All-seasons that don't totally suck in the winter?

I need a new set of tires for the stock BBS 18x8.5s on my 2008 Evo X. The current tires are some old Hankook all-seasons worn almost to the wear bars. I also have a set of 18x10.5 Wedsport SA15Rs and BFG Sport Comps that I was driving on this past and current summer. However after a bad curbing incident from trying to avoid a driver who wouldn't stay in his lane, two of those wheels are out-of-balance and shake the car badly at highway speed. They were a pain when parallel-parking too, since they stuck out kinda far from the fenders.

My intiail plan was summers on the Weds, winters on the BBSs. After the above incident, thought, I've decided that when the two damaged Weds are replaced or repaired I'll only use them for motorsports and showing off and keep the BBSs for daily-driving all year round. My dilemma is that I don't have space to keep another set of tires, so swapping summer and winter tires onto the BBSs every season isn't practical. So I'm stuck looking at all-seasons. Are there any all-seasons out there that don't totally suck in the winter? I was interested in the Nokian zLine A/S (because Nokian), but I can't find reviews on this tire anywhere.

I've never run into a set, personally. Granted MN winter/MN snow. I had Yokohama yk...somethings on my old mz3 that were decent, but I'd never do it on a performance car.

Nokian WRG3 is one of the few snowflake rated all-weather tires that I have heard of, but I have no experience with them. If an all-season is a compromise, imagine an all-weather tire.

I'm with mndsm - nope.

mndsm wrote: I've never run into a set, personally.

Me neither.

Good winter tires are like engaging God Mode. And they're cheaper than "purple crack", last two years instead of half a season, and you get to utilize their God Mode-ness for significantly more time.

Or, as I more flippantly put it, a set of winter tires is cheaper than an insurance deductible and there's no messy paperwork and increased insurance rates involved.

Or, you could do what I used to do. Buy new winter tires in fall, drive on them through winter, leave them on during summer, then just buy new winter tires in fall. That way you don't have to do any tire swapping and you always have the best tires possible for winter, which is the most likely time to get into a collision. Also, winter tires make the most hilarious noises when driven near their limit...

Knurled wrote:

mndsm wrote: I've never run into a set, personally.

Me neither. Good winter tires are like engaging God Mode. And they're cheaper than "purple crack", last two years instead of half a season, and you get to utilize their God Mode-ness for significantly more time. Or, as I more flippantly put it, a set of winter tires is cheaper than an insurance deductible and there's no messy paperwork and increased insurance rates involved.

AMEN Brotha!

Continental DWS are pretty awesome, with performance that is just a bit short of a true snow tire. They wear pretty well too. We ran several sets on SWMBO's Fit without any problems.

I'll second the Continental DWS being probably the overall best all-season tire I've used. I'm now on my second set.

You couldn't go wrong with Continental DWS06 or Michelin AS3+ for an all season.

I think the compound you need for a good winter tire is just too soft to make an all season that will run 50k+. Even with those snowflake all season Nokians I'd expect the ice performance to be a lot worse than any dedicated snow tire, even a studdable one without studs. The snowflake rating is just a packed a packed snow traction test, there are even regular all seasons that outperform snowflake all seasons in light snow.

Pete Gossett wrote: Continental DWS are pretty awesome, with performance that is just a bit short of a true snow tire. They wear pretty well too. We ran several sets on SWMBO's Fit without any problems.

I'm also a fan of these. Best allseason I've sampled. That being said they are still an allseason and a snow tire they are not in Chicago winter. They do alright. Better than most allseasons.

Have had 3 cars now with the Conti DWS, they're pretty great if a bit noisy. NOT a straight up winter tire though.

None of them will stop like a snow tire when you need it.

I hadn't run all-seasons in the snow for years 'til I bought an AWD car last year & thought I'd give it a go (OEM Pirelli P7). 1st slushy snowstorm ended that. The car would accelerate just fine, turn kinda OK, and stop in what seemed like double the distance.

Had an order in for a winter wheel/tire set that night & was not disappointed with the results.

The biggest problem I've found with snow tires is they suck when there is no snow. I switched from azenis to skinnier quality snow tire and had a panic stop with out getting a chance to adjust between the two ( I know loose nut behind the wheel ) The difference was like trying to stop on ice. I locked up the snows when I wouldn't have with the better wider tire.

