One key thing to bear in mind when venturing out in these conditions is that no matter how much grip you have, someone else could still slide into you. As Ashley said, if you don't have to drive in these conditions, don't.
@@ibs5080 Yes, 3mm on winter tyres usually. Or more technically - snowflake symbol and 3mm on tyres being driven in these conditions. You can drive your winter tyres in summer down to 1.6mm legally.
Exactly my sentiment. I had the CC tyres and I was stuck on the road because other idiots were going no where with worn summer tyre! Then I saw a work van making on to slushy main road and their tyres are absolutely bald! If they were behind my car they can easily crash into me! At that point I decided to just head back, not worth mingling with other idiots.
I picked up a set of these tyres back in 2022 for my FWD Audi A3 and didn't think much of them until it snowed one day. Had to drive up to Tesco and saw a car in a ditch, two cars struggling to get uphill, and a lorry with its hazard lights on. I was about to call these folks amateurs. But then I came back and had to move the Mrs.'s car, which had standard mid-level summer tyres. I was blown away by the difference. Those tyres I bought were absolutely amazing in the snow!
I had the perfect test when I had them on my VW Caddy. Going home one evening and another VW Caddy got stuck on a little hill just near my home. He reversed down out of the way and then my Caddy sailed up no problem.
I use Goodyear vector 4 seasons bargain price only 65 quid fitted each. Used to run cross climate on my old car without ABS and the cross climate was amazing.
10:47 just a note when transitioning from a wet/dry surface to snow, your winter tyres wont have full grip at this point. There are 2 ways that winter or all seasons give you better grip. One is by having a softer compound that doesn't harden as much with cold temps, so the rubber stays more malleable for dry and wet driving. But when driving on snow, its actually the snow getting stuck to the tyre and building up that provides the grip. Snow has more traction against snow then rubber does. When you go from a wet section of road onto snow, the tyre doesn't have any build-up on it, so your grip against the snow will be marginally better then summer tyres but wont be working at their full potential until the snow builds up on them again.
Hi Ashley, Welcome to the club, been using Cross Climate then Cross Climate 2 tyres for years on both my ADI car and my personal car all year; their operating temperature range is fine even in the 'hot' south east. Fully agree with your warning of nit travelling by car if you don't need to. Would add a 'hazard awareness' reminder that whilst you have 'all season' tyres fitted it won't prevent other vehicles from sliding into you😮 Happy Driving 😃
Very encouraging results. I'm very choosey about tyres on both my car and mountain bike. It's amazing how many people still don't give enough importance to tyres, especially when it's only contact between you and the road. And, yes, I've noticed how way so decide it's fine to cut corners even more in these conditions.
I have run on both Winter tyres and All Season tyres over a number of years. In my experience snow like you were driving through on the video is better driven on with dedicated Winter tyres rather than All Season tyres. I used to have Continental TS 860 Winter tyres from November through to March and standard Summer tyres the rest of the year. On my journeys in freezing and snowy conditions driving over the Cotswolds from south Wales to Oxfordshire, the Winters saved me from a few incidents. However, during the non- snowy weather, which is more what we get in the south, I found the steering and stopping grip quite bad. Having learned of the Michelin Crossclimate 2, I changed to just having them on all year round and it’s been a game changer. No more booking into the garage to have them changed twice a year and totally acceptable grip in any weather, as long as you do slow for snowy and icy conditions. As you said, they move the boundaries but you can’t change physics. I’m glad you like them too.
Yeah, for the kind of weather we get in western Europe, the few days of snow and unpredictable weather, are in my opinion not worth dedicated winters. Can have a day or two of snow followed by a 5c+ dry sunny day.
All season compounds have rapidly evolved in recent years. The Michelin Cross Climate 2 set in the video can closely match many winter tyres in these conditions when it comes to traction and breaking, simply because it's more of a mixed condition (moderately cold, mix or wet and snow) not truly winter (deep cold, purely snow and ice). Every other manufacturers update the compounds, tread designs. Tyre Reviews is an excellent source, and good entertainment too. There is not much point to winters in the UK, all seasons should be promoted as standard. But lack of understanding of tyres means without legislation it will never happen.
when I was young, I ran summer and winters tires. now that I'm older, I run high quality snow rated all season tires - in a climate very similar to the UK.
It's always worth mentioning when driving in conditions like this to allow the engine to heat up so that the automatic choke is off. If driving up a snowy slope, particularly in a reasonably powerful car with the auto choke still on, it may well over rev giving wheel spin even without the accelerator being pressed. I struggled to get up a hill a few years ago purely because I had no control over how much my engine was over revving due to the choke still being on.
The main hazard in such conditions is not you controlling your car, but all the people on summer tires. For the occasional clearing of snow the jacket sleeve is more than good enough, unless you wear suede or some sponge material. Back home in the north of Norway people keep a brush/scraper in the car, and the procedure is: start the car, turn to full heat and defrost setting, get out and brush/scrape ice. Take your time, the car is warming up. Remember to clear the lights and license plates, to avoid undesired attention from the police. Kick the front tire, to clear snow from your shoes. Drove off and as Ashley did, do a grip test. Brake hard, and accelerate hard to get an idea of how much grip you have. Keep checking during the ride (when safe!). But even with all my winter driving experience, when it snows here in Brussels I prefere to keep the car parked. (see the first sentence)
I still can't believe it's legal in Britain to drive with summer tyres in this weather. In Norway there are heavy fines and possible prison sentences for not using winter or spiked tyres during the winter time.
The prison sentence would only be if you caused a major accident i think. Mostly it's a painful fine and possibly points on your license. And in the event of an accident probably license suspension and the insurance company refusing to pay fully for the damage to your car.
Same in Denmark - no requirement for winter tyres. No mountains and maybe snow a few times a year. But most people do change over once temp drop down around 5-10 degr C, or use all-season tyres Though they are talking about changing the rules once in a while.
We use the commercial vehicle Agilis CrossClimate (as opposed to the passenger car CrossClimate 2) on our fleet of taxis all year round (even on the smaller cars, as well as the minibuses). Not only do they perform better in the snow/ice/wet than the CrossClimate 2, but because of the increased load rating and ply count they're also more pothole/curbing and puncture resistant. We operate in a rural area which can be badly affected by snow and ice (and also crater-like potholes) so they've been a godsend! We haven't had a single puncture or blowout since we transitioned to them a few years ago. They do have more road noise at motorway speeds however.
When I first got a set of, not full winter, but all season tyres they happened to arrive on the day the snow came down. Drove in on summers and back with the all seasons so it was a chance to directly compare them. In general on summers you had to tippy-toe along to avoid breaking traction, while on the all seasons you had to make a deliberate effort to make them slip.
The main difference with all season tyres, including cross climates vs a summer tyre is the cold weather performance, not just the 'snow' performance. The CrossClimates will perform far better than the majority of summer tyres in temperatures below 10c and especially below 5c. This will be better performance in the dry and wet - the rubber stays more compliant at the lower temperatures and will give you more grip both in braking and cornering performance. So they're not just for snow, at low temperatures they are a far better tyre to have all round vs any summer tyre.
They're just great tyres. Perfect for the UK in my opinion as they're still great in the rain but can also deal with some occasional winter snow and ice that we get. We don't really get enough snow to justify winter tyres so these are the next best alternative. I just wish they did these in my tyre size!
Thank you for highlighting the cornering at 10:32. I have witnessed drivers come from a clear gritted road into an ungritted sideroad and knocking the front wheel hard off the kerb. Always look at the road you are turning into and not assuming it is like the road you are turning off Also watch out for dual carriageways that are 70mph and clear but then the exits can be rural untreated roads. Bit of a shock sometimes to feel the car go straight with the wheels pointing left!
Here in Finland, winter tyres are mandatory when the weather conditions demand them, which is effectively for several months of the year. Your "cross-climate" tyres would be classified here as a "friction tyre" which meets the legal definition of a winter tyre and would be suitable for part of the season. Most people here, however, fit tyres with ice studs in them for the winter, since ice of various kinds is a major hazard on some days, especially during the spring thaw. It's not rare to see roads that are literally a sheet of glare ice from one side to the other, and you won't get anywhere on friction tyres. Since it's the middle of winter, I've had my winter tyres on my bicycle for some time now. They have ice studs - without them, I wouldn't be able to ride with any kind of confidence in freezing conditions unless the road was completely dry. I still have to watch out for ice ruts, since this type of tyre can't easily climb out of them in the parallel direction. In winter, I also try to avoid the edge camber of the road, especially in particular areas where there's more camber than usual. But with these, I can get to the shops and back - a 24km round trip - and usually not fall over in the process.
I used the Nokian version of this cross climates type of tyre and they fit the kind of winters here. If we had a climate like in Finland no doubt studied tyres are a must. Having family the other side of your border, yes the closed one, they use the same as you and traffic moves normally. Only the insane would have only summer tyres. The cross climates are a compromise that few even bother with here hence this posting. Get some snow and the traffic stops here so even if you had studded Nokian tyres, in any sort of busy traffic you would be stuck with everyone else because pretty much everyone is on summer tyres.
Recently retyred after over fifty years in tyre trade. The majority of my customers just want the cheapest tyres, always refreshing when a customer, like yourself, asked my opinion on what would be the best fitment for them. With social media and internet in general a few would turn up that thought they knew better, but that’s life. With adverse road conditions, like recent snow fall, many cars that end up in ditches are shod with the budget tyres, they got what they payed for. My car, Toyota RAV4 is fitted with cross climates. My good lady’s sporty car not, she uses mine in adverse weather. Good video, maybe a few viewers will follow your advice.
Many years ago i changed both tyres on my sportsbike at the same time and made a passing comment about all the tyres available being quite expensive. He looked me in the eye and asked "Would you really want to put cheap tyres on this?". Which i felt was a very good point.
I’ve always found it strange that people skimp on tyres, it’s the only part of the car actually in contact with the road. It must have been very frustrating for you.
