Just ordered a set of Agilis cross climates for the van - will be interesting to do a comparison between them, the winter contacts on the car, and the eco summer tyres (which are hopeless in anything but the dry and warm)
The el-chepo van tyres it came with could barely make it up a ramp the other day in the snow, even on tickover.
Theres a lot of variation but it neednt be expensive to have the summer/winter options. Even the big ass cross contact all seasons on my navara are a bit gash in the snow despite the Mud and Snow markings (not the 3 peaks though), and the highway wear rate is terrible to boot.
Im chopping them in for some more efficient summer tyres for when we're doing long runs to france etc. and some all terrains with good winter rating for now. I managed to buy a complete set of identical, brand new wheels with new continentals on them for less than the price of the tyres alone. This is quite common Ive found. Im going to take the tyres off, replace with the ATs, sell the contis for hopefully 70% of their current retail, almost paying for the wheels, which will get new tyres that should last me at least 6 winter seasons. The cost will be £5-600 all in when done and as Im happy changing the wheels myself and can store them (They don't actually take up much room) then the costs are not crazy per year, and thats with big, above averagely expensive tyres.
Plus of course, it's not a sunk cost, when/if you sell or scrap the car the wheels will always still have value and the tyres might. It's the ciiiiircle of wheels, and it moves us all
Plus of course, it’s not a sunk cost, when/if you sell or scrap the car the wheels will always still have value and the tyres might.
Yeah only a fraction of the purchase cost though.
EV tyres are important, mainly for load ratings due to how heavy the battery packs are.
No. My diesel is heavier than my EV and has a much greater load capacity. There are plenty of ICE cars much heavier than EVs.
But, the rolling resistance and therefore range is a similar argument to “ECO” tyres for ICE cars. In terms of this specific thread though, that is a terrible idea as to make a tyre efficient for range, they will not work well in cold, wet, ice and snow.
The trade off will always be grip vs efficiency
Also no, AFAIK. Rubber is an extremely complex engineering substance, so there's more to it than softer = more grip/less efficient.
Of course, because you've used them. But the same would be true of the tyres already on it. (and if you buy them used then it's better still- I could probably sell my current winter set for what I paid for them, even though the tyres are now on their last winter)
No. My diesel is heavier than my EV and has a much greater load capacity. There are plenty of ICE cars much heavier than EVs.
Like for like in the same vehicle groups that's unlikely. You have vehicles from 2 different vehicle size groups. Skews disproportionally as the vehicle gets smaller too
Yeah only a fraction of the purchase cost though.
I only paid 550 for the wheels and tyres, and I hope to shift the tyres for £400. That means I will have paid £150 for 4 decent 18" alloys. Reckon that I would get £300+ for just the alloys if I don't kerb them, and with 60 profile tyres thats quite possible to achieve.
I am going from a Q5 with Cross-climates to a Q4 etron quattro. The EV is 290kg heavier. I have no idea whether I will get the option though the lease company to have CrossClimates, or, now , even if they are suitable due to the weight difference...
Cross climates are perfectly suitable for an EV. The reason EV specific exist is that they're a bit more efficient for when you're trying to eke out every km from your Nissan Leaf (hands up again). Yes, they make a difference, but 20-40% would depend very much on what you're comparing them to, but I recall when I went to PremiumContacts from Eco's it dropped circa 10kn or so , so a little less than 10%.
Anyone else here using Dekk klister? Literal translation tyre glue. It's the only stuff that works when you're in a car park of sheet black ice with water running on it. Spray it on and survive back to 'normal' foul conditions
EV tyres also offer 2 load ratings for the same tyre. Not unheard of, but seems to be a major thing for EV tyres, presumably because the battery is at one end or the other so needs it. Not that Engines aren't also heavy too mind.
^^^ the one I have ordered also has wider tyres on the rear than the front, which is a new one on me !
Like for like in the same vehicle groups that’s unlikely.
Doesn't matter, tyres are tyres regardless of what class of car they go on. If you can use a particular tyre on an ICE car for a given weight you can use it on an EV.
I have read that the tyres developed for EVs are the quietened ones with the foam inside, because lack of engine noise made the tyre noise sound worse. But you can get the foam tyres for ICE cars too of course.
but seems to be a major thing for EV tyres, presumably because the battery is at one end or the other
Mostly they are under the floor so the weight is more evenly distributed than in an ICE.
the one I have ordered also has wider tyres on the rear than the front, which is a new one on me
It's called "staggered" setup and is quite common on big wannabe sporty cars.
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presumably because the battery is at one end or the other so needs it. Not that Engines aren’t also heavy too mind.
