Impressed by all-season tyres

[Wing Commander]

Pete, John and others - I would like to thank you for this informative debate.

You have helped me to decide to purchase a winter wheel/tyre set for the first time ever, for my new 911 T, which will be a year-round daily driver.

I'll no doubt be asking advice on here on my planned purchase, once I have the new car.

Cheers,

Simon

[John_M]

I don't mind a good debate I can see why you might decide to choose all-season tyres for their convenience,

This isn’t a debate as all I have seen from you appears to be dogma.

You keep on about compromise as if it is bad, but are unable to see that yourself are making similar compromises as UK weather can swing from winters being best to summers being best on any month of year. Now I don’t seriously expect people to change wheels daily (that leads to other safety issues), but if the only thing that is any consideration is whether it is best then my experience is best is usually dependant on lots of things that vary.

but your arguments against using dedicated summer and winter sets as the best solution (which is what Porsche recommend) are too daft to warrant a serious response.

This take the Porsche recommendation part – I can’t find it in my handbook and you’d expect it to be there and easily to find (unlike most I have read it and just got it out from car to check), I can see such talk about choosing tyres and putting winter tyres on in good time, but I can’t see anything saying you should use them. I’d guess because they then have to talk about your local and expected climates to ensure you pick the best choices for your locality. Bear in mind Porsche also offered them on the model I brought right up until they stopped selling diesels, so obviously Porsche felt they were suitable.

My arguments aren’t against using dedicated sets if <b>your circumstances dictate</b>, but when you talk of wanting optimum performance suggests either you are driving far to fast or you are being blinded by talk of “best”. What you need in tyres is ones that give you a good safety margin in all circumstances you are likely to find your self in – anything else is just wasted (though may be less waste than trying to decide whether lower quality is good enough).

At the end of the day you still need to adjust driving styles to suit conditions what ever the tyres . You may want to consider your impact on other drivers – e.g. will they see you cruising OK on winters on ice and not realise how bad it is, may not seem your fault but if they skid into your rear (or even worse)

If you think they are silly it should be easy to counter, similarly if the figures posted are wrong it should be easy to counter.

while all season tyres continue to get mixed reviews when tested over a range of summer and winter conditions.

I am sure they do but which countries/regions winter and summer conditions, which makes etc? If you took summer tyres as a whole you’ll find mixed reviews on their abilities as some are very good and some are bad – all I can say do your homework or stay with someone’s advice you can trust.

There are also technical issues with running a single compound in both hot and cold temperatures, which can significantly reduce its effectiveness over time. But I'm not going to waste my time getting into that subject!

Suit yourself – I can see using tyres outside there specified temperature ranges for long periods isn’t good – however hot and cold are subjective terms and mean different things to different people.

[Giz9]

One only needs to look out the window today to see the case for buying winter tyres. If not using the car on days such as these is an option for you, then put a set of all-season tyres on or even keep your summer tyres on all year round. Hoiwever, if you want to maintain mobility today and in a safe manner, you need to have a set of winter tyres. This isn't just a matter of safety. There are many hills near where I live that you will get stuck on without winter tyres. I think concentrating on marginal performance differences between different tyre types in different temperatures is missing the point.

If you decide you need winter tyres in the winter, which are unsuitable for high summer temperatures, you have decided to use two sets of tyres. The obvious next step is to use summer tyres when it is not winter.

[John_M]

One only needs to look out the window today to see the case for buying winter tyres. If not using the car on days such as these is an option for you, then put a set of all-season tyres on or even keep your summer tyres on all year round. Hoiwever, if you want to maintain mobility today and in a safe manner, you need to have a set of winter tyres. This isn't just a matter of safety. There are many hills near where I live that you will get stuck on without winter tyres. I think concentrating on marginal performance differences between different tyre types in different temperatures is missing the point.

If you decide you need winter tyres in the winter, which are unsuitable for high summer temperatures, you have decided to use two sets of tyres. The obvious next step is to use summer tyres when it is not winter.

