Tyres?

[fred88]

Since following this forum I've got confused about tyres. In the past I've always bought, well, tyres! I now learn that there are summer tyres, winter tyres and all season tyres. So what have I been buying in the past when I've just go to the local, or more recently mobile, tyre fitter and buy .... tyres?

I realise you can't actually answer that question without knowing what i actually purchased, but my point is when you just have a conversation with your fitter and choose a brand / price band with no mention of seasons, what are you likely to get?

[Roy124]

Fred, in England I would guess summer.  In Scotland, and time of year, possibly summer or winter.  If you go wearing muddy boots quite likely Mud and Snow.

Distilling this down, most likely a summer tyre rather than all season.

[Talking Hoarse]

Default will be Summer tyres in UK.  

I am just about to change all 4 (17") tyres on my car.  Waiting until after 20k service as wheel alignment is (listed as) part of that.  So my OE Falkens have got to 20k (and are still legal) although I swapped front to rear etc at about 13k. 

I find my car has been very challenging on the little bit of snow etc down here, and poor too on loose surfaces or wet grass etc.  And  I do travel North many times each year,  So next tyres will be all season - likely CrossClimates.

[Roy124]

Now Fred, turning your question around, what do you want your tyres to do?

There are so many variables- are you a fair weather motorist or all year round?  Country lanes, towns or motorway?  High mileage or low?  Fast or slow? Economy or quietness?

Brand/price is of course a big question. 

In our youth, when we would put in 10/- worth of petrol and buy retreads money was really scarce.

I just had to buy a new tyre for £160 to match the current and original tyres.  Had I had to replace all 4 I could have had a discount and possibly taken 0% interest payments. Had that been the case then I would certainly research.

[Roy124]

2 minutes ago, Talking Houbik said:

Default will be Summer tyres in UK.  

I am just about to change all 4 (17") tyres on my car.  Waiting until after 20k service as wheel alignment is (listed as) part of that.  So my OE Falkens have got to 20k (and are still legal) although I swapped front to rear etc at about 13k. 

I find my car has been very challenging on the little bit of snow etc down here, and poor too on loose surfaces or wet grass etc.  And  I do travel North many times each year,  So next tyres will be all season - likely CrossClimates.

Agree entirely.   My OEM tyres are Goodyear and also 20k.  There is plenty of tread on the front.  Whilst our driving styles will be different that certainly suggests Goodyear are more durable. 

My next year will be the same Yaris Cross Excel and I was disappointed to see an the Toyota site the Icon and Excel will have Falken with Design and Premier different.  😮‍💨

[Obsidian Estate]

I've been driving since 2000 and never had anything other than summer tyres.

[sportse]

I've had cross climates on several cars.

They are good tyres, I do a lot of early morning pre-dawn driving in winter and they stay flexible at colder temperatures. There is a hit to fuel economy, but it's only a few mpg.

However, unless I was needing snow/mud performance I'd stick with standard all round normal tyres tyres now.

I used to have Dunlop sport performance tyres which were great in summer but completely awful in winter, but the 'lower performance' ordinary tyres are actually pretty good in all conditions.

It's likely I'll replace the Bridgestone ecopia tyres my Corolla has with the same when they wear. Being 16 inch they are fairly cheap too.

 

[TonyHSD]

When talking about tyres just don’t buy anything that been recommended by the local shop/ mobile fitter before you do your homework and research what would be the best tyres for your driving needs. As mentioned above it’s very personal thing and very individual. 

For my car and my driving style the best tyres are summer touring tyres, these provide the best ratio between performance, efficiency, safety and comfort. They last long, cost sensible and deliver their promise. When new they work well on snow and in cold temperatures during the winter.

I had tried all seasons, but I did not liked them at all and gifted these to my dad. Every time I drive his car now I like it so much and every time I think, but why I didn’t liked these tyres when they were on my car ?! Perhaps each car, each driving needs are so slightly different in between. 
Goodyear’s efficient grip performance 2 are my favourite tyres since 2020 and I never look to change to anything else. These has transformed the car for better ever since to the point that I did not want anything else even their own all season tyres that i gave away. 🛞👌

 
https://www.atseuromaster.co.uk/special-offers/goodyear-tyre-offer

[Roy124]

Tony, just had one from Halfords, £15 more expensive an KwikFit more expensive still.

