All season tires for 3 seasons

[NAC]

So last winter I bought a set of Goodyear winter tires. I love them. Excellent traction in snow. Then last summer I got a separate set of rims with summer tires: BF GOODRICH G-FORCE SPORT COMP-2. I gotta say I wasn't as impressed with the summer tires. The winter tires seemed to have better traction in dry conditions than my old all season tires (and of course far superior traction in wet/snow/ice). But the summer tires seemed equal to my winter tires in dry conditions, and inferior in wet. I wasn't excited about them. PLUS - it seemed to me that a set wasn't going to even last 3 years, perhaps 2.5 years.

So, I blew out a summer tire last fall, and promptly installed all my winter tires. Now I have to get a replacement tire(s) for the summer set.

I'm thinking of getting 2 all season tires, even though I'll only use them 3 seasons. I hope to get longer lifetime, better ride quality/noise, better traction in wet, and am willing to give up a little dry traction. These tires seem perfect, and have excellent reviews on TireRack: CONTINENTAL PURECONTACT WITH ECOPLUS TECHNOLOGY

They have better scores than the BF Goodwrench tires in every category but cornering stability. I would install my old summer tires on the front wheels, for now, and then get two more of these all season tires when the remaining BF Goodwrench tires are done. I know mixing and matching tires isn't ideal. And I'm not sure if I'll be disappointed with dry traction. I'm not a speed or high performance demon, I drive a Mazda 5 afterall. Thoughts?

 

[Jimzz]

Look at the Cooper CS5 Ultras. You can get them at discounttiredirect.com

Great all season tire.

 

[Kelvrick]

My mind is a little blown right now, but what good year winter tires did you get? And what conditions are you driving in when it isn't winter?

The Comp-2's are pretty well respected summer tires. Please be aware that you can't just take the tirerack scores on their performance ratings across different classes. The considerations for an ultra high performance summer tire is different than from a grand touring all season tire. The Continental might have higher bare numbers, but take a look at these actual performance comparisons.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/chartDisplay.jsp?ttid=188
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/chartDisplay.jsp?ttid=192

Continental
Slalom time dry/wet
5.22 / 5.56
Lap time dry/wet
31.15 / 34.36
Stopping distance (50-0 mph) dry/wet
88.50 / 105.60
Average cornering (g-force) dry/wet
0.85 / 0.74

BF Goodrich
Slalom time dry/wet
4.94 / 5.71
Lap time dry/wet
30.20 / 36.55
Stopping distance (50-0 mph) dry/wet
78.50 / 121.40
Average cornering (g-force) dry/wet
0.93 / 0.75

From those numbers, you might not be happy with the new continentals either. Would you be willing to give summer tires another try?

I haven't met anyone who hasn't loved their Michelin Pilot Super Sports. I currently run Bridgestone S-04's as my summer tires right now, but am looking forward to getting the Michelin's once they wear out. Any of the tires from this test should do way better than the continentals you're looking at.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/chartDisplay.jsp?ttid=174

 

[Midwayman]

Yah, don't do that. Tires of different model in the same category is bad enough, different categories entirely is a recipe for unpredictable handling. FWIW I had the purecontact on my MB. Didn't like em. The Extremecontact DWS is what you want if you go all season. (IMHO anyways.)

 

[NAC]

My winter tires are Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice WRT XL.

Last spring when I changed from the Goodyear tires to the BF Goodrich summer tires, I felt they both handled about the same in the dry. The temps at the time were probably in the 50s or so. I'm an old guy, I probably drive slow compared to most folks who buy performance summer tires. Maybe it is "turn in" which I am describing - just the initial feel of a turn and not the actual limit of performance.

Thanks for looking up the numbers comparing the two. Based on the stats, the summer tires will clearly outperform the summer tires in dry. I'm surprise all season is that much better in wet.

I don't think I want to get an even higher performance (and more expensive) tires. Maybe in the future, but I don't want to spend the money on 4 new tires now. I figure that rather than live with the BF Goodrich tires for another 2 years I would begin a transition now. But maybe I should just stick with 4 of the same tires. And you are right - those ECO tires are a bit of a leap in the opposite direction from high performance.

Luckily it is a front tire that blew out, and the tread on it is down almost 50% from new (in ~9 months!). The rears are only down maybe 25%. So if I get two new tires I can use them in the front again, and then the following year swap them, and will probably end up with all 4 tires being pretty much done.

 

[thomsbrain]

"Good" for tires is totally down to what aspects of performance you value.

Looking at Continentals (to stay within one brand for example purposes)

The PureContact is an excellent "touring" all-season tire, meaning it has extremely long tread life, low noise, low rolling resistance, and acceptable dry/wet traction. It has just enough snow traction to not be a complete disaster, but it's not a true "winter" tire.

The DWS all-season places additional emphasis on dry/wet traction at the expense of tread life, noise and rolling resistance. Snow traction is likely on par with the PureContact.

