I do not want to start another "winters on" thread but I do think tyres are important, it is the only bit that sticks the car to the road, if that doesn't happen most else is unimportant.

All season tyres have come on in recent years (as others have others too) and I think they do have a place. TBH I think they are at the point that they should be the default fit in the UK then we wouldn't grind to a halt on the odd snowy day.

If you look at winter tyre tests that add an all season (usually the best at the time) and a summer. The order of results tends to be the same. All of the winters tend to come higher than the all season and all beat the summer. The margin between them will factor into how much it is worth it. In one test the car on summers didn't make it to the test site!

I use a particular tyre, it is the Conti Winter Contact, I still have some 830s on one set and 850s on another. For what I need these are incredibly effective tyres. They are not top in snow, usually Nokian snow tyres do that, although they do well in snow they are not specifically designed for that. On cold/wet/freezing tarmac I have huge faith in the capabilities of these tyres and the many times I have needed them to perform they have never let me down.

Like the OP I have a 4x4 (shortly 2) but as much as I find the haldex useful I would not swap it for the right tyres. If you have 4x4 you will most likely have done that for a reason, it would make sense to make the most of that capability

Conti 0830 and 0850 are awesome in cold wet conditions.

 

In snow I have driven up hills past stranded chelsea tractors on wide low profile tyres whilst laughing my head off

Whilst all season tyres are ok for the majority of road conditions, they are not that great in the snow. In 2013 the firm's fleet vehicles in Germany were fitted with Goodyear Vector 4 Season Tyres, where as the minibuses were fitted with winter tyres.

To cut a long story short, during one particular journey I had to chain up in a FWD Ford Focus Estate with 4 passengers on board, where as the long wheel based minibus full of kit and passengers was able to continue without chains. The focus had done 1500km from new and was therefore on new tyres with approx 8mm tread. This was in approx 4" - 6" of snow on a medium gradient - all of the passengers in the focus were used to winter driving and all commented on how poor the tyres performed in the snow.

If you have the room to store (or as suggested above use a tyre hotel) do not compromise.

FWIW I have Bridgestone Blizzacks LM-32 fitted this time after scoring well in ADAC tests for 17" - good performance in the snow and high speed index / extra load but they have worn considerably when compared to other tyres I have used in recent years.

I had a set of Blizzacks on something I couldn't get Contis in the right size for. They seemed to be pretty good in the snow, maybe a bit better than the TS830s but I did not think they were as good on the road. Think they have a bias for snow as opposed to slippy tarmac like a lot of the Nokians, good for what they are built for but not for what I do.

Picking flies here as they are still pretty good tyres though and would use them again if I could not fit Contis

I must confess that in my many years of driving I have never used winter tyres. I have however always lived on the South Coast and Oxfordshire (no not the really cold parts of Wales or Scotland)....also if it snows and snows badly I tend to not drive until the conditions are realtively safe to do so.

I think winter tyres are a very good idea and kudos to those that do so and do it religiously but IMHO a decent set of branded summer tyres with decent tread levels and a sensible driving style in poorer conditions (or not driving at all) have always served me pretty well to date.

I am v interested in these tyres as my Octavia is no sports car so I dont need the softest grippiest rubber on it and the probably v mild warm weather deficit I would imagine is made up by the improvements in grip/roadholding in the winter months. The harder compound will probably give me a few thou a year more wear too.

I can also foresee in the not too distant future the use of winter tyres will become a legal requirement in the UK (more EU bureaucracy) so a tyre like this will serve that purpose (and save me having to spend hundreds of pounds on a second set of tyres ans steel wheels that I have no room to store).

I am pleased to see that the thread has returned to an informed discussion with opinions being offered on alternatives rather than a one line dismissive post.

 

Whilst I am in the Lincolnshire Wolds snow is still extremely rare and hence I think my need for tyres in the winter is to cope with ice instead.  In the past my winter tyres have excelled at dealing with icy roads and I have been well impressed with them.  Not so impressed I could tell you what make they are though!  As I said before if it snows really bad around here it is highly unlikely that I will be driving for work as schools will close and I can walk into town so a tyre that can cope with most conditions in winter and summer will do me.  Yes I have a VRS but the throttle goes two ways and I doubt very much that I will find the limit of adhesion in the summer, partly because I won't be trying and because I have a reasonable understanding of what a car can and can't do.

 

In fact thinking about that I can recall when all I could afford was a motorbike and I rode that in the snow and the only real problem apart from lack of speed was when you had to cross from one track left by cars to the other.  Taking your time in adverse conditions and reading the road will give most tyres a chance to grip but I can say from experience with my use of winters that they offer a safer drive and that being the case all seasons for me will be quite adequate.