Cost effective all season tire recommendation

[maw1124]

^^^ Agreed, but 2 all seasons on the rear is less expensive than all of those choices; AND it solves his DMV Winter issue; AND it gives the opportunity to move the fronts over to all season, should he decide that works better for his climate.

My interest in the question comes from the fact that I've spent years back and forth to the DMV in the S55 on all season tires for just the reasons he indicates. Thanksgiving rolling through the mountains in Pennsylvania can be a dicey experience depending upon which cold front you happen to hit. All seasons worked just fine for that, say 40* rain, sleet and wind. You don't need winters but you certainly don't want to be caught out in summers, unless you want to drive 35mph with your hazards on in the right lane all the way.

On the other hand, I've seen plenty of cars for sale with mismatched tires, and it never matters one bit to the price.

maw

[K-Dawg]

FWIW, the OP said he currently has PS4S on the front, which sounds like Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, which is a summer tire.

I think the best option is to just sell the car as is, or put a pair of new PS4S on the rear and sell the car.

(2) 275/30/19 Michelin PS4S = $748
(2) 245/35/19 + (2) 275/30/19 Conti DWS 06+ = $1080
(2) 225/45/18 + (2) 255/40/18 Conti DWS 06+ = $812 + ($500ish used 18s) - (whatever you can sell your current wheels for)

[QuickM3]

I know it's been a while, but I hated the dws when we went through two sets in 2010-2014. wore fast and were very noisy.

I believe the tire was improved since then. “06 plus” is the newest variation. I don’t think it’s designed to be a tire that fully impresses. It’s a middle cost tire with almost top performance for its category. Performance per dollar it’s hard to beat.

[maw1124]

So many responses with little information… OP asked for a good cost affective all season.

Exactly. And more to the point the car already has two relatively new Michelin all seasons on the front, which was why my answer was just complete the set and be done — 2 tires v 4. People went on a performance tire opinion tangent when that wasn’t the question.

Of course rubber improvement is common to all compounds. And of course all compounds aren't what anyone asked about.

maw

EDIT... if he's selling the car, no one is going to give him credit for the tires. He just needs something sensible and all season on the rears. At least matching the Michelin brand gets him through the winter, and if he ends up keeping the car he'll have the option to just keep all seasons on it all around. Obviously if he ends up with track car fantasies he won't be running all season tires.

[tnord]

So many responses with little information.

OP asked for a good cost affective all season. Continental Extremecontact DWS. Stands for dry, wet, snow. They are generally very cheap comparatively to other tires.

I know it's been a while, but I hated the dws when we went through two sets in 2010-2014. wore fast and were very noisy.

It’s surprising to me how many “car guys” overlook the improvement in rubber compound technology in the last 15 years.

so the improvement in compounds are exclusive to all season tires and doesn't apply to performance or snows?

I'll agree that the performance of all season tires has improved significantly and may be acceptable for most people year round, but I don't agree that there's an inconsequential difference between an AS tire and a performance tire, or a snow tire. To start with, performance tires and snow tires shouldn't even be the same size.

[QuickM3]

So many responses with little information.

OP asked for a good cost affective all season. Continental Extremecontact DWS. Stands for dry, wet, snow. They are generally very cheap comparatively to other tires. Can’t beat the performance for the money in any weather. Bridgestone came out with the Potenza RE980 all season which is also a great tire. Whichever one is cheapest is the best option for what you are looking for.

[tlow98]

I admit I was in a douchbag mood this morning, but my statement wasn't exactly wrong...

All season tires are a compromise. They will never be anywhere close to as good as a summer tire in dry weather, and they'll never touch a snow tire in snow.

Can they do both at a reasonable level? Sure. But these aren't Toyota Camry's we are driving, "good enough" isn't good enough for most of us.

I would venture to guess over 50% of the posters here are running dedicated summer tires, not less than 10% as the quoted poster said.

