4.3 Tyres

September 15, 2019

I was wondering regarding tyres are any people running off road tyres on there RAV4s such as:

I think I’m at least going to run winter or all season tyres all year round as opposed to summer tyres to try and reap the benefits in the winter. I wondered if anyone had any experience with with off road tyres and what the negatives are? Do they provide poor grip on road or affect handling?

I was was looking at the Michelin Cross Climates which apparently are all season tyres, but think if I go down this route I might as well just go for a winter tyre...

whats the general consensus? Appreciate your opinions. Apologies if this something similars been asked before

thanks

September 15, 2019

Winter tyres are crap summer...... all season are better if you don’t want to swap tyres twice a year...

September 16, 2019

Your choice of tyre should really depend on how you intend to use the car. If 80% of your use will be off road then AT tyres might be a good choice. But they won't give particularly good traction in winter - OK on soft snow, pretty useless on ice or wet roads for that matter. While I have never run AT tyres, I understand from those that have that they are noisier and less comfortable than more road oriented tyres when on road.

For most of us, at least 80% of our motoring is on road so an all season, SUV, tyre is probably the best bet - especially now that there is such a wide choice to choose from. Michelin Cross Climates are a good choice and are certified for winter use (they have the 3 peak mountain and snow flake symbol) but there are others (such as the Nokian Weatherproof) that are equally well suited to winter use and have a perhaps more aggressive looking tread pattern if that is what you are looking for ...

I run Cross Climates but other tyres are available as they say!

September 16, 2019

12 hours ago, philip42h said:

Your choice of tyre should really depend on how you intend to use the car. If 80% of your use will be off road then AT tyres might be a good choice. But they won't give particularly good traction in winter - OK on soft snow, pretty useless on ice or wet roads for that matter. While I have never run AT tyres, I understand from those that have that they are noisier and less comfortable than more road oriented tyres when on road.

For most of us, at least 80% of our motoring is on road so an all season, SUV, tyre is probably the best bet - especially now that there is such a wide choice to choose from. Michelin Cross Climates are a good choice and are certified for winter use (they have the 3 peak mountain and snow flake symbol) but there are others (such as the Nokian Weatherproof) that are equally well suited to winter use and have a perhaps more aggressive looking tread pattern if that is what you are looking for ...

I run Cross Climates but other tyres are available as they say!

Thanks that’s really helpful and answers what I wanted to know. Yeah to be honest I just like the aggressive look of the AT tyres, I won’t be going off road all that much so it sounds like they would be a waste of time for me. Think I’m gonna go for the Michelin Cross Climates, they look sweet with the white lettering on the sidewall too imo 👍

September 16, 2019

I run winters all year round (Nexen Winguard SnowG WH2) they are a fairly cheap tyre but do a decent job. I've done 17k mostly motorway miles on them and they have 7mm remaining so wear rate is very good and road noise is low.

If the RAV4 was a sports car I'd rotate summer and winter tyres but it's built with as different purpose. So for ease I have gone with tyres that gives me the best traction in the winter when it's more likely you can come unstuck.