Here we go again....
Tire debates, the best argument around. Let me warm up my typing fingers....
Sorry all.
Summer, Winter, All Season - Tire wear will change on all three of them across manufacturers. Summers never really last that long because they are soft and sticky and made specific for handling. 15k to 20k out of a summer tire is pretty much about what you are going to get, regardless of manufacturer. If you are getting more than that, then it's a summer tire probably in tread design only and has a more traditional all season rubber compound. All Seasons are that, a compromised to allow you to use one tire all year. With that said, they typically have a medium compound that will get great treadwear but have a tread pattern with some additional siping to help grip the few times you should be driving with them in the snow. Ultra High Performance All Seasons, like the Conti DWS lean more towards the summer compound. Winter tires are made clearly for winter and snow, and a built for the cold with a compound that is made to grip better and wear better in the cold. They will wear quickly and handle like crap if you use them in the warmer months. However, in the snow, they are the best you can have since they have a snow gripping compound and siping out the wazoo (technical term) to grip the white stuff.
I've run Michelin Blizzacks and Pirelli Scorpion Winters and both are great winter tires. I tend to like the Pirelli more due to the fact that I found them to be very quiet on a dry road and they also handle exceptionally on dry winter roads for a snow/winter tire. Blizzacks get noisy, especially as they get older.
I found the Pirelli P Zeros to be an good Summer tire, but they do seem to wear faster than I would like even for a summer tire. I've also used and love the Michelin Pilot Sport (in the many variants) for a summer tire. They are super sticky and are quiet as well. Really a great handling tire, but they do wear fairly quickly like most summer tires. I find them more like a treaded track tire you can use on the road.
To me the best all around tire out there and I have had 4 sets of these on 4 different vehicles at this point is the Continental ExtremeContact DWS. I had that tire on a rear drive V8 Infiniti, an AWD Supercharged Audi Q7, a lowered and performance upgraded Honda Accord Coupe and now my F-Pace. I think the DWS is a fantastic 9 to 10 month tire if you are in areas where December, January and February tend to be very cold and have occasional white stuff on the roads. I find they can handle snow if you have an AWD vehicle, but not so much if you are in a rear wheel drive car. Hence while I originally bought them for all season on my Infiniti M45 I ended up getting Blizzacks after running the Conti's one winter season just to make sure I didn't get stuck again. On the Honda, with only front drive, you could get by a little better with them in the now, but the Honda did it's best in the snow with Blizzacks as well. The DWS was ok in the snow with the Audi, but no where near as good as the F-Pace in the now with the Pirelli Scorpion Winters. I cruised through snow in with the FP and Pirelli Winters, the Q7 tended to slip around a bit with the DWS' I don't think the difference had anything to do with the AWD systems. It was clearly the tires.
So I would say that is my 2 Cents, but I think GR would end up countering that comment with that is a lot more than 2 cents worth! Probably more like $5 worth of what may be useless information to most of you. Especially those of you in the southern climates!
