All Season tyres?

joolsveer

I need to get a new set of tyres. I am thinking of getting all season tyres. My existing tyres are 205/50 on 17" alloys. Are all season tyres going to be better than summer tyres if we get weather like last winter?
Can I get them in my size? I have been told by someone in a tyre fitters that Bridgestone A001 tyres will not be any good if we get another winter like last one.
What do you think?

Neilw

Winter tyres would be better than all seasons, do a search, there is a huge thread on winter tyres and all seasons are discussed in it.

joolsveer

Neilw wrote: »

Winter tyres would be better than all seasons, do a search, there is a huge thread on winter tyres and all seasons are discussed in it.

I don't have the space (or money) to buy two sets of tyres. If I fit winter tyres will I have to buy summer tyres as well?

CiniO

joolsveer wrote: »

I don't have the space (or money) to buy two sets of tyres. If I fit winter tyres will I have to buy summer tyres as well?

yes

CiniO

joolsveer wrote: »

Are all season tyres going to be better than summer tyres if we get weather like last winter?

yes

Technique

I've put some Bridgestone A001's on my wife's car. They've been specifically developed for UK/Irish weather i.e cold/wet winters, occasional snow/ice, mild summers. Put them on a few weeks ago, and temperatures immediately rose to the mid twenties! They felt a bit 'squidgy' in these high temperatures, but I pushed the car hard on a few empty roundabouts and there was no loss of grip. They are decent in cutting through standing water on wet days, and I'm hoping that they will be reasonable in the very wintery conditions.

For someone who drives normally in a standard car and is only going to buy one set of tyres, I think they are a good option.

RandomAccess

There are some all seasons made with a bias toward winter driving. The Vredestein Quatrac is one such tyre. I haven't found any tyre depots that sell them so far, but you can get them online from eiretyres and the like.

If you don't have the space to store extra tyres these could be your best option.
They should be able to handle the conditions we had quite well but a dedicated winter tyre would have additional performance benefits of course.

joolsveer

Have you tried the Vredestein Quatracs?

RandomAccess

joolsveer wrote: »

Have you tried the Vredestein Quatracs?

No but as I say if I can find them I think i'll try them as they are quite well rated in tests.

Top all-season snow handler also impresses on dry roads
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/total_tyre_guide/259465/vredestein_quatrac_3.html

They also feature on most German winter tyre tests.

Heres a better link actually, hankook all season seemed to impress as well
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/total_tyre_guide/259435/winter_tyre_test.html

Hector Mildew

I'm thinking of getting all season / all weather tires also.

I like that the Bridgestone A001s are made for our weather - which I take to mean better suited to rain than all out snowy conditions.

As they're new there aren't too many test/ reviews yet, but found this German all weather tyre test today -

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.ie&sl=de&tl=en&u=http://www.testberichte.de/a/reifen/magazin/auto-bild-38-2011/289290.html&usg=ALkJrhg1qL9Jov_jKqO4p_VxeBTMfhI_mA

Being a German test I assume their test conditions would be a bit different to ours but interesting none the less.

turbodiesel

Got them 2 years ago and now have done approx 30,000 kms with about 3mm left

205/60 R16 Vredestein Quatrac 3 92H

£367.00 delivered from http://www.clickontyres.co.uk/

kaimera

Running the A001s on the front fiesta. Can't fault them, have them since last Nov

One garage I stopped in for a puncture repair nearly laughed at the "snow and mud" tyres I had on. Said they were useless.

Could do with a matching set at the back...got oversteer at the roundabout in front of work on monday doing 30/40kph...back stepped right out.

GTE

I am running Hankook Optimo 4S and have been extremely impressed by them. I need two new tyres so I may go for the Goodyear Vector series but I am quite interested by the Bridgestones mentioned here, though I get a sense that they are less snow orientated than the models I just mentioned.

Just as an example of how these All Seasons are better in the winter. I took delivery of two of these during a very snowy and icy spell a few years ago. Going to Navan through Slane on my Summer front tyres was the single most scary thing I have done, there was just scarce control once I got off the motorway and on to the regional roads. Thankfully I already have two of the all seasons on the back so no oversteering. Once I got the fronts fitted in Navan, I couldn't spin up the drive wheels and the ABS had everything under control under braking. The difference was very reassuring. Less about getting back to normal speed and more about having the ability to stop and handle when needed. And I know I don't have the most powerful car but the tyres not allowing any spin up is impressive (90hp TDI).

For just cold conditions (no snow or ice), the all seasons stopped any spin up on takeoff or need for ABS on tarmac.

spank_inferno

Ive been mulling over getting a set of 4Seasons to replace my Dunlop SP-01.

They seem to be regarded very well, though I may opt for a good rain rated summer tyre instead.

GTE

spank_inferno wrote: »

Ive been mulling over getting a set of 4Seasons to replace my Dunlop SP-01.

