So I fitted all season tyres...

Indeed I leave mine on all year and put up with a db or two more noise and a mile or two less per gallon compared to the uber-efficient summers I have had before.
Seeing as summer weekend in Scotland can become winter on a Tuesday in July, that works for me...

I wasn’t a fan, found them too soft for summer use and not really much more useful in the winter (good quality summer tyres with decent tread remaining have never made me come up short under braking or steering).

Maybe I just drive like an old person.

IME, different all seasons behave very differently. Just like bike tyres have huge differences.
We keep fitting either Michelin Crossclimate or (more likely these days, the difference is neglible for a huge cost saving) Hankook kinergy 4s. I find the Hankook's less good on snow & ice, but better on cold rainy roads and summer than the Michelin.

I wasn’t a fan, found them too soft for summer use and not really much more useful in the winter (good quality summer tyres with decent tread remaining have never made me come up short under braking or steering).

Not all all-seasons are equal: some are more summer- or winter-orientated. I deliberately chose some more towards the 'summer' end of the spectrum as they (apparently) prioritise dry/wet cold conditions more than ice or snow. Closer to a summer tyre than a winter tyre I guess, but still hugely better in snow than a summer tyre. Suits my particular use well.

Bridgestone WeatherControl A005.

Edit - too slow typing. What Matt says!

We have michelin all seasons on one car and they're amazing in the wet, no additional noise or fuel use. They do limit dry driving, so you can't drive past 7/10ths. Fine for normal driving

There's certainly an argument to keep them all year. If I only had them, I doubt I'd bother buying spare wheels and summer tyres. But I already had wheels and I already have the part worn tyres. Once you're in that situation you aren't spending any more money to run two sets, it's just the couple of hours a year to swap them and the garage space. And the bit of extra noise 🙂

I haven't had chance to check the fuel yet but it seems to roll pretty well.

I'm still a 2-sets-er, mostly because used wheels are so cheap- I'm going to have to replace my winters this year but I got the wheels and tyres for £200, from someone else who'd bought 2 sets of wheels then sold the car. They live in the garden under a cover, very minor hassle.

But allseasons keep getting better.

i need to replace my winter steels - they have rotted out.

replacement steels are NOT cheap anymore .

Used to get a set for 40 quid.

now its 200quid for something that doesnt look like it was dredged out the clyde.

but i wouldn't be without all seasons or winters in winter.... id sooner forgo my summer tires....

Every year you can spot which of the neighbours has not put their winters on by the time the cold starts - they get stuck on the hill onto the main road.

My wifes care has full winters on steels - my 108 has all seasons. - i certainly have never found the limits on the 108. The tires(vredstien quatracs) have lasted 20,000 miles as well - the fronts are approaching the 2mm mark and will be changed out this week or next for the coming winter.

Yeah they're not cheap eh? I eventually gave up looking and got a set of alloy wheels off a new vehicle for effectively the price of the new (conti) tyres that were on there, sold the tyres on at 60% of their value and the wheels were then dirt cheap - like £150 for a set of 18s, so it can be done at a reasonable price.

There's still a few winter wheel bargains around for the likes of Skodas, but not much.

Use  summers/winters on the car and Michelin all seasons on the van which seem to work fine in the snow with a bit of due care. I'm in the expensive point where I'll need new summers and winters in the next 6 months, so tempted to go down the all seasons route on the car give how rarely we get excessive snow anymore. Might finally be the incentive the weather needs for a properly snowy winter - so if any one wants a set of Seat Leon 16inch alloys!

We run Pirelli Scorpion Verdes (M+S rated) all year round on my wife's 4WD Kuga as the extra grip helps in muddy fields too.

They aren't cheap, but they really do last! Getting nearly 30k miles from them.

We had planned to go to Germany in October, but my sister annoyingly planned her wedding that week, so now we're going in Feb which means M+S tyres (these are not just tires...). The Conti Allseasons are M+S rated and are probably more suitable for the UK generally, especially down here, but they were also a good chunk cheaper than any tyres for my car, winter or summer.