Personal circumstances apply - but out of my window there is no snow on the road and I am in a small cul de sac - there is some on the grass, but has been very little on the road, the last two years I haven't seen any real snow and year before only a day or two like today.

But have you taken a 4 wheel drive on decent all seasons on snow? - I have and I have had no issues even after it had been freezing on ground for a week in Scotland. I have got up hills in a 4x4 on summers, it is the stopping going down the other side that was the issue.

Edit: In light of other parts of the thread - I am just curious whether you have used them, but yes small differences in performance do not convince me (you can see bigger differences over life of tyre), so it really that comes down to what you feel you need for your usage, the fact people are thinking about it is probably far more important - as most drivers don't and they will be the ones blocking you rather than weather

[VanB]

Having just returned from a 40 mile drive in the snow in my 911 4 GTS on summer tyres I can say unequivocally that All Seasons would have been better but the car coped remarkably well despite being a bit squirmy at the back. I am sure that snow tyres would have been better still but it is a matter of degree. For the 3 or 4 days a year that we have conditions like this I'm not sure it's worth the outlay as I could stay off the road. The biggest issue is the way other pillocks drive in these conditions - someone actually pulled out to overtake me on a road of compacted snow and nearly spun after getting sideways. As someone else said it is very much more dependent on how you drive to the conditions than anything else.

[Dandock]

Whilst I can clearly understand the argument, in an ideal world, for two set of tyres, why would Porsche, who I’m sure would have undertaken stringent tests and due diligence, offer All-Seasons if they weren’t capable and worthy performers. Despite the incoming German legislation current tyre markings are valid and legal until 2024. Last time I looked AS tyres were still an option in the US - the litigious capital of the world - so why not here?

[Giz9]

One only needs to look out the window today to see the case for buying winter tyres. If not using the car on days such as these is an option for you, then put a set of all-season tyres on or even keep your summer tyres on all year round. Hoiwever, if you want to maintain mobility today and in a safe manner, you need to have a set of winter tyres. This isn't just a matter of safety. There are many hills near where I live that you will get stuck on without winter tyres. I think concentrating on marginal performance differences between different tyre types in different temperatures is missing the point.

If you decide you need winter tyres in the winter, which are unsuitable for high summer temperatures, you have decided to use two sets of tyres. The obvious next step is to use summer tyres when it is not winter.

Personal circumstances apply - but out of my window there is no snow on the road and I am in a small cul de sac - there is some on the grass, but has been very little on the road, the last two years I haven't seen any real snow and year before only a day or two like today.

But have you taken a 4 wheel drive on decent all seasons on snow? - I have and I have had no issues even after it had been freezing on ground for a week in Scotland. I have got up hills in a 4x4 on summers, it is the stopping going down the other side that was the issue.

Edit: In light of other parts of the thread - I am just curious whether you have used them, but yes small differences in performance do not convince me (you can see bigger differences over life of tyre), so it really that comes down to what you feel you need for your usage, the fact people are thinking about it is probably far more important - as most drivers don't and they will be the ones blocking you rather than weather

Do you mean have I used winter tyres? Yes, I have them on my car right now. They are excellent at stopping in the snow as well as driving up hills. And prior to this winter I had all-seasons. Have you used a set of winter tyres?

There are loads of comparisons on Youtube but this one is illuminating - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGfvyPtYR0Y

[Orangebulldog]

Good video. That two car lenghts difference in stopping distance might be the difference in keeping or losing your legs one day. Why anyone with a Porsche, who usually spends thousands on options, special coatings and insurance for his car, would skimp out (a little bit of time and 40 pounds?) on switching to dedicated winters in harsh winter months for his own safety (let alone his copilots, other people on the road and his car) is beyond belief.

[Dandock]

Interesting and convincing video(s)

[Deleted User 1874]

some stuff

I'm not going to waste my time arguing with you, as you say it's not really a thought provoking debate. So do whatever you like and so will I. Others can research and make their own minds up. If you are trying to convince me that all-season tyres would be a better choice year round for the UK, then you are wasting your own time too. If you arguing for the benefit of others then they are welcome to your wisdom!