All-Season Tires

It’s been almost a year since the Mercedes GLB200d 4MATIC arrived at our home.
It has already clocked over 12,000 km and is serving as my daily commuter as well as the family’s go-to vehicle for trips. Its excellent fuel efficiency, compact width, and 7-seat capacity make it incredibly useful.

This time, I decided to switch the GLB’s tires to all-season tires. Originally, it came equipped with Mercedes-approved Pirelli PZERO tires, which offered a comfortable ride, but I felt they were somewhat over-spec for the GLB and the handling was a bit too sharp, so I wanted to switch to a more comfort-oriented tire someday.

After considering various tire brands, since I sometimes visit nearby ski resorts and occasionally go back to my snowy hometown, I concluded that all-season tires would be the best choice.

Of course, I also considered winter or studless tires, but changing tires seasonally is a hassle, and since most of my driving is within the Kansai area where heavy ice roads are rare, I opted for all-season tires.

Additionally, I’m carrying fabric tire chains as an emergency measure to get through this winter.

Michelin CrossClimate 2 SUV

The tires I chose are the Michelin CrossClimate 2 SUV (235/50R19 103V XL).

Winter tires are essentially “summer tires that can also handle snow,” making them versatile except on icy roads.
However, many might wonder if grip, road noise, and ride comfort suffer compared to summer tires.

So this time, I want to review my impressions on dry and wet roads by comparing them with the Mercedes genuine summer tires, Pirelli PZERO.

As always, this article contains no promotions or sponsorships.

Therefore, I will write honestly and without bias, so unlike many puff pieces, I hope you find this genuinely useful.

On the first day after the swap, there was a slight rumbling feeling when driving out of the tire shop.
This is natural for new tires, as the tread blocks still have sharp edges.

After about 200 km, the rolling feel became very natural and smooth.

Impressions in Town

First, road noise is quite low and falls into the quieter category.

Especially when driving straight, the road noise is noticeably quieter than many cheap summer tires.
It’s at least on par with the original PZERO. PZERO is one of the world’s top premium sports tires with excellent quietness, so this is impressive.

However, when cornering with steering input, you can faintly hear a soft “whoosh” sound. This wasn’t present with the PZERO and likely comes from the tread block characteristics. Still, this is only noticeable if you really pay attention and most people won’t mind it.

Ride comfort is generally good, with just a slight roughness felt through the steering compared to PZERO.
There are no unpleasant vibrations or shocks, and the tire doesn’t feel overly soft or mushy at all.

Even my wife, who rode along, said she “couldn’t tell any difference,” so I don’t expect any complaints from the family.

Impressions on Winding Roads

I doubt many people attack winding roads with all-season tires, but I wanted to test the grip level.

Honestly, I had no expectations before testing. Even if they perform like summer tires on city streets and highways, I thought they’d be no good under lateral G-forces.

However, the actual experience was surprisingly good. The tires don’t squeal easily and provide solid lateral grip.
Of course, they can’t be compared to PZERO, but for pushing the GLB on mountain roads, they’re perfectly fine.
There’s no mushy feeling like with studless tires, nor any rubber grip concerns. If anything, the handling precision and line-tracing ability are slightly lower than PZERO.

Braking is also very reassuring. These tires have strong longitudinal grip, so you can brake confidently and the traction during acceleration feels very good.

I can confidently say these tires are no problem for spirited SUV driving on winding roads.

Impressions on Highways and Wet Roads

First, during acceleration from toll booths, the longitudinal grip feels strong and tenacious. It’s similar to how PZERO feels when heated, giving a sense of security.

At normal highway cruising speeds in the driving lane, nothing unusual happens. They feel just like summer tires.
Road noise is quiet and ride comfort is good.

If I had to nitpick, in GLB’s Eco mode coasting, I feel slightly more rolling resistance compared to PZERO.

Next, when driving at a brisk pace in the passing lane and changing lanes, the high-speed stability is excellent as expected from Michelin, with no wobbling or loss of road contact. These are European V-rated tires (240 km/h), after all.

Even with sharp lane changes, there’s no twisting sensation like with studless tires, allowing relaxed and confident driving.

Having experienced heavy rain at highway speeds, I can say drainage and wet grip are both excellent. This is far superior to studless tires.
I believe this performance really shines on slushy, nearly wet snow roads that many encounter in winter.

Also, when crossing metal joints on urban highway curves, there’s almost no slipping like with summer tires. This is clearly better than pure summer tires.

Overall, you can drive on highways with the same confidence as with summer tires.

Overall Evaluation

At first, I was very conscious while driving and noticed the differences from PZERO as described above.

However, recently, I’ve been driving without paying attention and almost completely forget these are all-season tires.
That’s how close they are to “summer tires.”

Michelin markets these as “summer tires that can also handle snow,” and that’s exactly right—they are summer tires.
I found they can be used on dry and wet roads with almost no sacrifice in summer tire performance, so next time I’ll share a review focused on snowy roads.