Nothing to do with tyres, but ... What a faff to adjust your heating. I just turn a knob. All that looking at the screen, selecting the right menu and so on is positively unsafe if you need to do it while driving. In my car, I don't need to take my eyes off the road for a second.
@@ashley_neal To bring it even closer to using a mobile phone... Thinking about what you're saying and about speaking clear enough for it to pick it up correctly, then reading the screen like a text message to ensure it heard you correctly. Even if that isn't the case for you, and you're able to just let it screw up and then find a safe place to stop while it does whatever it does in the meantime, you should know what the average driver is like, and the half that are worse than them.
As someone who used to have winter tyres (as we drove in Germany where they're law in winter months) and switched between summer/winter depending on the season, I can vouch that winter tyres are the bees knees in snow. As I don't drive much anymore, I have all seasons and they're perfect. Give me lots of confidence in the snow and can't see me switching away from them.
Chose a "Higher gear" is just something they say to help new drivers, as long as you drive like there is an egg under the pedals you should be fine if you have decent tyres. The larger tread doesn't just help with snow it is also excellent at preventing aquaplaning and increases grip in muddy conditions as well. There is a reason we do 3mm minimum tread depth in Sweden during the winter.
I worked a season as a transfer driver in the french alps and was amazed by winter tyres. I always now have cross climate tyres in the uk . They arent full winter tyres but for the uk I think they are perfect. I do feel like they become softer in the summer though.
manufacturers dont care about putting expensive tyres on a vehicle, they put an average tyre on it, that they have a deal with a tyre manufacturer to supply to all new cars, to save money. only if you ask for a certain type of tyre to be fitted as new do they change the tyres before the sale. i bought a new motorbike in 2021, usually in the past i got 5k to 6k miles out of the rear tyre, by 3500 miles the Dunlops on the bike as standard was done and reading reviews they were the worst tyre for that motorbike, advice was to have Bridgestone or Michelin tyres fitted before picking the bike up.
I watched a review of the Subaru Crosstrek from a year or so ago and the guy said it came with the CrossClimate2 as standard, I’m assuming that’s still the case. It’s strange that other cars don’t, especially AWD vehicles. They could add the additional cost to the price of the car and I doubt people would even notice.
I put these on a Punto and was amazed, felt I could go anywhere in winter, whilst driving carefully and could feel increased grip all year. I had them fitted all round on a Mercedes C class afterwards, not the cheapest but a sound investment for the extra money. One thing to remember is change the spare at the same time, a tyre specialist told me that with their unique tread pattern and compound, had to be same both sides of car front or rear. Also no tyres deal with ice so careful defensive driving is needed as always.
That's not strictly true about ice. You can get grip on ice with metal studs, but they are basically illegal outside Scandinavia. The Nordic spec studless winter tyres also give a surprising amount of grip on ice. For sure not a lot in absolute terms, but probably 10-20x what you get with summer tyres, which enough to maintain control and stop at sensible speeds.
I’ve got the same tyres on my Subaru and I’m also completely blown away with how they perform in this weather (I’m in Leeds). I’ve tried to get the car to break traction on an icy road and it just won’t, it’s unbelievable.
@@emdentec Curious to ask which model of Subaru you have? Outback, Forester or XV for example? I think they are great cars and I'm very surprised how few Subaru's one sees on UK roads. In Washington State USA for example, it's almost as though every other car is a Subaru Outback. How's the Subaru dealership network here in the UK?
Something to remember though is all-seasons are not ice tyres, though they do better than summer tyres on ice, on proper ice even proper winter tyres will struggle. I've mixed feelings with my CrossClimate 2s - on regular passenger cars pretty decent in normal conditions but on heavier vehicles especially bigger SUVs and pickups they are a bit soft, can struggle with torque, a slight tendency to tramlining and can be vague with rapid direction changes i.e. if you turn off a road left and then immediately want to take a right turn they can be vague turning into the right.
for the amount of times i drive in the snow in central scotland over the years, its rare and i get by with summer tyres so not thought it worth the investment in other wheels and winter tyres. i drive a van, got a shovel and brush in the back, on the few occasions i have lost grip and just spun the tyres i dug myself out and carried on. i am confident in my abilities to drive in the snow but also not overconfident. i always find tyres such an unknown, its difficult to look at a tread pattern and know it will do what you want from it. tyres these days are so much better than years gone by that even a good quality summer tyre will get you through rare snow in winter. just buy good quality tyres to what you can afford in the first place and that helps a lot. and if possible get some lessons and experience in the snow.
These are Cross Climate tyres for all year round use, not dedicated winter tyres. They provide everything you would expect from a quality summer tyre while also being rated for snow and winter conditions. No need to be changing tyres seasonally.
@seanbranagh its still a compromise, a summer tyre will have better grip in the dry and possibly the wet while winter tyres are dedicated to colder temps. Cross climate will be in the middle and not provide everything expected from a summer tyre, they will likely be less fuel efficient than summer tyres because the tread pattern is designed for grip in all weathers, likely produce more road noise too. Probably more expensive than summer tyres too as more research and development gone into them to make it work. I find going for the middle option is the biggest compromise when it comes to vehicles.
@@douglasreid699 My car came fitted with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 which are a premium summer tyre. Do I notice any difference in summer performance for normal driving I do? No. Would I notice a difference if I was driving aggressively in summer or on a track? Probably. However, I would hazard a guess and say that the Cross Climate 2 likely perform much better in summer than any mid-range or budget summer tyres. Ashley himself has said in this video that for the normal driving he does he does not notice a difference in normal conditions. I assume he would have mentioned fuel efficiency and noise if he had noticed it. In terms of that, I drive an EV so I would definitely have noticed if there was any significant problem with either noise or efficiency. I haven't. These are obviously premium tyres but in the case of my car at least, they are the same price as the premium summer tyres the car came fitted with. After well over 30k miles I have not found a downside. I definitely cannot see a compromise for normal driving. If you look through the other comments here from those who have Cross Climate 2 you will see the same positive results.
@@douglasreid699 'still a compromise' *when compared to dedicated winter and dedicated summer tyre also from Michelin. There are plenty of dedicated winter and summer tyres that are perfectly legal to fit to your car that the Cross Climate will out perform in the conditions those were more specifically designed for. Yes, those will be cheaper, some considerably so, but they're not outlawed for being too dangerous either, but the Cross Climates will get you out of more potential situations all year round than they (as a complimentary pair of sets) will. I'd recommend watching a channel 'tire reviews'. They have tested All Seasons against full winters and full summers and the differences aren't as significant as sentences like 'biggest compromise' will lead a lot of people to think. Basically you'll only experience the 'compromised' nature if you're driving at the limits of the tyres frequently, which noone should be doing on the road, and, as mentioned already, they still outperform many non-premium brands of dedicated tyres by a greater degree than they fall behind the dedicated premium tyres when it counts. If you still feel that sort of difference matters, then I still recommend 'tire reviews'. They break down testing in such a way that splits hairs between the best winter and summer tyres, so you can be informed in choosing the absolute best set of tyres available on the market.
@markwright3161 fair enough, but i drive a van and ride a motorbike, so standard car tyres wont work for me, i need van tyres. And since 2009, i have been stuck (to the point i have needed to clear snow to move) 3 times maybe while owning 4 different vans over the years. And i dont buy the best tyre, i buy a reasonably priced good quality tyre. So i am basing my opinion on my experience. For the last 10 years with my different ford transits, its cost me between £85 to £120 per tyre for the same type of make of tyre as the price for it has gone up over the years, i can get 18k to 21k miles, possibly more, out the tyre. Looking online vs the tyre garage i use, i get a decent discount from the garage, they are usually £10 cheaper than any other garage, and certainly cheaper than online. I would expect to be less than £130 this year per tyre for what i usually buy. The Michelin Agilis Crossclimate tyres, cheapest online price i see is £190 per tyre. At least £60 more, times 4 tyres, so that would be £240 more than i usually pay for a not noticeable difference for my skill of driving. Sure, cross climate tyres will suit some people who cant store tyres and are not into changing their tyres and vehicle maintenance, but for me they are compromised, more expensive for same benifits, and possibly live on the hype about them too.
I have 2 sets of wheels for both my motorhome and car. Summer tyres and winter tyres. Full winters rather than cross climate though. Amazing difference. Been to the Alps and Norway in the winter with these tyres. One thing I always hear is that we only get a couple of days snow so it's not worth it but winter tyres are better when wet and below 7C which we get a lot in a UK winter.
That old saying largely depends on the tyre itself. Modern tyres see a bit of shift in market segment and performance. With the four seasons growing in popularity, the dedicated winter tyres gain even more bias towards the below freezing temperatures and snowy/icy conditions. On cold & wet roads a premium 4S will outperform a full fledged winter tyre. In fact a nordic winter tyre performs rather poorly at 7°C. Modern winter tyres, nordic winter tyres work best below freezing temperatures. Above zero degrees we have better options nowadays. For mild climates like the southern parts of UK it's gonna be a set of summer and four season really, instead of summer and winter. Or just leave on the 4S all year around. Summer tyres take over in performance above 15°C compared to the ones like the Cross Climate 2. With this being said the new guideline is: Summer tyres outperform everything at >15°C. 4S will outperform the summer and winter tyres in the transition weather at 0-15°C on wet roads. Winter tyres take over at below 0°C. Of course the temperatures are not hard limits, there's always a decline in the performance/temperature graph once you pass these points.
@Teasuti I agree with most of that. I don't have Nordic winter tyres . I have Michelin and Continental European winter tyres. I agree that 4s and summer are probably best for the UK and that 4s are catching up fast. I don't agree that winter tyres perform poorly at 7c , the opposite is true. Although I have european rather than Nordic.
I live near Aberdeen, our winters can be very cold even without snow, so I have a set of winter wheels for both our cars with proper winter tyres. ❄️❄️❄️
I have them on my Audi A4 and they are outstanding in snow. The only thing reigning in their performance is the automatic gearbox. Manual transmission is far better in snow.
