Bridgestone A001 seem to get some good press, otherwise Quatrac 3 seem to do fine all year too.

All weathers are a good idea but be careful as some of them are really poor in the wet. I bought Nokian eNtyres 1.5 years ago and these were downright deadly in the wet. Best to check reviews/test results.

My current all weather choice would be Vredestein Quatrac Lite if you want all 4 tyres. The added upshot being that these are relatively quiet for all weather tyres. When my wife's Roomster tyres are worn out, I'll be putting Vredesteins all round.

Will check these vredestein ones out. They seem to be quite an established winter tyre manufacturer so obviously know what their doing. Cheers.

Edited 16 January, 201313 yr by Jockdooshbag

I hear what people are saying about the theory but let me tell you, this morning as I turned in towards my driveway at 15 mph in a diesel estate fabia with winters on the front and summers on the back, the tail end kept turning and I ended up spinning through 180 degrees.

Very true, I was only stating you should run 4 all weathers or 4 summers or 4 winters.

Have you got working ESP (stability control) on that car? If not, 2 front winters are a really bad idea, that's what I said in my post.

It's the ESP that gets you out of trouble exactly in the situation you described. I experienced skid many times going in/out of the close I used to live in, never added more than 1ft-2ft to the planned car's track. That's why I said leave 3ft

Also, a lot of budget summer tyres have plastic-looking rubber that simply freezes up solid below 0degC, that really exaggerates loss of traction. Most known European brands are OK in this respect. I once helped push out a couple in RWD car out of an iced up supermarket car park, even with boot full of shopping and an adult on rear seat that car would not move - on flat car park space, just iced up.

The tyres were some eastern brand tyres and they appeared plastic rather than rubber to me.

I also make it a point whenever snow falls to go to an empty snow covered car park and practise skids a little. You can see ESP at work there, makes is far less scary if you skid on the road later.

Edited 16 January, 201313 yr by dieselV6

... the tail end kept turning and I ended up spinning through 180 degrees.

so is your theory that, 4 summers would have allowed full 360 degree spin, thus leaving you pointing in (roughly) the right direction ?

I hear what people are saying about the theory but let me tell you, this morning as I turned in towards my driveway at 15 mph in a diesel estate fabia with winters on the front and summers on the back, the tail end kept turning and I ended up spinning through 180 degrees.

I know what you mean and if all 4 of my tyres wore out at the same time id buy 4 all weather tyres. Maybe i will swap fronts to rear so they do all wear evenly but this means it will be even longer before i need to change them plus ive read a few posts about peoles opinion on swapping tyres and that gets criticised also.

I cant be arsed changing wheels and tyres over and our weather actually makes all year round all weather tyres quite a viable option. It would juts be easier to transition from my summer to the all weather rubber as they naturally wear out and need replaced.

so is your theory that, 4 summers would have allowed full 360 degree spin, thus leaving you pointing in (roughly) the right direction ?

No because the front would have had just as much traction as the rear (almost nothing) so it wouldn’t have turned in.

exactly, I might have slithered a bit but I'd have slithered into my driveway

as it was I turned, the front end behaved perfectly but the back end just overtook the front. It was amusing but proved the point I have argued over the last year with the dealer

No because the front would have had just as much traction as the rear (almost nothing) so it wouldn’t have turned in.

>>Have you got working ESP (stability control) on that car? If not, 2 front winters are a really bad idea, that's what I said in my post.<<

Care to clear this up?

>>Have you got working ESP (stability control) on that car? If not, 2 front winters are a really bad idea, that's what I said in my post.<<

Care to clear this up?

I have no idea, it's a courtesy car.

I better not answer that.

Not bald but certainly with less tread, yes.

You had better watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rvAJSMT5jc

>>Have you got working ESP (stability control) on that car? If not, 2 front winters are a really bad idea, that's what I said in my post.<<

Care to clear this up?

Checked when i drove it back, no esp

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That explains. With ESP the car momentarily judders as ESP corrects and then if front tyres had enough grip to turn (as they did) then usually the car does not go wide more than 1ft.

>>Have you got working ESP (stability control) on that car? If not, 2 front winters are a really bad idea, that's what I said in my post.<<

To quote my handbook:

The laws of physics cannot be repealed, even with DSC. The results of driving irresponsibly rest with the driver. We therefore urge you to avoid using the additional safety margin of the system as an excuse for taking risks.

While ESP is good, if a standard tyre has no grip (where a winter might be able to find some), it cannot overcome that.

Edited 18 January, 201313 yr by TriggerFish

Yes, however oversteer (due to rear summer tyres having no grip at all) is corrected by ESP through braking front (winter tyre) wheels that do have grip.

Please refer back to my first post in the thread.

Still, 4 winter/allweather tyres are better than 2, but it's been already said several times.

Ah, I always thought it braked the rear wheels (that's how it felt in my RX-8/330 anyway).

Regardless, it's a good system, I just wouldn't rely on it completely.

Understeer (when you head front first into a ditch) is corrected with rear tyres, so don't drive too fast with the setup I described

But for pottering around town and a couple weekly 25 mile trips to the airport (A507/A10/A120) 2 winters on front were sufficient.

For current cars, I still prefer 4 winters on the serious car, and 4 all weathers on the shopping trolley

Edited 18 January, 201313 yr by dieselV6

I reckon on courtesy cars where most drivers will be unaware of what's fitted is downright reckless.

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Without ESP as you stated earlier, yes, it is bordering on the criminal, it is asking for a spin.

unless you compensate by having a larger capacity fuel tank at the rear to balance weight distribution.

unless you compensate by having a larger capacity fuel tank at the rear to balance weight distribution.

How will that change no grip on the snow from packed up summer tyres???

Ole!

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I still prefer 4 winters on the serious car, and 4 all weathers on the shopping trolley

I am wondering what you mean by 'all weather' tyres?

FWIW (and I've probably said this rather too many times already) we use 'all season' tyres on one of our cars. They are marked with the snowflake-triple-peak symbol so are suitable for use in European countries that require the use of winter tyres at certain times of the year or under certain weather conditions. We've found them to be good enough on snow and ice, enabling the car to go everywhere our other car with winter tyres has gone, (although maybe with not as much aplomb), while also being good during the UK summer months. For those that think such tyres are only appropriate to 'shopping trolleys', the particular car in question is an Alfa 3-litre V6 rwd.

Yes, all season, all weather, similar thing in Europe. In the US there might be a snowflake symbol missing, but in EU it pretty much means the same.

I mean Vredestein Quatrac Lites specifically, but there's several others to choose from. Bottom line they are not winter tyres nor summer tyres, and last longer.