Table of Contents
What Are The Differences Between Summer Tires vs All Season Tires?
Are you in the market for new tires and wondering what the difference is between summer tires vs all season tires? Well, the main difference is that summer tires are designed to be used in the warm summer months while all season tires are designed to be used year-round. Why would you want to put summer tires on your car then?
The main reason is the performance benefits that summer tires provide. Because summer tires don’t need to have a lot of sipes to gain traction on snow and ice they can be designed to provide optimal grip during the summer months.
So then which are better summer tires or all season tires? The answer is it depends on how you plan to use your car. Let me explain.
Summer Tires Grip Ratings
The main benefit of using summer tires on your car luxury SUV is the level of grip provided by summer tires. Summer tires are designed with fewer tread blocks and sipes which allows the tire surface to provide more grip. 
Summer Tires Temperature Ratings
Summer tires are designed to be used in outside temperatures that are warm to hot to provide the best grip possible. Once summer is over and outside temperatures begin to decrease then summer tires should be swapped out for tires that are designed to be used in colder temperatures.
This means that if the outside temperatures dip below 40 degrees F then you should be driving on all season or winter tires. If you live in a climate that never gets below 40 degrees F then you could theoretically use summer tires all year round if you wanted. You may want to hold off on doing this though based on the treadwear ratings that we will talk about next.
Summer Tires Treadwear Ratings
When developing tires there are usually some tradeoffs when it comes to how much grip you can obtain while also maintaining a balance with long-lasting treadwear. Usually, when you make a tire that has more grip you sacrifice how long that tire is going to last. Just ask anyone that has recently purchased a new sports car that came with summer tires that are designed to last 30,000 miles.
Many people are reporting that they don’t last that long, like this article from Edmonds that says that they had to replace their Michelin Pilot Sports on their Corvette Stingray after six months and 13,000 miles. With summer tires the increase in grip usually means a decrease in tread life so keep that in mind.
Who Should Use Summer Tires?
If you have a sports car or a luxury SUV and want to be able to squeeze out the most performance out of your vehicle then you would want to go with summer tires during the summer months. Using all season tires will increase the grip levels of your tires and provide greater traction.
This makes a difference if you own a high powered rear-wheel-drive sports car that can easily break the tires loose. With summer tires your back tires will be less likely to lose traction than if they were all season tires.
All Season Tires
All season tires are designed to be used in all seasons and provide the best balance between grip, treadwear ratings, and performance in adverse conditions. With all season tires, they typically last longer than summer tires and are typically designed to last 30,000-50,0000 miles. 
All season tires should be used by people that don’t plan to push the limits of their vehicle and just want the best longevity from their tires. If you want the best all around performance for your money go with all season tires.
Mounting Summer Tires On A Separate Set of Wheels
I have two sets of tires for my car, one set of summer tires that I put on in the summer months, the other set are all season tires that I put on in the late fall and use throughout the winter months. What I ended up doing was buying a second set of wheels that I mounted my summer tires on. I then bought new all season tires for the wheels that came with the car.
That way I can just swap out the wheels when I am ready to change out my tires based on what season it is. This is the easiest way to use two different types of tires because you can swap out the wheels yourself and you don’t have to mess with having one set of tires removed from your wheels and your other set of tires mounted every year.
Related Questions
What are the Benefits of Having Two Sets of Tires?
Having two sets of tires also allows you to not have to replace your tires as often. You use one set of tires half the year and the other set of tires the other half. This helps break up the mileage between both sets of tires and means that you won’t have to replace your tires as much like you would if you only had one set of all season tires.
How Should Summer Tires Be Stored During the Winter?
According to the below this article on Tirerack, summer tires are not to be stored in temperatures below 20 degrees F. If summer tires are stored in temperatures below 20 degrees F they should be brought up to warmer temperature gradually before use. This also means that you should not inflate summer tires or mount them on wheels if the tread surface colder than freezing.
Most people are not going to be storing their summer tires outside during winter so this should not be that big of a deal to the majority of people that have summer tires. I store my summer tires in my insulated garage during the winter where it never gets below freezing.
Should You Use All Season Tires in the Winter?
I live in the midwest and using all season tires the bare minimum in the winter months. In my area, we get some snow but it’s not excessive. Living in a metropolitan area also helps because snow crews preemptively will put down salt and are quick to remove snow when it does fall.
One downside to snow tires is that they are designed to be used in cold temperatures ranging from below freezing to 40 degrees F. If winter tires are used in warmer temperatures this will increase the wear on the tires.
Another downside to winter tires is the grip level in warmer temperatures. As the temperatures outside rise the level of grip that winter tires will provide will decrease.
However, if you live in an area that gets a lot of snowfall and icy conditions during the winter months you may want to go with dedicated winter or snow tires instead of using all season tires. Winter tires will provide better traction and grip on ice and snow than all season tires.
So are winter or snow tires right for you? If you’d like to learn more about snow tires and the differences between all season tires click that link to check out my other article.
If you were going to go with a set of winter tires I would probably just go with a set of all season tires for the summer months. It doesn’t make sense to me to have winter, summer, and all season tires.
Typically the temperatures between winter and summer do not quickly transition. This means that there is going to be a gap in the spring and fall where temperatures may fluctuate throughout the day and it makes more sense to have an all season tire that can handle that wide temperature range.
Summer Tires Vs All Season Tires – In Conclusion
By now you know the differences between summer tires and all season tires and understand why people may want to use one type of tire over the other. In the debate of summer tires vs all season tires, it really comes down to personal preference and where you live.
If you own a sports car then you may want to go with summer tires to help with grip during the summer months. If you own a commuter car and don’t really plan to push the limits of your tires then you would be better off going with all season tires.