Testing for grip (safely) at the start of a journey is really important, it's something I do often when it's cold and/or damp. Better find out there's an issue at 5mph and not at 70mph on the motorway.
At around 9:10 & again at 12:51, since here in the UK most junctions are controlled via a Give Way, you are legally allowed to emerge from a side street whilst still rolling, as Ashley did. In Canada and USA those types of junctions (intersections) are virtually always controlled via a Stop sign. Which means you can't legally keep moving (as Ashley legally did at this UK junction). Even in snow, going uphill and with no visible traffic on the main road, legally in North America, you'd still have to come to a complete stop...and try to get going again.
In northern Germany, in heavy snow, people would ignore red traffic lights (and others expected it) if it kept the traffic from getting stuck. This was 40 years ago, so things may have changed.
@@PedroConejo1939 Interesting to hear. I lived in Germany from 1988 to 93 before immigrating to Canada. I don't recall that practice, though I totally believe you. I was in south west Germany in the state of Baden-Wuerttenburg so maybe this was a regional thing in the North
@@ibs5080 This was Flensburg in 81/82. It wasn't every junction, all the time, but on those on a hill where pulling off would be difficult to impossible. Also, despite the pavements being cleared. (by law), pedestrians on the hill - this was Angelburger Str, where I lived - would just get behind the cars and give them a shove up the hill. All very co-operative.
I used to drive up the A9 to the north of Scotland every weekend for 2 years in a FWD saloon fitted with Continental WinterContacts. Some extreme conditions and never struggled once, plenty of stuck 4x4's.
I agree with your over confidence comment. I've been using Continental winter tyres for years and they are so good in these conditions I do have to remind myself at times that I'm actually driving on snow! I might try these cross climates the next time i have to replace my winter tyres - to avoid the slight inconvenience of changing my wheels over twice a year.
@khalidacosta7133 After market sat nav using a friction pad, mounted high up on the dashboard. Phone mounted in the vent and used as a GPS speedometer for when I'm not using my sat nav.
@@SimplySpooky24 I'm offended by people who are offended by something they already have. Case in point here... OP literally shoved a big screen on there....
@@khalidacosta7133 A screen with a singular purpose, a GPS that's only a GPS. It's not a radio, heater controls, etc, as well, all crammed in submenus. It will always show the map when they want to look at the map. It won't remove or cover the map because you need to change the menu to turn up the volume of a weather report on the radio or turn on the demister or change the temperature of the cabin. If they want to change the temp, turn on a demister, or adjust the volume, there's something tactile to twiddle without taking their eyes off the road.
I've run Cross Climates virtually since they came out, and in winter in northern Europe they are the ticket*. As others say, we can often go between snow and warm rapidly, and we can have many days where the road surface temperature is at freezing or close to it, when summer tyre compounds are not working, and all season tyres do a great job (within limits) deling with that shifting temperature band. *If you go into Europe many countries require at this time of year an M+S marking on the tyre - you can chance it, but if you block a road and the Police come and see see you're on summer tyres you'll be getting a fine. The M+S standard is from the 70's and is now superseded by the harder to achieve Three Peak Mountain Snowflake, and that is the standard to look for on new tyres.
I use Michelin Primacy 4 tires all around, and they’re great, even in the snow. I did hit a patch of black ice and lost a bit of grip, but nothing major. Rule #1: never cheap out on tires-they could save your life. While these are technically summer tires and not designed specifically for this kind of weather, they’ve held up surprisingly well considering their intended purpose might have a look at the CrossClimate when they need replacing
I went from Primacy to CC2s and I’ve never looked back Can’t say they are any better in the summer, nor are they worse, but the confidence they give in winter, even just in low temperatures is second to none. I hope you get them next !!
Had to replace the tires that came with my car recently and decided to get Continental AllSeasonContact 2. Glad I chose those, over standard tires, with this recent snow & ice we've had. Grip is much better in the wet, and while I didn't test the old tires in icy or snowy conditions, I can say these tires have performed great.
Had crossclimates on my cars for the last 6 or so years. Seriously impressed by them. Haven’t noticed that much poor performance in summer conditions, but I don’t usually drive that aggressively.
I've had cross climates on my VW passat 4motion (240bhp) for a few years now. I cannot fault them. So good all round in any weather. When I first had them fitted it snowed a few weeks later so I was off out to see what they could do. I found some snow covered lanes with no ruts and I was so impressed, fully in control and very predictable although you have to realise confidence has to to controlled because there is a limit and I didn't want to find it! I tried a hill start, no sliping. Absolutly the right choice as very little price difference to other premium tyres and the added bonus of higher mileage from them.
I have a full set on order and will have them fitted as soon as I can get to the garage, snowed in all week. They will be very useful in the Cambrian Mountains if I'm caught out. I never drive in the snow up here as it's too dangerous on steep inclines and single-track roads. But, if I'm caught out by snow coming early, I will be better prepared to get home.
When I had a company car I used full winter tyres, these were excellent in the cold wet and snow but had more road noise and a speed restriction. Now, I'm retired, I use budget summer tyres, when it snows I walk.
Only had my cross climates fitted in December so as yet no snow here in my neck of the woods in Kent to check them out. Happy with them in normal and wet weather so far. Notice you passed a number of part view clearers on your trip. The drivers that amaze me are the ones that leave 4" of snow on their roof and then get caught out at a busy junction when it slumps down over the windscreen. Not just the screens. The roof and bonnet please.
Had cooper m/s nearly 15 years ago, while up in Scotland. They were fantastic and totally justified, as we were in the countryside a lot, with heavy snow and then it changing to mush. The snow was heavy in 2010 and the ice stayed around until April. It handled it extremely well. Typical driving conditions for the rest of the year wouldn't justify those m/s tyres, so I think that's where all season tyres come in to play and you have the m/s tyres stored for the rest of the year. It all comes down to where you live and work and what type of roads you use.
I agree with you, some drivers may have too much confidence in cross climate tyres, I have had them for years and I won't go back to ordinary tyres again, a bit more expensive but they really do hold the road in all conditions, and I don't know why manufacturers don't give you them as an optional extra, from Scotland so we do need them a little bit more up here.
I've had Cross Climate1/2 SUVs on my 2008 CR-V for 5 years and they are brilliant, live on a hilltop that often gets snow even when the nearest town is clear and they make such a difference to the ones that were on it when I got it
I was torn between the Bridgestone Turanza All Season 6 and the Michelin CrossClimate 2's. And I opted for the Bridgestone as there was a black friday deal, but not had any snow where I am. I bought a 2nd hand car and the tyres were all cheap brand summer tyres!! This is my first time with premium car tyres and the confidence they give you in the wet is amazing, compared to the garbage that was on the car. My mantra is - Drive to the conditions, not the capability of the machine you're operating
I've had these tyres for four years now, only get used during winter months on a second set of rims so a fews weeks each year... we'll worth having and they've still go plenty of tread
Glad to see this as I've just ordered a set, for our weather now but mainly because we are driving to Norway in April for Easter. Good to know that they will cope as winter comes to an end in Norway. I'm told that the worst is over then but may still be some snow and ice
Simple tip for driving in snow: you have 3 inputs, steering, braking, and accelerating ... you can usually do 2 at once in good conditions, try to only do one at a time in snow. Always slow down _before_ you need to steer.
I’ve had them on my car for a number of years and they certainly outperform and outlast standard tyres fitted to cars. I’ve personally found no deterioration in the wet performance. In adverse snow conditions they’re great to get you home. As in all adverse weather your only as safe as the other drivers, so caution is paramount.
We're in Canada and have these "tires" (it finally doesn't look weird spelling it like that!). They work great, even in *proper* snow (feet deep) plus when it's solid and packed down (we drive on top of it). Also saves needing to swap between winter and summer wheels twice per year. Crocodile Dundee voice "that ain't snow ..."
Just bought a set of Michelin Cross Climate 2 a few weeks ago for my new car. I can confirm the performance in the wet and on partially frozen sleet. They are very good in these substandard conditions. And even in the dry they are quite good. They are expensive though..... but worth every penny in my opinion.
Put some on my tesla model 3 just before christmas and very glad I did, have had no troubles driving in the snow and ice, noticed they give a lot less traction in the dry than my summer tyres I had but do their designed job pretty well
I used to do a fair amount of driving, so swapped to a dedicated set of winters from November through to April. These days, I run a set of Crossclimate 2s on my G31 530d and a set of Nexen All Seasons (still triple peak rated) on my 2001 N16 Almera. I had the opportunity to test out the Nexens on the Almera. They made the snow a bit of a non event. I've been running season appropriate tyres for 14 years now, I don't think I could go back to just running summers all year round.
Got these tyres on my mk8 fiesta st and im loving them - definitely a marked step from the pilot supersports that it came with for this time of year, when I 1st had the car with those tyres on in snowy conditions it was almost undriveable in certain circumstances, with the cross climate 2’s I’ve yet to get stuck! Very glad I made the decision to get these for the winter months👍
I looked at getting a set of cheap steel wheels (so if I do have a slip and kerb it, I'm not hurting the alloys) and having winter tyres put on them and swapping the wheels over completely in winter, but on further research the winter tyres I was looking at were less effective than the regular summers I had above 7 degrees so I didn't bother as temperatures even in winter weren't really breaching that for most of the time. If winters trend colder and wetter, then I'll definitely look at it again.
I regularly drive to the Alps in winter and for many years had two sets of wheels, one set with winter tyres and one set with "ordinary" tyres. When the Cross Climates (other makes are available - this year I'm trying the Continental version) came out they were a godsend, as having the "Mountain and Snowflake" symbol meant I no longer had to buy winter specific tyres to be legal in much of Europe. I also have an AWD car which helps a lot, but you still have to be careful, especially in icy conditions! The main problem in the UK when we have snow is all the **ties who attempt to go out on their summer tyres (and often RWD - you know who you are!) and then get stuck on the slightest of gradients, blocking the roads for everyone else - for me this is the best reason not to go out unless I have to! In my view it should be a legal requirement to have suitable tyres fitted for winter, as I believe it is in Germany and elsewhere. If you moan about the cost, just think of the potential costs of not having them....
