Pilot Sport 4 or CrossClimate+? Oldham, UK

[Mr Olympik]

Hi Guys,

Want to take advantage of Costco's £80 off for 4 new 18" Michelins. However, I'm at a crossroads (pun intended).

I currently have PS4's on my Avant and I absolutely love them, the best tyre I've ever had the pleasure of running.
But, even though 95% of manufacturers fit summer tyres as standard in the UK because they perform up to -7C, allegedly, I have had some hairy moments on my PS4's.
Last year I barely got up a gentle slope, with traction control off. And there were some near misses when braking aggressively. This year, the winter was milder and I took extra care, so no incidents.

I live in Oldham, UK and we get varied weather that borders on the -7C threshold with some snow, so I started looking into the CrossClimate+ but there are various trade-offs, namely driving satisfaction, that I'm concerned about.

So, now I'm stuck. My question is, has anybody used both and can give an objective review/recommendation? What are the CrossClimates like in the summer? Can you still throw them into a corner like the PS4's?

Thanks.

 

[Vertigo1]

Personally I'd stick with the PS4s (or similar) and, if you're concerned about winter performance, get a separate set of dedicated winter tyres on some spare wheels.

Might seem expensive but the all round CrossClimate type tyres strike me as a 'jack of all trades, master of none' compromise. Also your regular tyres will last longer, not being used in winter.

 

[Mr Olympik]

CrossClimate type tyres strike me as a 'jack of all trades, master of none' compromise. Also your regular tyres will last longer, not being used in winter.

Normally I’d agree, but I’ve read positive things about the cross climates.

Has anybody had crossclimates?


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[spartacus68]

Normally I’d agree, but I’ve read positive things about the cross climates.

Has anybody had crossclimates?


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Running Cross-climates on my B8 Allroad. Very quiet and wear seems reasonable. Didn't really get a chance to test them fully given working from home for over a year and we had some deep snow too, which I could only look out on. Hybrid tyres are always a bit of a compromise, but one I'm willing to take. Summer tyres in winter are pointless even with quattro-drive, that much I do know.

I live in Scotland, so we had temperatures as low as -23 back in February and at one point the council were collecting the snow from the streets as there was no where to park there was that much of it!

 

[Gazwould]

Just to make sure Mr O , PS4 or PS4S ?

 

[Mr Olympik]

Just the regular Pilot Sport 4

 

[Gazwould]

 

[El-Cap]

Our Passat 4 Motion estate has Crossclimates and found them very good. Been using them for five years including all season driving in Scotland and driving to the continent during each summer.

I have had separate summer and winter wheels on the A7 and changing them is a right pain although you do get the best of a summer tyre and a winter tyre.

If you go for the Crossclimates make sure you get the Plus ones which are better.

 

[Gazwould]

If you go for the Crossclimates make sure you get the Plus ones which are better.

 

[Migwire]

Not tried Cross Climates, but I had Ultragrip winter tyres on my last A4 and didn't find them all that great in the winter.

The back end used to get out of shape in the snow on the corners in our estate, especially adverse camber ones.

Might have been the weight of the car, but my A3 had Nokian winter tyres as did the wife's and never had any issues on those.

 

[oldoiler]

Not tried Cross Climates, but I had Ultragrip winter tyres on my last A4 and didn't find them all that great in the winter.

The back end used to get out of shape in the snow on the corners in our estate, especially adverse camber ones.

Might have been the weight of the car, but my A3 had Nokian winter tyres as did the wife's and never had any issues on those.

You mentioned the magic word “NOKIAN “ designed by people who how to deal with cold weather!!


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[SiPie]

I used cross climates for 1 year on a Subaru Forester Turbo Xt (the white one). Great in the dry and suited the character of the car but it gave a softer, slightly squirmier feel due to the tread blocks. A bit like driving winters when the temp has just turned that bit warmer. You felt an inch of movement/flex on turn in that although initially unsettling, you got used to and knew it would grip. Not overly precise though and my Forester was modded and was as sharp handling as a wallowy SUV could be. There is the compromise, the fact that you need the type of tread block to grip in the winter and hold snow but it’s exactly what you don’t want in the summer. I also thought it odd that the cross climates didn’t really have sipes which help in the winter conditions. You’ll see from the pic of the white Subaru that I changed back to Nokians for the next winter. At that time I he’d to get to work no matter what in bad weather and the Nokians were an easy choice to revert back to.
Snow use was ‘fine’ and I never got stuck but that was more down to the forester than the tyre I reckon. My forester before that and the one after it were both run on Nokian WR D3/D2 & D3 SUV (I think from memory) and they were far superior for winter and even in the 2010 snow I was able to get to work through closed roads with minimum fuss.
I know your focus is more on the Michelin’s summer performance with a nod to winter safety but as good as they are, and they are a really good tyre, they are still a ‘jack of all‘ trades and with the S4 I have a set of 19s with the OEM Hankooks for summer and a set of 18s now with Nokians for winter. Not the cheapest way to do it but if you can pick up a set of cheap winter alloys and you are planning to keep your car for a few years the it will be economical in the long run by saving on tyre fitting charges and will half the wear on both winters & summers as mentioned by Vertigo1
Hey, not much of a help but everybody likes a photo

 

[KapB]

Amazing shots!

 

[pagenotfound]

...
But, even though 95% of manufacturers fit summer tyres as standard in the UK because they perform up to -7C, allegedly, I have had some hairy moments on my PS4's.
...

Where do you get the information summer tyres perform down to minus 7c? I've not seen that anywhere else. The common figure I see is for winter tyres being a benefit from plus 7c and below. Summer tyre compounds will start to harden in the colder months and perform far worse than a winter tyre in freezing conditions.

If you want the best possible performance from your tyres year round then you want a summer set and winter set but need to have the storage space. If you want reasonable performance year round then get the all season tyre. If you want maximum performance outside winter and can accept the occasional struggle in winter for a few trips when it gets really cold then stick with what you've got - that's what probably 90% of drivers are doing.

 

[Mr Olympik]

Where do you get the information summer tyres perform down to minus 7c?

I didn't realise I had to reference quote to post on forums

I will concede I misread my source, so here's the correction: Summer tyres are at their optimum from above 7C and the rubber begins to harden below 7C

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Confused.com
Michelin

 

[SteveMcB]

I've got 21" PS4s and 20" Dunlop winters for my Sq5 so that's pretty well sorted but I don't have the storage space for another set of wheels so last year I tried Xclimates on the cabby.
I was surprised how good they were in the snow, much better than the old PS4s and TBH haven't really noticed any difference in the dry. Not used them in hot conditions yet but not expecting any significant downside, I'm no longer into exploring the max grip available though!