All-Season vs. Summer Tires: What’s the Difference?
Trying to choose between all-season or summer tires? Consider these differences and our top picks for shoppers.
Unless you drive a sports car or high-performance SUV, chances are very high that your car, SUV, minivan, or truck left the showroom wearing—and still has—all-season or “mud-and-snow” tires. The sidewalls of these tires are embossed with A/S, M+S, M/S, etc. at the discretion of the tire manufacturer. Automakers favor this one-tire-for-all because all-seasons promise to provide an acceptable level of traction, grip, and longevity across the greatest spread in ambient temperatures and road conditions.
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On the other hand, if you drive a dedicated sports car, sport sedan, or performance SUV, then you’ve likely been enjoying the enhanced wet/dry traction and grip afforded by summer tires. Replacing summer tires can cause sticker shock. Do you wonder if switching to less expensive, longer-lasting all-season tires makes sense? Or maybe you’re thinking of replacing your all-seasons with summer tires for a performance upgrade. Let’s look at the main differences, benefits, and liabilities between all-season and summer tires with some specific suggestions.
All-Season Tires
Compared to other tires, the experts at Tire Rack say all-season touring tires deliver a smoother ride, reasonable wet and dry traction, higher winter traction, pleasant drive, and longer tread life. The treads of all-season tires are notable for their blocky construction with narrow sipes, or thin grooves cut into them to grip and expel, well, mud and snow. The dilemma with all-season tires is that most drivers rarely encounter mud or snow, and the features that optimize them for those conditions result in compromises on the dry and wet roads that are much more common. MotorTrend’s own testing has shown that summer tires fitted to the exact same vehicle can both shorten stopping distances and improve cornering grip by 10 to 20 percent compared to all-season tires.
Great All-Season Tires for Most Buyers
If you’re looking for a new set of all-season tires for your vehicle, the following are great options for a wide variety of vehicles.
Continental CrossContact RX
Many new SUVs we’ve tested have been fitted from the factory with Continental CrossContact RX tires. These run-flat tires are often found on vehicles with now-fashionable low-profile tires and large-diameter wheels. We’ve noted during testing that these tires provide adequate traction under emergency braking and limit cornering, often gently howling at those well-defined and modest limits. Tire Rack’s extensive rating system awards these tires an overall "Good" 91 percent rating.
- Warranty: None
- Fitments: 26 sizes for 17-, 19-, 20-, 21-, and 22-inch wheels
Michelin Primacy Tour A/S
Designed for family sedans, coupes, and crossovers, the Michelin Primacy Tour A/S is constructed to enhance ride quality and quietness while providing driving confidence in all seasons, including light snow. Our testing confirmed their quiet and sophisticated demeanor while providing good traction and cornering. Tire Rack’s rating system awards these tires with an overall “Excellent” 94 percent rating.
- Warranty: 45,000–55,000 miles
- Fitments: 50 sizes for 17-, 18-, 19-, 20-, 21-, and 22-inch wheels
- Summer Tires
Compared to all-seasons, summer tires use softer rubber compounds that offer more grip in warm or hot weather. Circumferential grooves in the tread evacuate water from under the tire, improving traction in the rain. They also have a higher “land-to-sea” ratio than all-season tires, meaning there’s more rubber and fewer spaces between the treads. That leads to better contact with the road but also increases the chances of hydroplaning through standing water. Furthermore, summer tires aren’t suitable for winter driving in cold climates, even if there’s no snow on the roads. When temperatures dip into the 40s or lower, a summer performance tire's tread compound changes from a pliable elastic to an inflexible plastic, which dramatically reduces grip—and safety.
Great Summer Tires for Most Buyers
While testing new sport coupes and sedans at MotorTrend, two summer tires we’ve seen over and over again are manufactured by Bridgestone and Pirelli.
Bridgestone Potenza Sport
Bridgestone has been making and refining its Potenza high-performance tires for 45 years. The Potenza Sport is designed for high-performance sports cars, coupes, and sedans and optimized for warm, wet, and dry conditions. It offers impressive wet and dry grip for braking and cornering, and excellent steering response. The downside is that it lets go quickly once you exceed the tires’ grip. Anyone driving hard in an autocross event or on a racetrack may find themselves making frequent midcorner steering corrections to maintain a steady line at the limit. It’s a great choice for anyone who sticks to the street, especially for drivers running an unusual tire size. The Potenza Sport comes in an incredible array of sizes. Tire Rack’s extensive rating system awards these tires an overall "Good" 92 percent rating.
- Warranty: None
- Fitments: 140 sizes for 16-, 17-, 18-, 19-, 20-, 21-, 22- and 23-inch wheels
Pirelli P Zero (PZ4)
Since first launching in 1987, the Pirelli P Zero has grown into an entire family of P Zero tires including all-seasons, track-optimized, EV-optimized, and run-flats. The P Zero PZ4 is the foundation of the entire lineup and the spiritual descendant of the original P Zero. It’s been developed with lessons learned from motorsports and is a factory fitment on many Audi, Lamborghini, and Porsche vehicles, to name a few. The P Zero PZ4 delivers exceptional wet traction, very stable track manners, low road noise, and good comfort on the street, and all this while returning good fuel economy to boot. There are few max-performance run-flat summer tires that are this well rounded. Tire Rack’s rating system awards these tires with an overall “Good” 91 percent rating.
- Warranty: None
- Fitments: 45 sizes for 18-, 19-, 20-, 21-, and 22-inch wheels
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What started as my father’s passion and later my whim as a young adult turned into an unexpectedly fulfilling career. I still have the glossy black and white photos of my proud dad in his rolled-up T-shirt and dungarees standing next to his early ’50s jet-black straight-eight Pontiac, his Jaguar XK120 he bought when he got out of the Navy then sold to go to college, and the Austin Healey 100 they drove to the hospital when Mom gave birth. Growing up in Southern California where car culture was everywhere, my dad was a Road & Track guy, I was a Cycle World reader, and my first car was inherited from my Hot-Rod grandmother; her 1969 AMC Javelin SST with the optional Go Package. That car and later a string of motorcycles saw me through college. In 1995, when I peered across Wilshire Boulevard from a generic office job, I saw the Petersen Publishing sign and a bell rang in my head, “Hey, wouldn’t it be fun to write about cars and motorcycles?” I marched a resume and writing sample across the street and was an editorial assistant at MotorTrend a week later. After a few promotions, company ownerships changes, and bouncing from driving school to driving school, in 2001 I landed in the driver’s seat track testing the vehicles we all write about – about 5,000 so far. Thanks to this career (including a 10-year sojourn at Edmunds), I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world, race in the Baja 1000, be the last person to drive at speed up Pike’s Peak before it was fully paved, drive a Formula 1 car in Barcelona, and test nearly every car, truck, and SUV available for the past 30 years. Since that first potential jaywalking infraction, what a drive it’s been. Thank you, MotorTrend.
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