Summer tires in winter
01/19/2019
Almost 50 years ago, Auto Motor und Sport tackled a topic in issue 3/1970 that is still the subject of debate today: how good are summer tires in winter?
The surprise at the time was that they performed much better than expected. At least this was evident during the test drives and was also reflected in the final verdict:
"Good summer belted tires are just as suitable for winter use as cross-ply tires with winter tread, although they are clearly superior on snow-free roads. For this reason, summer radial tires can be regarded as all-season tires. On the other hand, winter belted tires with studs are able to meet maximum demands, offering optimum driving performance and safety reserves on winter roads."
However, the results of that time cannot simply be extrapolated to modern times, as there were significantly greater differences between summer and winter tires than there are today. The belted tire was also the superior of the cross-ply tire.
And summer tires were of course nowhere near as wide and low profile as the tires that we put on the rims of modern cars today. And there were obviously far fewer differences between the rubber compounds of the various tires back then.
So could we conclude from the test back then that a classic car fitted with Michelin XAS tires, which are still available to buy in 2019, would be well equipped in winter? Good question, but a modern winter tire would probably be much grippier today ... Although studded tires are only permitted to a very limited extent today (see comment below).