They seem to be regarded very well, though I may opt for a good rain rated summer tyre instead.

You mean the Hankooks? No issues in the rain for me with two and a bit years of usage so far. Very solid feel.

fryup

uniroyal rainexpert is all you need

Odyssey 2005

I've been using Hankooks for a couple of years now. Optimo 4s. Excellent in rain and snow.
Am getting in excess of35 k km from the front and 60 Kim from the rears.

GTE

As it happens I need two new tyres fairly soon so I opted for two Vredestein Quatrac tyres to see how they get on. I have been very loyal to the Hankooks, though for the life of me I think I have only bought 4 in total. Anyway, no reason in not branching out.

Given how late it is and getting into the cold season, the prices seem to be up on the Summer time and the Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons were just too expensive at around 90 quid each.

One worry I have is that the Hankooks score better for EU regs on rolling resistance and water handling but the Quatracs are about 4dB quieter than the Hankooks so I will look forward to hearing the difference with my audio engineering hat on.

RandomAccess

The early posts on this thread were from 2011, and I actually bought a set of Bridgestone A001 since then.
I found the grip in wet conditions very good, the traction control light is now a rare sight. (though the car is not high powered so don't necessarily expect it to be the same in your case)
The only issue i've had since getting them is that the weather hasn't provided the conditions I wanted to give them a decent test so I could report back. They do wear a bit quicker than the previous tyres, but I think the grip benefit negates this. I'm happy enough with them anyway. Would love to be able to compare them with a load of tyres but thats not possible.

GTE

RandomAccess wrote: »

The only issue i've had since getting them is that the weather hasn't provided the conditions I wanted to give them a decent test so I could report back. They do wear a bit quicker than the previous tyres, but I think the grip benefit negates this. I'm happy enough with them anyway. Would love to be able to compare them with a load of tyres but thats not possible.

I guess the main advantage to all seasons is that there is no drop off in performance in cold weather, regardless of snow and ice which is where those Bridgestones look to be aimed at compared to the Hankooks for example.

The only thing that put me off getting two of those was their noise rating and some cold feet about losing out on snow performance as my car is the only one that gets tyres to suit the seasons at my house :rolleyes:

dredg

This is an old but good read:
http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/features/tire-test-all-season-vs-snow-vs-summer.html

Spook_ie

http://metcheck.com/IE/7days.asp?zipcode=Swords&locationID=17542&lat=53.5&lon=-6.2&findtype=

Phew looks like I got my tyres just in time!!! Roll on Tuesday/Wednesday

gooner99

Spook_ie wrote: »

http://metcheck.com/IE/7days.asp?zipcode=Swords&locationID=17542&lat=53.5&lon=-6.2&findtype=

Phew looks like I got my tyres just in time!!! Roll on Tuesday/Wednesday

Swapped to the winters Today just in case!

GTE

I picked up my Vredestein Quatrac 3 today. I only got them on the front. My first impression is that I sense the car "floating" about more than the Hankooks when going through a corners.

For people in the know, is there a certain amount of miles that tyres need to be "bedded in"? Am I just noticing some slip or give because of the brand new tyre surface?

EDIT: I found this which is an interesting read. http://www.firststop-tyreexperts.co.uk/running-in-your-new-tyres.aspx

exador

joolsveer wrote: »

I need to get a new set of tyres. I am thinking of getting all season tyres. My existing tyres are 205/50 on 17" alloys. Are all season tyres going to be better than summer tyres if we get weather like last winter?
Can I get them in my size? I have been told by someone in a tyre fitters that Bridgestone A001 tyres will not be any good if we get another winter like last one.
What do you think?

Just saw these on done deal

http://cars.donedeal.ie/tyres-for-sale/winter-tyres-for-sale/6020404

mcer

exador wrote: »

Just saw these on done deal

http://cars.donedeal.ie/tyres-for-sale/winter-tyres-for-sale/6020404

Dont buy them rubbish tyres why dont you buy a part worn winter tyre for now then put some money away buy a New Set coming into the Summer where are you near there is a great place in cabinteely called cabinteely tyres always get my tyres there they Do New and Partworn tyres at great prices

CJhaughey

I am on my second set of Nokian All Weather +, I got more than 17k miles out of the last set and find they grip well for our conditions, I haven't yet had the chance to try them out on snow and ice but for general driving they perform very well IMO.
I emailed their customer service team to ask about them and he told me they were a winter pattern tyre with a more summer like compound, that means grippy siping on the tyres and large grooves to clear slush and water.
They probably aren't as good as a true winter but for the price and the durability they certainly tick a lot of boxes for me, unless we get weeks of hard freezing weather they will perform fine.
Nokian are a Finnish brand and if anyone knows about Winter tyres the Finns should!
I don't know if they make your size in those tyres though.