All Season Tyres
- Thread starter Pyscho_Si
- Start date
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
[TW]Fox;17455278 said:
That fair enough, I also don't think we do in all parts of the UK. I could see the attraction if I lived in Scotland though, I've been to Germany plenty of times in the Snow and seen how much grip the cars have.
I wasn't discussing the value in having winter/ all season tyres though.
I was disagreeing with your comment about RE050s being better than winter tyres in the cold. RE050s are one of the worst performing summer tyres in low temperatures, well known for being like plastic and needing heat before being able to 'press on' with them.
I guess the arbitary summer tyre being better than 'a' winter tyre in a review is enough evidence for you to make such a sweeping statement?
[TW]Fox;17455298 said:Ha, you even said you had a Mercedes in the OP
Get some better summer tyres then
The dealer put 4 new tyres on when I bought the car ... I was just glad not to have to shell out £600 myself.
At some point I will need to get some new summer tyres for the car ... and I guess I will start a thread about Continental Sport Contact 3 ... or just read yours.
It seems you've been a tad more specific in this debate than me then. I was talking about high end summer v winter tyres generally and simply picked the Potenza because it was in the thread anyway and somebody would pop along to call me a fanboy had I used Eagle F1 (A great tyre in the wet) as an example instead, thats all.
[TW]Fox;17455335 said:
A tyre well known for a nice soft tread that struggles when hot, pretty much the opposite end of the Summer tyre compound scale. The F1 was developed for wet performance, wet weather means tyres temperatures are always low.
RE050s are a tyre developed with spirited driving as number one, they are very good when hot but do suffer in the lower temperatures.
Im sure one day a rubber will developed that can cover both angles but till then it's going to have to be a design compromise.
I am finding the AD08's when the temps have dropped sub 8c in morning and evenings can be quite slippery and take longer to get upto temperature.
Mix that with some wet/damp conditions and they do become like a bar of soap in the shower.
So I feel for the EVO I will definetely need to fit an all season or winter tyre otherwise I am gonna have a AWD car that is absolutely useless once temps drop sub 5c and its raining or snowing.
So would people recommend the F1's then for winter use? Though I will ask on the MLR as well as the EVO X can be really poor on some tyres too.
Mix that with some wet/damp conditions and they do become like a bar of soap in the shower.
So I feel for the EVO I will definetely need to fit an all season or winter tyre otherwise I am gonna have a AWD car that is absolutely useless once temps drop sub 5c and its raining or snowing.
So would people recommend the F1's then for winter use? Though I will ask on the MLR as well as the EVO X can be really poor on some tyres too.
I ran ContiWinterContact TS810 on my Leon Cupra 4 and they were simply superb. The TS810S is for high performance cars, so I'd investigate them if I were you.
I remember reading last winter that in the snow f1s were terrible due to the treads getting blocked with snow very quickly.
Will look into it, also read the Pirrelli Winter tyres are amazing.
Only issue is I don't need winter tyres, just something that handle cold/wet very well and are OKish in snow.
Otherwise just like Fox says a winter tyre will be a waste as for our weather all season tyres would be better.
For me I am thinking of a tyre for say November - February time, so 3 months, 4 months max when its typically 0c - 6c and wet / cold roads.
Associate
That is exactly the conditions winter tyres are designed to operate in.
Tyres are a compromise, summer tyres don't work well when it's cold, winter tyres can feel a bit mushy and wear quickly when it's warm and all season tyres... think "jack of all trades master of none".
If you're thinking for tyres between Nov and Feb I'd recommend looking into the Nokian WRG2. It's what I'd call a non-snow optimised winter tyre (yes, winter tyres are compromises too between snow, wet and dry performance) so is extremely suited to the UK climate.
I could go on all night, and probably will if this discussion stays alive but for now check out this winter tyre buying guide
Associate
[TW]Fox;17455197 said:
Typical commute in november/december.jan or feb has ice on the roads, even in the south! I cant think of many occasions when i leave at 7am that i dont have to scrape the car due to SUB ZERO temps in the winter.
Also these "rare" snow occurances are becoming more common, and following the pattern will continue to become even more common and last longer, even down in the mild south we have had far more snow year on year than 10 or 20 years ago.
No mention of the tyres involved. So we've no idea what they are and for all we know could be midrange tyres like Conti Premium Contact (And given the cars tyre size thats probably the case).
They stated the stopping distance difference was a car length.
Well lets look at two wet braking results from a recent summer tyre test, shall we, showing the difference between different makes of PREMIUM BRAND summer tyre alone - ie not even winter tyres:
Wet Braking test:
1) Continental SportContact 3 27 metres
6) Dunlop SP Sport MAXX 33 metres
Thats more than a car length. Put another way - if the summer tyre they used in the test was a Dunlop SP Sport MAXX, if they'd had a third car fitted with ContiSport Contact 3's, it'd have stopped in roughly the same distance as the winter tyre fitted car..
... but of course we dont know that. Infact we know nothing of the tyres used in that video.
Whilst obviously on some days it will be sub zero you dont think every day you need a scraper the temps are sub zero do you? The ice forms overnight - ie at 4am, when you are in bed. It's slowly begun to warm up again by the time you are out there with your scraper.
Associate
I think the biggest advantage for the winter weather we usually have in the UK comes from having ample tread on your tyres, rather than running on the legal limit. Worked for me.
Of course, it'd be fun getting a two foot suspension lift and some monster truck tyres for that one snowy weekend of the year...
Of course, it'd be fun getting a two foot suspension lift and some monster truck tyres for that one snowy weekend of the year...