I see things similarly. I try and find a good compromise for my application at the point of purchase. Just because product x was good 5 years ago doesn't necessarily mean that its current equivalent is equally competitive. I also usually find that new tyres initially feel softer than the old things I replace
I have just replaced the the really old but lightly used Dunlops for the new Continental SC7s - a brand that I have not so far been much attracted to but the test results for these tyres are too good to ignore, the pricing here is good and the aging PS4S for the fronts aren't even available with a recent manufacturing date. Initial feel is very good. Let's see how I get on with them over longer use, even though I don't think there is a massive difference between good tyres. Any reasonably researched purchase should be fine. They have certainly rejuvenated the car

 

I should also mention that is is winter here at the moment so summer tyres don't perform at their best.

It was 2-3 deg C on the way to work this morning and the rear end of the Aston was spinning the P Zero shod rear wheels after each traffic light stop. The PS4S's seem to cope with winter temperatures a lot better so I don't need to adjust my driving style in the Jag.

 

But, my GOLLY, you owners love to live on the cut-n-slice side of danger!! You all DO realize you're speaking about Summer Performance tires, right? Never desired by the manufacturers to be mounted on a car during Autumn-cool temperatures, much less driven around with them on your car. "Summer" or "Performance" used in the name of the tire automatically mean it's more dangerous than a prolapsed cow on the road.
8 degrees C or 47 degrees F, and you ought to be leaving those famed Michels at home. There are so many makers tires that smack the underoos off of P4S tires in Autumn and cold-dry Winter.

 

Anything below 55F and summer tires can kill you. That's not necessarily AIR temperature either, that includes road surface and tire temperature.

 

I feel you guys are being a bit over cautious
We pretty much always have cold winter spells here and use winter tyres during the colder months - always on the daily drivers and if needed on the others. If the roads are dry but cold (but above 0 deg. C), good summer tyres are much the same as winter tyres. No hassles. The winters should be better in the wet at cold temps. but it isn't really noticable at normal speeds and driving. Absolute grip and braking etc might be worse in an emergency but that is a slight risk you might consider taking for the odd trip, especially if you are not the type to drive on the limits of adhesion all the time.
However, one would have to be insane to go out in the snow and ice on summer tyres, if one already had a car with winter tyres on the drive

 

neilr is a very wholesome and good-minded person.

...He doesn't know us American and Austrailian drivers very well, does he?

 

It was 97F (36C) yesterday, will be 95 today. A week ago the high was 54 and the low was 42F. Two months ago the low was 1C 33F and the high that same day was 88F.
Next week it'll be in the hundreds F. In two months, lows will be near 5C.
Summer tires are only useful around here for about 60 days.

 

But the likely hood is rather remote in practice, just like crossing the road. We all do it. It can kill but most people survive to tell the tale. If it were such a risk, half the drivers in Europe would be involved in accidents by late October every year before they have switched to winters. Doesn't happen though does it? Many don't switch and drive as long as it isn't snowy or icy but when it's very cold. Most of them seem to survive the winters as well. Summer rubber doesn't suddenly turn to granite at low temps and certainly not at 13 deg C. Just as winter rubber isn't great when temperatures are high, they don't turn into jelly though.
The risk is that when the average temps are down in the 7-8 deg C region, the nights could well be icy, under which conditions it would be risky driving with non-winter/all season tyres.
Modern tyres have a fairly wide window where the operate adequately. Summer tyres just can't deal with snow and ice and should not be used in those conditions when you do start taking your life and other's into your own hands, I'll give you that.

 

Hence "can".

 

!!!

Thanks, all of you, today. You are making the end of this thread hilarious for me. A nice wind down to Friday's end.

 

That is precisely my point, the Michelin's don't seem to struggle much in the lower temperatures and we don't have enough cold days to make it worth while running two sets of tyres so, for me, they are a great all year round tyre.

It might be 2-3 deg C for my 5 mile urban drive to work on a winters morning but it is 12-14 deg C coming home. Unless I am trying to make full use of my >600bhp the PS4s's cope very well in those temperatures. Not so much the P Zeros apparently.