The wheels I bought a couple of years ago because they came up on eBay quite cheaply (in my favourite OEM style, plus it's a rare size that was rarely specced by the purchasers of the new cars) and I was worried about getting stuck in my RWD car. Of course, since then they've barely seen an ice crystal never mind a snowflake.

IME, different all seasons behave very differently. Just like bike tyres have huge differences.

This why people like Cross climates. IIRC, they were developed as a summer tyre with M&S rating, and they feel like a summer tyre, except in the winter when they grip like a winter tyre. They really do seem to have the perfect compromise.

Proper winter tyres and winter leaning all seasons can feel very different with the soft compound. Personally I'd leave them on all year regardless, but depends on the car and level of performance you're expecting.

I've been on a bit of a tyre journey having gone from winters on alloys all year, to winters on steels and then finally all seasons on the original alloys. It's largely been driven by cost - getting spare steels was getting silly. Then there was a tpms question.

So I've ended up on cross climate 2s, and I'm pretty impressed after a full highland year and a proper trial in deep snow over 30cm up our track. The last tyres were conti winter contacts, these were excellent, ironically across the seasons but not quite as convincing in deep snow in the alps. Also a bit rumbly whereas the ccs are silent in the size I have.

Seems to me you can't really go wrong with any of them, you can pick an attribute that is important to you and there's a tyre that will deliver it.

Inevitably it'll come down to cost and availability - twice I've wanted Goodyear vector's but both time unavailable for my size locally.

This year My tyre guy offered me the ccs at the Goodyear price which was unmissable. I was slightly concerned the XL rating would be an issue on a small hatch but it's not noticeable

I used to spend half the winter in the alps and there was plenty of times where winters would be defeated, usually fresh snow on tarmac. So chains still 100% required there although I never carry them at home

I used to swap wheels for summer/winter, but now I just put all seasons on all year. They are not as good in the snow as pure winters, but I haven't got stuck yet. When I know it could be challenging I have chains with me too, but have never needed to put them on in anger either.

With Goodyear Vector 4 seasons my fwd Octavia managed to get me out the estate one year when the unplowed fresh snow was above the bottom of the bumper. Nobody else got out. Very rarely need the snow performance but for an extra £30 or so a tyre it is worth having it. One year driving home from Torridon on New Year's day we were driving on snow for 20 miles or so over the hill to the Great Glen. Made a nervous drive on summers completely relaxed.

Costco currently doing 4x Goodyear Vectors 215/55 R17 at £128 each. Almost £50 a tyre cheaper than Black Circles.

I wasn’t a fan, found them too soft for summer use

Found this with Michelin Cross Climates, front pair on a fwd van lasted less than 7000 miles. They are better than summer tyres in winter but not a patch on proper winters in snow/icy conditions and don't last very long if used in summer. I went back to two sets of wheels after the trying the all seasons

I was very keen to see how they were in this middling weather

...and so you took your car to a test track and ran an extensive series of blind tests?

I have the same tyres OP on my 320d - after 2 yrs/20k miles  I think they are superb, cant pick up any addition noise and my average MPG went up 2mpg.

What's more, I wasn't towed out of a muddy field like many at Hever Castle Events this weekend* and they were as sure as a sure thing  in the minus temps & snow of December '22 over the Cotswolds.

* I will admit to scouting out the firmer run out to the road, but even so, the car was sunk 2-3 inches in soft yet not wet mud.

…and so you took your car to a test track and ran an extensive series of blind tests?

No need for a a test track. I hear a drive to Barnard Castle is ideal for testing…

Both our winters and summers needed replacing this year and as I'm not planning to keep the car many more years I've just switched to all seasons. Seem fine so far, don't feel much different to the old summers and definitely not as noisy a the winters. Also means I can get rid of the steels and make a bit more room in the garage ?.

I have recently changed my set up for this winter ,to maximise tyre use they wear.

Winter wheels-  Cross Climate with very good tread and less loved alloys for the salty roads.

