Well, they surely know how to make great winter and decent summer tyres. They even build an all-wheather tyre that consistently beats win
Nokian all weather beat TS860 in winter test?
Brits and winter driving? Tell me you are joking.
Not quite: in their 2015 and 2016 all-sason tyre tests, AutoExpress also ran the winter and summer tyre test winners, as to have a refrence to compare the all seasons tyres' performance against. Turns out the Nokian all-season (Wheatherproof) was actually better than the reference winter tyre on snow and in aquaplaning situations, while the winter tyre beat the Nokian all-season on dry roads. So the Nokian all-season is a better winter tyre than the test winning winter tyre, and the Conti winter tyre a better all-season than the Nokian all season... the lines between all season and (central european) winter tyres are becoming blurry indeed.
Keep in mind we are talking about "european" winter tyres here, who are more likely to see wet roads than snow and which have to work in a temperature window from -10 to +20° and thus have to have at least some all-season capabilies. Nordic compound winter tyres are a completely different beast, obviously
far superior in the white stuff, but next to useless in a typical central european winter.
Keep also in mind that the typical european all season looks mostly like a winter tyre (with the only exception of the Michelin CrossClimate), while most american all seasons look like summer tyres...
By the way those test results that Nokian Wheatherproof are posting are resembling strict winter tire compound. Horrid wet scores and good snow results.
It is marketing gimmick that it is all weather tire. There is huge emphasis on snow performance in that tire. But, I guess if you call it weatherproof it is I guess good for all year. Nokian is good making very soft, strictly winter compound, and they are utilizing that advantage. But, Nokian is NOT Michelin, Continental, Bridgestone etc.
Overall quality is nowhere near Continental. Tires do not stay new too long.
I think we mostly agree here. It is much easier to make a tyre that does one thing really well at the expense of other areas, than making a tyre that is at least decent in all relevant fields, and which has to manage conflicting demands...
In my opinion, the Weatherproof is a snow-biased winter tyre that is for some reason marketed as an all season.
But this also works the other way round: take for example Semperit Speed Grip 2 - sold as a winter tyre, but only barely copes with snow. On the other hand, the Semperit does astonishingly well in the dry for a winter tyre. I would NOT want to drive the Semperit on a white mountain road, but I'd happily drive that tyre even at temperatures above 20°... So the winter-labeled Semperit is in reality an all-season, and the all-season labeld Nokian a winter tyre.
In my opinion, you can no longer just go after the marketing labels, you really have to read tests and figure a tyres strengths and weaknesses.
Originally Posted By: edyvw
Originally Posted By: krzyss
Apparently there is market for all weather/all season tires.
Continental swore that it will never make such tires as seasonal ones are providing better performance but they relented and now joined other makers.
Krzys
Of course they joined. It is appealing market share. Take into consideration climate change too. In some areas tires like Nokian Weatherproof and similar are making more sense. Granted I DO NOT want to drive that tire on European roads in summer.
On a "white" road (snow and/or ice), I'd rather have the Nokian. On a "black" road, even with freezing temperatures, I'd rather have a Michelin. Or even the Conti (though I have developed a profound dislike for the brand and would NOT buy any more tyres from them. Contis are great when new, but you cannot trust them for long. I've thrown away three sets of Contis after just 20.000km/4month, when they suddenly lost all wet grip... I'd then rather take their 2nd tier brands, suc as Uniroyal or Semperit, which will not offer the same initial performance, but stay consistent longer).
I never had that issue with Continental. My brother bought 20 sets of TS850 for his business vehicles, and they all made upward of 40,000km with no glitch.
Now, it is possible that manufacturer will screw up good product. Nothing came close to Good Year Ultra Grip some 20 years ago in winter tires segment in Europe. Once they introduced Ultra Grip 7 they never managed to go back as best of the best.
