Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkY
Summer tires are going to give you a harder ride with a shorter tread life compared to all season tires. However, performance tires are going to give you better performance handling. Given your location, you can get by with performance tires year-round. So you need to decide if the softer, more isolated ride with all season tires is what you want. Does the dealer have a demo of each you can drive?
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You have the ride thing backwards, summer tires are softer. That's how they grip the road better and is why they also have a better ride. It's also why their soft rubber has a hard time coping with freezing temperatures. All season tires have harder rubber that doesn't change its consistency as much in very cold temperatures, the only benefit of all season tires is their ability to work in the extreme cold. Summer tires are actually better in the rain than all seasons which, I think, makes the naming a little confusing.
Summer performance tires may have harder sidewalls which will hurt the ride quality, but this is a separate issue from the rubber hardness.