Summer Wheels...Cross Climates as the tread wears abit is the plan and thus i will always have matching tyres and get max use out use of them.

Previously used Winter tyres so be interesting to compare.

The original Michelin Primacy 4 on the Zoé lasted 17000km on the front, lots of mountain road use is my excuse. 😉 I changed at 3mm in the middle and tread still showing at the edges. Fine in the dry not so fine when cold and wet.

Replaced with Cross climate+ . No downsides noted. Economy should be worse but not measurably so. No difference in noise noted. Excellent in the cold and wet with a reassuring feel. Nearly as good as Michelin Alpin on snow and ice. Even at 40°C or more in Summer they feel fine. What was unexpected was 24000km for the fronts.

…and so you took your car to a test track and ran an extensive series of blind tests?

No, I mean I wanted to see how they compare in normal driving. I'm not interested in ultimate performance.

I had Crossclimates on my V70 and got better MPG and more miles for the extra £'s purchase price. We drive to the Alps skiing each winter and the extra grip was noticeable. I always carry chains as well so the lack of a full winter wasn't an issue.

My current V90 has its OEM summer tyres on it still. They've done 22k miles and still have 4-5mm of tread so being mean, not ready to change yet. I'll get Crossclimates again. Or mebbies the Conti version as they come out slightly better in the comparison tests. The OEM summer tyres were scary last year on fresh snow/steep slope/tight bend/off camber. Luckily the 4wd saved the day though I swore for years I wouldn't have it as not needed in my use case. My current mota only comes in 4wd for the spec/engine configuration I wanted hence the rapid back pedalling...

TL:DR I'll buy Crosswhatsits at next change as I find them betterer and the extra cost is self funding.

I change car tyres like I change my bike tyres - when they are worn out

I've been stuck once - trying to tow a 2t caravan out of a muddy field on SUV road tyres

We only have 1.5 seasons now anyway. Warmish and maybe wet and maybe a bit cold and wet

I had CrossClimates fitted to the front of my EcoSport about two years ago, the original Goodyear OEM tyres on the rear failed the MOT earlier this year, after nearly five years, so the CC2’s went on the back, and I’ve got Continental all-seasons on the front - reviews rate them higher, and they were cheaper.
They seem slightly noisier on certain surfaces, but considering how rough the roads are, barely noticeable. As I’m doing at least half the miles I was doing, it might be another three years before I’ll need to check them.

(good quality summer tyres with decent tread remaining have never made me come up short under braking or steering).

You clearly have absolutely no idea what kind of difference that driving on winter (or decent all-season) tyres actually makes.

We got our new car with all seasons. Can't actually remember what they are, maybe the Muchelin's. Not used in anger yet as we've only had it 6 months.

Up in Newcastle it seemed an obvious decision and surprised it isn't the standard - at least now it's an option at purchase. . We spend more days/time driving on cold, wet or snowy roads that we do on hot ones.  Also as someone mentioned up there. Doing MTB events and CX they will probably come in useful most getting out of fields after races.

I avoid driving in bad winter weather but occasionally have to. I don't really expect to notice a difference as I'm fairly relaxed when driving. That said some years it's been an adventure even getting off our residential street.

Vehicle is a caddy so a bit noisier than the car it replaced so didn't notice the tyres. Even on the old car the road noise was more about the surface than anything on the car.

good quality summer tyres with decent tread remaining have never made me come up short under braking or steering).

Or live in south of England where arguably you can cope without them and just accept staying at home for the 15 minutes of non human based snowflakes you get each year 😉

Had our V70 for lots of years and ran it alongside my Defender110 through a few winters for comparison.

We bought it with new Vredestein full winter tyres - they were as you expect very good in both fresh and packed snow - better than the 4x4 LR on BFG all terrains. I ran them through the summer and they wore fairly quickly

Changed to Michelin cross climates which were as good in winter but quieter than the Vredestein in summer.

Recently I've gone to Bridgestone 'rain tyre' - bit cheaper than CC's but appear to be wearing quicker and have a louder dead 'boomy' noise to them. Will replace them with CC again.