To some people, performance matters, and you aren't getting it with all seasons.

Dedicated summers get you the last ~10% of grip. That’s it. Snows get you a little more than all seasons but not much. Studded tires stand alone of course. The silica compound blends these days are incredible.

comparing PS4s to As4… look up the numbers. There’s lots of factual information on this.

also, the good all seasons that are sold today offer way more grip than these cars came with 22 years ago. Often I find too much tire doesn’t increase the fun, but rather it decreases the fun. You don’t get to play with the car at the limit. It just grips unendingly, and that gets, well, rather boring. Tires and springs and overall suspension design is a matched combo. Stickier tires mean you should add more spring and then the dampers need tweaking and the ride isn’t the same and the list goes on.

of course if you’re driving on track 90% of the time go stickier…

[9kracing]

Spoken like the wrong and opinionated ...

maw

I admit I was in a douchbag mood this morning, but my statement wasn't exactly wrong...

All season tires are a compromise. They will never be anywhere close to as good as a summer tire in dry weather, and they'll never touch a snow tire in snow.

Can they do both at a reasonable level? Sure. But these aren't Toyota Camry's we are driving, "good enough" isn't good enough for most of us.

I would venture to guess over 50% of the posters here are running dedicated summer tires, not less than 10% as the quoted poster said.

To some people, performance matters, and you aren't getting it with all seasons.

[maw1124]

That's you're opinion, and you are certainly entitled to be wrong.
All-season tires still suck in 2023. Sorry if the truth hurts.

Spoken like the wrong and opinionated ...

maw

[bigjae46]

for sure the difference between all seasons and snows is massive, but I’d wager the difference between all seasons and super sports is even larger… in the snow.

Yeah, it was horrible. Literally spun wheels on the most slight inclines. Got caught in a light october snow event.

[repoman89]

That's you're opinion, and you are certainly entitled to be wrong.

All-season tires still suck in 2023. Sorry if the truth hurts.

🙄.

[9kracing]

Dedicated summer and winter tires are now the <10% extreme use cases

That's you're opinion, and you are certainly entitled to be wrong.

All-season tires still suck in 2023. Sorry if the truth hurts.

[repoman89]

If you’re truly year-round driving the m3 in the snow belt or mountains, sure buy the snows, but I’d wager not many people are actually doing that these days.

Even then … I did 100k year round miles on a few sets of Conti DWS in my old 330i, which included ski trips to mountains, unsticking myself from plowed in street parking, unplowed driveways at rural Airbnbs etc. Totally fine and that car didn’t even have an LSD. Michelin AS4 are even better than the DWS in the snow to my knowledge.

We now use my wife’s AWD CX-5 for all that stuff and just leave the all-seasons it came with on it year round. They’ll be replaced with AS4s when it’s time. The all-season == no-season silliness is dead.

[maw1124]

I used to buy winter tires, but the difference between them and all season have been closing over the last decade.

It’s surprising to me how many “car guys” overlook the improvement in rubber compound technology in the last 15 years. Dedicated summer and winter tires are now the <10% extreme use cases. IDK if people always feel like their particular usage is more “extreme” or special than it really is, or whether they just don’t know. But time and time again, the high performance all season category is proving perfect for almost everything except the track or a blizzard.

maw

[tlow98]

I did get caught in a 1/2" of snow with pilot super sports...haha...they were total garbage.

Especially with RWD the difference between snows and all seasons is massive.

for sure the difference between all seasons and snows is massive, but I’d wager the difference between all seasons and super sports is even larger… in the snow.

all that to say modern, good all seasons are shockingly good in the snow. I used to buy winter tires, but the difference between them and all season have been closing over the last decade. If you’re truly year-round driving the m3 in the snow belt or mountains, sure buy the snows, but I’d wager not many people are actually doing that these days.

buy a set of cloth ‘chains’ for emergencies and ignore the dual tire setup IMO