Battery is usually under the floor or in the "transmission" tunnel.
Think the battery on our BEV is about 450-500 kilos, the entire engine and gearbox is only 180, 230 ish for AWD. And almost all at the front. Fuel tank is about 65-70 when full.
^^^ the one I have ordered also has wider tyres on the rear than the front, which is a new one on me !
Many reasons, mostly the weight shift in a BEV, when you really stamp on the accelerator pedal you can get a serious amount of torque.
So how are our Winter and all season tyres doing? One of those days I thought I'd be chaining today. On the first steep section there was an abandoned car and somone chaining. Next we passed an abandoned car with a shredded sock. Then we were forced to stop by someone stuck and I thought "time to chain" but the Zoe went off again without even a scrable. The only parking in the resort was going to be where people had difficulty getting so I tried and up we went. Pretty good for an all season tyre. Cross Climates 😋
Has been a pretty intense week in the Highlands, lots of fresh snow, thaw, refreeze, snow and then intense cold. Proper tricky road conditions with deep snow, frozen snow and wet icy slush. Cross climates have been superb, especially considering the fronts are probably 12k old. I live up a steep dirt track and I've had almost no difficulty apart from on pure ice, which has required some thought but was manageable.
9 days of continual snow and Ice in Aberdeen the CC on my EV haven't let me down yet
most all season have 3PMSF
Some. Just done a search for all season on one of our tyre sellers website (also looked at cross climate and 4 seasons tyres) and only about 2/3rds of them are classed as proper winter tyres. Though saying that, even non winter rated "cold weather" tyres will be loads better in a UK winter than using summers. Bloody awful over here though.
The downside is that unless you live in Scotland there is no need to get winter tyres unfortunately in this country
TBH a winter type tyre will be better for most of the population when driving in low temperatures, 5-7 degrees ish. So basically a couple of months commuting on the south coast and maybe 5 months in scotland. 😉
When I was doing the Aviemore-Inverness commute I actually started to be more aware of the temperatures. What I found is that there was not a single month when I wasn't experiencing temperatures of less than 6C at some point 😂
Goodyear all season vectors on the mighty Octavia. Been grand here on the edge of the Peak District. Wife's work is in a village which has had reasonable snow. Colleagues have been complaining of skidding and sliding all over the place and she's asked them what on earth they're doing as she's been fine. Also drive to Derby this morning in -4.5 and again fine even on untreated slightly slippery roads.
Used to run two sets of wheels and tyres on the old Accord but converted to all seasons now. I think you can even get them for the Corvette in America!
i.e. winter (or all-season) are less compromised for year-round use than a summer tyre is.
This I would agree with. I have Conti cross-climates on the front, Michelin cross-climates on the back of my Ford, and they’re ideal for the constantly changing climate we have in the U.K., where sometimes the summer can be cold and wet enough that a sheepskin flying jacket in the middle of July was comfortable! I know, because I was at the Fairford Air Tattoo on my birthday, and it was so cold I bought a sheepskin flying jacket as a present to myself and put it on to keep warm!
On my way home tonight from dropping my mate off, the lane that takes me back to the main A4 had puddles along the sides and big white patches where vehicles had driven through and splashed water over the road, where it had frozen, and I felt the car twitch in a couple of places even though I was driving fairly slowly and as straight as possible, but that was actually on ice, elsewhere the car felt stable and not like it was going to slide - I saw no signs that gritting lorries had been out at all over the last few days, though, which seems a bit irresponsible of the council, considering how low the temperature has been after sunset.
Its a 4motion winter tyre day here in Schwarzwald. Fatbike will be out later. Changing tyres here is a no-brainer and I know it's different in the UK but November-ish to April-ish they get changed. Even the van has a cornice this morning.
Snow blower out three times yesterday and getting ready for this morning's round with the L'al Red Honda...
I looked into this and it seems that all season tyres are worse in the wet than summer tyres. Is that really true?
https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre-Tests/The-Best-All-Season-Tyres-for-2025-26.htm/Results-Grid/
How wet ?
When the road has just been a bit wet I've never pushed the CCs anywhere near hard enough to find out. When the road is awash with standing water the deeper the tread and the earlier you change them the better - which is the case with Winters. The hosed circles they use in tests don't tell you what the tyre is going to do in a down pour on the M1 or if the wet surface turns ou to be several cms deep - look for an aquaplaning test. I don't worry much about wet grip, I've slowed and increased distances to adjust, I am wary of standing water and mud.
The Winter Wheels now have the Cross Climates on.
A bit of a change of tactics.
My 'summer' wheels have thr same identical tyres so hopefully I can now maximise the mileage on my tyres now as well. The summer.wheels can inherit the more worn tyres and I can keep.them gleaming and more polished!
