Winter tyres. Discuss.

[Stevoraith]

Fitted the winter wheels and tyres to both cars this week. It's still probably a bit warm to be honest but it can't be far away from being permanently in low single figures.


Octavia has new Continental TS830s.


Mini has vredesteins that have had a few winters out of them- think this might be the last one for the fronts.

[kerryxeg]

I fitted some 16" winters on the mini a couple of weeks ago and it has transformed the ride. A combination of the smaller wheels and the non runflats, but much nicer to drive. So I think I'll ditch the runflats on the 17s and replace with something a little more comfortable when spring comes.

[Dark]

Fitted the winter wheels and tyres to both cars this week. It's still probably a bit warm to be honest but it can't be far away from being permanently in low single figures.

Better to fit them now when it's a bit warmer and you can still see what you're doing! Nothing worse than trying to swap the wheels in the cold / dark / rain / snow / etc because you've left it too late.

I typically aim to swap them before the wife goes back to work after the Oct half term holiday and leave them on until the Easter holidays.

[Stevoraith]

My mini runs on 'non-runflats' in the summer too- same wheels (albeit in a different colour!) to the winter ones so I don't really notice a difference. I've never driven it on runflats- ride is hard enough on normal tyres!

Regarding time to change, my wife also teaches so I too usually coincide it with the October/Easter holidays and/or the clocks changing. I left it this year since it was much milder.

I'm lucky enough to have a large garage with power and light so I can change them in comfort even if the weather is disgusting. Still better to change them early though than be caught needing them when they are sitting in a pile in the corner of the garage!

[ClarkyBoy]

I fitted some 16" winters on the mini a couple of weeks ago and it has transformed the ride. A combination of the smaller wheels and the non runflats, but much nicer to drive. So I think I'll ditch the runflats on the 17s and replace with something a little more comfortable when spring comes.

i ditched the RFT's on my cooper S when i had it - transformed the car, probably would bother with RFT's again to be honest!

[SAJ]

Winter tyre went on to the Evora a couple of weeks back, fitted:

Michelin PILOT ALPIN PA4 235/35R19 91 W XL - £215 each
Michelin PILOT ALPIN PA4 275/30R20 97 W XL - £351 each

Total: £1132, for some reason I had it in my head I'd spent £1400 on them, pleasantly surprised when I looked back at the invoice.

More info on them if anyone else is interested: http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/Mi ... unched.htm

[tut]

Winter tyres on N3 TUT

185/65/15 Maxsport £35 each.
205/55/16 Maxsport £40 each.

Total = £150

tut

[campbell]

Within a hairs breadth of ordering a set of Nankangs for the MINI now, as I have some important business travel commitments over the winter and driving will probably have to be my mode of choice.

£65 each from my old buddies Mytyres.

I desperately need to make space in the garage for the MINI's summer rims though. Can anyone find a home for my spare Elise rims which I no longer require? Sensible offers welcome. See classifieds.

[SAJ]

Within a hairs breadth of ordering a set of Nankangs for the MINI now, as I have some important business travel commitments over the winter and driving will probably have to be my mode of choice.

£65 each from my old buddies Mytyres.

I desperately need to make space in the garage for the MINI's summer rims though. Can anyone find a home for my spare Elise rims which I no longer require? Sensible offers welcome. See classifieds.

Stay away from the cheap winters, they tend to be very crap in the wet, here is what the comments were about the ones youre looking at:

Positive: Stable handling in dry conditions, quiet pass-by noise
Negative: Poor understeering handling on wet and snow-covered track, dangerously extended braking distances on wet roads, poor comfort
Overall: Not recommended

I've yet to see a budget winter tyre that was actually safe in the wet.

Spend the money on a good set, there's no false economy in doing so as you'll get upto three years out of them and extend the life of your summers not to mention the added safety.

[campbell]

Thanks Saj.

I'm going on Mark's (Dark's) personal experiences of the Nankangs on the previous page. I agree that in principle we should throw the best cash we can at safety items, unfortunately £100 a corner is not viable for me this year and I am going on the view that a winter tyre is better than a summer tyre. Perhaps flawed, but I'm prepared to experiment

I shall report back...

[ClarkyBoy]

I just bought the nankang ditch finders, there seems to be some success with them on here, so i will report back once they are fitted and ill be sure to give them shakedown... in wet and dry before the snow comes

[vet111s]

Think comes back to what you need from them. I've found they keep the BMW mobile in conditions where summers made the car undrivable.

[campbell]

I need them to get me to Leeds and back on 4th and 5th December. That will be good enough!!

[Dark]

I'm going on Mark's (Dark's) personal experiences of the Nankangs on the previous page.

No pressure then!

I have reservations about the magazine tyre tests. They typically take a high performance car and test the tyres on the absolute limit.
Realistically this is completely different to the how we all drive in the real world, especially during the winter.
I just wanted something that in the majority of winter driving conditions gave some improvement over the standard tyres.
I agree that on the limit dry & wet handling might not be as good but the advantages in the cold & frosty conditions far outweigh them.
As I said before, on the Impreza I've been really impressed with the Nankangs, less so with the same brand on the Legacy.
It just goes to show that even with the same brand, there are big differences depending upon the tyre size and the type / weight of the car.

[BigD]

I'm going on Mark's (Dark's) personal experiences of the Nankangs on the previous page.

No pressure then!

I have reservations about the magazine tyre tests. They typically take a high performance car and test the tyres on the absolute limit.
Realistically this is completely different to the how we all drive in the real world, especially during the winter.
I just wanted something that in the majority of winter driving conditions gave some improvement over the standard tyres.
I agree that on the limit dry & wet handling might not be as good but the advantages in the cold & frosty conditions far outweigh them.
As I said before, on the Impreza I've been really impressed with the Nankangs, less so with the same brand on the Legacy.
It just goes to show that even with the same brand, there are big differences depending upon the tyre size and the type / weight of the car.

Just to add to the real life test of the Nankangs, I bought them 3 years ago when we had the really bad snow and used them the following winter too (didn't bother last year as it was quite mild). They are decent enough but nowhere near as good as a good summer tyre in the wet. They are however far superior to the summer tyre when it's cold and slippy which is exactly what they are supposed to be for. In the really deep snow they are not great but that's more a ground clearance issue than anything else.

So in summary, do they work as designed in cold, slippy, icy, and snow conditions? Yes. Are they better than summer rubber in those conditions? Much better!

Are they as good as a summer tyre in normal conditions? Nope, not even close but that's not the idea is it?

I have overtaken 4x4's up slight inclines with them so they can't be bad.