BTW we can only hope that some day tiremakers will offer all weather tires like the the michelin cross climate to give these vehicles a true whole year solution for vehicles like these. There's really no incentive since they can charge all they want when there is no competition!

 

Nokian lead the charge with their All Weather tires, with three peaks/ snowflake designation. Now there are several manufacturers that have offerings in that market.

Of course they are superior in medium snow and ice conditions, compared to All Season (many call them "No Season" - too many compromises). But the impressive difference is in dry conditions below 50F - they don't give up traction because the rubber gets hard. And because the Peaks/Snowflake designation requires an actual Performance Designation, they are also impressive in wet conditions.

I used to have set of winters and a set of summers - eight wheels and tires, mounted, for each of my vehicles. Almost an entire garage stall of tires on racks. Then I discovered Michelin Sport Alpin (Performance/ Cold) a couple of decades ago, but still kept 8 tires/car because of accelerated wear during hot weather.
Next discovery - the Nokian All Weather offerings. I am now on my fifth set. I have driven them from -40F to +100F. No, they don't wear faster when it's hot. And I use them on Track Days - they are more responsive, brake harder and just work better than the OE All Seasons. Easier to get consistent lap times.

There are several worthwhile competitors. Michelin finally entered this field with the CrossClimate. Now the CrossClimate Plus seems to have moved ahead of Nokian in performance, eclipsing some UHP Summer tires in Tire Racks comparison tests. They look goofy (to my taste), but I'm hoping their limited sizes will expand to fit my car. I may also end up with Vredesteins when my car arrives soon.

 

They do look goofy but the proof is in the pudding. My daughter replaced her mivivan crappy all season with them and the difference is remarkable. Not truly "high performance" cornering feel but rather excellent touring tire. Again, the main deal with these is that rather than mediocre in all respects they are pretty darned good in any condition. From my perspective a revolutionary development.

 

For those of us who think Snowflake/Mountain tires are not performance tires, this YouTube might be of interest. Sorry it's 18 minutes, and it's a bit Pandering, but worth a look if you are tire shopping.

 

Nothing to add to that presentation. In my short expirience with them its all true. Only the real enthusiast would find any fault with them and only in steering sharpness, compared to high performance tires steering they feel a little dull. Its to be expected from something that is almost the polar opposite to a "slick". I would still grade the tire as excellent to superb in all measures. As the michelin guy said its designed for "lexus" not racing.

 

I run Pirelli Winter Scorpion year round on some of my vehicles. A great tire in all seasons.

 

I agree. However if you wear V rated versions they are more responsive.

 

Thats an option but you will find it will kill its snow performance real quick. I had a set on my 550 and after 2 winters the snow performance of the tire disappeared. Note that was without using in summer! I had to buy them again for the 580 because it was essentially the only option in 21 inch. I agree they perform very well on dry. The OEM Contis that come with the 22in for the 580 are very excellent summer rubber.

 

I took delivery of my all black ‘21 GLS 580 in January with the 22” wheels. I took the easy way out and bought a set of the staggered 21” (the ones you can order the car with - twin spoke AMG with night accents) and Pirelli Scorpion Winter.
It looks like there were winter tire and tire/wheel packages offered thru MBUSA Tires thru Dec but I didn’t see options for the 580. I did see an option in the Canada MB TIres promotion but the wheels were very different.