I think we all know winter tires are much better than all season in.
However is a summer tire THAT much better than an AS in the summer?

http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/hl/pilot.htm

That link takes you to canadiandriver.com's review of the pilot a/s tire.
It has an excellent treadwear rating, and the author says the dry handling was good and the wet handling was excellent.
I am thinking about these tires as a replacement for my oem's when they need replacing.
The author also notes that they would not suffice for a winnipeg winter.
So, my idea is to buy the pilot a/s, and still use a winter tire.. With an all season I can afford to wait until the "real" winter comes and not have to put the winter tires on early to avoid being caught in snow with summer tires. This puts extra wear on the snow tire.
From canadiandrivers review I am left with the inpression that I will be satisfied with the summer performance of this tire.
ANy comments?
As well, what do you guys think about snow chains.
They may come in handy as my street does not get plowed, but a few blocks over the street is a bus feeder route that gets plowed. I thought the chains can get me thorugh the bad streets to the plowed ones.
At the least they are another "man thing" I can buy for my self, and counterbalance the useless **** my wife spends money on! :D

 

Depends how you drive, they are commenting about summer performance for a sedan, not for a sports car. RWD = big difference as well IMO. Also the stock RX8 tires are VERY stick so you'll probably notice a difference. But it's up to you.

 

Isnt the Nissan 240 SX a sporty car?

 

No. The 240sx shares the body with the JDM Silvia and Australian 200sx.
Similarities end there.

240sx = 2.4L NA 4cyl = gutless
Silvia/200sx = 2.0L Turbo 4cyl = RX8 humbling performance

 

I was under the impression that AS tires melt and blister under hard driving faster than real summer performance tires? But then if you're not tracking your car I don't see any reason not to switch to AS.... Heard the toyo proxes 4s are good all seasons high performance as well

 

That was my thinking. Yes overall performance is always better with a pure summer tire. A faster computer is "better" but usually only for high end CAD stuff or intense gaming. If all you do is email and surf the web then having the newest, fastest pc is not gonna make a difference.

 

not to mention better treadwear and ride quality as well =)

 

I am trying to choose summer tires for next year now that the winters are on. The 4 I am looking at are:

1) BFgoodrich KDW2 NT 245/40/R18
2) Toyo Proxes T1-S 245/40/R18
3) Toyo Proxes 4 245/40/R18
4) Pirelli PZero Nero M+S 245/40/R18

I am not actively looking at the pilot sport A/S because they are quite a bit more expensive.

Canadian prices seem to be about $100 more per tire for the two summer choices here. I would like to have all season tires to shorten the time I have winter tires on the car (which handle less well).

What I can't figure out is what the performance difference would be between the summer only and the A/S ones, let alone comparing those! And to make matters worse, Toyo is not on Tirerack.com, so there is no testing data there.

I guess all in all I am looking at the "Proxes 4" as the favorite, but I lack real data to help choose. Has anyone tried comparing these tires more directly, rather than just against the Potenza's?