 

It's all about driving within the constraints of the prevailing conditions. When I first started to drive there were no tyre regulations in the UK so I often found myself driving on completely bald tyres in wet conditions. Was I killed? I don't believe so. 😉
Richard

 

You're alive?

 

and kicking!

Richard

 

If you tell another person that "I drive all winter on tires that were restricted by the manufacturer to be safe in summer only, and nothing bad has happened to me, so just follow my example and you'll be fine"...you're only certifying that you're one of the lucky dude's who have the "Fosdick Syndrome", or that you've developed a driving style that can easily handle potentially unsound tires.
You're smart, so you KNOW your road is different from his road, that your temperament in a sudden near-miss from a knucklehead driver is different from hers, that you can feel the constraints of your tire's grip--while he doesn't even know what "constraints on grip" is or if it was included in his manufacturer's warranty.
The right tires aren't there for our boring ride home last night, they are in preparation for the bad drive we MAY have a month from now. (for some of us, MAY actually DOES happen next week)
Summer tires in fluctuating cool/cold temps are a no-no. Especially UHP summer tires.

But... humans are that kind of animal that will do what is wrong, and smile.

 

Background: I use winter tyres on both my regular cars in winter because I don't want to get caught out when the weather suddenly changes. Only since a few years back it is now illegal in Germany do use inappropriate tyres when the weather is bad - but not for all of the winter months. So, no I don't believe I'm some kind of driving god but I do agree with the government here that when the weather is OK winter tyres aren't necessary as they aren't really that much better, if at all.

Summer tyres don't become lethally dangerous because it is officially winter! They don't handle very cold temperatures well and more so if it is wet. If you look at controlled test, even approaching 0 deg C, in the dry they still perform very well. In the wet, they are showing weaknesses and clearly they cannot cope with snow and ice. The better option in winter, in general is a winter or all season tyre. However to tell people that they are mad to be out on a normal, dry, not-freezing winters day with summer tyres is definitely over the top.

If the weather is nice, I'll take my cars with summer tyres on even in winter as long as I'm sure the weather or condition (altitude, etc) isn't going to suddenly change while I'm out. I'm not taking any extra risk as there is no difference in performance under those conditions. If not, no way. But to make blanket statements like there have been above is simple ridiculous. People can find out what the various products are capable of and buy and use appropriately. This unscientific scaremongering doesn't help anyone.

It's a shame the OP never came back. He appears to be based in the UK where the typical weather conditions barely warrant winter tyres so this argument is already a bit off target. From his base choice, it was already clear that he was looking for a sporty tyre, had done some homework (the Continental SportContact 7 is new and getting very good reviews) and he had more or less made up his mind about the model to buy. His actual question was are the good brand clearly better than the no-name brands. No one bothered to read his post very accurately and we have ended up arguing about nothing

 

You are generalising. I am talking specifics. I have two daily drivers with a decent amount of horsepower, the one shod with P Zeros is not coping with low temperatures, the one with PS4S's is.

It is also the second set I have had on the car in the 4.5 years I have owned my XKR and they both performed the same so there is nothing particularly special about the set I have.

When I bought the car it had Dunlop Sport Maxx's on it and they weren't much better than the P Zeros. Not all summer tyres are the same!

 

Fear? Scare promotion? Who's talking anything about scare and being afraid of something? You stay off of summer UHP tires in the chilly weather for the same reasons we fit lifeboats on a perfectly sound cruise ship. Not to scare people.

But okay, neilr. You're sort of proving my principle.

 

Summer tyres just doing their thing, last year. We had a fast 1.5 hour run over the alps and the temperature dropped to -5 deg C in places. Note the temperature and speed in the photo.




We had to be careful in some of the shady spots because it was early in the morning so frost was still on the road but all the cars made it in one piece and not a winter tyre or all season tyre in sight.

 

I just (80km ago) replaced all four with Michelin Pilot Sport 5 and couldn't be happier. They're currently running at 40 psi but after another 50km I'll back them off to 33 front and 36 rear. They're great in the wet and very quiet and smooth. they're on 19" wheels. I've had Dunlops and Bridgestone previously, but the Michelins are way out in front!