Tires - Any Suggestions for a HP All Season?

[SteveS]

We are using the Vredestein Quatrac in 195/55-15 for our winter tire this year and are very happy with it, especially since we haven't had any snow except flurries so far this winter. Full-on snow tires would have been wasted the last couple of months.

 

[SteveS]

We are using the Vredestein Quatrac in 195/55-15 for our winter tire this year and are very happy with it, especially since we haven't had any snow except flurries so far this winter. Full-on snow tires would have been wasted the last couple of months.

Well, we just had our first real snow of the season along with the super cold weather. Sun was out and the snow removal company has been to shovel the driveway (which reaches about 40% according to the gauge in my father in law's Jeep). So I brushed the drift of snow off the windshield and got the Fiesta ST out for a test drive. The snow is dry since it was about 4 degrees when it fell. It was sunny and 17 degrees according to the car's thermometer. The roads have been plowed, but I had to drive through a drift to get out of the parking spot and there was patch packed snow on the driveway and side roads. The exit lanes on the highway were packed powder and some ice, as was the parking lot at work. The Quatracs handled it all as well as the dedicated snow tires we've used in the first 5 years of owning the car.

 

[klazge]

Getting about time to put a new set of tires on the FiST.
Top of the list are Michelin Pilot Sport AS4. Had the AS3+ on our former Flex & loved them, coworker had them on her Mercedes & they were great on there too.
Looks like it'll be roughly a grand, plus install, disposal, etc.
Doesn't look like Bridgestone does the Potenza RE980 in our size, have had that before as well with good experience.

Any other good tires to consider?

All around use is key, and need good heavy rain performance for the typical Houston monsoon rain.
Poking around Tirerack & Discount Tire, the Michelin is easily the best rated, with the General GMax AS-07 not far behind. Never heard of/used General Tire before, but they're also less than half the cost of the Michelin PSAS4.

those michelins are the gold standard for rain but if you want to save some cash the continental extremecontact dws06 plus is famous for handling standing water better than almost anything else. the general gmax is a solid budget pick since they are owned by continental but you will definitely feel a bit more road noise compared to the michelins. stick with the continentals if you want that high end grip in the houston floods without paying the full michelin tax.

 

[dailowill]

Just to add about the Quatracs — I keep getting flat tires after hitting potholes. Three to be precise. I’m starting to think the sidewalls might be a bit weak. I've had other tire brands and never had this problem.

Otherwise, they’ve actually been pretty capable in the snow.

 

[Intuit]

I unloaded a brand new set of Cooper tires because they kept getting punctures AND would not accept a plug.

If you keep getting compression flats on the Quatracs, unload them and don't look back.

Tires that don't stand up to the daily hazards of normal use, are useless.

Too many other options out there to stick with a lemon...

 

[Cneu]

I run the Continental ExtremeContact DWS and quite like em. I can't see myself running any other tire anytime soon. They're not super spendy, either.

I have no lack of grip in most conditions. I have a hard time breaking traction with a fresh set of these tires. These tires + no TC gets me almost everywhere in the snow, except when it's ridiculous. Plenty of times I'm on the only non-truck on the road in eastern oregon snow storms and I do just fine with these tires.

They're also very fun on track. Their performance is very predictable.

Their wet performance is amazing. They hate hydroplaning and are still decent even when riding some water. I live in Oregon and often drive in downpours in the Coast/Cascade ranges at high speed cuz i'm stupid, and I really can't say enough about these tires. Thinking about it, I don't think I've ever had a significant amount of traction loss in wet moisture with these tires. Don't hold me to that.

They also have rad lil wear indicators for dry/wet/snow that tell you how much grip you have left. Kind of a neat lil thing. I dont know how reliable/accurate it is.

I've run 2 sets of cheap chinese tires on this car otherwise and the difference is incredible. Cheap tires have a way of losing traction suddenly, the ECs dont do that. The EC hate losing grip and will fight it, whereas other cheap tires slide out once they lose grip, like suddenly you're on ice/glass. The EC has solid stick/grip properties, what I mean is when they do lose grip/traction, they'll "regrab" it pretty quickly.

I'm going to jinx myself by saying this, never had a flat tire with EC's besides a particular instance where i destroyed the wheel. Probably 100k miles on a few sets of these, no flats. I drive logging roads and some stuff that most of you wouldn't believe I drive, so I think that also goes to show how rugged these tires can be. Many times I've thought to myself as I'm going over a large rock, "That's jagged, solid change I blow a tire here". Never happens.

Genuinely curious how folks on this forum feel about tire siping. I hate it. It kills tread life for me and offers basically no benefit for the tires I run. All it does it oxidize the rubber much quicker which leads to big chunks of rubber ripping off. I've seen chunks of tire fly into the air on siped tires after only a few k miles.

 

[M-Sport fan]

I run the Continental ExtremeContact DWS and quite like em. I can't see myself running any other tire anytime soon. They're not super spendy, either.

I have no lack of grip in most conditions. I have a hard time breaking traction with a fresh set of these tires. These tires + no TC gets me almost everywhere in the snow, except when it's ridiculous. Plenty of times I'm on the only non-truck on the road in eastern oregon snow storms and I do just fine with these tires.

They're also very fun on track. Their performance is very predictable.

