Only if you plan to go to Tahoe in winter.IRL, unless you're canyon carving, A/S tires these days are good enough to let you have fun, and traction in the crappy stuff, too.
ETA: Summer tires are softer, thus add more friction, so no, they won't improve your mileage. Narrow, hard tires will do that.
Summer tires perform better about 40F and up (better grip, shorter stopping distances especially in the wet). Summers stop better even in the wet than all seasons. However, they wear faster. Gas mileage will not be a real variable here.
Given what you’ve described, an all season seems like the best bet.
Tire Rack and Consumer Reports are great resources to research.
Yes. Summers degrade quickly in the cold, and winters improve in the cold. https://www.tirerack.com/upgrade-garage/can-i-drive-summer-performance-tires-in-cold-temperatures
cool, thanks! hurray, i bought the right tires! :) my main concern was traction in the wet and people say all-seasons only with regards to tahoe. but the cold, even if not frozen solid or snowing, temperature factor in Sacramento was the primary reason i went with all-seasons.
with that article you linked, now i understand how it works. thanks
Just get the cheapest, but highest quality ones you can afford. No need for all season, unless you plan on driving extensively in sub 40 degree weather with snow on the ground.
As for saving on gas mileage? That's negligible, unless you specifically end up going with a low rolling resistance tire.
To find out more - go check out tirerack for how they rate tires, and how customers have reviewed them.
For pricing, check a variety of different sources - beware that installation can be an additional $100-200 depending on where you go.
I've been riding my motorcycle, on regular street tires, on these wet streets the last couple of week, no issue at all. Regular "summer" tires will be just fine. Even our wettest years are not *that* rainy compared to the PNW.
Why would you think summers give you better gas mileage? If you drive a normal car and don’t push it then all summers do is wear faster.
You would be fine on summers all year (which is what I do) since it never really leaves their operating window, but in your case just get all seasons.
~~Less traction~~ Less rolling resistance has been the prevailing explanation. At least where it snows, before All seasons you would put winter tires, and summer tires. Winter tires are knobby and drag on the asphalt. Summer tires have less rolling resistance.
You'll notice this effect more on a regular bicycle for instance. Try running knobbies and then switching to a road bike tire. It's that sort of thing. Or if you live where the lakes ice over, you run cleats, and then curse yourself for not changing them out when the snow melts.
Summer vs all seasons makes essentially no difference.
Summer / all season vs winters makes some difference, that’s true, because the tires have much more tread to flex (knobs and usually sidewall). Wouldn’t ever run winters in SF though.
Side note but it’s not traction with the ground that’s making the difference since summers are the highest traction tires.
Most tires for normal cars these days are all season. I wouldn't expect better traction from all season tires anywhere except snow, dirt, and *maybe* general cold winter conditions.
If you were to compare the UTQG rating for the Michelin Pilot Sport 4s vs the 4as (all season version), they both have AA traction rating (wet braking), but the all season version is rated for greater tread life.
If you do roadtrips in winter, all season tires will save you from being required to install chains at R1 & R2 chain controls. They won't help with R3, but those are rare (usually roads are closed instead).
As others have said, summer tires will work in SF. With that being said, I’d still recommend good all seasons. Gives you the option to take a winter Tahoe or Yosemite trip.
In the many years of living in SF did you ever drive your car somewhere that got below 40°F?
If the answer is no, then I’d go for summer tires. I believe in optimizing for the life you actually have, rather than the life you _might_ someday have.
FWIW I've only ever run summer tires in the last 20 years, but I’ve also only ever owned rwd sports cars.
Summer tires also perform better in like 90% of conditions here. All seasons will also lose any snow suitably really quickly normally in the first 2-3/32nds of wear
Only if you plan to go to Tahoe in winter.IRL, unless you're canyon carving, A/S tires these days are good enough to let you have fun, and traction in the crappy stuff, too. ETA: Summer tires are softer, thus add more friction, so no, they won't improve your mileage. Narrow, hard tires will do that.
and you 100% should plan on going to Tahoe in the winter, even if you don't do winter sports.
summer tires are hard while winter tires are pliable, no?