Where I live on the coast of west wales snow is very rare. When it does snow it tests my driving skills, but I think my natural ability keeps me safe. Test the grip, and just do everything softly and early, braking, accelerating, turning. Use the gears to slow, try to keep moving and start in second when possible. It's a LOT harder in barely legal summers. This demonstrates why people in cold countries manage and we don't, but if you know you're guaranteed snow every winter its a no brainer to fit winters or all season.
I have always ensured I had winter tyres on front rather than cross/all weather given the area I am in. We had triple the depth snow in your video on that Sunday. My mileage has reduced quite a lot in recent years so now I just leave the winters on all year rather than swapping them out and as cross climate seem to be the same cost as summer when they’re replaced it will be with cross climate too for a little extra rear grip. I’ve yet to get stuck anywhere (Golf fully electric) but it is about driving to road conditions and still treating the roads as hazardous with these tyres on and not assuming you can drive in reasonable clear weather days.
I've had Cross Climates for years now, two sets of Cross Climates and just fitted new Cross Climates 2s in November. They are great in the snow, which is why I have them. My car needs to get from my driveway, to the main road, and they do it well.
Literally just got CrossClimate 2s fitted before it snowed and was able to drive around no problem, they're great. Definitely was able to drive up slopes and stop going down slopes where my previous summer tyres wouldn't have had a chance. FWD car
At one point my brother and I had essentially the same spec of Golf. He drove mine with CrossClimate 2s one morning, little dusting of snow, all was good. About an hour later drove the same route with in his car with normal tyres. He could hardly get out of his estate onto the main road. The CrossClimates completely disguised how bad the conditions were.
Great video. Carwow did a video a while ago on an indoor ski slope, and found that a 2 wheel drive car with winter tyres was outperforming a 4 wheel drive in summer tyres, when driving up the slope.
Make a huge difference. Having used all seasons for several years I put mid range summer tyres on a car before selling, then got caught out in cold snap and car was completely useless in a dusting of snow.
I have taken my car on skiing trips with all season tyres and generally found them to be fine. I have used snow chains but they are a faff to put on even in the warm let alone in cold wet dirty snow and you have to get out an remove them again as soon as you reach tarmac. My current car cannot even take snow chains but I carry a pair of Autosocks. Even before I got this car I used them in preference to the chains as they are so much easier to fit and remove, are much lighter than chains and, although they get dirty, you can put them in the washing machine! I would be interested to see Ashley trying a pair and see what he thinks.
Just saw this come in. Very interested to now view this, as I have the same tyres, after reading and watching many other tyre reviews. No snow here in Canterbury yet.
Stopped my neighbour sweeping the 2-3 inches of soft snow with a soft yard brush off her drive which has a slope .Just creating an ice rink. I said Tyres dig into snow but slide on ice .
I can remember spending a few days in the city of Portland, Oregon USA every Christmas with my very dear Mum. One thing in particular I remember is that I could very easily tell which cars had full winter tyres due to the distinctive rubbery "flap flap" noise on dry asphalt. I've often wondered to what degree the occupants hear the same noise and what the ride quality is like on a dry road surface.
On my Picanto I like to run full winter tyres from December until mid April, on a second set of steel wheels, then I put the summer tyre wheelset on once temperatures become regularly above 7 degrees Celsius. Storing tyres is far easier when they're on wheels full time.
I've use Vredestain Snowtrac tyres on steels I got to replace wide low profile alloys on my Fiat 500 in that 2011 snow storm, darn thing sat on the snow that light with the wide tyres, going nowhere. Chuckled being able to pass struggling Land Rover and Range Rovers trying to go up the railway bridge where I live once fitted. Always swop them out for the 6 winter months, like abroad. Oh new car design safety issue in my eyes, no longer able to use muscle memory to drop hand onto heater controls, got to look to place finger tip just right on a touch pad for tappy, tappy let's increase the heat...🤔🥺🇬🇧
We have had Michelin Crossclimates on our Honda Civic for several years and they are a great improvement over the original tyres. Better ride, comfort and braking. We live in South Devon so not much snow normally for us, but we did have to tackle it yesterday when detouring around Haldon Hill, Exeter (always seems to close when it snows) and we never felt unsafe.
that looks like the optimal snowfall: enough to look nice, but not so much that it doesn't readily clear away on the roads. though your highways workers seem to be a bit behind on their duties. and yes, on snow, upshift early, and downshift late, to reduce engine torque on the tires.
I’ve got set of wheels with winter tyres i go out drifting every time it snows, obviously not round residential areas. It’s amazing that some people just run their cars in summer tyres and get stuck everywhere. Sometimes I take the AWD out and tow people out of situations just because it’s fun.
Ashley, if you like the CC2's you should come up here to the nordics and try full fat extreme winter tyres 😁 There is a reason that winter tyres are mandated by law up here, and they really enforce it too. If you get caught with summer tyres in conditions like this then you are looking at a 4-500 quid fine and possibly points on your license. If you have an accident because of them then your are for sure in deep poo : You could lose your license, and the insurance company will likely refuse to pay out fully.
Oh the joys of having a pre heater that you can turn on and heat the coolant before starting the car. Also the joys of home delivery. Somewhere on the internet there is a picture of a Rover 75 towing a caravan in heavy snow. Yes I think some drivers will driver faster if the have confidence in their car. Totally agree, do a grip test. I used to ride a motorbike in the snow and ice. This is when good tyres show how good they are. Good video on how well your tyres work
This is the first year that I have used the Michelin Cross Climates and my reactions are similar to yours however the tyre I have is a higher 60 profile with a curved V-shaped tread, yes I have lost a bit of traction with over exuberant right pedal but have had no issues stopping so no ABS has activated so far.
From my experience, the main compromise with all season/winter tyres is that they are not great at clearing standing water. Simply put, the most efficient tread pattern to do this are wide longitudinal grooves found in summer tyres, as opposed to the transverse grooves with sipes that you will find in all season/winter tyres. But by adjusting your driving style accordingly, they are still the best year-round option in my opinion.
yeah all season tyres are a amazing in snow and icy conditions compared to normal summer tyres , we run Bridgestone Duravis All Season on the delivery vans at work all year round
Great video Ashley. For a second at 1:00 I wrongly thought you were bashing the brush against the car lol! Another thing worth investing in for these conditions (see 1:43) - fingerless gloves?! :D
Not had the need to go out in snow yet, but my CrossClimates (1) have done sterling work in the rain for the last 6 years and were very impressive on 'crunchy' ice (refrozen packed ex-snow) in a school car park I visited a couple winters ago (but I only have 59bhp to play with!). Recommended by someone with experience of driving in north American winters. No need to go as far as separate summer and winter tyres where I am now in the northwest UK, but I've seen the consequences of people driving like it's still summer when the first blizzard hits too many times to trust summer tyres year-round in places where it gets below freezing. These have been an excellent compromise, and will most likely get the Mk2s when it's time for replacement.
I have the same tyres, we are in Scotland right now. the amount of drivers who don't clean off their cars is ridiculous, nearly had a bump because I didn't see them indicating
In general, a standard summer and all-season (not winter or 4-season tire) has a plastic temperature of 6-7C. The plastic temperature is the point at which the rubber compound becomes plastic (chemical term) and looses its ability to deform into the road texture. What this means that standard tires begin to loose their grip in the dry/wet below the plastic temperature and braking is reduced, corning safety is reduced. In the UK this lower plastic temperature of these tires due to the extra silicon in the rubber compound and with snowflake symbol is most important in the UK where we don't actually get much snow/ice. I have used crossclimate 2 tires for about 8 years.
I've got these tires on my car, so I'm curious (we haven't seen any snow here in Vancouver this year, yet). Thanks for the report. It's an even more valid test for me to compare with, since the snow looks very similar to the snow we end up with here in Vancouver, and the same level of road clearing we have. That's very wet snow, which is a completly different story from places that have snow on the ground for months. AI have recieved a speeding ticket in the snow, and that was because my snow tires did inspire too much confidence, and I was focusing more on the road and not paying enough attention to my speed.
One key thing to bear in mind when venturing out in these conditions is that no matter how much grip you have, someone else could still slide into you. As Ashley said, if you don't have to drive in these conditions, don't.
Which is why many countries require everyone to change to winter tyres
@15bit62 Exactly that yes, plus they have a more stringent "minimum tread depth" requirement. Often 3 mm minimum versus the UK at 1.6 mm
@@ibs5080 Yes, 3mm on winter tyres usually. Or more technically - snowflake symbol and 3mm on tyres being driven in these conditions. You can drive your winter tyres in summer down to 1.6mm legally.
Exactly my sentiment. I had the CC tyres and I was stuck on the road because other idiots were going no where with worn summer tyre! Then I saw a work van making on to slushy main road and their tyres are absolutely bald! If they were behind my car they can easily crash into me! At that point I decided to just head back, not worth mingling with other idiots.
They don’t even need to crash into you to be a problem; they can just block roads
I picked up a set of these tyres back in 2022 for my FWD Audi A3 and didn't think much of them until it snowed one day. Had to drive up to Tesco and saw a car in a ditch, two cars struggling to get uphill, and a lorry with its hazard lights on. I was about to call these folks amateurs. But then I came back and had to move the Mrs.'s car, which had standard mid-level summer tyres. I was blown away by the difference. Those tyres I bought were absolutely amazing in the snow!
I wouldn't feel confident on summer tyres nowadays, not after knowing the difference.
A better test would have been for Ashley to drive a car with and without the special tyres around the same route…
I had the perfect test when I had them on my VW Caddy. Going home one evening and another VW Caddy got stuck on a little hill just near my home. He reversed down out of the way and then my Caddy sailed up no problem.
I use Goodyear vector 4 seasons bargain price only 65 quid fitted each. Used to run cross climate on my old car without ABS and the cross climate was amazing.
