It's our favorite seasonal question: The best compromise tire for the family minivan in New England?

Yes, that's right, it's the time of year where we get new tires for the 2020 Chrysler Voyager..  Mostly due to laziness, but also cost of a whole other set of rims, etc.  I'd like to avoid full on snow tires if possible.  Are there any good all seasons that ride decently/quietly, but can still get up a snowy driveway?    Last minivan I put General Altimaxes on and used those year round.  We're seeing a bit more mileage on the van nowadays, so I'd prefer something that can last a bit longer if possible.

And yes, I know, all seasons means no seasons.  All seasons means equally bad at everything.  I've said the same things too :)  I'm just not up on general use tires so I figured I'd see if there's modern tech that's better than it used to be.

Otherwise, I'll probably grab a set of OEM rims and a set of snows.

Thanks!

edit:  Would a mod mind adding an "e" to "the" in the title?  I accidentally typo'd when I re-typed it to get under the character limit.  Thanks!

Title fixed. 

David S. Wallens said:

Title fixed. 

Thanks mate!  

Any suggestions for dealing all the snow you guys get down in FL?  :)

I have a 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan running 225/65-17s and I'm currently working in NH, so while I haven't had to deal with a ton of snow, I've driven through it quite a few times - often when traveling there or back from my home in PA which I have to do whether I want to drive through snow or not. I rotate tires F to R at every oil change @ ~10K miles. 

I'm on my second set of Goodyear Assurance Weathready tires.  The first set I bought in Sept 2019 lasted over 68K miles and maintained good traction until the end.  If I wasn't heading into winter, I think they could have lasted another few K before really getting into the wear bars.  Traction in snow has been good to better than good for an all season tire. 

Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:

I have a 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan running 225/65-17s and I'm currently working in NH, so while I haven't had to deal with a ton of snow, I've driven through it quite a few times - often when traveling there or back from my home in PA which I have to do whether I want to drive through snow or not. I rotate tires F to R at every oil change @ ~10K miles. 

I'm on my second set of Goodyear Assurance Weathready tires.  The first set I bought in Sept 2019 lasted over 68K miles and maintained good traction until the end.  If I wasn't heading into winter, I think they could have lasted another few K before really getting into the wear bars.  Traction in snow has been good to better than good for an all season tire. 

Awesome, thanks Ian!

WonkoTheSane said:

David S. Wallens said:

Title fixed. 

Thanks mate!  

Any suggestions for dealing all the snow you guys get down in FL?  :)

Move even further south? I grew up in New York, and I remember my dad swapping over to snows. That was just the way it was. 

David S. Wallens said:

Move even further south? I grew up in New York, and I remember my dad swapping over to snows. That was just the way it was. 

In this housing market? :)    We do love our little town up here in CT, and I put snows/summers on the Miata..

It looks like the current crop of weather-rated all seasons is being rated favorably in most categories for general use.  It looks like the General Altimax 365 compares to the Assurance Weatheready, and the General Altimax 65s compare to the Assurance Comfortready.  From the tire rack tests, all of these should hold up better than the older model Altimax Arctics that I did have on.   

In reply to WonkoTheSane :

I generally agree based on my own experiences.  I still run snow tires on my R53, but that's mainly because I run a dedicated summer tire on that car and since I can't garage it in a warm place, I swap the tires so I can store the summer tires in my warmer basement.  While I have no plans to ever drive the MINI in snow, I figure if I'm going to run winter tires on the car, they may as well be snow tires - just in case as that car is my back-up if the minivan goes down for some reason... 

I ran Michelin Defender LTX's on all of our DD's (Rav4, Pilot, Odyssey) and love them. Good initial tread depth, wear well, and are true all-seasons. I was really disappointed they weren't available in the RAV4's size when I had to replace the tires this summer. We're in CT, so we see our share of rain/snow/ice.

Looking at TR there are a good number of choices for all seasons with a severe snow rating. 

Im happy with the Falken Wildpeak A/T trail on my Cherokee, but it might be too aggressive of a look for the Voyager. They are quiet, well behaved, 680 treadwear, and were great in the snow last winter (hockey and season passes at Wachusett, so places to go even when it snows).

My wife's Michigan van runs Michelin Defender T&H tires mostly year round.  We like how quiet they are on the Odyssey and it really handles well.  Decent in the snow and we rode General Altimax RT43's year round before the Michelin's.

I did finally break down and buy her a dedicated set of Michelin Ice tires, or whatever their dedicated snow tire is.  Now, even if it's for 2 months, she insists on the dedicated snow tires on the ol' van.  Game changer on ice & snow covered roads.

My minivan Westfalia runs 215/15 BFG AT KOs, so does my tacoma in 265s. Fantastic tire. My golf runs 2 sets of rims with dedicated 200tw and snows.

We've had Michelin CrossClimate2 tires on our Caravan for a couple years now in Michigan. They're great all seasons and rate favorably to actual snow tires in all aspects but ice traction, which I believe is the sole purview of actual snow tires across the board. Tire Rack and Consumer Reports both rate them highly. 

It's not 2005 anymore, there's a whole category or two of all seasons that are actually good tires and work well across all four seasons of conditions. Michelin crossclimate is arguably the best but there's quite a few comparable options.