I need to buy new tires and have been looking into buying "all-season" tires. I don't really have time and money to buy two full sets of tires and swap them 2x per year (yes, I know just about everyone in Switzerland does it like that, and it's more "efficient"). I know all-season tires don't perform as well on snow as snow tires, but I don't really drive to the mountain often, and we don't really get massive amounts of snow here in Bern.

I have just 2 questions:

-Do insurance companies consider "all-season" tires appropriate for winter driving? (eg. if you get in an accident in the snow with all-season tires will this be held against you?)

-I know winter tires are softer and wear quicker in summer months; but does anyone know how much quicker? (Compared to Summer or All-Season)

So in short, if I drive on the same set year-round is it better to drive all-season or snow tires?

...and last but not least, I set up a poll, as I'm curious to see just how many EF'ers are actually swapping tires each winter/summer, and how many are lazy like me and just driving on the same set year-round

If Tyres are marked M+S for winter use on them they are fine.

Do remember that all season are a kinda half way house they are not as soft as full winters. Full winters would last AT MOST half the distance as summers in standard conditions, the added thing to consider is they perform badly in temps above 7 degrees compared to a normal tyre and can be quite slippy in the wet losing cornering sticktion easily... plus they are bloody noisy and give a terrible ride!!!!

Get a garage to do it for you, they store your tyres too, takes about 30 minutes total as opposed to being blocked for hours or having accident and needing treatment for weeks.

Money ? It just means you use your tyres last twice as long as you only use them for 6 months each year so they last twice as long

It depends.

I always use winter tires in the winter, but I don't always change to summer tires in the summer, particularly as I rarely use my car in the summer.

My wife has all-season tires on her car.

I work with several people who use winter tires year round.

Tom

This idea of having to switch to winter tyres is a complete rip off. I had driven on all season tyres through the worst imaginable snowstorms in Canada and upstate New York with no issues whatsoever. They perform very well in the summer as well. I have not met anyone in North America who uses winter tyres.

Cool, I was waiting for the "We do it different in the U.S." post on this thread. It was missing but it's here now

I am not from the US! There is nothing wrong from taking whatever you learned while living in different countries and applying it elsewhere.

Winter tyres are so called for a reason. Hybrids are fine if you live low down, but not for us in the mountains. We are lucky to have storage space (and most garages will store for a small fee) - I reckon the best tools for the job is best.

Not all garages offer to store your tyres. I asked our Hyundai dealer in Bern and they said they didn't have the space.

If what you say you believe, why do you even bother asking the question ?

As i said, snow tyres don't in effect cost anything apart from fitting and if you decide, a set of steel rims (about Chf 200.--), you use them half as quick as the other half of the time you use summer tyres.

What ever you do, your car needs tyres and these get used, it's just winter tyres will use faster, as do all season, to a lesser extent, if you use them in the summer.

I'm sure with your experience in the US and Canada, you know best anyway.

Hmm. We have 2 sets of wheels, one for summer with dedicated summer tires and one for winter, with dedicated winter tires.

My calculations:
When driving on whatever set, the other set is NOT used. Therefore, assuming that with my summer tires I can drive 40k miles during 20 months (just an example), and that during any year I use them for 6 months /y, I can drive my summer tires for "3 years and 4 months". Similarly, for my winter tires, I can drive maybe the same amount of miles during 20 frosty months (just another example). During any year, I would use them for 6 months (October, November, December, January, February, March), so I can drive them also for more than 3 years. Therefore, after 40 months driving, I have to change 2 sets of tires.

Now, the problem starts when driving Winter tires during Summer months. They will wear much faster, but I never did a controlled experiment to measure just how much faster. Let's assume 2 times faster. That means that you can still drive them during the 6 frosty months for a total of 20 frosty months. However, some of these months are warm (let's assume half of them), so out of the life of 20 months, you will loose 6 or more, because of the warmth. Hence, you will have to change your tires after 14 or 15 months driving. Aka, after 30 months driving, you would have changed 2 sets of tires.

Of course, this is just my line of reasoning. The other is that my wife commented that with winter tires in the snow, the car reacts much better than with summer/all season tires. She drives our Volvo XC90 like a Cooper Mini S, so she knows what she is talking about. And this is apart from the safety aspect. I have 4 kids, and I am willing to invest in whatever safety I can buy for a reasonable amount of money (winter tires, child seats, etc).

KR,
Henk

I did not ask any questions actually.

Storage and fitting twice a year will cost chf 300 probably which I think is an unnecessary expense. Not to mention finding the time to do it.

Yes, I know best. Qualified to opine on any subject from tyres to brain surgery

It's not just snow. Winter tyres perform better on dry roads in cold conditions than All-season or summer tyres.

300????? what planet are you living on - if thats what you pay then you are getting ripped off big time!

it akes about 30 mins to change them yourself or from a agrage its about 120 at the higher end to swap wheels over

Seeing how this is 2012, what would be the best tyres for the upcoming apocalypse? I want to make sure that I have proper grip and traction throughout this much anticipated event.

Euromaster charges chf 125 twice a year + storage...

I used ATU and they charge 60CHF to change over including wheel alignment

I have my own storage so not an issue

My garage charges 35CHF to change the rims and tyres, alignment and checking all the winter levels for oil, etc. and 50 for the year storage (which we don't need).

300CHF - wow I can see a nice little earner coming up for the use of our big barn. 300 x approx 500 sets, lovely. It will also insulate over our apartment for free- champion.

We rented a car in Denver once with M&S tyres. Going over the frozen Berthoud Pass to go to Winterpark in a snow blizzard was a total nightmare, and during our stay in the mountains there we ended up twice in a snow pile by the side of the road. Something which never happens here with our snow tyres, in any condition (and we are very experienced snow/ice drivers). Rubbish.

you mean wheel balance i guess?

BMW main dealers are cheaper than that - a lot cheaper!!