10:47 just a note when transitioning from a wet/dry surface to snow, your winter tyres wont have full grip at this point. There are 2 ways that winter or all seasons give you better grip. One is by having a softer compound that doesn't harden as much with cold temps, so the rubber stays more malleable for dry and wet driving. But when driving on snow, its actually the snow getting stuck to the tyre and building up that provides the grip. Snow has more traction against snow then rubber does. When you go from a wet section of road onto snow, the tyre doesn't have any build-up on it, so your grip against the snow will be marginally better then summer tyres but wont be working at their full potential until the snow builds up on them again.
Hi Ashley,
Welcome to the club, been using Cross Climate then Cross Climate 2 tyres for years on both my ADI car and my personal car all year; their operating temperature range is fine even in the 'hot' south east.
Fully agree with your warning of nit travelling by car if you don't need to.
Would add a 'hazard awareness' reminder that whilst you have 'all season' tyres fitted it won't prevent other vehicles from sliding into you😮
Happy Driving 😃
Very encouraging results. I'm very choosey about tyres on both my car and mountain bike. It's amazing how many people still don't give enough importance to tyres, especially when it's only contact between you and the road. And, yes, I've noticed how way so decide it's fine to cut corners even more in these conditions.
I have run on both Winter tyres and All Season tyres over a number of years. In my experience snow like you were driving through on the video is better driven on with dedicated Winter tyres rather than All Season tyres. I used to have Continental TS 860 Winter tyres from November through to March and standard Summer tyres the rest of the year. On my journeys in freezing and snowy conditions driving over the Cotswolds from south Wales to Oxfordshire, the Winters saved me from a few incidents. However, during the non- snowy weather, which is more what we get in the south, I found the steering and stopping grip quite bad. Having learned of the Michelin Crossclimate 2, I changed to just having them on all year round and it’s been a game changer. No more booking into the garage to have them changed twice a year and totally acceptable grip in any weather, as long as you do slow for snowy and icy conditions. As you said, they move the boundaries but you can’t change physics. I’m glad you like them too.
Yeah, for the kind of weather we get in western Europe, the few days of snow and unpredictable weather, are in my opinion not worth dedicated winters. Can have a day or two of snow followed by a 5c+ dry sunny day.
All season compounds have rapidly evolved in recent years. The Michelin Cross Climate 2 set in the video can closely match many winter tyres in these conditions when it comes to traction and breaking, simply because it's more of a mixed condition (moderately cold, mix or wet and snow) not truly winter (deep cold, purely snow and ice). Every other manufacturers update the compounds, tread designs. Tyre Reviews is an excellent source, and good entertainment too. There is not much point to winters in the UK, all seasons should be promoted as standard. But lack of understanding of tyres means without legislation it will never happen.
when I was young, I ran summer and winters tires. now that I'm older, I run high quality snow rated all season tires - in a climate very similar to the UK.
It's always worth mentioning when driving in conditions like this to allow the engine to heat up so that the automatic choke is off. If driving up a snowy slope, particularly in a reasonably powerful car with the auto choke still on, it may well over rev giving wheel spin even without the accelerator being pressed. I struggled to get up a hill a few years ago purely because I had no control over how much my engine was over revving due to the choke still being on.
The main hazard in such conditions is not you controlling your car, but all the people on summer tires.
For the occasional clearing of snow the jacket sleeve is more than good enough, unless you wear suede or some sponge material.
Back home in the north of Norway people keep a brush/scraper in the car, and the procedure is: start the car, turn to full heat and defrost setting, get out and brush/scrape ice. Take your time, the car is warming up. Remember to clear the lights and license plates, to avoid undesired attention from the police.
Kick the front tire, to clear snow from your shoes. Drove off and as Ashley did, do a grip test. Brake hard, and accelerate hard to get an idea of how much grip you have. Keep checking during the ride (when safe!).
But even with all my winter driving experience, when it snows here in Brussels I prefere to keep the car parked. (see the first sentence)
I still can't believe it's legal in Britain to drive with summer tyres in this weather. In Norway there are heavy fines and possible prison sentences for not using winter or spiked tyres during the winter time.
In Germany you must use winter tyres from November to March.
The prison sentence would only be if you caused a major accident i think. Mostly it's a painful fine and possibly points on your license. And in the event of an accident probably license suspension and the insurance company refusing to pay fully for the damage to your car.
@@15bit62 I concur 😊
On average we see 2/3 days of “snow” a year, bit different to Norway
But in the cold conditions icy roads they do make a difference winter tires
Same in Denmark - no requirement for winter tyres. No mountains and maybe snow a few times a year.
But most people do change over once temp drop down around 5-10 degr C, or use all-season tyres
Though they are talking about changing the rules once in a while.
We use the commercial vehicle Agilis CrossClimate (as opposed to the passenger car CrossClimate 2) on our fleet of taxis all year round (even on the smaller cars, as well as the minibuses). Not only do they perform better in the snow/ice/wet than the CrossClimate 2, but because of the increased load rating and ply count they're also more pothole/curbing and puncture resistant. We operate in a rural area which can be badly affected by snow and ice (and also crater-like potholes) so they've been a godsend! We haven't had a single puncture or blowout since we transitioned to them a few years ago. They do have more road noise at motorway speeds however.
When I first got a set of, not full winter, but all season tyres they happened to arrive on the day the snow came down. Drove in on summers and back with the all seasons so it was a chance to directly compare them. In general on summers you had to tippy-toe along to avoid breaking traction, while on the all seasons you had to make a deliberate effort to make them slip.
The main difference with all season tyres, including cross climates vs a summer tyre is the cold weather performance, not just the 'snow' performance.
The CrossClimates will perform far better than the majority of summer tyres in temperatures below 10c and especially below 5c. This will be better performance in the dry and wet - the rubber stays more compliant at the lower temperatures and will give you more grip both in braking and cornering performance.
So they're not just for snow, at low temperatures they are a far better tyre to have all round vs any summer tyre.
1000% right 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Finally someone who knows what they are talking about
They're just great tyres. Perfect for the UK in my opinion as they're still great in the rain but can also deal with some occasional winter snow and ice that we get. We don't really get enough snow to justify winter tyres so these are the next best alternative. I just wish they did these in my tyre size!
Thank you for highlighting the cornering at 10:32. I have witnessed drivers come from a clear gritted road into an ungritted sideroad and knocking the front wheel hard off the kerb. Always look at the road you are turning into and not assuming it is like the road you are turning off
Also watch out for dual carriageways that are 70mph and clear but then the exits can be rural untreated roads. Bit of a shock sometimes to feel the car go straight with the wheels pointing left!
Here in Finland, winter tyres are mandatory when the weather conditions demand them, which is effectively for several months of the year. Your "cross-climate" tyres would be classified here as a "friction tyre" which meets the legal definition of a winter tyre and would be suitable for part of the season. Most people here, however, fit tyres with ice studs in them for the winter, since ice of various kinds is a major hazard on some days, especially during the spring thaw. It's not rare to see roads that are literally a sheet of glare ice from one side to the other, and you won't get anywhere on friction tyres.
Since it's the middle of winter, I've had my winter tyres on my bicycle for some time now. They have ice studs - without them, I wouldn't be able to ride with any kind of confidence in freezing conditions unless the road was completely dry. I still have to watch out for ice ruts, since this type of tyre can't easily climb out of them in the parallel direction. In winter, I also try to avoid the edge camber of the road, especially in particular areas where there's more camber than usual. But with these, I can get to the shops and back - a 24km round trip - and usually not fall over in the process.
I used the Nokian version of this cross climates type of tyre and they fit the kind of winters here. If we had a climate like in Finland no doubt studied tyres are a must. Having family the other side of your border, yes the closed one, they use the same as you and traffic moves normally. Only the insane would have only summer tyres. The cross climates are a compromise that few even bother with here hence this posting. Get some snow and the traffic stops here so even if you had studded Nokian tyres, in any sort of busy traffic you would be stuck with everyone else because pretty much everyone is on summer tyres.
Recently retyred after over fifty years in tyre trade.
The majority of my customers just want the cheapest tyres, always refreshing when a customer, like yourself, asked my opinion on what would be the best fitment for them.
With social media and internet in general a few would turn up that thought they knew better, but that’s life.
With adverse road conditions, like recent snow fall, many cars that end up in ditches are shod with the budget tyres, they got what they payed for.
My car, Toyota RAV4 is fitted with cross climates. My good lady’s sporty car not, she uses mine in adverse weather.
Good video, maybe a few viewers will follow your advice.
Many years ago i changed both tyres on my sportsbike at the same time and made a passing comment about all the tyres available being quite expensive. He looked me in the eye and asked "Would you really want to put cheap tyres on this?". Which i felt was a very good point.
I’ve always found it strange that people skimp on tyres, it’s the only part of the car actually in contact with the road. It must have been very frustrating for you.
Cheap tyres ain't always the best value later down the line
retyred 😁
@ seemed an appropriate spelling for me👍
Nothing to do with tyres, but ...
What a faff to adjust your heating. I just turn a knob. All that looking at the screen, selecting the right menu and so on is positively unsafe if you need to do it while driving. In my car, I don't need to take my eyes off the road for a second.
You can use voice control.
@@ashley_neal To bring it even closer to using a mobile phone... Thinking about what you're saying and about speaking clear enough for it to pick it up correctly, then reading the screen like a text message to ensure it heard you correctly.
Even if that isn't the case for you, and you're able to just let it screw up and then find a safe place to stop while it does whatever it does in the meantime, you should know what the average driver is like, and the half that are worse than them.
As someone who used to have winter tyres (as we drove in Germany where they're law in winter months) and switched between summer/winter depending on the season, I can vouch that winter tyres are the bees knees in snow. As I don't drive much anymore, I have all seasons and they're perfect. Give me lots of confidence in the snow and can't see me switching away from them.
Ordered mine yesterday so thank you for validating my choice!
Chose a "Higher gear" is just something they say to help new drivers, as long as you drive like there is an egg under the pedals you should be fine if you have decent tyres.
