Tires - effect of all seasons vs summer

[tedder]

Its about time for new tires and I am debating whether to switch to UHP all seasons but I am worried it will noticeably degrade handling and feel. Has anyone done this?

2008 Cayman base, street only and since (when I used to go to the office before the lockdown) I mostly commute by bike, it regularly saw SoCal pre dawn winter and rainy days driving to work. It does get down to freezing (just) where I am for about 3-4 months of the year.

I would love to try a new pair of Dunlop SP4's but given how its driven was thinking it made more sense to save $300 and get Bridgestone RE 71 all seasons or Eagle Exhilerates instead to better handle the cold mornings and save a couple of hundred dollars.

Suggestions?

[husker boxster]

Tires are a compromise.

Choosing what tire to purchase means possibly giving up something in order to maximize your priority need. Selecting an A/S tire will be best for your "cold" mornings (sorry, I'm in Neb). However, the compromise is you give up some performance. If you do any canyon carving, there will be a perceptible difference in performance between an A/S and HP summer tire. Will the A/S be capable in the canyons? Sure, but just not as good. That compromise may be worth it to you for the 3-4 mo where you need better traction. Just don't expect an A/S tire to perform to the level of a summer tire.

[Cajundaddy]

It depends.

Extreme performance summer tires have monstrous grip on dry pavement and tend to wear out fairly quickly due to soft compounds. They don't like cold weather below 40F and can actually be damaged and delaminate in extreme cold.

Tires I like in this category:
Bridgestone RE71R
Hankook RS-4

A/S tires give up some maximum dry grip for consistent all weather performance and last much longer than Extreme Summer tires. They can still be very responsive in spirited street driving and tend to be good in the wet, but are not well suited for continuous lapping on a race track.

A/S tires I like:
Michelin A/S 3
BFG g-force Comp 2

All of these tires feel great on a Boxster/Cayman so choose the best combination of features to match your driving.

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by tedder

Its about time for new tires and I am debating whether to switch to UHP all seasons but I am worried it will noticeably degrade handling and feel. Has anyone done this?

2008 Cayman base, street only and since (when I used to go to the office before the lockdown) I mostly commute by bike, it regularly saw SoCal pre dawn winter and rainy days driving to work. It does get down to freezing (just) where I am for about 3-4 months of the year.

I would love to try a new pair of Dunlop SP4's but given how its driven was thinking it made more sense to save $300 and get Bridgestone RE 71 all seasons or Eagle Exhilerates instead to better handle the cold mornings and save a couple of hundred dollars.

Suggestions?

The whole time I lived in SoCA I ran Michelin Pilot Super Sports on both my cars.