Their wet performance is amazing. They hate hydroplaning and are still decent even when riding some water. I live in Oregon and often drive in downpours in the Coast/Cascade ranges at high speed cuz i'm stupid, and I really can't say enough about these tires. Thinking about it, I don't think I've ever had a significant amount of traction loss in wet moisture with these tires. Don't hold me to that.

They also have rad lil wear indicators for dry/wet/snow that tell you how much grip you have left. Kind of a neat lil thing. I dont know how reliable/accurate it is.

I've run 2 sets of cheap chinese tires on this car otherwise and the difference is incredible. Cheap tires have a way of losing traction suddenly, the ECs dont do that. The EC hate losing grip and will fight it, whereas other cheap tires slide out once they lose grip, like suddenly you're on ice/glass. The EC has solid stick/grip properties, what I mean is when they do lose grip/traction, they'll "regrab" it pretty quickly.

I'm going to jinx myself by saying this, never had a flat tire with EC's besides a particular instance where i destroyed the wheel. Probably 100k miles on a few sets of these, no flats. I drive logging roads and some stuff that most of you wouldn't believe I drive, so I think that also goes to show how rugged these tires can be. Many times I've thought to myself as I'm going over a large rock, "That's jagged, solid change I blow a tire here". Never happens.

Genuinely curious how folks on this forum feel about tire siping. I hate it. It kills tread life for me and offers basically no benefit for the tires I run. All it does it oxidize the rubber much quicker which leads to big chunks of rubber ripping off. I've seen chunks of tire fly into the air on siped tires after only a few k miles.

When you speak of "siping" are you referencing the standard, molded, factory cuts/sipes in an off the rack tire, or do you mean the customer/owner taking a hot tire iron to said factory tire and 'cutting' in new grooves/sipes themsleves?

For example; my full summer 200 tread wear Yok AD09s have basically NO factory siping as compared to my '3 season' Conti DWS-06+es, which if they were not factory heavily 'siped' would be useless in even 0.1" of snow, or any standing water, even when brand new.

 

[Cneu]

When you speak of "siping" are you referencing the standard, molded, factory cuts/sipes in an off the rack tire, or do you mean the customer/owner taking a hot tire iron to said factory tire and 'cutting' in new grooves/sipes themsleves?

For example; my full summer 200 tread wear Yok AD09s have basically NO factory siping as compared to my '3 season' Conti DWS-06+es, which if they were not factory heavily 'siped' would be useless in even 0.1" of snow, or any standing water, even when brand new.

https://www.lesschwab.com/tires/siping Up until about mid-2025 their in-shop info listed a bunch of "performance handling" stuff related to siping, like they were up selling it as a track thing. "Get more sport performance out of your tires by siping them" type stuff.

I'm talking about the tire shops who do it as an "add-on" package. They just slice the tread with shallow cuts. Usually $40-70 that they hope the customer doesn't notice. I call and get it refunded every single time. I also tell them before they install my tires to not sipe em. They usually do anyway. They've done it on all kinds of tires, so it isn't just a winter thing to them.

That said, I've never had discount tire even ask to sipe my tires. Neither have I had a independent shop ask.

If additional siping was needed or necessary, the manufacturer would do it. Tire shops are just doing it because it's an easy upsell that reduces tread life and brings customers back more often. Where I live it isn't necessary the majority of the year. I've seen chunks of rubber come off tires after only a few thousand miles cuz of the siping.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Some rally crews do something like that to increase grip on their winter/snow tires for more grip on ARA (or otherwise) winter rallies which prohibit any metal at all in tires on stage roads.

Yeah, I would never ever do that to an all season or summer tire, and would only consider it on a very hard compound winter/snow (or all weather) tire being used in an area which totally prohibits studded tire usage, at any time of the year.

 

[Speedboosted]

I've run 2 sets of cheap chinese tires on this car otherwise and the difference is incredible. Cheap tires have a way of losing traction suddenly, the ECs dont do that. The EC hate losing grip and will fight it, whereas other cheap tires slide out once they lose grip, like suddenly you're on ice/glass. The EC has solid stick/grip properties, what I mean is when they do lose grip/traction, they'll "regrab" it pretty quickly.

Out of curiosity, what were the other two cheap-o tires you ran?

 

[BenjaminDrake]

I've had other (2 sets on two very different cars) Vredestein pure winter tires in the past, but not those Quatracs, which were one of the very earliest, (or first?) of the 'all weather' class of tires.

It is a shame that none of the 'major' all weather tire manufacturers offer their various all weather tires in ANY size we could possibly use, on any diameter wheel which fits on our rides.
Those new Conti all weathers look especially good, but not meant for US and our application it seems.

I was contemplating getting the Quatracs in that size for my '2 season' Dekagram setup, but decided against it given how 'scrub prone' and squirmy on dry pavement it's tread blocks appeared as compared to the UHP all season in either a 205/50-16 or 205/45-16.

Habanero slots ​

Despite it's 215/45 size, if you look at the spec widths of that tire, it is significantly narrower in both section and tread width than most 205/50 or 205/45 tires on the market currently, and it will be stretched a lot on a 16x8 wheel (one of the other reasons I decided against it).

Yeah, that’s the frustrating part - even when a tire looks good on paper, the sizing just doesn’t work for our setups. Feels like we’re always compromising somewhere between fitment and performance.