Alternative tyre choices
If you can’t run to a second set of tyres, here are some alternatives
If you’ve driven on snow on either a winter or an all-season tyre, they are so effective that you will have been convinced of their merits within a few hundred yards. Yet here in the UK, generally we persist in fitting what our neighbours in mainland Europe describe as summer tyres all year round.
As part of this winter tyre test, we included an all-season and a summer alternative, tested in the same conditions at the same time as our seven winter tyres, to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses.
All-season tyre: Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen-3
Reflecting its role as a year-round fitment, the increasingly popular all-season tyre is designed to a different set of parameters than a pure winter tyre, with a little less focus on snow performance and more on cold, wet and dry.
However, in the snow tests alone, the Goodyear would have placed fifth. And overall, in the wet tests it outperformed the winter tyres, being especially impressive around the handling circuit and in braking, where it stopped 1.5m sooner than the best cold-weather option.
It was a similar story in cold, dry conditions where it just outperformed the best winters, giving it an overall score that would have pipped the winning winter Continental. But this was achieved at around the crossover temperature point of 7C. Colder temps would likely see the winters have the edge.
Used - available now
2018 Mazda
MX-5
63,142 milesManualPetrol2.0L
Cash £11,450
2024 BMW
2 Series Gran Coupe
36,835 milesAutomaticPetrol1.5L
Cash £20,556
2023 Peugeot
208
13,564 milesAutomaticPetrol1.2L
Cash £16,047
2018 Fiat
500
42,030 milesManualPetrol1.2L
Cash £5,933Blackcircles.com says…
“This is a popular tyre, rated 4.6/5 from over 1,230 reviews. Customers note good grip in all conditions.”
| Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen-3 | |
| Overall | 100.2% |
| Price | £101 |
| Snow braking | 95.2% |
| Snow traction | 94.1% |
| Snow handling | 97.9% |
| Straight aquaplaning | 85.9% |
| Curved aquaplaning | 97.9% |
| Wet braking | 105.0% |
| Wet handling | 101.0% |
| Wet circle | 99.4% |
| Dry braking | 100.2% |
| Dry handling | 100.5% |
| Cabin noise | 99.3% |
| Rolling resistance | 97.4% |
Buy the Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen-3 from Blackcircles.com...
Summer tyre: Continental PremiumContact 7
On our summer tyres, simply getting from the workshop to the start of the snow handling circuit was a serious challenge.
Most of the UK’s car owners tackle the winter weather on summer tyres, so it’s no surprise that when we have snow, traffic grinds to a halt. After even the least impressive winter tyre, the summer Continental is ludicrously unsuited to snow, lacking the traction to get going, and the grip to turn or stop with any confidence when it did.
However, in the cold, wet and dry, the braking of the summer tyre is substantially better than even the best winter tyre – it stops a massive 5.5m sooner in the wet and 7.2m in the dry. Of course, snow may be rare in the UK, but we get sleet and ice and very low temperatures, when the compound of a winter or all-season tyre will work better.
Blackcircles.com says…
Customers rate this tyre 4.6/5 overall, saying that it performs well in all conditions and provides good grip.”
| Continental PremiumContact 7 | |
| Overall | 95.3% |
| Price | £119 |
| Snow braking | 37.0% |
| Snow traction | 29.9% |
| Snow handling | 68.3% |
| Straight aquaplaning | 86.6% |
| Curved aquaplaning | 68.3% |
| Wet braking | 116.9% |
| Wet handling | 102.8% |
| Wet circle | 104.2% |
| Dry braking | 121.5% |
| Dry handling | 102.6% |
| Cabin noise | 98.4% |
| Rolling resistance | 95.9% |
Buy the Continental PremiumContact 7 from Blackcircles.com...
