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Oh gosh, I found out the £200 Pilot Super Sports at Asda & Costco are not the Extra Load versions I need so they’d be £560 a pair, ouch. However, a 10% discount for Conti all seasons at Blackcircles today mean all 4 wheels shod with those would be £615…
I used to be indecisive but now I’m not so sure…. aaaargh!
Isn't the question you should be asking yourself first, whether you need/want all-season or summer tyres rather than agonising over prices? I run winter tyres on steels in winter and summer tyres on alloys in summer, but then I live in the Peak District and occasionally it gets quite grim in winter.
If I had one set of wheels and tyres for year-round use, I'd probably run all-seasons though.
Could you not just get the all-season option, stash the part-used summer tyres somewhere and then, if you feel the need, you could always revisit going back to summer tyres all round next spring?
It's threads like these that make me glad I have an ancient car with small wheels and correspondingly cheapo tyres and don't drive very much 🙂
And the all seasons are pretty expensive, so why not go with something like a Bridgestone summer tyre with a A wet rating? Too many choices.
Look at another way, when my winters are on, I'm saving my summers etc - they cost about the same, as they're both quality tyres. The only actual additional cost was the extra set of wheels and then the £20 twice a year when I get them swapped.
People need to understand that winter tyres are not snow tyres. They are merely more suitable for cold conditions. That includes dry.
I've said it before but the default tyre choice in the UK should be all seasons regardless of if you live in the peaks or Cornwall.
Isn’t the question you should be asking yourself first, whether you need/want all-season or summer tyres rather than agonising over prices?
Yes. Let’s face it, my car is a family diesel estate and that car and also at my time of life it won’t be going around a track, nor will I be “making progress”. I like to get to places quickly but safely and within legal limits.
I did say - and this is a self reminder - that I wanted to be reassured over the Cotswolds in winter and have more chances of entering / exiting a wet field for XC racing than I have now which kind dictates that I should go for the all seasons all around.
I have nowhere to store a 2nd set, so am looking for an all year set, but as per the tyre reviews test, some are snow focused, some are cold/wet focused. It is not as simple as use an all-season tyre.
Play around with the percentages in here:
https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre-Tests/Results-Grid/2022-Tyre-Reviews-All-Season-Tyre-Test.htm
Northwind
You’re not choosing between two crashes. I’m not sure, is it that I’m not explaining well?
Maybe? lol 🤷♂️ What I'm replying to was this: "if you have to swerve and you don’t have grip on the front, you just don’t swerve at all and just hit whatever you wanted to swerve. That’s worse. "
Hence my reply, if you swerve and the car doesn't respond, you hit the object front on. This is bad. If instead you swerve and the car kicks into oversteer, you could hit the object side on, this is very bad. If the oversteer is large you could spin completely into the oncoming lane. This is extremely bad.
Therefore if you must have an imbalance, best tyre for the conditions should be on the rear.
The above is just for the car occupants. I forgot to mention that cars are designed not to injure pedestrians in frontal impacts, I don't believe they are in side-on impacts.
Hence my reply, if you swerve and the car doesn’t respond, you hit the object front on. This is bad. If instead you swerve and the car kicks into oversteer, you could hit the object side on, this is very bad. If the oversteer is large you could spin completely into the oncoming lane. This is extremely bad.
Think about it from the perspective of oval track racing cars - Indycars, Nascar, etc. They are always set up to understeer a bit because losing the rear end is utterly lethal with a concrete wall next to you. If the rear end steps out and you steer into the slide to correct it, you now have your front wheels pointed at the wall. If you manage to catch the slide, you have a fraction of a second to unwind the steering or you will steer yourself straight into the wall. With an understeer balance, you will be winding on lock as you lose grip, which will steer you away from the wall. Much safer.
Driving on the road is similar - you have cars in the other lane that you really do not want to hit. If the back of the car steps out and you try to catch the slide, you now have your front wheels aimed either at the other lane (in a LH turn) or at pedestrians (in a RH turn). It's much harder to keep your vehicle within your lane with lack of rear grip than with lack of front grip, which is exactly what the videos above show.
They may be snow focused but they are still all seasons which would serve you better than a summer based tyre for year round use.
They may be snow focused but they are still all seasons which would serve you better than a summer based tyre for year round use.
Yep.
My last car came with 20" Pirelli's that weren't recommended to be used below 7c it's not unusual to be lower in Scotland, in summer...
multi21
Free MemberHence my reply, if you swerve and the car doesn’t respond, you hit the object front on. This is bad. If instead you swerve and the car kicks into oversteer, you could hit the object side on, this is very bad. If the oversteer is large you could spin completely into the oncoming lane. This is extremely bad.
The point is the "if". You are comparing the certainty of hitting something going forwards, with the possibility of a worse loss of control. You're not just choosing the method of your crash, you're changing the likelihood also.
Like I say, I'm speaking from experience of my own car, having the winter tyre grip on the front didn't suddenly turn the car into a boomerang. I'd rather have 4 winter/allseason tyres and that's what I do now, but that's beside the point. 2 winters and 2 normal tyres was categorically better than 4 normal tyres. I think if you'd had the same experience you'd agree. I think if I hadn't had this experience, I'd probably agree with you.
This is all pretty far from the OP's question, mind, since that's a rwd car.
Well after reading that the size I needed was scored No2 and "Exemplary" by Autobild after being tested on a 3 series I made the sensible decision and ordered the All Season Contacts.
2 x 5mm BMW 18" fronts for sale.... 😀
I'd love some winter wheels for the Merc but it's just not worth it really. You can't get steel wheels in that size, so it's at least £400 for new alloys and another £600 for tyres. Of course, the ride was better with the staggered wheels so I could get some new ones of those in 18 for summers and use my non-staggered ones for summers. Or, for the same money, I could buy a nice bike...
Moral of the story - don't buy a fancy car!
don’t buy a
fancycar!
FTFY, on top of the tyres the other car has just cost a new diesel injector supplied and fitted, its a very expensive month.
Moral of the story – don’t buy a fancy car!
Don't buy a car with a staggered wheel fitment or a ridiculous tyre size if running costs and a narrower choice of rubber is going to be important to you.
ridiculous tyre size
I'm a victim of not doing my research - my car was 1 of two identical ex-demo's when I bought it, the only difference was the other was 19" RFLT, and I preferred the ride of my 18" NRFLT. I didn't realise at the time the 18's is not a common size, the car with 19" wheels would have been cheaper for tyres in the main, and with all-seasons has much more variety.
Hey ho.
I’m a victim of not doing my research
TBF, faced with the shiny new car on a dealer forecourt, few do. My car's the earlier less whizzy looking gen to yours and even that was delivered in tyre sizes from 16 and 17 square to 18 and 19 staggered. I've the second most sensible option because that's what it had as a s/h purchase, I'd have been fine with the 16s, the larger sized would have given me pause.
None of the sizes on mine are common. It's not the worst thing, but what does irritate me is that you can't get the super quiet tyres with the damping foam inside in my size.