s New Clothes springs to mind). Also ( though contradicting myself here -PH ers usually do it for me) if you live where deep snow occurs 7 days annually, get a spare / emergency 2CV or a basic Panda . If the former is now too dear as a result of hype, just get the most basic Picanto or similar, as long as it has narrow tyres and isn’t heavy.

Edited by Lester H on Saturday 4th September 18:36

[ChocolateFrog]

Harry Metcalf was singing the praises of the Pirelli Scorpion Verde's for 4 season use and I guess he's tried most of them.

[Smint]

Yes, if a second set of wheels go full winters.

We run both, one car has second set of wheels with winters fitted, second Subaru they have been on, bonus in that the summer wheels never see salt and being 1" smaller wheels with higher profile tyres (both sizes OE spec) enjoy a softer ride in winter.

The other vehicle needed new tyres so went for all seasons which are doing great, find it best to increase tyre pressures by 5psi during summer otherwise even on a Prado they can feel 'floaty' at the lower (standard) pressures during very hot days.

The downside to full winters i've found is warm damp salty roads during winter days they definately don't have the cornering grip that a similar quality summer tyre would, this i have found the case with several good makes (Vred/Nokian), grip improves as temps drop.
My son found wet warmer winter grip so bad he actually removed the winter set from his 325 estate and put the runflat summer set back on, excellent grip restored.

In all honesty if i hadn't already got the winter tyres and wheels free (due to same size as the last car they were on) and i needed new tyres anyway all seasons it would be.

[stevieturbo]

voram said:

Sounds like a lot of faffing about to me in these days of tyre pressure sensors and who knows what else.

I'm a big fan of Michelin Pilot Sport and rate them as a great "wet grip" tyre for all-year-round use.

but poor in the snow/ice, as any UHP tyre would be. Terrible choice for the highlands of Scotland. Good choice for the south of England though if the car warrants such a tyre too


Plenty of reviews here of all sorts.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHph1mDtCbQ

[Sheepshanks]

Earthdweller said:

Tbf I think that “all seasons” should probably be the default choice for the U.K.

I do as well - it annoys the heck out of me that all these SUVs etc come with summer tyres. Was lucky to pick up a new pukka VW winter wheel and tyre set for wife's mk1 Tiguan for £250 - I had to do a rush cross-country run when it snowed unexpectedly one night and trains from our local station were cancelled. The back roads haven't been gritted but the car started and stopped like it was on tarmac - just had to remember not to get over-confident on bends as there wasn't a lot of lateral grip.

I recall some technical bod from Cont years saying if you had to choose one tyre in UK then a Winter would be best, although i don't recall All Season tyres being a thing then. We have a Jazz in the family that runs Michelin Alpin's year round - they last better then the summer tyres the car came with.

[voram]

Sheepshanks said:

I do as well - it annoys the heck out of me that all these SUVs etc come with summer tyres.

Yes, it's a long time ago that things like Range Rovers came with a wash-down interior and off-road tyres. It's all deep pile carpets and Gucci tyres these days.

[Cold]

voram said:

Yes, it's a long time ago that things like Range Rovers came with a wash-down interior and off-road tyres. It's all deep pile carpets and Gucci tyres these days.

Tyres such as Pirelli Scorpion All Weather are usually OE fit on Range Rovers. Road biased, yes. Gucci, no.

[roscopervis]

I also agree that All Seasons should be standard fit. I’ve been running sets for several years now and they last better than summer tyres and they are better in the wet too. It’s a no brainier really unless the car is really used for pushing on.

[DickP]

Thank you all for the comments. Based on these, and also further watching / reading I've done, I'll probably be going for the more winter biased all season rather than all season or full winter tyre.