Are All Season tyres right for you?

Should you be thinking about all season tyres? (known as all-weather in North America) What are they, what sort of climate are they suited to, and can they handle snow?

With winter approaching in the northern hemisphere, and a recent storm known as Arwen in Europe - it might be time to start thinking about what you've shod your favourite wheels with.

Having seen the forecast and knowing that Arwen would bring my part of the UK a lot of snow overnight, I purchased a new set of Michelin Cross Climate all season tyres for the Honda Accord. The results really surprised me.

Should you consider swapping your summer tyres for all-season tyres? Or perhaps even fit winter tyres? How are all season tyres vs summer tyres?

#allseasontyres

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[JJonCars]

Are Michelin Cross Climates "All Season Tyres" or "All Weather Tires"?

The answer in fact depends where you live! In the US they are All Weather Tires, in which case you should really be thinking of this video title as "Are All Weather Tires right for you?".

If you live in Europe, then they are called All Season Tyres.

For example, on the Michelin UK website, they refer to the Cross Climates as All Season Tyres:

Unfortunately I can't go back into the video to explain this, so I have this pinned comment instead. Safe motoring everyone :)

[toninocars]

Well made video, many uk drivers still believe that awd can help in slippery conditions where actual the tyres are the most important. Your video should be on national tv 3 times a day from October to April, it will teach the audience correctly.

[MultiVogon]

I had a set of proper winter tyres on an old Fiat Panda years ago - and it was an absolute beast in the snow - Had to drive across wales once and didn't see the tarmac for about 40 miles. Even offered a tow to a rep in a BMW who was stuck (he declined, probably couldn't face the shame :-) However full winters as you say are probably overkill for most of the UK most of the time. When I switched to a Subaru AWD, I fitted Continental AllSeasonContacts - very similar to the Michelins. They were great all year round. One thing I would say is that an AWD car spreads engine braking over all 4 wheels (depending on the system of course) and I think that CAN be helpful in slippery conditions.
I'm now in a FWD Citroen, and have just fitted some Falken all season tyres (about £200 cheaper than Conti/Michelin) so I guess I'll find out how good they are soon enough.

[hacked]

The Cross Climate 2 tyres are in a league above what people call "all season tires". Anything with the 3 Mountain Peak Snow Flake certification is impressive.

[kalidor]

Just got me a set of Crossclimate 2 and they are awesome in cold (-20°C) snowy conditions here in Sweden. Even better than my studded tires. I drive a AWD Nissan Juke Nismo and i think AWD or 4WD is a must for the best effect if you're having all season tires in the winter.

[mikanbass]

I drive an audi tt and I've literally just ditched my high performance tyres for crossclimate 2. I couldn't be happier. I've had crossclimates on my previous non sporty cars and they never failed me on snow and ice. It's surprising how they compare to performance tyres and winter tyres at the same time.

[harryharry]

snow, ice, they ll pass a 12h% hill safely up or down
wet flooded grip is just as amazing..
but more impressive is the tyre wall technology that feels like a suspension upgrade giving precise steering that i assure you a sports car would benefit from .
and they re so quiet !
peak district based like yourself, i have not found the limit to their grip under any road conditions

[iangraham]

Hi JJ - just come across this video as i look for reviews of all-season tyres, and i like your style of content and presentation. Maybe worth putting a comment that France has now mandated snow tyres or chains in snowy départements from November to April, so you'll need them to go skiing, for example. I have previously taken chains/socks but as my tyres are coming up for renewal i will be buying all all-season. Currently a toss-up between the Cross Climate 2 and the Good Year 4Seasons Gen3, which seem to perform a bit better in the wet conditions we might get in England all year round. Cheers!

[scoobydo]

Just need to correct you, sorry. The "V" in the tyre is designed to disperse water in the wet. The All season tyres are also designed to trap the snow in the tread pattern, this is how the tyre(s) gain traction in the snow, snow on snow. Think about how a snowball is made. Its all down to the tyre compounds and the drip

[bmw-e]

Would be essential for a rear drive Bmw e30 but then, some want the fun of sliding about and one only has it for a short time. All weather does seem a good compromise but they likely wouldn't get the same mileage as summer tyres used all year round. Maybe harsher and louder as well Very useful demonstration.

[markdecker]

I'm thinking of buying these tires now. I've run dedicated winter tires and I don't know that I really need to. Definitely not this winter as I'm away from home working.
I see all the hype about these tires and it all seems to be true. These all season tires seem to be a s good as some lesser brand winter tires.

[peteg]

Going through your videos I came across this one. Here in Sweden we have to change tyres for the winter, although we are allowed all season tyres all year round. Having said that, all the experts warn us that they are inferior during the summer, especially in regard to braking distance and very few people use them . So it's a risk that you would have to consider. I tend to change mine myself just to make sure they're screwed on properly.

[Physics]

Cross Climate 2s are true snow tire rubber. So they are true snowtires but with a tread pattern to help them last in the summer and a compound that adapts to higher temps which most snow tires cant. It beat out around 50 percent of so called REAL snow tires. So its not a all season its a snow tire with better summer wet properties than other snow tires.

[zxczxc]

I make like 2k km per year in the winter, so for 3 years i started using only all season. And I can manage quite well so all season + awd works great.

[JohnSmith-sevo]

I own an Audi A5 Quattro. Going to be ditching the stock pirelli summer tyres it came with and fitting the Michellin Crossclimate 2 tyres in the next month or so ready for the winter season. Best combination having the premium all season tyres paired with the Quattro torsen system.

[Meal-deal]

I've been using Vredstein Quatracs on my 20 yr old Focus and they've been a superb tyre. However I needed new tyres last month for the Mot and my garage was struggling to get hold of them in my size, so I went for a set of Maxxis AP3 all seasons instead. I have to say they seem really good so far with wet and dry handling. Nice deep V shaped tread. I'm very interested to see just how they perform if we do get any snow, as I do a fair bit of rural road driving.

[ricardoseales]

Michelin all season tires cross climate first winter driving on them in Canada excellent I would strongly recommend them to any car driver no problem at all also they last 100, 000 kilometers .It beats having to change tires from summer to winter.Michelin a brand worth purchasing .

[MClass]

Have about 400 miles on a new set of cross climate 2's, on an AWD SUV, here in the states. Haven't had much of an opportunity to test in deep snow, as all we've had was one storm (since they were installed) equating to 3". I can say for certain, compared to a set of budget all season tires, it's night and day. I had to make an effort to get the vehicle to slide with the crossclimates, whereas with the budget all season tires, sliding was all I did. It sounds odd, but I'm hoping for one more big storm before the season ends, just so I can really test them out.

[chrisbanks]

No matter what tyres you have on, it's other motorists who will get into trouble and still cause delays.

[aimless]

Been using all season continental's for the last couple of years. Best choice for British weather, rain and snow after crashing my previous car on summer tyres in winter snow.