All-season tires take up the biggest part of the tire market in the United States, and for plenty of good reasons. All-season tires offer a great balance of excellent wear properties, year-round versatility and traction in everything other than heavier snow, handling that’s capable and predictable with quick steering response, and road manners that are solid and stable at highway speed. That’s why they make such a great choice for most drivers of sedans, minivans, and crossovers who just need a tire that can check all the boxes for commutes, errands, and long road trips on the interstate.

The Cambridge All Season II is a great example of what an all-season tire should be all about and what it should offer for drivers, and it comes in at a surprisingly affordable price. Let’s get in there and get a closer look at what this tire has to offer with this Cambridge All Season II tire review:

Features and Benefits

Here are some of the design features and innovations to look for with the Cambridge All Season II:

• The advanced tread compound is designed for long, even wear and enhanced grip on wet or dry roads
• Reduced rolling resistance helps to save on fuel and emissions
• Four wide circumferential grooves resist hydroplaning and boost wet-weather grip by routing standing water away from the tire’s contact patch
• Solid shoulder with reinforced shoulder blocks for improved stability, enhanced cornering, and great wear properties
• Continuous center rib gives the Cambridge All Season II excellent straight-line stability and nimble steering response
• Tread surface area and traction are multiplied with a dense network of sipes, hundreds of hair-thin slits that slice through standing water or slush
• The contact patch is optimized to put the most rubber possible in contact with the road for improved braking performance, traction, handling, and even wear
• Internal construction includes a polyester casing with twin high tensile steel belt package and nylon cap ply
• Tread pitch is variable and randomized to neutralize certain frequencies and overtones, keeping road noise at a muted level

Pros and Cons

In the case of the All Season II from Cambridge, this is a tire where the Cons are far outweighed by the Pros:

PROS:

• Dependable and consistent grip on wet or dry roads
• Handling is capable and predictable with short braking distances and quick steering response
• Low rolling resistance enhances fuel economy and cuts greenhouse gases
• Ride quality is comfortable with low noise levels on the highway
• Affordable price point

CONS:

• No limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty coverage
• Not good in heavier winter weather
• It can generate more pattern noise on some pavement surfaces

SimpleTire’s view on Cambridge All Season II tires

Are you familiar with SimpleScore? SimpleScore is the proprietary ratings system devised by the SimpleTire team to give you a quick at-a-glance idea of the strengths and weaknesses of any tire. We take a look at the tire’s technical details, manufacturer info, warranty information, customer reviews, specs, and other details, and then that all gets processed into a 1-10 numerical score for the categories of traction, handling, and longevity, along with an overall average SimpleScore number. For the Cambridge All Season II, the SimpleScore numbers break down this way:

Cambridge All Season II:

• Traction: 7.9
• Handling: 8.2
• Longevity: 7.5
• Overall average SimpleScore: 7.8

Those are some pretty solid numbers, and they look even better when you remember that the SimpleTire price on the Cambridge All Season II runs from $63.98/tire to $78.99/tire, depending on tire size.

On the highway, the Cambridge All Season II shows few vices, if any. It’s steady and solid in a straight line with little need for correction, but those stable road manners are never sluggish and numb – it responds quickly to driver input with a light and direct steering response. Ride quality may not be what you‘d expect with a luxury Grand Touring tire, but it’s controlled and comfortable with low road noise even on rougher pavement surfaces.

In the corners or on interstate offramps, handling is predictable and competent, even if the cornering ability isn’t up to the expectations of a performance tire. The Cambridge can understeer a bit if pushed hard enough, but most drivers aren’t really going to push the performance envelope with a tire like this anyway. The grip on wet or dry pavement is confident and safe-feeling, with little tendency toward hydroplaning on wet pavement, and braking distances are short and decisive.

It’s true that this tire doesn’t come with a limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty, but a SimpleScore of 7.8 for longevity is quite respectable. Our impression of the Cambridge All Season II is that this would make an excellent choice in an all-season tire for an older vehicle, one that needs tires but you don’t want to have to clean out a 401k account to make it happen.

Vehicles the Cambridge All Season II is a good replacement tire for

While the Cambridge All Season II isn’t featured as the OEM tire for any new vehicles, it would be a great fit for cars and crossovers like these:

• Buick Encore
• Chevrolet Sprint
• Chrysler Pacifica
• Dodge Caravan
• Fiat 500
• Ford Focus
• Honda Civic
• Kia Sephia
• Mazda 6
• Nissan Rogue
• Subaru Outback
• Toyota Camry
• Volkswagen Atlas
• Acura TSX
• Audi A6
• Buick Lacrosse
• Cadillac CT5
• Chevrolet Cruze
• Chrysler 200
• Ford Mustang
• Genesis G80
• Honda Accord
• Hyundai Sonata
• Kia K5
• Mazda3
• Nissan Altima
• Tesla Model 3
• Toyota Supra
• Volkswagen Passat