The larger tread doesn't just help with snow it is also excellent at preventing aquaplaning and increases grip in muddy conditions as well. There is a reason we do 3mm minimum tread depth in Sweden during the winter.
I worked a season as a transfer driver in the french alps and was amazed by winter tyres. I always now have cross climate tyres in the uk . They arent full winter tyres but for the uk I think they are perfect. I do feel like they become softer in the summer though.
I’m surprised that manufacturers don’t fit these as factory fit especially for the UK climate.
manufacturers dont care about putting expensive tyres on a vehicle, they put an average tyre on it, that they have a deal with a tyre manufacturer to supply to all new cars, to save money. only if you ask for a certain type of tyre to be fitted as new do they change the tyres before the sale. i bought a new motorbike in 2021, usually in the past i got 5k to 6k miles out of the rear tyre, by 3500 miles the Dunlops on the bike as standard was done and reading reviews they were the worst tyre for that motorbike, advice was to have Bridgestone or Michelin tyres fitted before picking the bike up.
I watched a review of the Subaru Crosstrek from a year or so ago and the guy said it came with the CrossClimate2 as standard, I’m assuming that’s still the case.
It’s strange that other cars don’t, especially AWD vehicles. They could add the additional cost to the price of the car and I doubt people would even notice.
Had CrossClimate 2 tyres on my Mini for a couple of years now up here in Scotland, been very pleased with them.
I put these on a Punto and was amazed, felt I could go anywhere in winter, whilst driving carefully and could feel increased grip all year. I had them fitted all round on a Mercedes C class afterwards, not the cheapest but a sound investment for the extra money. One thing to remember is change the spare at the same time, a tyre specialist told me that with their unique tread pattern and compound, had to be same both sides of car front or rear. Also no tyres deal with ice so careful defensive driving is needed as always.
That's not strictly true about ice. You can get grip on ice with metal studs, but they are basically illegal outside Scandinavia. The Nordic spec studless winter tyres also give a surprising amount of grip on ice. For sure not a lot in absolute terms, but probably 10-20x what you get with summer tyres, which enough to maintain control and stop at sensible speeds.
I’ve got the same tyres on my Subaru and I’m also completely blown away with how they perform in this weather (I’m in Leeds). I’ve tried to get the car to break traction on an icy road and it just won’t, it’s unbelievable.
@@emdentec Curious to ask which model of Subaru you have? Outback, Forester or XV for example? I think they are great cars and I'm very surprised how few Subaru's one sees on UK roads. In Washington State USA for example, it's almost as though every other car is a Subaru Outback. How's the Subaru dealership network here in the UK?
Something to remember though is all-seasons are not ice tyres, though they do better than summer tyres on ice, on proper ice even proper winter tyres will struggle.
I've mixed feelings with my CrossClimate 2s - on regular passenger cars pretty decent in normal conditions but on heavier vehicles especially bigger SUVs and pickups they are a bit soft, can struggle with torque, a slight tendency to tramlining and can be vague with rapid direction changes i.e. if you turn off a road left and then immediately want to take a right turn they can be vague turning into the right.
for the amount of times i drive in the snow in central scotland over the years, its rare and i get by with summer tyres so not thought it worth the investment in other wheels and winter tyres. i drive a van, got a shovel and brush in the back, on the few occasions i have lost grip and just spun the tyres i dug myself out and carried on. i am confident in my abilities to drive in the snow but also not overconfident.
i always find tyres such an unknown, its difficult to look at a tread pattern and know it will do what you want from it. tyres these days are so much better than years gone by that even a good quality summer tyre will get you through rare snow in winter. just buy good quality tyres to what you can afford in the first place and that helps a lot. and if possible get some lessons and experience in the snow.
These are Cross Climate tyres for all year round use, not dedicated winter tyres. They provide everything you would expect from a quality summer tyre while also being rated for snow and winter conditions. No need to be changing tyres seasonally.
@seanbranagh its still a compromise, a summer tyre will have better grip in the dry and possibly the wet while winter tyres are dedicated to colder temps. Cross climate will be in the middle and not provide everything expected from a summer tyre, they will likely be less fuel efficient than summer tyres because the tread pattern is designed for grip in all weathers, likely produce more road noise too. Probably more expensive than summer tyres too as more research and development gone into them to make it work.
I find going for the middle option is the biggest compromise when it comes to vehicles.
@@douglasreid699 My car came fitted with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 which are a premium summer tyre. Do I notice any difference in summer performance for normal driving I do? No.
Would I notice a difference if I was driving aggressively in summer or on a track? Probably.
However, I would hazard a guess and say that the Cross Climate 2 likely perform much better in summer than any mid-range or budget summer tyres.
Ashley himself has said in this video that for the normal driving he does he does not notice a difference in normal conditions. I assume he would have mentioned fuel efficiency and noise if he had noticed it.
In terms of that, I drive an EV so I would definitely have noticed if there was any significant problem with either noise or efficiency. I haven't.
These are obviously premium tyres but in the case of my car at least, they are the same price as the premium summer tyres the car came fitted with.
After well over 30k miles I have not found a downside. I definitely cannot see a compromise for normal driving.
If you look through the other comments here from those who have Cross Climate 2 you will see the same positive results.
@@douglasreid699 'still a compromise' *when compared to dedicated winter and dedicated summer tyre also from Michelin. There are plenty of dedicated winter and summer tyres that are perfectly legal to fit to your car that the Cross Climate will out perform in the conditions those were more specifically designed for. Yes, those will be cheaper, some considerably so, but they're not outlawed for being too dangerous either, but the Cross Climates will get you out of more potential situations all year round than they (as a complimentary pair of sets) will.
I'd recommend watching a channel 'tire reviews'. They have tested All Seasons against full winters and full summers and the differences aren't as significant as sentences like 'biggest compromise' will lead a lot of people to think. Basically you'll only experience the 'compromised' nature if you're driving at the limits of the tyres frequently, which noone should be doing on the road, and, as mentioned already, they still outperform many non-premium brands of dedicated tyres by a greater degree than they fall behind the dedicated premium tyres when it counts. If you still feel that sort of difference matters, then I still recommend 'tire reviews'. They break down testing in such a way that splits hairs between the best winter and summer tyres, so you can be informed in choosing the absolute best set of tyres available on the market.
@markwright3161 fair enough, but i drive a van and ride a motorbike, so standard car tyres wont work for me, i need van tyres. And since 2009, i have been stuck (to the point i have needed to clear snow to move) 3 times maybe while owning 4 different vans over the years.
And i dont buy the best tyre, i buy a reasonably priced good quality tyre. So i am basing my opinion on my experience.
For the last 10 years with my different ford transits, its cost me between £85 to £120 per tyre for the same type of make of tyre as the price for it has gone up over the years, i can get 18k to 21k miles, possibly more, out the tyre.
Looking online vs the tyre garage i use, i get a decent discount from the garage, they are usually £10 cheaper than any other garage, and certainly cheaper than online.
I would expect to be less than £130 this year per tyre for what i usually buy. The Michelin Agilis Crossclimate tyres, cheapest online price i see is £190 per tyre. At least £60 more, times 4 tyres, so that would be £240 more than i usually pay for a not noticeable difference for my skill of driving.
Sure, cross climate tyres will suit some people who cant store tyres and are not into changing their tyres and vehicle maintenance, but for me they are compromised, more expensive for same benifits, and possibly live on the hype about them too.
I have 2 sets of wheels for both my motorhome and car. Summer tyres and winter tyres. Full winters rather than cross climate though. Amazing difference. Been to the Alps and Norway in the winter with these tyres. One thing I always hear is that we only get a couple of days snow so it's not worth it but winter tyres are better when wet and below 7C which we get a lot in a UK winter.
That old saying largely depends on the tyre itself. Modern tyres see a bit of shift in market segment and performance. With the four seasons growing in popularity, the dedicated winter tyres gain even more bias towards the below freezing temperatures and snowy/icy conditions. On cold & wet roads a premium 4S will outperform a full fledged winter tyre. In fact a nordic winter tyre performs rather poorly at 7°C. Modern winter tyres, nordic winter tyres work best below freezing temperatures. Above zero degrees we have better options nowadays. For mild climates like the southern parts of UK it's gonna be a set of summer and four season really, instead of summer and winter. Or just leave on the 4S all year around. Summer tyres take over in performance above 15°C compared to the ones like the Cross Climate 2. With this being said the new guideline is: Summer tyres outperform everything at >15°C. 4S will outperform the summer and winter tyres in the transition weather at 0-15°C on wet roads. Winter tyres take over at below 0°C. Of course the temperatures are not hard limits, there's always a decline in the performance/temperature graph once you pass these points.
@Teasuti I agree with most of that. I don't have Nordic winter tyres . I have Michelin and Continental European winter tyres. I agree that 4s and summer are probably best for the UK and that 4s are catching up fast. I don't agree that winter tyres perform poorly at 7c , the opposite is true. Although I have european rather than Nordic.
I live near Aberdeen, our winters can be very cold even without snow, so I have a set of winter wheels for both our cars with proper winter tyres. ❄️❄️❄️
Hands up if you want a ride in Ashley’s focus on a snowy day.
I have them on my Audi A4 and they are outstanding in snow. The only thing reigning in their performance is the automatic gearbox. Manual transmission is far better in snow.
Been using them for a few years, excellent for the few days of snow a year and good for all the other types of weather.
Testing for grip (safely) at the start of a journey is really important, it's something I do often when it's cold and/or damp. Better find out there's an issue at 5mph and not at 70mph on the motorway.
Starting off in 2nd gear and being in the highest gear possible is helpful in these conditions.
At around 9:10 & again at 12:51, since here in the UK most junctions are controlled via a Give Way, you are legally allowed to emerge from a side street whilst still rolling, as Ashley did. In Canada and USA those types of junctions (intersections) are virtually always controlled via a Stop sign. Which means you can't legally keep moving (as Ashley legally did at this UK junction). Even in snow, going uphill and with no visible traffic on the main road, legally in North America, you'd still have to come to a complete stop...and try to get going again.
