UKC

Need to replace the tires on my car, and I'm leaning towards the Continental tires (http://4wheelonline.com/continental-tires.247297 ) particularly the DWS. Does anyone have real world experience with this tire? If you have other suggestions on the best all-season tire that is not too pricey, pls let me know. Thanks.

In reply to rubertm:

For all season my garage recommended Uniroyal Rain Experts. My wife always had them on hers, as she'd venture out in anything.

In reply to rubertm:

I've just put Michelin CrossClimate on mine. Good price, no complaints so far. They handled the latest bout of weather well enough. There are some good comparison reviews to be found on the web.

In reply to rubertm:
I personally haven't noticed any difference between expensive brand all seasons and cheapies and choose based on tread depth for the car now. A lot of expensive winter/all-season tyres have really low tread depth which means they wear out pretty quick and don't shed water nearly as well. 8mm is ideal.

I used to have the previous version of the mentioned michelin tyre which at the time got some of the best reviews but they wore out very quickly and like I say, didn't notice any difference in terms of performance. If anything I feel that the V shaped tread patterns don't dissipate standing water nearly as well as the more horizontal and chunky patterns but that's not based on anything apart from my own experience.

The difference between a summer tyre and an all season is night and the difference between one brand of all season tyre and another is probably not so dramatic. I used cooper weather masters on the car for a while and they're by far the best tyre I've ever had but strictly speaking they're a winter tyre. Think I got around 20k on them before they wore down to 4mm and it was incredibly difficult to get them to aquaplane. I have cheap all-seasons on at the moment and they got up a steep icy slope no problem yesterday (although they are on a 4x4).

In reply to rubertm:

I have vector 4 seasons. Very good. Next time I'll probably get cross climate.

In reply to Dave B:

When I was looking at getting some Cross Climates I was put off by a number of reviews reporting repeated punctures, which seemed odd. Bear in mind that I always gravitate towards the one star reviews though!

In reply to Siward:

Thanks. Where did you see this?

In reply to Dave B:

Very good question, I can't remember now. Fair to say most reviews online seem to be very good but I distinctly recall a few reviews grouped together on some site all complaining of punctures.

If I come across it I'll let you know.

In reply to rubertm:

i've been using Michelin cross climates for 3 years now, i'm on my third set (as of last week), and i do about 25k a year in a mondeo estate.

i like them, i'm absolutely convinced that they are markedly better in every cold condition than any other tyre i've ever used, and i've not had a problem with punctures or them wearing quickly - they last about 10/11 months (20k) and i change the fronts to back after 6 months.

the £500 they cost makes me gasp, i'm not loaded, but i see it as a) only £100 per year or so more than buying much less capable tyres, and b) rather less than the excess i'll have to pay should i have a sliding accident.

i lob them on a cheap credit card and just pay them off at two takeaways a month. which, really, is nothing compared to getting stuck or having an accident with the kids in the car.

In reply to rubertm:

I've been very happy with the Matador M+S tyres that I put on the van a few years ago, at a very good price.

In reply to rubertm:

I've been using CrossClimates since November last year; I've found them very good.

Probably not quite as good as full-on winter tyres when it's really bad, but amongst othetr things I did cross the Lawers pass last winter with them when it was a sheet of ice, and they hardly slipped, while other people were unable to progress.

I don't think I'll bother with full winter tyres any more - these are good enough for me, and save having to swap them around.

In reply to rubertm:

Tread depth helps in snow; compound and pattern (I.e sipes) help on ice/frost covered roads. The Michelin Cross Climate are probably the best compromise between all year round, and winter performance, while something like the Vector All Season would be a bit better in ice/snow, but not as good the rest of the time. If you can only have one set of tyres for all season use then the Cross Climates are, IMO, the answer. Uniroyal Rain Masters are better than most summer tyres in snow because they're soft, and have blocky tread compared to the average modern summer tyre. But they're not all seasons and not even close to the Cross Climates in terms of cold weather or ice performance.

As someone above said, the additional £100 may hurt at the time but if it means you can get out on a day you otherwise wouldn't, or avoid an accident, then it more than pays for itself.

In reply to rubertm:
My van has teeny tiny wheels so a set of crossclimates were considerably cheaper that middle of the road tires i had on the Volvo previously so i thought I'd give them a go. They've been great so far, not struggled on anything.

In reply to rubertm: I like Cross climates more than Goodyear all weathers although both get very good marks. I don't like either as much in the snow as my Goodyear winter tyres but they seem a good compromise for the UK. No punctures - that seems an odd comment

In reply to rubertm:

Tyres

In reply to Siward:

None on mine, now on their second winter and have been used all year round.

I ended up getting the Cross Climates. I can say that they are quiet and have a good grip.

In reply to rubertm:

Let us know how you get on then in the longer term. I'll be interested.