There are many YouTube videos showing normal cars fitted with winter tyres out performing 4x4s (fitted with summer tyres) in the ice and snow. My wife is a care worker and needs to get to work in any sort of weather. I couldn't be bothered with the hassle of changing tyres/wheels twice a year so wondered if 'All Season' tyres are better than normal ones when snow is on the ground. Do any members use them and which ones are the best? Present car is a Renault Clio E tech. Quite good in the snow but could be better.

I have a 4wd VW Touareg - at replacement time I fitted Vredestein Quatrac Pro Plus - not as good in snow as a full winter tyre but exellent in the cold wet conditions we get a lot of in the UK

Due to a previous horrible commute I had two sets of wheels either with summer or winter tyres. I did that for many years (er decades) on two Skoda Superbs but latterly all season tyres have really improved so a few years ago I started using just all season rubber. Initially Vredestein Quatrac 5 tyres then I've had a couple of sets of Michelin Crossclimate tyres and Mrs BJ now has some Goodyear Vector gen2 tyres on her Panda.

The Crossclimate tyres have thus far been my favorite having endured bad winter and south of France summer weather well. Always felt surefooted on hot/cold/icy and occasionally snowy roads tested driving up a steep exposed hill as part of my commute. However my favorite things have been they were much quieter than the Continental summer tyres that preceded them and performance in horrendous rain inc rivers running over the road has been outstanding. With a big Superb on 205/55 R16 tyres they have lasted circa 35k miles as well.

The Quatrac 5 tyres were good in wintry and summer conditions but I found them a little lacking in very wet weather. The latest Quatrac tyre is supposed to be much improved though so might still be a future contender. Wear life was outstanding.

The Vector gen 2 tyres so far seem good but I can't comment re life as the Panda is a very low annual mileage car. Handling seems good in all conditions including a very wintry trip over the North Yorkshire Moors. My only criticism is they a seem prone to a bit of wheel spin if setting off sharpish from a junction - it's only a 1.2 8v NA Panda!! I think the gen 4 is available now though.

Myself I'm now stuck with Bridgestone summer tyres as I've recently bought a new car. I'll replace with all season tyres when the time comes as I'm no longer doing the horrible commute. If really wintry now I'll just borrow the Panda!

Other brands are available!

Edited by Big John on 26/11/2024 at 22:27

I had Michelin cross climates on a Lexus NX all was good for 3 years (22,000 miles) but then noticed the side walls were cracking and this was the failure for the MOT.

There are many YouTube videos showing normal cars fitted with winter tyres out performing 4x4s (fitted with summer tyres) in the ice and snow. My wife is a care worker and needs to get to work in any sort of weather. I couldn't be bothered with the hassle of changing tyres/wheels twice a year so wondered if 'All Season' tyres are better than normal ones when snow is on the ground. Do any members use them and which ones are the best? Present car is a Renault Clio E tech. Quite good in the snow but could be better.

What part of the UK do you live in? Some all-season tyres are more suited to the South where we get less snow and cold/icy conditions, some more 'winter-biased', more suitable for more northern climes (though avoiding rural / isolated areas), some 'in the middle'.

If you live in / wife drives in a rural area a lot, then I would recommend upgrading to the next level up, i.e. not just by geographic region, mainly because rural roads are less likely to be salted or cleared / kept relatively ice/snow free by snow ploughs or other vehicles using the roads.

Many all-season tyres also have the 'M+S' (mud and snow) designation, which helps even outside of snowy/icy condition on rural muddy roads, though not as well as proper off-road tyres.

I would always avoid budget makes, leaving the mid-range and premium brands, which should give sufficient choice. A good idea to use the Tyre Reviews website to aid you:

www.tyrereviews.co.uk/

My 2005MY Mazda3 1.6 petrol has had Michelin CrossClimate+ tyres fitted since 2018. They've worked well across all different weather, though I've only had to use them once in the snow (I live in East Anglia).

These tyres are more 'summer' biased, so give better performance outside of winter than tyres like the Goodyear or (I think) Continental A/S tyres, which are of the 'in the middle' type, but aren't quite as good in the snow, but still far superior to summer tyres in snow.

Here is the latest tyrereviews test of all season tyres.

www.tyrereviews.com/Article/Best-All-Season-Tyres-...m

As you can see, and as mentioned already, there is a difference between those more oriented towards snow, or towards wet/cold roads. There's a tool where you can insert your priorities and it'll show what it thinks is the best option for you.

I've been a long term believer in all season tyres, and have had several different brands over the past decade or so. I needed to buy a new set about a month ago, and would have gone for the top rated tyre in the above test (Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF3), but unfortunately Pirelli don't make that tyre in the size I needed - so went for one of the 2= choices, the Bridgestone Turanza All Season 6. I live in the SW, in a very rural area, and we also don't get much snow (though did last week). This Bridgestone tyre is summarised in the review as "The Bridgestone Turanza All Season 6 is the tyre you'd fit of the second places if you live in a mild climate, it was the best in the dry, a whisker off the best in the wet " - which seemed to fit my circumstances. I was slightly disappointed by its performanc in the snow last week, which is what the review had warned, but we don't get snow often.

There is no doubt whatsoever that "'All Season' tyres are better than normal ones when snow is on the ground" - and there are plenty of tests to show that they are also better than normal ones on typically British wet, cold winter roads.

After the winter of 2010 I used to swap tyres summer / winter but with the current crop of excellent all season tyres I now run these ... got over 50k miles on the CrossClimate tyre but now run the Continental variant. Truthfully never noticed any issues / problems or worrisome moments. In fact, the tyres on my wife's car needed replacing so I have put a set of the Conti on this too. We took the car to London on Sunday, very wet & windy but all was fine, smooth and safe. Black Friday offers helped with the cost, always buy in advance online for the best prices. Too early to discuss wear - if conditions are tough with snow I would still prefer to stay at home to mitigate risks from summer tyred cars.

In my experience, all-season are no better than normal. We live up a fairly steep hill and then half a mile off the road at about 700 foot above sea level in the Pennines and I would never put all weather tyres on, only winter tyres.

Yes, they really are.

Much like other posts on this discussion, after many years of swapping from summer to winter, with two sets of wheels for both cars, we moved to CrossClimates in around 2015 and never looked back.

That said, I've recently bought an nice old hack in good condition, (a 2002 V70 2.4 petrol with just over 100K - a "D-Spec" car) which needed new boots all round due to age cracking. I went with Hankook 4S2 H750, their CrossClimate competitor. They did a splendid job in the flash ice and slush this past weekend. Rock solid on a long FWD car. Nice ride too.

Modern AS tyres are superior below 6C and in seriously wet weather - which is only getting more frequent in this country. They're also more resilient to the risible conditions of our road surfaces. The downsides are a negligible hit to economy, a tad more road noise and the increased purchase cost, which isn't that much and, as ever, shop around.

Unless I ever own an out and out sports car, I will always fit All Seasons.