Hi People, 

I'm looking to change the budget tyres i have on my Ocy MK3 1.4TSI DSG to something more comfortable and hopefully quieter. I've done some research and these two seem to be at the top of most people's list for an all season tyre, Has anyone had the luck of trying both of these or can recommend one over the other? I will be looking to change all 4 so dont want to make an expensive mistake as i know the Octavia can be fussy with noise and want the ride comfort as good as possible compared to the budgets. Thanks

Mostly answers the question…

 

I have GY4Season for my winter tyres. There is more tread noise/buzz over a typical summer tyre for the equivalent vehicle speed on tarmac and they are noticeably more squidgy in warm weather temps but they cut through standing water better than summers, deal with cold temps and frosty mornings better and hack through snow perfectly well. 
 

A friend with a Yeti put the cross climates on as an all year round tyre and has no complaints even in bad weather in Snowdonia. They are a more summer based tyre compound with winter weather ability. If I was going for a one tyre fits all option, this would be my choice. 

This is one of those close decisions where how far north you live, the altitude, and topography, and if you mainly do local journeys on poor roads vs motorway cruising.

 

The cross climate is probably better for cruising main roads in south of England and coastal strips further north, but the Goodyear’s more suited to every day driving across the high ground from Chiltern Hills northwards

I will be driving local journeys 90% of the time based in the east midlands, generally the road surfaces around me are poor so maybe the Goodyear's are more suited to this then?

My experience on a Fabia estate, which may not be representative, with the original crossclimates are they very hard wearing. In my case they also wore unevenly with the inner tread wearing much quicker than the outer plus they became very noisy. One developed strange non circular wear leading to a wump wump wump noise at low speeds and an anoying drone when braking. They also developed a lot of micro cracking in the tread valleys, something I've noticed with other Michelin tyres.

 

I put most of this down to the hard compound that becomes harder with age/wear. Could be my dealer has misaligned the car (they did it 4 times over the period we had it), they are certainly capable of that.

 

I did put Goodyear All seasons gen 3 on our Octavia Estate, they felt softer and squidgier than the crossclimates on the fabia. Again some uneven wear noted. Maybe the car to blame.

 

NB these and most all season tyres are directional, so not suitable as a spare. My go to tyre is usually Vredestain Quatrac 5 which is asymmetric, not directional. Had several, none has worn strangely or got too noisy. They are getting more difficult to buy, I think they may be being phased out.

 

Personally I think the Michelins and Goodyears are over priced, so now look at mid range tyres instead.

 

8 minutes ago, xman said:

My go to tyre is usually Vredestain Quatrac 5 which is asymmetric, not directional. Had several, none has worn strangely or got too noisy. They are getting more difficult to buy, I think they may be being phased out.

 

Vredestein are gradually replacing the Quatrac 5 with the Quatrac.

 

The Quatrac now doesn't have a number, although I have noticed at least one online tyre seller incorrectly calling it the Quatrac 6.

 

The replacement started last year and was due to finish this year. 15" sizes seem to have now gone over to the new Quatrac, but 14" sizes are still available in the old Quatrac 5 model.

The new Quatrac (6) is now directional. Tread patten is kind of cross between the Michelin and Goodyear. I have a pair to throw onto our Fabia in a few weeks. Made in Hungary whereas previous Quattrac 5 I bought were made in the Netherlands.

 

Noted that their EU noise rating not as good as Quatrac 5, but don't let that metric mislead you as I dont think its at all related to internal cabin noise.

 

I note that Quatrac Pro, also recently launched, is non directional all season but I've read some negative comments in tyre tests/reviews.

 

 

The 7 ultra high performance all-season comparison has already been linked in post 2 above, but there is another one featuring 9 everyday all-seasons

 

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Article/2020-Tyre-Reviews-All-Season-Tyre-Test.htm
 

To avoid confusion, the Vredestein Quatrac 5 is being phased out (still available in some sizes), the replacement is called Quatrac (no number).  Some larger sizes and performance low profiles are Quatrac Pro which has been around a couple of years

 

Unfortunately bit too early in year for 2021 reviews to come out, but by the time they do, prices will have jumped seasonally.

Another relatively recent review is Auto Bild allrad

 

https://tiresvote.com/articles/auto-bild-allrad-2021-all-season-tire-test/

 

 

Vredestein Quatrac look interesting, not come across these before but now there on my radar cheers 😃