Winter 2014 is here, and it's set to be another warm, wet winter. Naturally, this raises the question as to whether winter tires are worth fitting, and while we're not likely to see the snowmageddon of 2011, the right tire can still provide you with noticeable benefits, plus the added protection of mobility should the snow come.
What's new?
2014 has seen three new premium winter tire launches: the Continental Winter Contact TS850P, the Goodyear UltraGrip 9, and the Michelin Alpin 5. While all three move the performance of the tires forward, they are evolutionary rather than revolutionary. This leaves our 2014 recommendations much the same as 2013, in short, you can't go wrong buying a Continental, Goodyear, Dunlop or Michelin premium winter tire, with Nokian and Uniroyal also putting out excellent products at a slightly more wallet friendly price.
Is there a better option?
The main task of a European winter tire is to balance wet and snow performance. Unfortunately for the wet UK climate, winter tire manufacturers can lean too far towards snow performance, which work better in climates which see more snow and freezing conditions. Ideally, what we need in the UK is a "wet optimised" winter tire, and thankfully these exist.
Modern all season tires are simply winter tires with a little more bias towards dry and wet running. This means while a full winter tire might be 10% better in snow performance, the modern all season tire should work better in the majority of the wet English winter. All season tires also come with the added bonuses of being many, many times better than a summer tire in the snow, which means they're slightly more up to the task of being run year round.
One slight caveat worth noting - don't get lulled into a false sense of security with all season tires and think they're the BEST option for 365 days of motoring. We'd still recommend the switch back to summer tires in the spring, as even the best all season tire can't match a summer tire in warm, dry conditions.
The best all season?
Once again, finding the "correct" all season tire for the UK is difficult. No English car publication tests all season tires, and when the Europeans test all season tires they still concentrate on snow performance, giving snow scoring the highest weight in the final positions. We've linked relevant tests below, but for the majority of the United Kingdom, we'd recommend looking at the Bridgestone A001, Falken Euroall Season AS200, Vredestein Quatrac Lite, or Goodyear Vector 4Season
Recommended Reading
Winter Tire Information
All Season Tire Tests
Winter Tire Tests
Best UUHP Tires
Best All Season Tires
Best Winter Tires
