Tommy L Garage

Just wondering.

How many of you run all seasons instead of winter tires in winter time?

I am leaning towards all season since
1. I will rarely (or never) drive in the snow; only colder temperatures.
2. I want to install them when temps drop below 50 in the AM to preserve my summer tires and prevent them from cracking. But when temps drop below 50 in the AM usually PM temps are in the 70. That is bad for winter tires.
3. All seasons are much cheaper

I have a spare set of Carrera 20 inch wheels.
I used to run all seasons in my cars and has no issue (granted it was AWD)
Since I plan on driving only on dry roads I don’t see the need for dedicated winter tires. Thoughts?

Thank you.

Mike Murphy

I do this. Just outside of Chicago, the streets are almost always plowed. Just in case I do have to drive in up to 6” of snow, I don’t get stuck. And the tires are good in the wet, dry, cold or hot. All seasons aren’t very good on the track, but that hasn’t stopped me from the occasional DE.

thesaintusa

@Mike Murphy What AS do you run? Impressed they hold up on the track.

I will be putting on winter tires this season on the 911. Have proper winter here for 5 months a year, and the fall and spring season are unpredictable.

But I have contemplated all season as well (versus winter tires) as I don't plan on driving the 911 unless the roads are clear. My only worry is that snow does fall unpredictably, but for most snow falls a good all season would manage (if there was a decent snow fall ground clearance would be the limiting factor then).

sp330

I would do all seasons more for the ride quality than all season performance.

1CEBITN

I always used all-seasons for winter here in the midwest but only when it started to get below freezing consistently every night. Your 911 is going to be a snow plow in 6" or more of snow so not sure you could realistically drive it through that much snow even if you had snow tires also. For driving on roads after they've been cleared or in light snow all-seasons are fine. Honestly, unless you have big power or track the car the Michelin A/S4s are incredible for all year round. You don't lose much grip over the PS4S and definitely on par with the OEM tires these cars come with (imho). All-seasons will help with wet-weather performance and that's the main reason I like them because it rains frequently here and I know it does in NJ as well. If you don't track the car much, drive in the rain frequently, and are worried about driving on the OEM tires in cold temps the all-seasons are the way to go and you may want to consider foregoing the hassle of swapping wheels or tires and just run them year round.

Something else to think about too. It isn't the outside temp that is the issue with summer tires, it is the temp of the tire you need to worry about with cracking. That's why the warning is for storing tires below freezing. When the tires are cold they will be hard and like driving on hockey pucks until they warm up but that's a different hazard from the tire's compound cracking, lots of people confuse the two situations. If you keep your car in a garage that's insulated or attached to your house it likely isn't going below 45 degrees even when it's below zero outside. Once you start driving the car the tires will warm up considerably and the temp of the pavement is important as well. It could be 20 degrees outside (Fahrenheit) but, if the sun is out, the pavement may be 60+. If you drive it frequently all year long you don't really need to worry about your tires cracking unless you leave it parked outside in the cold for days at a time. Traction when tires are cold is a different issue like I said though.

ducktails

I run Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 in Winter. I live in a mild climate - no snow in winter but the temps will drop to below freezing in the early mornings (incidentally, the best time for a spirited drive).

The tire has good grip at those temps, but it's not close to the PS4S when warmed up. When I switch back to the Michelin in the spring, it feels like the car is glued to the pavement in comparison.

However they're perfectly adequate for daily driving and you can still have a fun early morning canyon rip as long as you adjust your driving a bit.

Tommy L Garage

Thanks all. This confirms what I thought.
In my previous car I almost felt bad driving with winter tires without any snow…felt like a waste. All seasons it is!

Mike Murphy

I have Michelin AS/3. I’ve done 3 track events. When I say they hold up, they do, but my car is not as fast because of it.

I would stick with winters, because they are going to be better in the cold and snow than mine. While I appreciate all seasons can do so many things a similar tire of 10 years ago would struggle to do, having two different sets is still much better. The only downside of two sets is the occasional 68F day in January, and on that day, which could be beautiful and sunny, and perfect for a drive, you are still running winter tires, lol

Mike Murphy

I concur, I had DWS on my Boxster S back in 2008-2009, and they were surprising good in snow and ice, maybe 1.5X better than any other all-season at that time.

koala

I run all-season tires in Alberta just to extend my driving season a little longer. I thought I'd be happy with them in the hotter months, but these Bridgestone RE980's are terrible tires above 10 C. I'm hoping this winter to get in on the group buy for the 20" Apex VS-5RS so that I can mount a nice set of MP4S to them and then I'll rotate between all seasons on my OEM wheels for the cooler months/storage and swap out to proper summer tires from May-September.