The DW is a summer tire (ie, everything-except-subfreezing). Beyond that, it's a "max performance" summer tire, which means it's oriented towards grip. It places even more emphasis on dry/wet traction than the DWS, at further expense of tread life, noise and rolling resistance. The DW is probably twice as loud on the road as the PureContact, and it wears much much faster. But it offers meaningful more grip for turning and braking in both dry and wet conditions. Snow traction will be dangerously low.

There are true winter tires and even-higher-grip summer tires available, but the uses for those are pretty self-explanatory (long snowy seasons or track/canyon driving).

Consider your needs:

If you live where you will never encounter ice/snow, you can run a summer tire all year, and just choose the summer class based on the grip vs. wear balance you want. If you prioritize low wear and low noise above all else (like a long highway commute or road trips), then you can instead run a touring class all-season all year.

If you live where the seasons are pretty either/or (a long frozen season followed by a long warm season), you will want to switch between summer and winter. An all-season tire will not provide sufficient winter traction for a true winter season. You could run an all-season in the summer if you prioritize treadwear/noise over grip during those seasons.

If you live where your daily drive takes you through both frozen and warm temps (for example, you live at high elevation with sub-freezing mornings and work at low elevation with 70 degree afternoons), you'll probably need an all-season for the winter so that you have safe traction in the cold and the tire doesn't wear out instantly in the warm. You can run that tire all year for wear and noise, or switch between it and a grippy summer for non-winter months. Same deal if you live where it is always warm but take frequent ski trips, for instance.

 

[tsupersonic]

Yah, don't do that. Tires of different model in the same category is bad enough, different categories entirely is a recipe for unpredictable handling. FWIW I had the purecontact on my MB. Didn't like em. The Extremecontact DWS is what you want if you go all season. (IMHO anyways.)

Agreed, don't mix and match tire types (ex: 2 all-seasons w/ 2 summers). Your tires should be all one type (4 summer tires, 4 winter tires, or 4 all-season tires) regardless of drivetrain (AWD, 4WD, FWD, RWD), and ideally the tires should be the same make/model. I will say the Continental ExtremeContact I had on my MB were absolute garbage, highly do not recommend. I replaced them with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S3 I believe it was, and it improved handling drastically.

My ideal setup is: (I'm in upstate NY where we get ton of snow)
April - Nov: Michelin Pilot Super Sport
Nov - April: Bridgestone Blizzaks WS80

 

[yh125d]

I don't get enough wintry precip for winter tires to make sense, but enough to make summer tires year round dangerous. So when it came time to, I put the ExtremeContact DWS on my FoST instead of stock Goodyear Eagle F1 AS2 summer tires. I'm very happy with the dry/wet grip, which isn't down as much as I would have thought, but haven't really had any white stuff to test on.


Realistically, you drive a Mazda 5. You have no need at all for summer tires, thats why they were underwhelming. I'd imagine even winter tires have enough dry traction for normal cars being driven normally, so the only difference that would be apparent would be like noise and harshness. If you drove a Miata that you autocrossed one weekend a month, you'd actually be approaching the upper limit of your traction pretty regularly and the difference would be clear

 

[ViviTheMage]

Look at the Cooper CS5 Ultras. You can get them at discounttiredirect.com

Great all season tire.

funny, I found them pretty bad for all season, especially snow. I put them on a day before it snowed, and anything over 1/2" I was sliding everywhere. Start, stop, everything. Throw in a small grade and i'd slide pretty far into a stop, or barely be able to accel up. This is on a FWD golf. I threw back on my old Michelin pilot as3's that were 5/32 or so, and they did a lot better in up to 1-2" of snow on the road.

If snow is not a concern, I am sure the CS5's are fine. If I would get another set for that tire again, I would grab some conti DWS's.

I have lived in snow country all my life, so this wasn't my first snow experience either.

 

[LTC8K6]

I don't get enough wintry precip for winter tires to make sense, but enough to make summer tires year round dangerous. So when it came time to, I put the ExtremeContact DWS on my FoST instead of stock Goodyear Eagle F1 AS2 summer tires. I'm very happy with the dry/wet grip, which isn't down as much as I would have thought, but haven't really had any white stuff to test on.


Realistically, you drive a Mazda 5. You have no need at all for summer tires, thats why they were underwhelming. I'd imagine even winter tires have enough dry traction for normal cars being driven normally, so the only difference that would be apparent would be like noise and harshness. If you drove a Miata that you autocrossed one weekend a month, you'd actually be approaching the upper limit of your traction pretty regularly and the difference would be clear

It isn't necessarily winter precip, but winter temps, that kill the grip of summer tires. You will have much lower grip with cold temps, even on a dry road. At least until the tires get some heat in them.

 

[Midwayman]

That's why I always do a few doughnuts in my driveway before leaving.

 

[yh125d]

It isn't necessarily winter precip, but winter temps, that kill the grip of summer tires. You will have much lower grip with cold temps, even on a dry road. At least until the tires get some heat in them.

Yes, but not so much as to be considered dangerous in my estimation, at least not if its above single digits. Wintry precip of any sort though, is most definitely dangerous on summer tires