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.