No idea on 'sportiness' as it's a big heavy wobbly Volvo.

Tldr. Normal car/driver - just buy Cross Climates.

This why people like Cross climates. IIRC, they were developed as a summer tyre with M&S rating, and they feel like a summer tyre, except in the winter when they grip like a winter tyre. They really do seem to have the perfect compromise.

I disagree. I was a fan of the original Cross Climates for this reason but with the CC2 they have changed the bias towards very cold weather performance and as a result CC2 performance in the wet is pretty poor now. Still an OK choice if you're likely to be driving on snow or ice but no longer worth it for me (living in the SW).

better than the 4×4 LR on BFG all terrains

Fun fact and RnP is probably aware . But a large amount of bfg ATS sold are not snowflake approved - and most folk don't care.

You can be m+s but not have the mountain snowflake logo.

The non snowflakes are for hot climates and shite in snow .....

I rejected 3 of 4 at the fitter because they were not snowflaked and the main reason I have a 4*4 is for winter use.

I'm old enough to remember when these threads were an argument between whether you needed winter tires  or not

Now it's shifted to winter vs all seasons.

You can't stop progress (massive laughing smiley)

Have the hankook 4s2 on the superb and they are great.

Ok probably less summer grip than dedicated summers but still more than enough and don't have to change them.

I still run 2 sets on my mazda simply because when I bought it,  it was cheaper to get the smaller wheels and winters than to buy the normal size winter tyres on their own.  Not the case now though so if doing it again I would probably just have all seasons

I’m old enough to remember when these threads were an argument between whether you needed winter tires  or not

Don't you mean Crossply  and radial ...

The fact crossply auto corrects to cosplay suggests kids these days wouldn't know the difference either

Or live in south of England where arguably you can cope without them and just accept staying at home for the 15 minutes of non human based snowflakes you get each year 😉

I've experience the driving skill of the South Coast's population in snow conditions.

It's safer being at home where the muppets won't drive into you.

As per other threads, I'm a big fan of all seasons..

Used to have CC2s, but on the Polestar i've got Bridgestone turanza all season 6...

These are more suited to cold and wet, rather than ice and snow..which suits me on the South coast just fine..

I'm such a fan of all season that (unless I wanted to track my car..which, erm, I do!!) i'd just stick on a set of decent all season and leave it.

DrP

I used to run summer and winter tyres on a previous car, with two sets of wheels. Now I run All Season Tyres, Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons. Driving up to Inverness last winter along a snowy A9 they worked well. Car is a STW approved Octavia diesel so I'm never hammering it around corners at 10/10 so can't say I have noticed any loack of performance in the summer/dry.

I would argue almost nobody needs winter tyres judging by this Autoexpress test. They tested various winter tyres but included an all season (Goodyear Vector Gen 3) and a summer.

Snow braking it got 95% of the performance of the best winter. That was better than half the winter tyres.

Snow traction 94% as good as the best winter. Snow handling 98% as good.

Not many people need that last 5% when you can just run one set of tyres all year and be 95% as good on snow..

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/product-group-tests/93097/best-winter-tyres

Ive got winters on steels and change them over in autumn. I used to go for just winter or all season all year round but its bloody annoying when you get to winter and they are down to 3-4mm. You know they would be ok for a summer but not really fit for winter. Now i'll replace my summers when they wear out, and when the winters wear down i'll use them through summer to wring the last use out of them before changing.

TBH I think the really impressive thing with the best modern allseasons isn't really the bad weather performance, it's the good weather performance. Or rather it's the "both ends" performance, it's clearly much harder to do a tyre that does everything well than it is to make compromises somewhere, and have decent snow and decent wet and decent dry compared to, say, terrible snow, good wet good dry, or as with traditional winter tyres great snow, good wet bad dry. Winters have got better at this too. Arguably a lot of "normal tyres" and supersports and supertouring got worse and probably have stayed there. T

(one thing I always think about these tests is they tend to miss the real nasties, refrozen ice, mixed up slush-and-ice, etc. Snow is not that bad in comparison! But those conditions are just really difficult to test for fairly, and I reckon they might really divide some otherwise good performing tyres. But there's even allseasons that seem to really deal with that well, while not all snow tyres really do.)