[SDR]

+1 to both above posts.   I did have a set of all season tyres on steel winter wheels a few years ago.   And they never saw a flake of snow!    Living in t' South, and considering how little snow we actually get, and how much rain, I now stick with 'standard' summer tyres with an A rating for wet use and good reviews for same. 

I like tyrereviews.com, especially for their video reviews, although, in reality, there doesn't seem to be a significant difference between the premium tyres (and even some mid-range).

I also rate the Goodyear EGP 2 tyres.

Of course, everyone has their own needs.   I am retired so, generally, I am not doing early starts in winter and, if there is snow around for a few days each year, I may not have to drive on it at all.

My Corolla has arrived with Conti Ecocontact 6 tyres.   They are obviously quality tyres, and A rated for both economy and wet grip, but too early to tell how they are in difficult conditions.   The only thing that is immediately obvious is that they are noisy on some road surfaces.   Eco biased tyres often are, as the compound tends to be at the harder end of the scale, but I suspect that the root cause may be the car!

I noticed how light the bonnet is straight away, because there is no noise insulation at all!   If that is carried on elsewhere then it explains the tyre roar (and why no-one can hear when the ICE starts and stops 😁).   My Audi A4 was an oasis of serenity by comparison.   It is probably the only thing that I miss.

[Niky]

One more 👍 for GoodYear EGP 2.. F1 autocentres keep low prices and have some good discounts too - look for the code.... 

https://www.f1autocentres.co.uk/

[Bozz]

11 hours ago, Niky said:

One more 👍 for GoodYear EGP 2.. F1 autocentres keep low prices and have some good discounts too - look for the code.... 

https://www.f1autocentres.co.uk/

And another  from me for both the Goodyears and F1 Autos 

[Roy124]

Rats.   Had I known of F1 I would have saved £40

Trouble with a distress purchase you get what you can.

[Niky]

3 minutes ago, Roy124 said:

Rats.   Had I known of F1 I would have saved £40

Trouble with a distress purchase you get what you can.

F1 do 20% discounts time to time - worth checking them. I bought 4 GoodYears 205/55/16 91v for around £266 last August. 

[Roy124]

@Niky as I said, distress purchase.  I don't plan on any routine replacements now.

As a matter of interest, looking back at my second car 60 odd years ago, a new car is up by about 30% but has twice the power, half the consumption and well over 20k tyre life.  That first car could eat front crossply tyres in under 6k.

The Yaris is 30% heavier but has a 0-60 time of under 12 second cf 16 with the earlier car.

Taken as a whole, the new cars are no more expensive than those in the last century.

[mpm235]

On 5/10/2024 at 7:52 AM, Talking Houbik said:

Default will be Summer tyres in UK.  

I am just about to change all 4 (17") tyres on my car.  Waiting until after 20k service as wheel alignment is (listed as) part of that.  So my OE Falkens have got to 20k (and are still legal) although I swapped front to rear etc at about 13k. 

I find my car has been very challenging on the little bit of snow etc down here, and poor too on loose surfaces or wet grass etc.  And  I do travel North many times each year,  So next tyres will be all season - likely CrossClimates.

Michelin Cross Climates are great choice for England. They are based on a Summer Tyre, which has been tweaked to be all Season. Where as other All Season Tyres are based on Winter Tyres. Cross Climates are still very good in nice weather.

[Cyker]

As a rule of thumb, if you live south of Milton Keynes you will probably get away with only using summer tyres, especially if you live in an urban area. Anyone who lives in London absolutely won't need anything other than summer tyres barring a random freak snowstorm, which usually grinds the city to a halt anyway  .

North of MK, summer-biased all-seasons like the Michelin Cross Climates are less hassle, being able to deal with any snow without compromising hot weather performance much for the sensible driver (Not great tyres for hooning down country roads in the summer though  ).

