On my previous DD, (an all-indie sprung 1.6 FWD automatic saloon) I had dedicated summer alloy and winter steel wheel sets and
that worked a treat for many years. As already mentioned, the winter tyres were better performers in all conditions at below 6 degree
temperatures, although their increased rolling resistance did hamper fuel economy to the tune of around 3%, but that was a fair
trade-off for me.
Great as this method had proved itself, a new DD Golf in late 2019 and a change in circumstances, (exaggerated by the COVID crisis)
put a stop to my regular long journeys to colder/snowier parts of the country. Different PCD/fitment of winter wheels and the need
to change them over twice a year, combined with very rare bouts of snow here on the sunny south coast meant that dedicated winter
wheels became a less attractive and useful option for me anyway.
The recent developments in All-Season tyres, with Michelin's Cross-Climates getting a lot of rave
reviews grabbed my attention, so I
decided to try a suitable set of All-Seasons, ('good dry handling' Vredestein Q5's in my case) on lighter/wider new rims, rather than
the grippy summer PS4S's that I had initially planned on.
So far, so good, the warm day/dry road grip of the Q5's seems a match for the same-size Michelin fuel savers they replaced and what
little steering feel there is remains about the same. They've not been tested in real snow yet, but colder temp performance seems
good and they have dragged me out of a couple of muddy fields in quite impressive fashion, so overall I'd recommend them as an easy,
cost-effective and most useful tyre solution for many people.