There's still the whole wear thing (ie, winter performance falling off so much faster as you lose sipes and depth, which is hard to manage on a single set of wheels) but that's just not enough for most people.

Modern tyres are just ace.

There’s still the whole wear thing (ie, winter performance falling off so much faster as you lose sipes and depth, which is hard to manage on a single set of wheels) but that’s just not enough for most people.

id still prefer a worn set of all seasons over a new set of summers - or worse as comes with most cars these days "eco summer" with a similar compound to cheap rollerblade wheels of the 1990s

My CC2s have been on the car for 3 years and 30000+ miles, and still have loads of tread. I was amazed when my MOT report came back and told me how many mm's of tread were left. Not cheap to buy, but seem to have lasted brilliantly. I had Hankook Kinergys on a previous car and they were great too.

I’ve had Conti Cargo Vector 2 M+S all seasons on my VW T6 camper van from about 500 miles after delivery, when I swapped out and e-bayed the rubbish OEM tyres. Very happy with them and on my second set, first ones lasted 35K, and they are stocked and fitted by Costco! https://www.flickr.com/photos/cojacal/54038091099/in/dateposted/

That Autoexpress test ignored some of the  Winter tyres that perform best in the ADAC tests. The ADAC vids for various sizes are on Youtube. I need a couple of proper Winters as a pair are both ageing and below 4mm, Michelin Alpin 6 again.

the original Goodyear OEM tyres on the rear failed the MOT earlier this year, after nearly five years, so the CC2’s went on the back, and I’ve got Continental all-seasons on the front

Why? You want the better tyres on the back, understeer > oversteer.

Source: Honda Civic with a waggly arse with lift off oversteer.

squirrelking
Free Member

Why? You want the better tyres on the back, understeer > oversteer.

Well. it's complicated. Most importantly it's not just as simple as "understeer > oversteer" because often it actually ends up "just go round the corner without any fuss > understeer or oversteer" if you have more grip on the front, the probability change as well as the outcomes. You get different losses of control but you are probably in more overall control more of the time, especially when you drive accordingly and carefully.

In really low grip conditions especially it can amount to "stop but in a big ugly skid" or "change directions while shitting yourself" > "just hit the thing". But a big difference is that with the grip on the back and not enough on the front you can't steer around things, whereas at least with grip on the front but not the back you have a chance.

The standard advice of course is "better on back" and if you have to live by a rule that's the one to live by. But really it's not so simple and people and vehicles differ and IME that gets much more extreme in bad conditions. I did a few years with winters front and anti-winters on the back on one of my old cars and it worked great- the front did almost all the braking, all the drive, all the engine braking, all the steering, the rear only had to follow and needed a fraction of the grip to do that. Whereas when I experimented on the same car with the winters on the back according to the advice it was a dart looking for something to go straight into. It could slow down in better control but it took easily twice as far to actually stop, and it couldn't steer. There's literally no question that for me, on that particular shitbox, it was the correct option. 4 winters would be better of course but 4 normal tyres would be worse. Over enough miles I reckon you'd have 50 incidents but all pointing forwards, for every 1 or 2 incidents pointing the wrong way. I would rather crash going forwards, but I would rather not crash, I would rather not hit the kid at all rather than have an argument about whether they'd rather be hit with the nose or the boot. Equally to all that, on my current car I reckon that'd suck.

Equally if you're the sort of idiot that goes "I'll drive as fast as I can til I lose traction" then it's a REALLY GOOD RULE. And a lot of people are like that. Or are low awareness, or have never really encountered a skid and will be working it out for the first time ever when they're trying not to hit someone. So for sure if in any doubt it's the way to go, but IMO it is not something to be a slave to,it is good general advice.

