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      01-23-2013, 05:15 AM   #22
oop north
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Drives: Subaru Outback 3.0R
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Lancashire

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My understanding is that the overwhelming majority of cars have summer tyres - all season tyres and winter tyres are very specific descriptions that do not apply to most. My Subaru Outback has all season tyres, a friends Subaru Legacy does not (and they had a lot more slithering than i do in mine). Some Land Rovers have them, some don't. I will accept though that (some?) sports tyres have a particularly useless tread for winter conditions, with almost no lateral cuts/grooves at all. From my memory of looking at tyres over the years (not a major hobby, I hasten to add!), there has been a general trend to reduce the number of lateral grooves, possibly to improve (reduce) rolling resistance in the chase for economy

I'd expect the majority of BMW buyers to be ignorant also of the benefits of winter (or even all season) tyres - but what they do know is that big alloys and sporty tyres look really great, and that is what they are buying, hence the even worse performance in the snow (even in 4wd versions). I don't remember having as much trouble in the snow in any car before the 2001 530d Sport I was using 3 years ago and managed to get around in snow in various Astras and an E30 320i

True all season original fit for the majority isn't likely to happen as the compromise in the summer months is quite noticeable (I happen not to mind that much) - it would need chunky (perhaps not the best word?) tyre treads to become more fashionable, I suspect
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