All season tyres.

[carrera]

I would agree with that conclusion.

When I switched back onto my Primacy 3's after winter the car immediately felt tauter and more responsive, I left it quite late so temperatures were into double figures.

Now you're going to have to monitor the tyre pressures and wear across the width with a softer sidewall / shape 

[fka]

I knew they'd be a compromise and my driving is very much tempered these days anyway, so I doubt I'll be that bothered by any loss of feel. But the spinning in 1st is going to pee me off, an wear the fronts quite quickly.
I ordered a set of rose bushes for the rear last week and plan to do them next weekend, hopefully pulling the rear camber a bit closer within tolerances..

[Norfolk Jim]

That's interesting as never had that issue with wife's Golf. Yeh ok it is only 105 hp but did spin fronts when it had previous Bridgestone on it. The Golf is much lighter but I am truly impressed how well they have lasted. I noticed a rear was very low on pressure last week so took it off to find why. An old rusty nail in middle. The tyre place found one or two cuts in the tread but they still had around 4mm on them and wait for it.......................................they now done 48k. !!!  I check pressures each weekend and she's driving around Norfolk as a community nurse and doesn't hang around so well impressed. MOT coming up soon and car's now done 98k (it's 59 reg) so will be changing either for another Golf but an estate or a Seat Leon estate - Golf in pretty clothes with those nice LED lights.

[fka]

There's a lot of extra torque being at stage 3 and boost builds very quickly in 1st and 2nd (I still actually overboost ever so slightly in 2nd..) and to be fair it was a battle to not look like a tyre screeching wally at the best of times. But there's definitely more of a tendency for the crossclimates to spin.

Near on 50K though  That's great to hear and about 5 years of motoring for me!!

[sgould]

I have found that the, possibly softer, winter grade rubber does seem to let the tyres scrabble for grip from a standstill.  It they work well in really bad weather. Rain or snow.

[Norfolk Jim]

Yep - we've had the car just coming up to 4 years and I was amazed to be honest. I've gone round the other 3 tyres now and perhaps they may need changing soon as lots of little rips in them in the tread where small flints harbour but still serviceable. The only issue I had was needed tyre repaired or replaced quickly for her and local garage charged me just over £100 to balance new wheel - I fitted it!! Having said that I found original bill and it was when they'd only just come out and cost £95 a corner.

My TTiD Aero Estate was shod with Nokian winters WDR2's for nigh on 2 years and they lasted pretty well and weren't too bad on spinning when under power - I think it will always be the trait of a winter/summer tyre with the softer compound unless below 7 deg.

[fka]

It's possibly an affect of the hot weather and higher air intake temps reducing output a little, (Yes Mogg a comma after an and  ) and/or I'm not sure if traction control adapts at all?? But I'd say the tyres have settled in over the last few weeks and aren't spinning up as easily. Driving style has not been adapted 

[Audax]

It's possibly an affect of the hot weather and higher air intake temps reducing output a little, (Yes Mogg a comma after an and  ) and/or I'm not sure if traction control adapts at all?? But I'd say the tyres have settled in over the last few weeks and aren't spinning up as easily. Driving style has not been adapted 

Mine were not very good for the first couple of weeks, it takes a bit of driving to bed new tyres in, before that they can be quite slippy. Experienced this over all brands of tyres, suspect it might be down to the release agents used when manufacturing, how "fresh" the tyres are when you get them and how they are stored.

[fka]

I think you're right. The garage did clean my wheels with a strong degreasant and jet wash after fitting but there was obviously some residue still on them.
Since I'm on paternity leave at the moment, I've been doing quite a lot of driving and I actually can't fault them. I was starting to worry they where a compromise but they certainly aren't!

[Audax]

Well, the Crossclimates are now at 3.5mm on the front at just under 115500 miles, so, 24,500 miles so far and i've used 3.5mm and have around 1.5mm left before they need replacement.

However I now have a dilemma, both front tyres are leaking from the rims and one is losing about 10 psi in around 5 days, the other only needs a top up every 2 weeks and only a few psi. This started shortly after I stopped having to use the car every day, I used to pump the tyres up on the 1st of every month and would never put more than 1psi (if anything). So, my dilemma is do I just get 2 new tyres now or do I get the tyres refitted as with the amount I drive now they'll last over another year until replacement is needed and that might even be new car time.

[sgould]

Depends on whether you want them as winter tyres.  Under the rules for winter/cold weather tyres they stop being winter tyre rated when the tread depth gets below 4mm.  They are then considered summer tyres until they get to the summer tyre legal limit of 1.6mm.  I assume the same applies to the Cross Climates?  Do they have the two different tread depth indicators that winter tyres have?

[carrera]

But we don't have legislation on winter tyres in this country do we, the 4mm is just manufacturers advice.

[sgould]

Indeed.

But the 4mm minimum is a requirement in places that do require winter tyres during the winter period.  I was assuming that it's based on experience and advice from the manufacturer.

I was just commenting that the Cross Climates may not work this winter in the way that they did last winter, and I was wondering if the manufacturer had added the tread depth indicators for the 4mm  on those tyres as well as the 1.6mm normal depth indicators.   The winter tyres I have carry both indicators.  If my winter tyres were near the 4mm limit in the spring I would run them as summer tyres  until they had worn out.

The German system does not require the fitting of winter tyres in the winter period.  They legislate each year to set a winter period.  The only offences committed are if you continue to drive during that period if snow is falling, or lying on the road, and you do not have winter tyres fitted.  It is also an offence to get stranded due to lack of traction during that period if you do not have the correct tyres fitted, or winter equipment available.

[Audax]

Well, for the crossclimates Michelin say they work just as effectively down to 1.6mm! I'm going to take them to the tire place and see what they say. Just in case it's a damaged rim that needs refurb.

[carrera]

I try to swap my rims over based on weather conditions, broadly around the 7 degrees C guidance using that as a daytime temperature, which means Dec-Mar broadly. My experience is that running winter tyres in warmer conditions results in less precise handling and, longer braking distances when it's warm. I have found that winter tyres with as little as 2mm are still highly effective when it's cold, even in snow

My blue aero is suffering from a front left leak. That is due for some new tyres so I'm just pumping it up every couple of days