The way people drive in snow and ice is just... aaagh. Appalling. And no I am not Surf-Mat. But you don't need to be a driving god, by my observations you just have to not suck. or be incredibly stupid or just ignoring the conditions entirely or be obsessed with trying to get going while giving no thought to stopping and turning, to be probably in the top 10% of drivers in snow or ice.

Sorry that got really big!

Less tread equals more grip in the dry, more grip in the damp, less grip when it's properly wet and less grip on snow. Touring car racers obliged to use road tyres used to put them in a lathe and skim the tread down to just enough to last the race. The main reason that full Winters have less grip in the dry is that the tread blocks tip under braking and cornering forces. Those off us who've run full Winters to the death over Summer know that when they're nearly worn out and the tread doens' flex as much they grip really well in the dry and damp.

I'm lazy so just put the new tyres the end that was worn out.

Source: Honda Civic with a waggly arse with lift off oversteer.

Understeer/oversteer is a bit of a moot point in a modern car with ESP. It works really well

Coming from a motorsport background I don't like most road tyres. Many have a hang on then completely let go character. So I drive accordingly, slowly. The tyres I used in motorsport on the other hand retained remarkable levels of grip at quite extreme slip angles. I'm willing to sacrifice some ultimate grip for tyres that don't have that all then next to nothing breakaway characteristic. The Cross Climates and Alpin 6 have some of that "feel", nowhere near enough to be able to drive like on race tyres though - so I don't, I bumble along with the rest of the road users leaving a generous gap.

Caution rather than ultimate barking performance.

Caution rather than ultimate barking performance.

Woof?

What tyres for dog agility?

Husky snow chains.

There are two objective measures I would (mostly) trust mug punters to be able to report - what they paid, how many miles they did in them. That's also most folk here, myself included. Everything else is full of post purchase rationalisation.

I've noticed next to zero difference between any of the mid priced all seasons tyres I have had fitted. They've all successfully got me moving (and stopping) in the odd days of snow and/or more frequent near-freezing cold and wet, but... you know... drive appropriately according to conditions etc etc. All have worn in similar mileage.

Summers in winter? The scariest experience for me was getting caught out at work a few years back after just changing cars and having not yet got around to changing tyres - worn summer treads in fresh snow... 15mph all the way home with very careful braking and turning. Wife's car was night and day by comparison on the (predictable choice for this thread) all seasons.

Understeer/oversteer is a bit of a moot point in

...absolutely any mass produced car driven at speeds appropriate for the conditions? This is commuting, not the BTCC.

I’ve noticed next to zero difference between any of the mid priced all seasons tyres I have had fitted.

I have noticed a few modest differences - the Galaxy came with some low rolling resistance Goodyear somethings all round but they felt really odd on wet or cold days around roundabouts and similar. Putting other tyres on made a big difference. But you are right, the differences day to day are minimal.

The difference for 6 months of the year between summer tyres and all season tyres when living in central Scotland is noticeable. All seasons, depending on which model/marketing offer significant benefits in wet, cool and cold roads.

In proper, sub-zero cold I can really feel a difference. My house is at the bottom of a north facing hill. I have many a morning when driving out in all seasons is a 'non event', but using the summers my cars usually have when I buy a new to me car can be 'exciting', and descending at the end of the day even less secure. And of course being further north than many and driving around rural Scotland for work, I bump into cold, cool and wet conditions very regularly.

Understeer/oversteer is a bit of a moot point in

Indeed but confidence in the front tires doing there thing leads to overconfidence in the rear.

By the time you realise it....it's too late your doing an impression of a 1980s yuppy porker

I see your question mark, mrmonkfinger. I absolutely agree with your sentiment but I'm still a fan of ABS and ESP (and my favourite tyres) for those once or twice in a lifetime and only if you're unlucky moments.

For example bumbling along a route departementale in les Landes at the legal limit when one of the drivers coming the other way decides there's enough room to overtake when there isn't. It's then that all the safety legislation, testing and homologation become your friend. Brake, avoid, two wheels on the grass and the car is still pointing in the right direction.

