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19" Winter Vs All Season Tyres - Midlands Wet Winter Weather

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I've got a set of 19s due next week. I'm not sure which winter / all season tyres to go for. I'll be keeping the 20s and the Pilot Sport 4S for summer.

I'll do about 6,000 B road commuting miles over the winter, mostly wet, normally 2-8°C, sometimes higher, sometimes lower.

My question is do I really need snow optimised tyres or would I better with something like Michelin CrossClimate (if they existed in this size).

Any suggestions?, the size is 235/40/19 And I think they need to be v rated.

Thanks
 
I've got a set of 19s due next week. I'm not sure which winter / all season tyres to go for. I'll be keeping the 20s and the Pilot Sport 4S for summer.

I'll do about 6,000 B road commuting miles over the winter, mostly wet, normally 2-8°C, sometimes higher, sometimes lower.

My question is do I really need snow optimised tyres or would I better with something like Michelin CrossClimate (if they existed in this size).

Any suggestions?, the size is 235/40/19 And I think they need to be v rated.

Thanks

I would just comment that winter tyres should not be regarded simply as a "snow optimised" version of all season tyres. The difference is in having a compound that works in wet, dry, snow at those lower winter temperatures.

If you are running summers in the summer then you are best to run winters in the winter. If you use "all season" you are making a degree of compromise in summer and also in winter. I suppose when you eventually wear out the summers and winters you could consider just running all seasons to cover the year without having to change over, but they won't be quite as good as summers in the summer and they won't be quite as good as winters in the winter.
 
Check out the Continental WinterContact TS860 S. Available in that size, the crossclimates are too.

Winter Tyre WinterContact™ TS 860 S for premium sports cars

They are a full winter with performance in mind.

I’ve had them on a week, been quite mild but quite impressed. They aren’t as good as the Michelin’s in the dry but they will work if it snows, Not many options in 20”, if you are getting 19” and go to the effort of changing wheels etc I would lean towards a winter but the good all seasons will work on the chance it snows and be slightly better in the dry then a full winter. It’s a close call, if I could of gotten all season in 20” I would of considered it for sure.
 
The only problem I have had with full winter tyres in the UK is you get occasional days in winter when it gets up to 15 degrees + and at those temperatures they are too soft and do not handle well at all in my experience. better below 5 degrees though even if not icy.
Unless you are somewhere isolated I would say summer or all season + autosocks or chains for emergencies is just fine
 
awesome video. I especially like seeing that the all seasons hold their own up to 15 - would have loved to have seen if that kept going to a hot UK summer of 20...

I swapped back and fore on my last car and my winters were better in a straight line from ~5 and down, very clearly. But turn in and overall performance was just never as good. I do wonder if the best of the intermediates can (almost) match up to a summer for UK temps year round?
 
awesome video. I especially like seeing that the all seasons hold their own up to 15 - would have loved to have seen if that kept going to a hot UK summer of 20...

I swapped back and fore on my last car and my winters were better in a straight line from ~5 and down, very clearly. But turn in and overall performance was just never as good. I do wonder if the best of the intermediates can (almost) match up to a summer for UK temps year round?
I did 24k miles in a year on a set of Crossclimate + on my previous car, worked in snow when brand new fine but you didn’t get that feeling of invincibility a winter gives you, still some slip. In summer on hot days when pressing on I could get them to go off when warm quite easily. I had some big understeer moments on roundabouts. I wouldn’t have them on a performance car year round if you really like driving, fine for my missus to go to work and pootle around in. I replaced them in winter and went for the Pilot Alpin 5 which are very good and a Pilot Sport 4 again very good.
 
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I went to an indi tyre garage and noticed an ad for the Michelin Cross Climates. I asked the chap about replacing our tyres for a set (so he had a sale to win or lose). He said not to bother, our standard OEM Contis (can't remember the exact model) were better summer and winter - in fact he said ours were better than some so called winters. So he was not impressed by so called cross climates.
 
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I went to an indi tyre garage and noticed an ad for the Michelin Cross Climates. I asked the chap about replacing our tyres for a set (so he had a sale to win or lose). He said not to bother, our standard OEM Contis (can't remember the exact model) were better summer and winter - in fact he said ours were better than some so called winters. So he was not impressed by so called cross climates.

It's hard to argue with the video evidence, other than that it was only one example of each type of "summer" "winter" etc.
 
I'm waiting for my insurance to say if I can change to 18s, I can't see it being an issue. I'll still keep the 20s but in all honesty I may end up just keeping the 18s on year round and keep the 20s as spare in the event of a puncture and also when I sell the car. The cost of 18s with winter tyres is nearly identical to a set of winters for the 20s!
 
Thanks for all the really useful replies - Those Tyre Review videos are great. (ending up watching youtube till 1 in the morning again last night :eek:)

I now feel confident that using an all season as a winter (on the 19s) and keeping the 20's and Pilot Sport 4S for summers will be just right for me.

I've decided to buy the Vredestein Quatrac 5 (235/40/19) - there doesn't seem to much choice in that size for all seasons.
 
With all due respects to the guy in the garage, I’d much rather trust the opinion of Jonathan Benson, a journalist who makes a living reviewing tyres. I agree though you can lose hours just watching the Tyre Review videos as they are so well done and I also like how Jonathan balances evidence such as lap times or stopping distance against how confident he is with a particular set of tyres. The 17/18/19 inch wheel size and the four wheel drive vs winter tyres videos are well worth watching.
 
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I went to an indi tyre garage and noticed an ad for the Michelin Cross Climates. I asked the chap about replacing our tyres for a set (so he had a sale to win or lose). He said not to bother, our standard OEM Contis (can't remember the exact model) were better summer and winter - in fact he said ours were better than some so called winters. So he was not impressed by so called cross climates.

That's exactly the kind of person I avoid taking advice from. Did he have any numbers to back up such sweeping comments?
 
I’m on the horns of a dilemma over winter or all-season tyres for the 18” rims I bought for winter. I’ve found this thread very interesting. I think I’m almost convinced that all-season is the right choice, and this thread lead me to an updated 2020 test from the same journalist @Foucault linked to. Thought I would post for others who might be making the same decision. Interesting that he has a different recommendation for people like me living in the south of the UK where the winter is milder.
 
I’m on the horns of a dilemma over winter or all-season tyres for the 18” rims I bought for winter. I’ve found this thread very interesting. I think I’m almost convinced that all-season is the right choice, and this thread lead me to an updated 2020 test from the same journalist @Foucault linked to. Thought I would post for others who might be making the same decision. Interesting that he has a different recommendation for people like me living in the south of the UK where the winter is milder.
I went through similar deliberations and settled on Michelin CrossClimate + on my "winter" 18s. However, I left them on all summer as a) they performed really well and b) the prospect of wrecking a 20" OEM on a pothole and being stranded is not something I relish. The 20s are sat in the garage in a rack and I may (or may not) pop them back on for a few months next spring, simply because they look nice!

There were quite a few very positive reviews about the Michelins when I bought them. It seemed to me that they were very capable in summer as well as giving much better grip than standard summer tyres during winter in a range of conditions. There's always a slight compromise but one I was happy to make. All that said, I'm still debating my "spare" strategy. I have a decent quality plug kit but also now considering a "Road Hero" in case it really does go badly wrong. Problem there is no room for it on the journeys where I'd most likely need it :(
 
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