Car Tyre Question

[TDMTAM]

Yeah! I know this is a bike forum, but some of you are into cars aswell.

Anyhow,my car (VWJetta) is needing a couple of tyres soon & with the weather we have been having & the fact I am out in the sticks a bit, I was thinking of changing to all weather tyres might be a good option.
Does anyone else run all weather tyres all year round . I was thinking Pirelli P6 FourSeason or Hankook Optimo 4S, what is the general opinion. Ideally I'd have a spare set of wheels with winter but too dear & then there is the storage.
Or do you think it would be better to get a set of Autosocks & stick with summer tyres
TAM

[Guest]

I'm fortunate enough to have two sets for my rangie, but for most of the time, I use the standard fitment Pirelli Scorpion/Michelin Syncro all season (read road biased for a 4x4) tyre. My other set are larger diameter, wider proper off roady type things.

I know that we're not quite comparing like for like, but the Michelin/Pirelli tyres are fairly close to what you're looking at. They're not particularly noisy, have good grip both wet and dry and do not, as far as I can tell, have a major impact on economy. They also work surpirsingly well in muddy, snowy conditions, giving far more grip than their tread pattern would have you believe.

As a cautionary note, they are likely to have a deeper tread depth than a "normal" road tyre and may be a little larger in diameter as a result. With that in mind, you may be better purchasing 4 tyres, rather than just a pair, or at least try to measure the difference in diameter between the two. It shouldn't have too much of an effect on a two wheel drive car, though.

[ChrisG]

Worth checking the manufacturers specs, winter tyres have more silicone in them so they stay soft at lower temperatures, and I believe this means they have a maximum reccomended temperature too. Though in Scotland this is only likely to be a problem in the summer and you can use the bike instead that week.

[TDMTAM]

<!--quoteo(post=152093:date=Sat 27th Feb 2010, 11:10 AM:name=ChrisG)-->QUOTE(ChrisG @ Sat 27th Feb 2010, 11:10 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Worth checking the manufacturers specs, winter tyres have more silicone in them so they stay soft at lower temperatures, and I believe this means they have a maximum reccomended temperature too. Though in Scotland this is only likely to be a problem in the summer and you can use the bike instead that week.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The tyres I am thinking of are all season not winter, they do have a higher silicone level than summer tyres but not as much as full winters.
so far I have found that the Pirelli's seem to get a bad review & next to no one stock all season tyres where I live & they are about 20% than a standard summer tyre.
So I am now kind of thinking of summer tyres & buying snowsocks with the difference in price. That way I can keep the snowsocks for any future cars (if they have same size of tyre) & take advantage of better deals on tyres.
Thats unless anyone else has a view on this.
TAM