One day I hope cars will be automatically limited to the speed limit. Till then however careful you are you might someday be thankful for a bit of technology and some grippy rubber. Since the snow-flake tyres only rule in the mountains in France very few cars are seen slithering around using too much road or getting stuck.

Indeed but confidence in the front tires doing there thing leads to overconfidence in the rear.

I refer you to 'driven appropriately'...

That said. I do appreciate that plenty of weapons grade progress makers are out there behind a steering wheel.

I’m still a fan of ABS and ESP (and my favourite tyres) for those once or twice in a lifetime and only if you’re unlucky moments

I don't disagree, these things are all good things, in particular ABS, that makes brakes brake better than any human can.

I've the Pirelli's from the Auto Test Link above on my winter wheels, basically swap after the the clocks change and swap back before the clocks change in the Spring.

They work better than either summer or all-season tyres on my OH's various 4x4 SUV's in winter 'weather'  (helped by it being an x=Drive) and still have good performance when pushing it on dry roads.  They do wear though, near enough twice the rate of the summer Bridgestones (had the car 6 years and nearly 70k).

Live in the very rural Scottish Borders, up an unclassified (and untreated road) so will continue with summer/winter swaps.

Been running all season tyres on my van(s) for the last ten years.

Being in Germany I couldn't be dealing with the faff of changing tyres over twice a year and not having enough space to store them.

As for that little bit of extra fuel or wear on the tyres, well, I really couldn't GAS. More than offset by not needing to faff about. Given the low mileage each year it also isn't a problem.

Main thing for me is that the vehicle is road legal and it works.

Almost as if they've been eavesdropping, black circles has a 15% off all their allseasons. But they're not necessarily the cheapest, ATS Euromaster has a good discount on the vectors which looks to be the best price around and runs til the end of the month.

I refer you to ‘driven appropriately’…

That said. I do appreciate that plenty of weapons grade progress makers are out there behind a steering wheel.

Or simply inexperienced drivers who were never taught about the nuances of lift-off oversteer when engine braking around a wet bend. That was me, I learned quickly enough but it was luck rather than judgement that saved me. I'd done the same road at the same speed umpteen times but that day the conditions were bad enough for the back to let go.

It's not all about bellends.

@northwind & @edukator that's fair.

It's not all their all seasons neither vector 4s nor quatracs are included which is shit cause they are the only 2 decent ones that are made for my car they don't do cc or cc2to fit

I've pretty much always found kwikfit to be the cheapest all season tyre place here in hove!

DrP

trail_rat
Free Member

It’s not all their all seasons neither vector 4s nor quatracs are included which is shit cause they are the only 2 decent ones that are made for my car they don’t do cc or cc2to fit

Works on Vector 4 gen 3 for me? Maybe a size thing? ATS worked out a good bit cheaper though in the same size.

I paid £500 all in for set of 4 vector 4’s earlier in the year from ATS for my outback.

the original Goodyear OEM tyres on the rear failed the MOT earlier this year, after nearly five years, so the CC2’s went on the back, and I’ve got Continental all-seasons on the front
Why? You want the better tyres on the back, understeer > oversteer.

Source: Honda Civic with a waggly arse with lift off oversteer.

Yeah, useful source of information, that. Like, I’m gonna pay any attention to that as a reference point.

FWIW,  the Michelin’s I’ve got on the back now are at most 2, 2.5 years old, with approximately 4, 4.5mm of tread, and the Contis a few months old.
Anyone seriously imagining that tyre performance is going to be the slightest bit compromised? Honestly?

Anyone seriously imagining that tyre performance is going to be the slightest bit compromised? Honestly?

Nobody's imagining anything. You've put the worst of your tires on the back. Your rear tires are 2.5 years old and 1/3rd worn. They have degraded from their new as tested performance. honestly.

I don't really care about your tires  But your language of trying to justify your position by suggesting the intimating of your tires degrading over time is shocking news is funny.

black circles has a 15% off all their allseasons.