My plan is that the winter wheels can get the salt attrition , are less precious (and easier to clean) and as the tread wears I can put them on the summer wheels, keeping the best treaded ones for winter.
Pleased with them so far, not 'quite' as good as a full winter tyre , but I am not doing the huge commutes and be first down the valley like I used to be.and its pretty marginal for sensible driving conditions. I think it maybe a touch more noticeable in the frost/ ice but once on the main salted roads no difference in feel.
I found that on my wife's car with wide 225 size footprint the all seasons were definitely not as good , esp in slushy snow.
Full winter was hugely better and went up a size with 17s and not 18's on second hand wheels (for pot hole countermeasures).
A narrower wheel does help a bit and reminds me of my old 2cv I had as a student.it was brilliant in snow on skinny tyres.
We looked at buying a Golf R estate but they not available on 17 wheels. SO put us off. 18 s are not great for country roads and pot holes etc.
Fashionable low profile wheels are not for me, but that's a whole new topic!
How wet ?
When the road has just been a bit wet I've never pushed the CCs anywhere near hard enough to find out. When the road is awash with standing water the deeper the tread and the earlier you change them the better - which is the case with Winters. The hosed circles they use in tests don't tell you what the tyre is going to do in a down pour on the M1 or if the wet surface turns ou to be several cms deep - look for an aquaplaning test. I don't worry much about wet grip, I've slowed and increased distances to adjust, I am wary of standing water and mud.
The same tests say that summer tyres have better resistance to aquaplaning than all season tyres.
I don't drive an SUV, but yeah, interesting.
I had the misfortune of driving a van without winter tires to the strathpuffer this weekend ....Michelin agilis.
It reminded me of how little control those who swear summers are all they need actually have.
shovels , grit and chains were carried and deployed when necessary....... Even getting out of deeside.
We looked at buying a Golf R estate but they not available on 17 wheels.
A 17” winter tyre is an option on a mk 7.5 Golf R hatch according to the tyre pressure sticker on the door pillar. They were never sold in the uk with 17’s as standard. The alternative is to buy a second set of 18’s as finding a suitable 17” set in the uk is difficult and much more expensive
All of the part worn places around here sell Mud and snow tyres exclusively (as far as i know in the spring and summer as its only time ive been) the last 2 pairs ive had were £20 per tyre fitted and were literally brand new.
I've got a new EV and the tyres are cheapo's but, at the moment, budget doesn't stretch to replacing them. I've always used CC's on my other cars. I'm no driving god but I was honestly shocked just how much the cheap tyres changed in the recent cold weather. Anything below 4c and the tyres just lost any usable grip, it was like the changed from being rubber to hard plastic. It was really striking.
I have driven a Skoda Scout 4wd on summers (work car) and my own Octavia fwd on all seasons on fresh snowy side roads on the same night. There is no comparison all seasons are night and day better.
Its about 15 years since I had a car without all seasons. My new car has summers and I am not looking forward to getting caught in any snow in it.
Planned trips I will use Mrs IRCs carvwhich has the proper all seasons for Scottish year round driving.
I have driven a Skoda Scout 4wd on summers (work car) and my own Octavia fwd on all seasons on fresh snowy side roads on the same night. There is no comparison all seasons are night and day better.
I drove my Cayenne (lots of power, 4wd, big tyres, good tread) and our Fiesta (1.0L so no power, fwd, skinny 'summer' tyres) on the same day in the snow and the Fiesta was much more assured going round the corners. If you can't get winter tyres then go skinny and no power FTW.
I've got a new EV and the tyres are cheapo's but, at the moment, budget doesn't stretch to replacing them. I've always used CC's on my other cars. I'm no driving god but I was honestly shocked just how much the cheap tyres changed in the recent cold weather. Anything below 4c and the tyres just lost any usable grip, it was like the changed from being rubber to hard plastic. It was really striking.
This is a big part of the perception that EVs are rubbish in snow. Cheap or expensive, the tyres are optimised for easy rolling, and many are wide / low profile.
I got very lucky last winter and picked up a full set of Judd alloys shod with proper winter Vredestiens, barely used, for £500. Turns out a Model Y 4WD with off road assist switched on is a seriously impressive snow car! It'll handle 8" deep snow no problem, and stop and go with ease on the shiny polished stuff as seen at the Puffer last weekend.
i priced up a set of size matched 17" Cross climates for our incoming EV this morning - 900quid.
Simultaneously i priced up a set of skinny winters on 16" steels fully assembled and delivered for 600 .....
Neither extremely palatable but i know which is the better option.
