Alternative tyre choices
If you can’t run to a second set of tyres, here’s how an all-season design and a summer tyre perform in the same tests
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: Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF3
Designed as a year-round fitment, the all-season tyre is gaining popularity in the UK and European countries with a similar weather mix – less snow but plenty of cold, wet conditions.
Although winter tyres prioritise snow performance, all-season tyres combine some snow ability with better performance in cold wet and cold dry conditions. They are also designed to work through the heat of the summer, hence the name.
The winning all-season tyre from our 2024 test, the Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF3, gave a snow performance that put it on par with the sixth-placed Vredestein Wintrac Pro+. Last year, in milder conditions at the upper limit for winter tyres (close to 7deg C), the all-season tyre went on to out-perform the winter tyres in the wet. But this year’s colder temperatures (4deg C) saw the all-season beat only the budget tyre in the wet, and the seventh and eighth-placed winter tyres in the dry. The all-season tyre delivered lower rolling resistance than all the winter tyres, though, and would beat them hands down in the summer heat.
Blackcircles.com says…
“We’ve received positive feedback on this tyre’s performance in various weather conditions”
| Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF3 | |
| Overall | 94.5% |
| Price | £124 |
| Snow braking | 96.4% |
| Snow traction | 95.3% |
| Snow handling | 92.5% |
| Wet braking | 92.6% |
| Wet handling | 95.7% |
| Wet cornering | 95.8% |
| Straight aquaplaning | 92.7% |
| Curved aquaplaning | 85.6% |
| Dry braking | 92.5% |
| Dry handling | 97.5% |
| Cabin noise | 92.5% |
| Rolling resistance | 101.6% |
Buy the Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF3 from Blackcircles.com…
Summer: Vredestein Ultrac+
Trying to drive just a few metres in snow on summer tyres reveals how completely unsuited they are to such conditions. Most concerning is the inability to slow down – it took almost 57m to stop from 30mph, close to twice the distance of the worst winter tyre.
It’s just as difficult to get going to start with, while navigating the sweeps and gradients of the snow handling circuit is a nerve-jangling exercise; there’s so little grip that you’re wary of gaining too much momentum, while braking and turning require accurate and early planning. It’s guesswork really.
The wide grooves of a summer tyres do help clear water, though, which is why the Vredestein scores so well in the wet tests, especially the deep-water aquaplaning tests; in dry braking and lapping, the summer tyre also holds up better. However, the further the temperatures drop, the less well the summer tyre compounds are able to cope and the better the more flexible compounds of winter and all-season tyres work.
Blackcircles.com says…
“Customers like its good grip, particularly on wet roads. Some also note less cabin noise”
| Vredestein Ultrac+ | |
| Overall | 89.8% |
| Price | £100 |
| Snow braking | 46.9% |
| Snow traction | 33.4% |
| Snow handling | 42.3% |
| Wet braking | 92.6% |
| Wet handling | 102.1% |
| Wet cornering | 102.3% |
| Straight aquaplaning | 94.6% |
| Curved aquaplaning | 105.0% |
| Dry braking | 118.2% |
| Dry handling | 101.0% |
| Cabin noise | 106.5% |
| Rolling resistance | 100.6% |
