Best All-Weather Tires?

I'm an insufferable little prick and therefore drive a 2009 Impreza (tire size 205 55 R16, speed rating "V"). It's past time for new tires. I did some research about 5 months ago, and the best-handling all-weather tire seemed to be the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3. Is that still the case, or have these tires been superseded?

I am extremely - extremely - happy with the Conti DWSs I have on my wife's TSX. They're not expensive and they handle heavy rain or a few inches of icy snow with no issues, but don't roll over and play dead in the summertime, either.

Buy whatever Nokian is calling their current all weather tire. I've had them before and they were amazing in all weather types.

What both of them just said.

Thank you both. I've always had great luck with Continentals. I'd never heard of Nokian before but I'm intrigued.

I should add that I'm mostly concerned with dry performance. I thought about going with summer tires, but it just seems wrong on an Impreza (to me at least), and I'm also generally inclined to respect the decisions made at the factory as much as possible.

Also, I'd like to buy the absolute best possible. This is a cheap car to own, so I don't mind spending on something as important as tires.

Hard to imagine that you could go far wrong with the Michelins, and you would have the smug satisfaction of paying a premium price.

Duke wrote: I am extremely - extremely - happy with the Conti DWSs I have on my wife's TSX. They're not expensive and they handle heavy rain or a few inches of icy snow with no issues, but don't roll over and play dead in the summertime, either.

Ditto on the Jetta.

Have you considered a set of summer and a set of snow tires? That would be the best setup for all weather, IMHO.

Tom Suddard wrote: Have you considered a set of summer and a set of snow tires? That would be the best setup for all weather, IMHO.

Hadn't thought about that but I will now. It would be an excuse to get a set of wheels, too, which the car sorely needs (she rides on steel wheels at present).

Tom Suddard wrote: Have you considered a set of summer and a set of snow tires? That would be the best setup for all weather, IMHO.

This, once you do it, you'll never go back. It should also be noted that in the long run, this effectively only costs you a set of wheels, as the tires will now last twice as long.

I've spent the last 5,000 miles on Kumho PA31's (I think they are new this year) and I'm very impressed. Kumho has several rebates available from all of their lines. Check out the full list at tirerack.com

If, theoretically, I was looking for a good, long-wearing summer tire, what would I consider? I've got application specific tires on the RX-7, but every other car I've ever owned has only ever worn A/S radial tires.

I also vote continental dws for a do everything tire. But that's only if someone wants an all season. I can never go back after running summer tires and winter tires.

Well, I'm getting great wear, fun, and driving performance out of the Conti DW on my car... Depends if by "summer tire" you mean "probably on the car 9 months out of the year for 3 or 4 years" or actually mean "this is thinly-disguised race rubber and they'll be dead Halloween".

The best all-weather tires are some wintersports on your stock wheels, and some performance summers on some cheap Rotas or something.

And it's not "wrong" on an Impreza.....I do it on my 09. And I'll never own all-seasons on a daily-driver again (except the wife's SUV).

b13990 wrote: Thank you both. I've always had great luck with Continentals. I'd never heard of Nokian before but I'm intrigued. I should add that I'm mostly concerned with dry performance. I thought about going with summer tires, but it just seems wrong on an Impreza (to me at least), and I'm also generally inclined to respect the decisions made at the factory as much as possible. Also, I'd like to buy the absolute best possible. This is a cheap car to own, so I don't mind spending on something as important as tires.

I also have Contis on all my cars and have been very happy with them. I just went through the worst winter on record in my area on the DWSs without a problem. As a previous poster mentioned the very best solution is to have a dedicated set of summer tires and another set of winter tires. Now that's living.

Feedyurhed wrote:

b13990 wrote: Thank you both. I've always had great luck with Continentals. I'd never heard of Nokian before but I'm intrigued. I should add that I'm mostly concerned with dry performance. I thought about going with summer tires, but it just seems wrong on an Impreza (to me at least), and I'm also generally inclined to respect the decisions made at the factory as much as possible. Also, I'd like to buy the absolute best possible. This is a cheap car to own, so I don't mind spending on something as important as tires.

I also have Contis on all my cars and have been very happy with them. I just went through the worst winter on record in my area on the DWSs without a problem. As a previous poster mentioned the very best solution is to have a dedicated set of summer tires and another set of winter tires. Now that's living.

in the end, it evens out anyhow. I just finished my 5th winter on my Wintersport 3Ds (with probably one more left for them on a 300hp WRX), and I usually get 2-3 summers running stock take-off SP Sport01s (which are a surprisingly good stock summer tire). So aside from the initial investment for a second set of wheels (for me, my old autocross Rotas are now my summer wheels), it doesn't cost much more.

And peace of mind having the BEST type of tire for the conditions makes it worth it, rather than just having a "good enough" tire for the conditions.

The Michelin Primacy MXV4 are the best all season tires. They do command a premium price, but that is often the case with the best of most goods.

For handling, I would go with a harder compound summer tire and a set of snow tires for the winter.

Like my Michelin Alpines but they are more of a snow tire but make my Porsche a 4 season car that likes 6" of snow.

Ditto the above suggestions. I run conti dws's 9 months on the corolla and general altimax arctic during the winter. on the minivan its michelin defenders 9 months and general altimax arctics in the winter. I dont run a pure summer tire because well the corolla is slow and so am I.