 

[mpm235]

13 hours ago, Cyker said:

As a rule of thumb, if you live south of Milton Keynes you will probably get away with only using summer tyres, especially if you live in an urban area. Anyone who lives in London absolutely won't need anything other than summer tyres barring a random freak snowstorm, which usually grinds the city to a halt anyway  .

North of MK, summer-biased all-seasons like the Michelin Cross Climates are less hassle, being able to deal with any snow without compromising hot weather performance much for the sensible driver (Not great tyres for hooning down country roads in the summer though  ).

 

Good post, good points Cryker. I have Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons on my Auris, replacing them with Michelin Cross Climate 2s in the Autumn. All season tyres aren't just for ice and snow, they grip better than Summers when the temperature is low, below about 7 degrees. On my drive to work and back, I'm on the roads very early in the mornings, often get temperatures below that from Autumn to Spring.  As accidents are most likely in the dark and bad weather, that's why I want the safest tyres for those conditions.

[sportse]

21 hours ago, mpm235 said:

Michelin Cross Climates are great choice for England. They are based on a Summer Tyre, which has been tweaked to be all Season. Where as other All Season Tyres are based on Winter Tyres. Cross Climates are still very good in nice weather.

Yes, they work well in hot weather. When I had mine on one car, we were having the 30 degree summer that year and they were fine. 

[Cyker]

That's one of the biggest pros with the MCCs - Previous all-season tyres were garbage when it got hot; They used winter rubber which made them more prone to overheating and taking a dive in cornering and braking ability!  

Michelin somehow made summer rubber work still in winter, and while they don't tend to be as good on ice and snow as the traditional winter-biased all-seasons, they still work well enough and I'd take that over having several metres suddenly being added to your stopping distance on a hot day!  

[TonyHSD]

I don’t  think Michelins are any different from Goodyear or conti or any other  brand in their all season tyres, all of them including Michelin cross climate aren’t a summer tyres with winter capability but dedicated all season all weather tyres with completely different rubber compound and tyre structure from any summer or winter tyres.
Michelin is not different from Goodyear and they actually aren’t better in hot, dry, or cold and wet, it’s just those tiny differences that most people will not notice at all.
The tyre review guy is a good man, however his reviews aren’t very helpful, because no real world driver will ever race its car on a track or ever sense 1/10 of a second difference in acceleration, braking or lateral performance.
All of these tyres are made to be all season  with very very similar characteristics.
Because they have so slightly different tread patterns on each there are of course so slight difference in between the different brands and they might perform so slightly different in different situations.
Generally speaking all season tyres are very similar between the different brands and Michelin cross climates aren’t any better than Goodyear or Continental or Hankook or Kleber or anything in this category really. 
They aren’t summer based tyres and Goodyear vectors aren’t winter based tyres, these two and all others are all season tyres based on their own tyre structure and used their own specialty rubber compounds. 👍

Just buy what’s is your favourite brand or the best price within your budget. 

[newda898]

With my front Falken tyres approaching end of life at 23000 miles I've just had a pair of Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 put on. 

Took some whittling down to chose those as they also have the rubber rim protector that the Falkens had that lots of other tyres don't. 

Is it quieter? I honestly don't know. Having been out for a brief spin I can't say I noticed anything obvious.

[twintopp]

i always go for Michelin.

[citrys]

On 5/10/2024 at 9:52 AM, Talking Houbik said:

Default will be Summer tyres in UK.  

I am just about to change all 4 (17") tyres on my car.  Waiting until after 20k service as wheel alignment is (listed as) part of that.  So my OE Falkens have got to 20k (and are still legal) although I swapped front to rear etc at about 13k. 

I find my car has been very challenging on the little bit of snow etc down here, and poor too on loose surfaces or wet grass etc.  And  I do travel North many times each year,  So next tyres will be all season - likely CrossClimates.

Want to try CrossClimate tyres in Latvia, but I'm a bit worried about coldest season... will they be ok on snow or even on ice.

[Roy124]

2 hours ago, citrys said:

Want to try CrossClimate tyres in Latvia, but I'm a bit worried about coldest season... will they be ok on snow or even on ice.

If you don't have official requirements you might check if Germany approve such all season tyres.