Haha that's madness! So you could potentially be forced to create greater risk by rolling/sliding back down a hill at an intersection? 🤯
@Jack-c2d8w Welcome To North American Stop sign intersections!
In northern Germany, in heavy snow, people would ignore red traffic lights (and others expected it) if it kept the traffic from getting stuck. This was 40 years ago, so things may have changed.
@@PedroConejo1939 Interesting to hear. I lived in Germany from 1988 to 93 before immigrating to Canada. I don't recall that practice, though I totally believe you. I was in south west Germany in the state of Baden-Wuerttenburg so maybe this was a regional thing in the North
@@ibs5080 This was Flensburg in 81/82. It wasn't every junction, all the time, but on those on a hill where pulling off would be difficult to impossible. Also, despite the pavements being cleared. (by law), pedestrians on the hill - this was Angelburger Str, where I lived - would just get behind the cars and give them a shove up the hill. All very co-operative.
I used to drive up the A9 to the north of Scotland every weekend for 2 years in a FWD saloon fitted with Continental WinterContacts. Some extreme conditions and never struggled once, plenty of stuck 4x4's.
I agree with your over confidence comment. I've been using Continental winter tyres for years and they are so good in these conditions I do have to remind myself at times that I'm actually driving on snow!
I might try these cross climates the next time i have to replace my winter tyres - to avoid the slight inconvenience of changing my wheels over twice a year.
One thing I like about my 2009 Ford Focus is the fact that it DOESN'T have such a large screen!
What do you do then? Stick your phone onto the windscreen and squint at it like most people do? Oh wait, you don't like screens. You use a paper map?
@khalidacosta7133 After market sat nav using a friction pad, mounted high up on the dashboard. Phone mounted in the vent and used as a GPS speedometer for when I'm not using my sat nav.
@khalidacosta7133 why do you seem so offended that he doesn't like big screens? 😂
@@SimplySpooky24 I'm offended by people who are offended by something they already have. Case in point here... OP literally shoved a big screen on there....
@@khalidacosta7133 A screen with a singular purpose, a GPS that's only a GPS. It's not a radio, heater controls, etc, as well, all crammed in submenus. It will always show the map when they want to look at the map. It won't remove or cover the map because you need to change the menu to turn up the volume of a weather report on the radio or turn on the demister or change the temperature of the cabin. If they want to change the temp, turn on a demister, or adjust the volume, there's something tactile to twiddle without taking their eyes off the road.
I've run Cross Climates virtually since they came out, and in winter in northern Europe they are the ticket*. As others say, we can often go between snow and warm rapidly, and we can have many days where the road surface temperature is at freezing or close to it, when summer tyre compounds are not working, and all season tyres do a great job (within limits) deling with that shifting temperature band.
*If you go into Europe many countries require at this time of year an M+S marking on the tyre - you can chance it, but if you block a road and the Police come and see see you're on summer tyres you'll be getting a fine. The M+S standard is from the 70's and is now superseded by the harder to achieve Three Peak Mountain Snowflake, and that is the standard to look for on new tyres.
It's all about smooth steady consistence of speed and movement in those conditions.
also, keep in mind, in slushy snow, you have the potential of hydroplaning (metric = aquaplaning) on the wet slush.
I use Michelin Primacy 4 tires all around, and they’re great, even in the snow. I did hit a patch of black ice and lost a bit of grip, but nothing major. Rule #1: never cheap out on tires-they could save your life. While these are technically summer tires and not designed specifically for this kind of weather, they’ve held up surprisingly well considering their intended purpose
might have a look at the CrossClimate when they need replacing
I went from Primacy to CC2s and I’ve never looked back
Can’t say they are any better in the summer, nor are they worse, but the confidence they give in winter, even just in low temperatures is second to none.
I hope you get them next !!
Had to replace the tires that came with my car recently and decided to get Continental AllSeasonContact 2. Glad I chose those, over standard tires, with this recent snow & ice we've had. Grip is much better in the wet, and while I didn't test the old tires in icy or snowy conditions, I can say these tires have performed great.
Had crossclimates on my cars for the last 6 or so years. Seriously impressed by them.
Haven’t noticed that much poor performance in summer conditions, but I don’t usually drive that aggressively.
I've had cross climates on my VW passat 4motion (240bhp) for a few years now. I cannot fault them. So good all round in any weather. When I first had them fitted it snowed a few weeks later so I was off out to see what they could do. I found some snow covered lanes with no ruts and I was so impressed, fully in control and very predictable although you have to realise confidence has to to controlled because there is a limit and I didn't want to find it! I tried a hill start, no sliping. Absolutly the right choice as very little price difference to other premium tyres and the added bonus of higher mileage from them.
I have a full set on order and will have them fitted as soon as I can get to the garage, snowed in all week. They will be very useful in the Cambrian Mountains if I'm caught out. I never drive in the snow up here as it's too dangerous on steep inclines and single-track roads. But, if I'm caught out by snow coming early, I will be better prepared to get home.
When I had a company car I used full winter tyres, these were excellent in the cold wet and snow but had more road noise and a speed restriction.
Now, I'm retired, I use budget summer tyres, when it snows I walk.
Only had my cross climates fitted in December so as yet no snow here in my neck of the woods in Kent to check them out. Happy with them in normal and wet weather so far. Notice you passed a number of part view clearers on your trip. The drivers that amaze me are the ones that leave 4" of snow on their roof and then get caught out at a busy junction when it slumps down over the windscreen. Not just the screens. The roof and bonnet please.
Had cooper m/s nearly 15 years ago, while up in Scotland. They were fantastic and totally justified, as we were in the countryside a lot, with heavy snow and then it changing to mush. The snow was heavy in 2010 and the ice stayed around until April. It handled it extremely well. Typical driving conditions for the rest of the year wouldn't justify those m/s tyres, so I think that's where all season tyres come in to play and you have the m/s tyres stored for the rest of the year. It all comes down to where you live and work and what type of roads you use.
I agree with you, some drivers may have too much confidence in cross climate tyres, I have had them for years and I won't go back to ordinary tyres again, a bit more expensive but they really do hold the road in all conditions, and I don't know why manufacturers don't give you them as an optional extra, from Scotland so we do need them a little bit more up here.
I've had Cross Climate1/2 SUVs on my 2008 CR-V for 5 years and they are brilliant, live on a hilltop that often gets snow even when the nearest town is clear and they make such a difference to the ones that were on it when I got it
I was torn between the Bridgestone Turanza All Season 6 and the Michelin CrossClimate 2's. And I opted for the Bridgestone as there was a black friday deal, but not had any snow where I am.
I bought a 2nd hand car and the tyres were all cheap brand summer tyres!!
This is my first time with premium car tyres and the confidence they give you in the wet is amazing, compared to the garbage that was on the car.
My mantra is - Drive to the conditions, not the capability of the machine you're operating
I've had these tyres for four years now, only get used during winter months on a second set of rims so a fews weeks each year... we'll worth having and they've still go plenty of tread
Glad to see this as I've just ordered a set, for our weather now but mainly because we are driving to Norway in April for Easter. Good to know that they will cope as winter comes to an end in Norway. I'm told that the worst is over then but may still be some snow and ice
Simple tip for driving in snow: you have 3 inputs, steering, braking, and accelerating ... you can usually do 2 at once in good conditions, try to only do one at a time in snow. Always slow down _before_ you need to steer.
I’ve had them on my car for a number of years and they certainly outperform and outlast standard tyres fitted to cars. I’ve personally found no deterioration in the wet performance. In adverse snow conditions they’re great to get you home. As in all adverse weather your only as safe as the other drivers, so caution is paramount.
We're in Canada and have these "tires" (it finally doesn't look weird spelling it like that!). They work great, even in *proper* snow (feet deep) plus when it's solid and packed down (we drive on top of it). Also saves needing to swap between winter and summer wheels twice per year. Crocodile Dundee voice "that ain't snow ..."
@@CaptainCodeman Greetings from a fellow Canuck. I'm British as well as Canadian. Currently in Canterbury UK, other home is Vancouver BC. 🇨🇦
@@ibs5080 Hi, we're similar - I'm originally from Manchester and my wife is from Wales, we're now in Calgary, AB :)
Just bought a set of Michelin Cross Climate 2 a few weeks ago for my new car. I can confirm the performance in the wet and on partially frozen sleet. They are very good in these substandard conditions. And even in the dry they are quite good. They are expensive though..... but worth every penny in my opinion.
Put some on my tesla model 3 just before christmas and very glad I did, have had no troubles driving in the snow and ice, noticed they give a lot less traction in the dry than my summer tyres I had but do their designed job pretty well
I used to do a fair amount of driving, so swapped to a dedicated set of winters from November through to April. These days, I run a set of Crossclimate 2s on my G31 530d and a set of Nexen All Seasons (still triple peak rated) on my 2001 N16 Almera. I had the opportunity to test out the Nexens on the Almera. They made the snow a bit of a non event. I've been running season appropriate tyres for 14 years now, I don't think I could go back to just running summers all year round.
I've been fitting winter/all season tyres for the last 10 years and it just makes cold weather and snow a non-event
Got these tyres on my mk8 fiesta st and im loving them - definitely a marked step from the pilot supersports that it came with for this time of year, when I 1st had the car with those tyres on in snowy conditions it was almost undriveable in certain circumstances, with the cross climate 2’s I’ve yet to get stuck! Very glad I made the decision to get these for the winter months👍
Had some on for about two years, they are the dogs danglies, got to work every day this week, they are good for shifting water as well.
I always use all season tyres. They're the best compromise for the UK's changeable weather.
When I have the storage, I had Conti Winter tyres on a second set of rims, and they were a brilliant tyre for all the winter season, even on ice.
