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Best time to get all season tyres?


Rich
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By the winter the tyres on the Civic will be near the limit. It looks like the last owner rotated them so all 4 would need doing.

 

When is the best time to buy new all season tyres, I'm looking at the Vred Quatrac 3? I'm assuming they would be more expensive now than say October time when more would be made?

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Cool, will get some then :(

 

Do you really mean "all season" tyres, or winter tyres?

 

My impression is that all season tyres are not much better on snow and ice than standard summer tyres. If you intend to keep them on all the year round then they may help a little, but a decent set of summer tyres will probably be better on a year-round basis. If you intend to run them only during the winter, then proper winter tyres are much better.

 

There is a nice video here and an extensive test of summer, all season and winter tyres here.

 

The last line of this second test report describes all season as a "jack of all trades and a master of none". It's a phrase that I have heard used about them before.

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Yes I want all season tyres, I don't have the space (or money) for another set of rims, unless I get lucky on ebay and then I'll make space. The Vred's have some very good reviews, which is why I thought they might at least help in the winter months over summer tyres.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm looking on ebay now for some steel wheels that come on the lower models of the Civic. If I can get some I might get winter tyres instead and keep the P6000 for next year. The missus also wants the wheels refurbed so she could still use the car then. I'll just have to find somewhere to keep them.

 

Is there much difference price wise between winter and all season tyres?

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Cool, will get some then :lol:

 

Do you really mean "all season" tyres, or winter tyres?

 

My impression is that all season tyres are not much better on snow and ice than standard summer tyres. If you intend to keep them on all the year round then they may help a little, but a decent set of summer tyres will probably be better on a year-round basis. If you intend to run them only during the winter, then proper winter tyres are much better.

 

There is a nice video here and an extensive test of summer, all season and winter tyres here.

 

The last line of this second test report describes all season as a "jack of all trades and a master of none". It's a phrase that I have heard used about them before.

 

The problem here is that the term "All Season" is a little loose. These links are from the US and their requirements for "All Season" aren't so stringent as in Europe - for example, the Falken ZIEX ZE 912 is considered an all season tyre in the US, but is described as a summer tyre in Europe.

 

The Vredesteins that ER is talking about are approved for winter use by German insurers and the like, so should provide a decent level of winter performance and be ok in the summer too. It is probably true to say that all season tyres are a compromise when compared to summer tyres in summer and winter tyres in winter, but I reckon they'd be a really good compromise for our climate, as long as you're not after ultimate performance.

 

I haven't tried them myself but might well do so in the future.

 

Oh, and wasn't there a winter tyre test last year when the Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons (an all season tyre) beat all the full winter tyres in the snow? Can't find the link now - maybe I imagined it, but they certainly get good write-ups as well!

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M&S tyres were portrayed as being mud and snow, whereas they were actually Multi-Season tyres which in truth means nothing. Are they good in the summer or good in the winter, they can't be good in both due to the temperature difference, so one would assume they are ok but not brilliant in both conditions?

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All season tyres are jack of all trades, master of none. Either get winter tyres, or summer.

 

These Pirelli Sottozeros 210 Series II winter tyres will be coming off the wall and back on the IS200 Sport as soon as the temperatures get down to 7 degrees or below. The expression on a Land Rover Freelander drivers face as I drove around his vehicle stuck on one of our Cotswold hills last winter made buying them so worth it :lol: post-62-1314132628.jpg

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M&S tyres were portrayed as being mud and snow, whereas they were actually Multi-Season tyres which in truth means nothing. Are they good in the summer or good in the winter, they can't be good in both due to the temperature difference, so one would assume they are ok but not brilliant in both conditions?

 

I believe that, in addition to being marked M&S, the Vreds and Goodyears (and others) also have the "snowflake" symbol (?) which is what the European insurers want to see on tyres for use in winter.

 

I think you're spot on though, Tony. OK in both, so as long as you aren't bothered about hooning in the summer and aren't fussed about ultimate performance in the snow (let's face it, most of us in the UK don't get THAT much) I reckon the "winter (snowflake) qualified" tyres would be a really good compromise, especially if you don't have anywhere to store a spare set of wheels (or tyres) while they're out of season!

:lol:

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These are going on the missus Civic, she isn't a petrolhead or drives the car fast so all season tyres will be fine in the summer if the grip is less. I can't see them being any worse than having budget tyres on, if anything they're probably better.

 

I just want her to have abit more grip in the winter, not just for snow and ice but rain as well. The Vred's seem like the best ones to try.

 

Terry, I would love to have a garage to keep some spare wheels in...even a shed would do! :unsure:

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Terry, I would love to have a garage to keep some spare wheels in...even a shed would do! :unsure:

 

You may notice the two rims on the right haven't had their coating of PlastiDip yet, so need to do that to stop the dreaded salt corrosion on the Lexus alloys.

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Yes I did wonder...what is the PlastiDip like to use?

 

It's easy to use, I have a litre tin of dark green, a couple of aerosols of black and a can of thinners. I've dipped a pair of pliers, a junior hacksaw and a couple of hammer handles in the tin to give non slip insulated grips. The wheels were sprayed so far with the aerosols but the fronts will be sprayed dark green with my small DeVilbiss gun.

 

It's easier to not mask up as it can be peeled off providing it's thick enough. If you look at the pic, the far left rim still has PlastiDip on the hub face, but the one next to it has been peeled off.

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  • 4 weeks later...

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