Quote:
Originally Posted by kah
Interesting discussion.
I use ecopia EP150 165/70 R14's as my summer tyres, ContiWinterContact during the winter. I felt a huge difference when we changed to our wintertyres, FE did fall a little, but drivng in snow, or even on a cold wet tarmac, the ContiWinterContact feels much better planted and therefore a lot safer. I would definately recommend having dedicated summertyres and wintertyres over all seasons! People think all season tyres are better in the rain than summer tyres, but that is only true for tyre temperatures under 7 celcius (44F). All season tyres will always be a compromise!
I've been looking at changing my wheelsize, and that, of course, also means changing my tyres. I have some 14" alloys, but as i've later found out, they look light, but are actually not that much lighter than steelies. Therefore i've been looking at some ROTA Slip Streams 15", they are quite cheap compared to anything else on the market with such a low weight, and they look alot more aerodynamic than my current wheels. Going from 14 to 15 would also mean that i can get away with only a small increase in tyre width (165->175), and increase my rolling radius by 3,7%..
I found a great online tool for calculating and comparing different tyre sizes here
Visual Tyre Size Calculator | Kouki Tech |
Here in North America they cancelled the only really fuel efficient summer tire (Ecopia EP100). The good ones are all-season tires. In the EU it appears the most fuel efficient tires (that also do well in wet conditions) are the new Bridgestone Ecopia EP001S and the Continental ContiEcoContact 5 or the ContiPremiumContact 5 if you need more wet traction.
If you live in very cold climates then I agree, choose an appropriate set of winter or snow tires and a set for warmer weather like a summer or all-season tire.