I looked at getting a set of cheap steel wheels (so if I do have a slip and kerb it, I'm not hurting the alloys) and having winter tyres put on them and swapping the wheels over completely in winter, but on further research the winter tyres I was looking at were less effective than the regular summers I had above 7 degrees so I didn't bother as temperatures even in winter weren't really breaching that for most of the time. If winters trend colder and wetter, then I'll definitely look at it again.
The average temperature in the United Kingdom in December is between 2°C and 7°C (36°F and 45°F). Where are you in the uk?
Your Ford Focus ST is so nice and so cool Ashley mate, I love the colour.
I regularly drive to the Alps in winter and for many years had two sets of wheels, one set with winter tyres and one set with "ordinary" tyres. When the Cross Climates (other makes are available - this year I'm trying the Continental version) came out they were a godsend, as having the "Mountain and Snowflake" symbol meant I no longer had to buy winter specific tyres to be legal in much of Europe. I also have an AWD car which helps a lot, but you still have to be careful, especially in icy conditions! The main problem in the UK when we have snow is all the **ties who attempt to go out on their summer tyres (and often RWD - you know who you are!) and then get stuck on the slightest of gradients, blocking the roads for everyone else - for me this is the best reason not to go out unless I have to! In my view it should be a legal requirement to have suitable tyres fitted for winter, as I believe it is in Germany and elsewhere. If you moan about the cost, just think of the potential costs of not having them....
Where I live on the coast of west wales snow is very rare. When it does snow it tests my driving skills, but I think my natural ability keeps me safe. Test the grip, and just do everything softly and early, braking, accelerating, turning. Use the gears to slow, try to keep moving and start in second when possible. It's a LOT harder in barely legal summers. This demonstrates why people in cold countries manage and we don't, but if you know you're guaranteed snow every winter its a no brainer to fit winters or all season.
I have always ensured I had winter tyres on front rather than cross/all weather given the area I am in. We had triple the depth snow in your video on that Sunday. My mileage has reduced quite a lot in recent years so now I just leave the winters on all year rather than swapping them out and as cross climate seem to be the same cost as summer when they’re replaced it will be with cross climate too for a little extra rear grip. I’ve yet to get stuck anywhere (Golf fully electric) but it is about driving to road conditions and still treating the roads as hazardous with these tyres on and not assuming you can drive in reasonable clear weather days.
I've got these on a 2017 520d estate. Not only are they good in the snow they are very hard wearing - great tyres
I've had Cross Climates for years now, two sets of Cross Climates and just fitted new Cross Climates 2s in November. They are great in the snow, which is why I have them. My car needs to get from my driveway, to the main road, and they do it well.
Literally just bought these yesterday and now your video comes up
Literally just got CrossClimate 2s fitted before it snowed and was able to drive around no problem, they're great. Definitely was able to drive up slopes and stop going down slopes where my previous summer tyres wouldn't have had a chance. FWD car
At one point my brother and I had essentially the same spec of Golf. He drove mine with CrossClimate 2s one morning, little dusting of snow, all was good. About an hour later drove the same route with in his car with normal tyres. He could hardly get out of his estate onto the main road. The CrossClimates completely disguised how bad the conditions were.
Great video. Carwow did a video a while ago on an indoor ski slope, and found that a 2 wheel drive car with winter tyres was outperforming a 4 wheel drive in summer tyres, when driving up the slope.
Make a huge difference. Having used all seasons for several years I put mid range summer tyres on a car before selling, then got caught out in cold snap and car was completely useless in a dusting of snow.
Been using these for years on my Yeti 4x4. On my third set now. IMO worth paying the extra for the peace of mind in all conditions.
Why don't more manufacturers fit heated windscreens? In winter they're a huge benefit for most Ford drivers
I have taken my car on skiing trips with all season tyres and generally found them to be fine.
I have used snow chains but they are a faff to put on even in the warm let alone in cold wet dirty snow and you have to get out an remove them again as soon as you reach tarmac.
My current car cannot even take snow chains but I carry a pair of Autosocks. Even before I got this car I used them in preference to the chains as they are so much easier to fit and remove, are much lighter than chains and, although they get dirty, you can put them in the washing machine!
I would be interested to see Ashley trying a pair and see what he thinks.
Just saw this come in. Very interested to now view this, as I have the same tyres, after reading and watching many other tyre reviews. No snow here in Canterbury yet.
I bought a set of winters for the wifes Clio and the difference is astonishing
Stopped my neighbour sweeping the 2-3 inches of soft snow with a soft yard brush off her drive which has a slope .Just creating an ice rink. I said Tyres dig into snow but slide on ice .
I can remember spending a few days in the city of Portland, Oregon USA every Christmas with my very dear Mum. One thing in particular I remember is that I could very easily tell which cars had full winter tyres due to the distinctive rubbery "flap flap" noise on dry asphalt. I've often wondered to what degree the occupants hear the same noise and what the ride quality is like on a dry road surface.
On my Picanto I like to run full winter tyres from December until mid April, on a second set of steel wheels, then I put the summer tyre wheelset on once temperatures become regularly above 7 degrees Celsius. Storing tyres is far easier when they're on wheels full time.
comedy brush head ejection was excellent 👍🏼👍🏼
I've use Vredestain Snowtrac tyres on steels I got to replace wide low profile alloys on my Fiat 500 in that 2011 snow storm, darn thing sat on the snow that light with the wide tyres, going nowhere. Chuckled being able to pass struggling Land Rover and Range Rovers trying to go up the railway bridge where I live once fitted. Always swop them out for the 6 winter months, like abroad. Oh new car design safety issue in my eyes, no longer able to use muscle memory to drop hand onto heater controls, got to look to place finger tip just right on a touch pad for tappy, tappy let's increase the heat...🤔🥺🇬🇧
We have had Michelin Crossclimates on our Honda Civic for several years and they are a great improvement over the original tyres. Better ride, comfort and braking. We live in South Devon so not much snow normally for us, but we did have to tackle it yesterday when detouring around Haldon Hill, Exeter (always seems to close when it snows) and we never felt unsafe.
that looks like the optimal snowfall: enough to look nice, but not so much that it doesn't readily clear away on the roads. though your highways workers seem to be a bit behind on their duties.
and yes, on snow, upshift early, and downshift late, to reduce engine torque on the tires.
I’ve got set of wheels with winter tyres i go out drifting every time it snows, obviously not round residential areas. It’s amazing that some people just run their cars in summer tyres and get stuck everywhere. Sometimes I take the AWD out and tow people out of situations just because it’s fun.
Ashley, if you like the CC2's you should come up here to the nordics and try full fat extreme winter tyres 😁
There is a reason that winter tyres are mandated by law up here, and they really enforce it too. If you get caught with summer tyres in conditions like this then you are looking at a 4-500 quid fine and possibly points on your license. If you have an accident because of them then your are for sure in deep poo : You could lose your license, and the insurance company will likely refuse to pay out fully.
I've had these on my fiesta for about 3yrs now, brilliant tyres in the winter.
Oh the joys of having a pre heater that you can turn on and heat the coolant before starting the car. Also the joys of home delivery. Somewhere on the internet there is a picture of a Rover 75 towing a caravan in heavy snow. Yes I think some drivers will driver faster if the have confidence in their car. Totally agree, do a grip test. I used to ride a motorbike in the snow and ice. This is when good tyres show how good they are.
Good video on how well your tyres work
This is the first year that I have used the Michelin Cross Climates and my reactions are similar to yours however the tyre I have is a higher 60 profile with a curved V-shaped tread, yes I have lost a bit of traction with over exuberant right pedal but have had no issues stopping so no ABS has activated so far.
I live in broadstairs Kent and brought Michelin cross climate 2’s and still waiting for snow last few days have been sunshine absolutely gutted !
From my experience, the main compromise with all season/winter tyres is that they are not great at clearing standing water. Simply put, the most efficient tread pattern to do this are wide longitudinal grooves found in summer tyres, as opposed to the transverse grooves with sipes that you will find in all season/winter tyres. But by adjusting your driving style accordingly, they are still the best year-round option in my opinion.
yeah all season tyres are a amazing in snow and icy conditions compared to normal summer tyres , we run Bridgestone Duravis All Season on the delivery vans at work all year round
Great video Ashley. For a second at 1:00 I wrongly thought you were bashing the brush against the car lol! Another thing worth investing in for these conditions (see 1:43) - fingerless gloves?! :D
Not had the need to go out in snow yet, but my CrossClimates (1) have done sterling work in the rain for the last 6 years and were very impressive on 'crunchy' ice (refrozen packed ex-snow) in a school car park I visited a couple winters ago (but I only have 59bhp to play with!). Recommended by someone with experience of driving in north American winters. No need to go as far as separate summer and winter tyres where I am now in the northwest UK, but I've seen the consequences of people driving like it's still summer when the first blizzard hits too many times to trust summer tyres year-round in places where it gets below freezing. These have been an excellent compromise, and will most likely get the Mk2s when it's time for replacement.
I have the same tyres, we are in Scotland right now. the amount of drivers who don't clean off their cars is ridiculous, nearly had a bump because I didn't see them indicating
In general, a standard summer and all-season (not winter or 4-season tire) has a plastic temperature of 6-7C. The plastic temperature is the point at which the rubber compound becomes plastic (chemical term) and looses its ability to deform into the road texture. What this means that standard tires begin to loose their grip in the dry/wet below the plastic temperature and braking is reduced, corning safety is reduced.
In the UK this lower plastic temperature of these tires due to the extra silicon in the rubber compound and with snowflake symbol is most important in the UK where we don't actually get much snow/ice.
I have used crossclimate 2 tires for about 8 years.
I've got these tires on my car, so I'm curious (we haven't seen any snow here in Vancouver this year, yet). Thanks for the report.
It's an even more valid test for me to compare with, since the snow looks very similar to the snow we end up with here in Vancouver, and the same level of road clearing we have. That's very wet snow, which is a completly different story from places that have snow on the ground for months.
AI have recieved a speeding ticket in the snow, and that was because my snow tires did inspire too much confidence, and I was focusing more on the road and not paying enough attention to my speed.