I do park the 911 during the real winter months as once we get a decent amount of snow our cul-de-sac will not see bare pavement again until the spring. Although, we really lucked out with the weather this year and I had my 911 out on Feb 8th, which is several weeks earlier than my previous record.

thesaintusa

Like you I am lucky if the city clears our cul-de-sac 1x per winter. They cleared it to the asphalt this spring ,but only in the 'circle' portion and left a 4 inch lip of solid ICE that made it hard / impossible for some people to drive out.

My thoughts are to put a winter tire on for the winter, and to try the Michelin PS AS4 for the warmer weather and a set of track tires for the track.

Our garage already looks like Canadian Tire with more sets of tires/wheels than vehicles, might as well add to the addiction.

justabout

991.1 GTS. I have Bridgestone all season all year. The original summer tires had noticeably less traction and I was concerned I might forget that when the temperature was 60F and below. Work brilliantly in the cooler temperatures but definitely not as good at cornering in summer temperatures but I’ve adjusted to that. Less road debris hitting the underside too. But they are a rougher ride on bad surfaces than the P zeros were. Will try something different next time assuming I can find the right size.

JimEb

I do as well for the exact reasons you listed.

rugu6869

OP: For your situation, go with the AS as you plan. You'll be fine.

I have many years of running winter tires on various cars (FWD and AWD - I don't drive my 911 in the winter at all).
The most recent comparison would be my wife's X3 and my GTI.
I had summer tires and full winter tires for her X3. The X3 with winter tires in snowing conditions (actual snow covering the road) was incredible (Michelin X-Ice). I had to stop going up a hill due to a minivan getting stuck and my wife started to freak out when I stopped. She said what are we going to do, they're in the way. I just pressed the throttle, felt the tires bite down on the pavement and drove right around them.

The GTI I had older full winter tires that worked very well, but they were wearing. I read a ton of reviews as to how the AS tires worked great in all conditions. It's a lie. I bought the latest Michelin Pilot A/S tires and had to drive in about 1-2" of slushy conditions. UGH! White knuckle and used all my driving skills to get the car to move. Turning was another case all together! I had to use the hand-brake to get the car to rotate because the front end just pushed. There was no bite at all.
On the previous, old winter tires, the car was like it had AWD in the same type of conditions.

Bottom line: If you have to drive in winter conditions - get dedicated winter tires. They are light years ahead of A/S. And, with the new Mich X-Ice, they do very well in changing weather, meaning, when you get those warmer days, they work fine.
If you are not going to drive in those harsh conditions, there's no point in getting dedicated winter tires. A/S will be fine. Although, my PS4S have done well in near freezing temps in the dry.

thesaintusa

I think once you have used winter tires in snow/ice conditions you cannot really go back to an AS, even the best AS. If you just drive in cold weather get an all-season.

The opposite applies, once you have used an AS in cold (winter temps) without snow/ice you will find that a winter tire to be lacking the grip that you expect.

This is the same as using a track tire on the track versus the PS4S (or similar).

There is no holy grail tire but we as users are always trying to find the best compromise.

As I live in Canada with 4-5 months of winter and days of snow packed roads I put winter tires on all my vehicles. My plan for the 911 I hope is to put on an all-season for the summer, use a track tire for track days, and winter tires in the winter.

The issue running a street/track tire in the summer is that the shoulder seasons where snow can come early, or come late, and the morning/evening temps approach or drop below freezing while day time temps can be in the 50s. The other option (as I am doing this year) is to put my winter tires on sooner, and keep them on longer into the spring. This is the same issue I have with my E63 and my wife's X3 which came with P Zero tires from the factory and do not do well in the snow at all. For both of these cars winter tires go on early (they went on this weekend as the upcoming month is very busy for us) and stay on longer. When the P zeros need replacement they are being replaced with all seasons as neither car will ever see a track or exceed what an all-season will deliver. If it snows..... I accept responsibility.