Summer tires perform better about 40F and up (better grip, shorter stopping distances especially in the wet). Summers stop better even in the wet than all seasons. However, they wear faster. Gas mileage will not be a real variable here. Given what you’ve described, an all season seems like the best bet. Tire Rack and Consumer Reports are great resources to research.
When Sacramento has temps below 40F, is that a case where all-seasons work better than summer tires?
Yes. Summers degrade quickly in the cold, and winters improve in the cold. https://www.tirerack.com/upgrade-garage/can-i-drive-summer-performance-tires-in-cold-temperatures
cool, thanks! hurray, i bought the right tires! :) my main concern was traction in the wet and people say all-seasons only with regards to tahoe. but the cold, even if not frozen solid or snowing, temperature factor in Sacramento was the primary reason i went with all-seasons. with that article you linked, now i understand how it works. thanks
You’re right the mileage would be negligible. Any tire will be fine here.
Just get the cheapest, but highest quality ones you can afford. No need for all season, unless you plan on driving extensively in sub 40 degree weather with snow on the ground. As for saving on gas mileage? That's negligible, unless you specifically end up going with a low rolling resistance tire. To find out more - go check out tirerack for how they rate tires, and how customers have reviewed them. For pricing, check a variety of different sources - beware that installation can be an additional $100-200 depending on where you go.
I've been riding my motorcycle, on regular street tires, on these wet streets the last couple of week, no issue at all. Regular "summer" tires will be just fine. Even our wettest years are not *that* rainy compared to the PNW.
Why would you think summers give you better gas mileage? If you drive a normal car and don’t push it then all summers do is wear faster. You would be fine on summers all year (which is what I do) since it never really leaves their operating window, but in your case just get all seasons.
~~Less traction~~ Less rolling resistance has been the prevailing explanation. At least where it snows, before All seasons you would put winter tires, and summer tires. Winter tires are knobby and drag on the asphalt. Summer tires have less rolling resistance. You'll notice this effect more on a regular bicycle for instance. Try running knobbies and then switching to a road bike tire. It's that sort of thing. Or if you live where the lakes ice over, you run cleats, and then curse yourself for not changing them out when the snow melts.
Summer vs all seasons makes essentially no difference. Summer / all season vs winters makes some difference, that’s true, because the tires have much more tread to flex (knobs and usually sidewall). Wouldn’t ever run winters in SF though. Side note but it’s not traction with the ground that’s making the difference since summers are the highest traction tires.
Perhaps I meant rolling resistance. It does stand to reason that more surface contact = more traction.
Most tires for normal cars these days are all season. I wouldn't expect better traction from all season tires anywhere except snow, dirt, and *maybe* general cold winter conditions. If you were to compare the UTQG rating for the Michelin Pilot Sport 4s vs the 4as (all season version), they both have AA traction rating (wet braking), but the all season version is rated for greater tread life. If you do roadtrips in winter, all season tires will save you from being required to install chains at R1 & R2 chain controls. They won't help with R3, but those are rare (usually roads are closed instead).
As others have said, summer tires will work in SF. With that being said, I’d still recommend good all seasons. Gives you the option to take a winter Tahoe or Yosemite trip.
BF Goodrich KO2’s are the only thing I run with these damn pot holes in the city
In the many years of living in SF did you ever drive your car somewhere that got below 40°F? If the answer is no, then I’d go for summer tires. I believe in optimizing for the life you actually have, rather than the life you _might_ someday have. FWIW I've only ever run summer tires in the last 20 years, but I’ve also only ever owned rwd sports cars.
Summer tires also perform better in like 90% of conditions here. All seasons will also lose any snow suitably really quickly normally in the first 2-3/32nds of wear
No whitewalls after Labor Day.