Given
80%
while driving a
Toyota Corolla
(195/60 R15 V) on
mostly country roads
for 2,000
average miles
I have used the following allseasontyres since 2010, always with the ThreePeak SnowFlake symbol (for what that is worth since the differences between all these tires can be very significant).
Quatrac3 Vredestein (little to complain about)
Quatrac5 Vredestein (dito)
Goodyear Vector 4S Gen2 (even better)
Goodyear Vector 4S Gen3 (a little bit better).
I am a weatherhobbyist and weahterphotographer and therefor: I go out when others mostly don't. So I need reliable tires. I live in The Netherlands where some winters have 70 days with a snowcover and other winters just 5 (well that is happening since 2014) or even less. Also we can have 10+ and rain in winter (also mainly the last decades) and we can have -20 in March. Or snow in April. In summer we get huge thunderstorms with torrential rains etcetc. A climate very common in NW Europe liek Germany and Denmark, our winters are colder than in most of the UK and surely Ireland though and in cold winters it is a lot colder.
So I do not avoid difficult conditions, the opposite is true.
With Quatrac3 everything was already fine, but on very compacted snow it was like a summertire all of a sudden. With the Quatrac5 I expected the same, yet it was better.
Both Vredesteins btw excelled in longevity: they took me 70000 km.
So why go for the Goodyear? Simple: because I like to try new things and these were consistently at toppositions in reviews whereas Vredestein was hit and miss depending on the review. Do I note a hige difference? No but there is a difference. Where the Vredesteins got me everywhere with no trouble, also under heavy snow, the GY G2 and now G3 are more stable. So sliding a bit to the left or right was noted on the Vredesteins but just not on the GY allseasons. Also the traction is still better. When compared to a summertire the difference with all these is, as everyone with a little kknowledge on the subject is aware off, nothing short of huge. It is completely irresponsible to drive with such tire son snow and I think allseasons even in our warming climate should be mandatory in winter.
A strike down for the Gen2 GY tires is that hey did not nearly last me as long as the Vredesteins. I see that in the latest tests the Vredestein just edges the GY Gen3 out and is indeed the best. In my experience the GY Gen2 lasted me 45000 km. That is a pretty big difference in my view and seems to be quite a bit less than what I read in the reviews back in 2015 or 16. With Vredestein going from Quatrac Pro to Quatrac things seem to have changed: it is a symmetrical tyre and looks like a mix of Michelin Crossclimates and Goodyears (and continental). And the testresults are now on par with the GY Gen3. But since the wear seems even better I would probably opt for the Vredesteins also, again, because I like something new.
So in the end, to keep it to the point, the GY Gen3 has seen 2 months of use but already I have driven with a 40 cm regular snowcover. On steep roads, with all kinds of snow. It seems to do very well and I will never go back to exchanging summer and wintertyres. May be it is usefull if you live in a climate with lots of snow over prolonged period times, since the best wintertyres are still better combined with a rather"sporty" drivestyle. But I even in the Alps etc these tires woudl be fine as long as you don't push it. If the Gen3 wears off in 50000 km I will no doubt jump to the Vredesteins though.
Hope it helps.