Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Horsepower
I might be swapping out the OEM tires soon, and I'm wondering about summer tires vs. all seasons.
I know people say all seasons are bad, but can we be more specific? Are we talking about adding tenths of a second at the track, or will it significantly impact daily driving enjoyment?
I'm leaning towards summers, though it sure would be nice to be able to drive when it's cold (if the roads are clear).
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daily driving, not hooning, i doubt that you'll notice a difference.
i run all-seasons all the time now. i've never had summer tires besides the oem eco tires. i did run winter tires for 2 seasons.
i'm very happy with all-seasons. i use the bfgoodrich g-force comp 2 a/s. they're stickier than the oem tires, and if winter tires are 10/10 traction in snowy/icy conditions, these are 7-8/10's. i expect they would perform similarly to pure-summer tires. it simply means that i'm slightly slower, slightly more slippery, but still very much in control. i don't need 10/10's for the way i drive my car.
in my area around chicago, snow/ice on the roads generally last about 8-10 hours after any snow/rain event, during which they salt the crap out of the roads. by the next day, the majority of roads are clear enough that the oem eco tires function fine, but because they're summer tires, the rubber compound isn't correct for the ambient temperature in those conditions. and when the roads get more than 4" of snow, people generally fall into a panic and they create driving bans so i don't need extreme ground clearance or spectacular winter tire traction.
for me, i like maintaining vehicles in a state that i can rely on it if needed under any condition, and all seasons, while a compromise in ultimate performance, offer a larger degree of conditions that i can rely on the vehicle to operate within.