The time has finally come to replace the Continental CrossContact M+S All Seasons that came with my MJT 4x4, as tread depth won't get me through the end of summer. As such, I've been trying to keep up with tyre news and reviews for a while now, and I fall into a decidedly unfortunate category of user. I spend all year pootling about in the city, then go on one or two long distance road trips a year where I spend 90 percent of the trip on highways but then push my luck trying to get to a secluded cove or to the clearing in the forest on the other side of a lake. Basically, it's dry on-road driving for 70 percent of the year, 20 percent rain, 5 percent off road (gravel, rock, mud) and 5 percent snow/ice. I've gotten stuck enough to know that I probably can't get by with a regular road tyre, and the missus would probably kick my face if I just amassed a collection of tyres for various uses in the garage.
As for replacements... The CrossContact has been discontinued. The Michelin CrossClimates are getting good reviews as a summer-oriented all season tyre, but I'd probably end up stuck that one time of the year I really need traction and 4x4. The closest compromise I've been able to find is the Michelin Latitude Cross, which is a summer M+S tyre (somewhat oxymoronic) with road bias (apparently designed for 65/35 on/off road use) but that has also been discontinued, so I might not be able to find them. The closest competitors seem to be Goodyear Vector Gen 2 and Nokian Weatherproofs, with Vredestein Quadracs a difficult to find third option. Actually, after checking around, getting my hands on a set of Vectors will also be a problem.
So I pass the question on to you, what would FF do? I'm willing to get a separate set of winter tyres when the time comes if that's the best route to take.
As for replacements... The CrossContact has been discontinued. The Michelin CrossClimates are getting good reviews as a summer-oriented all season tyre, but I'd probably end up stuck that one time of the year I really need traction and 4x4. The closest compromise I've been able to find is the Michelin Latitude Cross, which is a summer M+S tyre (somewhat oxymoronic) with road bias (apparently designed for 65/35 on/off road use) but that has also been discontinued, so I might not be able to find them. The closest competitors seem to be Goodyear Vector Gen 2 and Nokian Weatherproofs, with Vredestein Quadracs a difficult to find third option. Actually, after checking around, getting my hands on a set of Vectors will also be a problem.
So I pass the question on to you, what would FF do? I'm willing to get a separate set of winter tyres when the time comes if that's the best route to take.