20 years ago, if you were to ask a tyre man, or lady, about All Season tyres they would probably have replied, “not great, a bit of a compromise, you’d be better off with a summer or winter tyre mate/love!”
Things have moved on since then, tyre men and women are more polite in most establishment for one! Ask them the same question now and the answer would be “they have come a long way! How many would you like sir/madam?”
0ver the last two decades all of the leading, and not so leading, tyre manufacturers have been feverishly beavering away developing some fantastic new products.
Where as in the early days an All Season tyre was a fairly poor hybrid (not a great summer tyre and a fairly dire winter tyre), nowadays you can buy a tyre that is competent in all weathers, scorching hot and arctic conditions!
Some, in our opinion, are more winter or summer biased (Goodyear 4Season and Michelin CrossClimate) but pretty much all of the better quality brands will serve you well.
Michelin CrossClimate 2
Goodyear Vector 4Season
So what has brought about the prevalence of quality All Season tyres? The simple answer is probably demand. Weather conditions are changing globally so it makes sense to have ‘one’ tyre to cope with all conditions. Plus, maybe, manufacturers will shy away from producing two types of tyre and reduce their portfolio to just one seasonal offering?
If you are planning a trip to the Alps in the mid winter we would still say fit a set of proper winter tyres on, as these have been developed to work predominantly in sub zero conditions. Conversely, if you are an ‘enthusiastic’ driver on the dry twisty stuff, then a decent UHP summer tyre is probably best for you.
But for all year round confidence a good quality All Season tyre are a great option!
Have a chat with one of our team about what tyre would be best for you.
