52%
- Vauxhall Vivaro
- 215/65 R16
- 7,000 miles
- A Combination of Roads
- Easy Going
Bought 4 new MAXXIS Vansmart AL2 All season tires for my 2012 Vivaro and fitted last year. Have done about 7,000 miles since. They work fine in wet / dry conditions during the summer months. However this past week I've used them for the first time in snow and I've been very dissapointed. All season tires are always going to be a bit of a compromise and will never give the same grip and handling in snow and ice that a full winter tire will. However you should expect it to handle mixed / light snow conditions well. In less than 2 inches of snow the van was sliding around if driven above 30mph and when not going straight. Even had a moment when braking from 10mph that the van started sliding sideways - luckily I didn't go into a ditch. This was the first day after the first snowfall of the winter and about 1 inch of compacted snow and 1 inch of fresh powder. I did not feel safe and had no confidence. In slushy conditions the tires would skid from stand still- again not ideal. And forget trying to get any grip going uphill from a standing start- almost got stuck coming out of a parking garage.
I've also noticed that the small groves on the tire tread blocks have started to "squish" together- i.e. the tire has worn down about 1mm since last year but the tread block patterns do not hold their pattern- this might be contributing to the above handling concerns.
All in- this is not remotely a safe tire to use in even light snow / in-between conditions - which is what an All/season tire should do. My van is also empty and running standard wheels so no extra weight or other issues which would change the dynamics of handling. Very dissapointed in these tires and cant reccomend them for anything but summer use- which in that case, you'd be better getting a summer tire!
I've also noticed that the small groves on the tire tread blocks have started to "squish" together- i.e. the tire has worn down about 1mm since last year but the tread block patterns do not hold their pattern- this might be contributing to the above handling concerns.
All in- this is not remotely a safe tire to use in even light snow / in-between conditions - which is what an All/season tire should do. My van is also empty and running standard wheels so no extra weight or other issues which would change the dynamics of handling. Very dissapointed in these tires and cant reccomend them for anything but summer use- which in that case, you'd be better getting a summer tire!