RE: Continental Cross Contact Winter tyres and the fact that spring has sprung.

Short story: Should I change my (new Panda 4x4) tyres to summer tyres now?

Long story: I'm a big fan of having the right tyres for the job. Its time to swap the i10's wee winter boots for summer ones. For the last 5 years or so I've run my Yaris on A001s which are advertised as all season / 4 season tyres and I highly rate them (I realise they're a compromise but one I think is worthwhile for me). Looking up what's come with my Panda 4x4 (the cross contact winter) they're essentially described as Winter tyres. I know fiat sell them on mud and snow but in reality for me there will be no mud in the equation. So, should I treat them as winter tyres and change them?

I was presuming they were all-season ones but looking into them I'm not sure. I don't want to compromise mine or anyone else's safety on fiat's suggestion that they're good all rounders if they're not and Continental's blurb seems to be selling them mainly as winter tyres rather than all-season.

I wonder what the Pandas get run on in Italy in the summer, that'll likely be far less wintery than Sheffield ever gets.

.... or is it all a big scam to make us buy more tyres and winter ones will do fine in the hot weather with no drop in performance, safety or efficiency.

Any advice appreciated.

Take it easy,
Mick

My Cross has Goodyear Vector all season tyres.

Mud & Snow rated and snowflake certified.

Being all season, they'll stay on all year round

In the fifteen months we've had our 4x4 Panda we haven't changed the M&S tyres and have not heard of any suggestion to do so.

The 500 has been booted with winter tyres since late last year and it will be time to swap them over pretty soon, though currently it's essentially a spare car as it belongs to my daughter who is abroad for some time.

SR, did your Cross (all crosses) come with the Goodyear all-seasons or did you put them on yourself?

TN, thats good you've been happy with the ones that came with the 4x4, I wonder if they're the same as came with mine? My worry is partly wether they'll last a few years in good condition with most of the year in temperatures above what they're designed for.

I suppose what I'm most concerned about is wear (the A001s were fantastic and it sounds like yours are looking ok TN?), braking in the dry (an unknown on any tyre until all hell breaks loose I suppose) and fuel efficiency (presumably less wintery tyres will have less rolling resistance). Volume/noise I couldn't give a monkey's about.

Maybe they're all much of a muchness today in the midlands/north Uk. I'm not 100% convinced though.

Thanks for the thoughts so far,
M

AFAIK, they are standard fit on all Angry Pandas.....

I have the same Cross Contact Winters on my TA 4x4 and have no plans to replace them with summers for the (much hoped for) warmer weather. The Panda is a light car and will be fine on the more winter-focussed tyres, even in the summer.

The Cross's come with Goodyear Vector 4-Seasons (M+S plus Snowflake certified) and I ran those for 30,000 miles (2 sets of tyres in that time, last set still with loads of tread left when I sold it) and they were excellent. Sure in 30C heat on a twisting road you might get a little more scrub, squidge and slide, but nothing a competent driver couldn't take on board.

If we're looking at these types of subtle differences, I can safely say that the 'summer' handling of the 4x4, with its lifted ride height and more supple suspension, has a far bigger detrimental effect on limit behaviour when compared to the normal road Lounge model with its lower reduced roll setup, than any differences in tyre tread or compound.

Just my view, but I plan to leave well alone and enjoy not having the hassle of jumping around between rubber - and anyway, it will probably rain all summer in which case you'll be pleased to have the extra grip that the originals possess regardless

I would recommend to swap, lower noise, better ride and most important beter fuel efficiency, in my case about 0,5l/100k (TA trekking). That last part means they will pay themselves off in about 30k (km), so why not?

I am doing the other way round. I will use my standard M+S tires as summer tires, and Continental Viking as winter tires. All season tires does not cut it in the winter here in Norway.

Thanks for all the input. I think I'll keep them on this year and see how things go. The tread does look very similar to my previous all-seasons (not sure of the rubber composition).

Hasek, the why not boils down to living in a small inner city house with nowhere convenient to store a set of 4 tyres and if they're really all season ones then I'm happy with that. Not sure what your summer temperatures are like in Slovenia. Probably better than ours.

Interesting to get the Norwegian take too. I know your summers can be nicer than ours but your winters a different league.

Take it easy and thanks,
M