But I have had a ton of fun on snow tires when everyone else is crawling along or literally off the road in a ditch. (My record is passing 8 cars in in a hilly ditch in less than a quarter mile )

+another for Continental. They're the OEM tires on my Fusion, I've put nearly 50k on them, they're great in the snow, and I'm getting ready to replace them with the same tires.

Disclaimer: The most snow I'll drive in is ~4". So if you're needing to drive in more snow than that, you either need real winter tires or to move somewhere warmer.

Another vote for the Conti DWS.

While I absolutely love having snow tires, I've also survived many a winter with all-seasons. You just have to not drive like an idiot.

I also concur that one problem with snow tires is so many suck for the 99.9% of the time when there is no snow. And how quickly they tend to wear when there's no snow.

While I have used, and like the Conti DWS, the Sumitomo HTR AS P/02s Ultra High performance AS tires are a tiny bit better in the winter and cheaper overall. And they have excellent dry grip and warm weather ability.

Hmm, where do you live and what's your winter like? I run DWS06 on my Cayenne for 3 seasons but switch to Blizzaks in the winter.

Been caught in snow here in Denver with the DWS06's and can tell you they're no where near as good as the blizzaks. Ok for the bumper seasons if I get caught but in the winter, blizzaks.

Wow RexSeven is back!! Hadn't seen you around in a while. Couldn't remember the username you had after/before this one. Welcome back. My vote is always Nokian for the record, but I know nothing about the specific tire you mentioned.

I live in Massachusetts, on a hill on a side street that isn't always plowed right away.

I'm aware that all-seasons are never going to be as good in the snow as dedicated snow tires, but I'm weighing all my options here before I pull the trigger on some new shoes for the Evo. I'm also trying to clear space to keep a spare set of tires for the BBSs but I've had other things to deal with recently (which is why I haven't been active in a while). Nokian has an excellent reputation for winter tires and the summer-only zLines are getting great reviews, which is why I was asking if anyone knew about the zLine A/S.

I'll keep the Contis and the Sumis in mind.

In reply to Chris_V:

I have those sumitomos as well. They really aren't bad considering they are dirt cheap.

Is there a true all season tyre We find out - Tyre Reviews

2016 ADAC All Season Tyre Test - Tyre Reviews

Michelin CrossClimate looks very promising. Though it seems it's not available in North America right now.

I have off and on commuted in a 2004 Evo 8. I have tried maybe 3 different all seasons over the decade.

The Conti DWS 06 are the best compromise. The biggest plus for me is that the break away in the snow is predictable. It is gentle and recovers quickly. I had some goodyear tires a few years back that had similar grip but they had a very sharp break away, grip then nothing.

jere wrote: The biggest problem I've found with snow tires is they suck when there is no snow. I switched from azenis to skinnier quality snow tire and had a panic stop with out getting a chance to adjust between the two ( I know loose nut behind the wheel ) The difference was like trying to stop on ice. I locked up the snows when I wouldn't have with the better wider tire. But I have had a ton of fun on snow tires when everyone else is crawling along or literally off the road in a ditch. (My record is passing 8 cars in in a hilly ditch in less than a quarter mile )

I'd strongly disagree with this non-snow-cold-weather-assesment. What snow tires are you using? I've had to go for a quick run in the winter with Azenis and found them downright dangerous in the cold (in dry conditions).

I'm going with everybody else and voting snow-only. The newest snow tires have incredible behavior. I have WS80s on the gfs subaru and I can't even tell the difference in handling in dry/wet. They're amazing.

As for me.... sub $200 for Pirelli snow tires (new from Tirerack). It's hilarious confidently driving around when the rest of the city had ground to a halt.

Driven5 wrote: I'll second the Continental DWS being probably the overall best all-season tire I've used. I'm now on my second set.

I'll third that. Yes, we all know that dedicated winter tires are better. Stipulated. But if you don't want 2 sets of wheels / tires because reasons, the DWS or whatever name Continental has given it now are excellent all-rounders.

Fourth for the DWS. I had always hated Continentals (but I won't get into that now). I had also always hated all-season tires. My 911 came to me on DWSs and they are wonderful! Grippy enough and fun in the dry. Grippy enough and fun in the wet or yucky Chicago winter. They don't complain about anything. These have become my go-to street tires now. Big thumbs up.