For driving in the Pacific North West , I’m trying to decide between all - weather or all - season tires for a sedan ? I notice many of the all weather tires come with the mountain + snow designations (M+S) on the sidewall as well and are slightly more aggressive than all season tires … What factors should be considered when comparing all - season vs. all - weather tires (those terms are confusing) ?
All - Season vs. All - Weather Tires ?
- Thread starter ChrisD46
- Start date
Not sure if there is a difference.
There is a difference. If you encounter snow on roads, go all weather. No snow, all season should be satisfactory.
There is a big difference.
All season tires work well in three seasons, but they really don’t work very well in that fourth season of winter. Typically, all season tires perform fairly well in the rain.
All weather tires are designed to work well in winter, though they do not work as well as dedicated snow/winter tires.
Nokian makes a couple of all weather tires that do exactly that. They outperform all seasons in the winter, while still doing reasonably well through spring, summer and fall.
So if the OP thinks they’re going to encounter snow, they should seriously look at all weather tires, or, go for all season tires, and a separate set of dedicated winter tires.
If they’re just driving around the Pacific Northwest and encounter a lot of rain, and don’t go into the mountains, or drive in much snow, then all season tires would be a good choice
Thanks. I am probably too old not to know this!
Comfort is a factor but safety should outweigh comfort. Expect all-weather tires to be a bit louder than a good all-season touring tire. The same all-weather tire will be easier to live with in a Lexus vs a Corolla. @AutoMechanic who's a mechanic at a car dealer said
something about some customers returning the Michelin Cross Climates because of noise.
It’s a new terminology - and the “All season” designation was always a bit specious. Most all seasons don’t do well in snow, so the term “all weather” came out to distinguish those tires that can be driven in summer but still do well in snow.
Patman
Staff member
I have the Nokian Remedy WRG5 all weather tires on my Civic and they performed exceptionally well in the snow that we had here this season (the highest snowfall since 1999) I had Nokian all weathers on my ex wife’s BMW 328i for a few years and they were very good too. The right all weather tires can be about 90% as good as a dedicated winter tire, at least in areas that have well plowed streets (I would want a full winter tire in areas where you would encounter deep snow regularly) For me, living in a condo, all weather tires are perfect because I don’t have the space to store an extra set of wheels. Plus being semi retired I don’t need to drive in the worst weather conditions, I can just stay home until the worst of it is gone.
Just a heads up, (M+S) = mud and snow… not mountain and snow
All the all-weather tires have the 3-peak. That's what makes them all-weather as opposed to all-season 
And yes, you should use all-weather tires if snow/winter performance matters.
And yes, you should use all-weather tires if snow/winter performance matters.
Patman
Staff member
The one thing I like to say about all weather tires is that I think tire technology is evolving to the point where today’s all weather tires might just outperform the pure winter tires from ten years ago, and the technology is still improving.
Yes , my mistake - Mud + Snow is correct !
Find a good TPMSF all season tire with a good tread warranty and you'll be GTG. I've had good luck with the Nokian AW01. They just released the AW02 that is now directional.
I like to run a TPMSF all terrain on my trucks, even though winters are getting milder, we still get snow.
The M+S designation is a joke (IMO). The tires that came on my truck had that and they weren't even good in the rain, let alone a little bit of snow
I ran 2 sets of Altimax RT-43's on my Rav4 and now I have Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady all weathers. The RT-43's did surprisingly well during MN winters but the Goodyears took it a few steps further and I'll probably change them out this fall as they'll have over 60,000 miles on them.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
Moving forward, perhaps. Braking and handling, actually, what really matters, no.
I'm in southern Ontario, and have all-weather Michelin CrossClimate2's on my DD. I like they more then any all-season I've used in the past on this car or other vehicles. Better in the rain, dry, snow, pack and decent on the ice. I used to do tires at a few shops so have been able to try many over the years and like them better over-all then anything I can remember (all-season). I've tried a couple that might have been a little better in a specific instances, but none are made anymore. I do wish I had more experince with other all-weathers, but the CC2s have been great for me and the weather around here...
Patman
Staff member
I have found my Nokians to do very well at braking and handling actually. I would put them on par with the Kumho winter tires that I had on my old 2006 Civic about ten years ago.