I'm having two Hankook Kinergy tyres fitted at 8.30 this morning by a local place. They beat Blackcircles by £20 a tyre.

This reminded me that I needed to check my winter tyres now that (as October 1st is "can have") autumn is here and snow may be coming at some point soon. I need to switch out two of the four my van has for new studded tyres, so those are going to be fitted today. Apparently there are new rules for non-studded winter tyres now, but as I have studded, it's not a huge issue.

December 1st is when people here "must" have winter tyres on and, honestly, if you drive here without winter tyres on, you deserve to be arrested.

Looking at some for my wifes BMW 2 series - thought I's settled onn the Goodyear Vectors 4Seasons

However, shes asked me if these re run-flats as she doesn't have a spare...erm nope, they're not

What are thoughts on this (run-flats) for cars that dont have a spare?

Proper winter tyres maybe better on wide wheels with very low profile tyres, a few years back we had all seasons on the Legacy (225 width)  and they were very disappointing in wet slushy conditions.  But as stated tyres have improved quite a lot now, but worth consideration.   The other vehicle at the time was on winters and the difference was very noticable.

That car has  gone now so hence my All Season tactics for this winter and the wheel is narrower as well.

What are thoughts on this (run-flats) for cars that dont have a spare?

How often do you have a puncture?

What are thoughts on this (run-flats) for cars that dont have a spare?

Get a spare?

Proper winter tyres maybe better on wide wheels with very low profile tyres

They're better on all wheel sizes and tyre profiles.

What are thoughts on this (run-flats) for cars that dont have a spare?

Ideally, buy a space saver spare and keep it in the boot - 2-series is a decent size so should be enough bootspace. We carry a space saver in Mrs a11y's 4-series coupe thing after swapping to non runflats.

My MINI just doesn't have the bootspace to carry a space saver AND anything else - it'd be a choice of one or the other, but not both at same time. I'm winging it as car rarely goes on longer journeys and I've got breakdown cover. Plus, in 28 years of driving I've had 3 punctures, only one of which was an instant flat requiring the spare wheel. Hopefully not jinxed that now by typing this...

It's normal for cars not to have spares these days, but I think you need a 'tire mobility kit' which is a pump and some sealant. These do apparently work, so you could get one.

Runflats aren't really a solution, you can't drive around normally on them AFAIK - they just let you get somewhere safe.

molgripsFree Member
It’s normal for cars not to have spares these days, but I think you need a ‘tire mobility kit’ which is a pump and some sealant. These do apparently work, so you could get one.

Runflats aren’t really a solution, you can’t drive around normally on them AFAIK – they just let you get somewhere safe.

I was wishing for run-flats when I hit a pothole leaving me stranded on a blind bend on a country line. The goo did nothing other than spray straight out of the cut!   Luckily the compressor I had was decent so I could pump the tire up really high, move it a few car lengths until it was flat again, ... repeat ... until it was somewhere safer.

You can get the Goodyear Vectors in runflat, depending on size e.g.

https://www.mytyres.co.uk/rshop/tyre/Goodyear/Vector-4-Seasons-Gen-2-ROF/205-55-R16-91V--runflat/R-281926

Edit: My car doesn't have a spare, just the compressor/pump and jizz. When I got a slash in the side of the tyre I didn't even bother with the sealant. Fortunately was a nice sunny day and only a 15 minute drive from home so just got recovered.

I would have thought these days that anyone who lives south of Glasgow would be better investing in rain tyres rather than tyres rated <7 degrees.... unless we have a sudden reversal of global warming.

I was wishing for run-flats when I hit a pothole leaving me stranded on a blind bend on a country line.

I hit a sizeable chunk of rock someone had inconsiderately dislodged from the banking on a similar bit of road. The big split in the sidewall made driving on the runflats a non-starter.

Run flats are better than they were, and there's now some availability in all seasons but they're still pretty compromised on ride quality and noise IMO, and usually quite a bit pricier. I run the ordinary Vector 4S and carry sealant.