Winter tyres. Discuss.

[tut]

Neither the Postie nor the Courier could get up the drive today, but Verian managed no problem.

tut

[ryallm]

Fitted winter wheels & tyres to my F31 BMW a couple of weeks back. Went from 19" Bridgestone runflats 225/40 front 255/35 rear to 18" Goodyear Ultragrip 8 224/45 all round. The difference is amazing - I'm not talking about winter grip as it been pretty mild since. No, its the smother ride but most of all the dramatically reduced road noise on coarse surfaces that is the big difference so far. The latest generation of runflats are not as bad as they used to be, but on this evidence they are still sh*t when it comes to ride quality and noise compared to a conventional tyre. The Goodyears have a very low 68db drive by noise rating. I have read that this can be an unreliable indicator of cabin noise, but they really do seem to be a very quiet winter tyre. Just need some snow now to try them out properly

[Stephen]

My Audi A4 is the same. It runs 235/40/18 in the summer and 205/55/16 in the winter. The winter ride is much better. I'm not sure where the benefit is with the 18, whether it's fast handling or just looks.

[alicrozier]

Likewise the Golf. Summer is 225/35/19 but better ride on the 225/40/18 winters.

Without soggy handling compromise too from the Dunlop Winter Sport 4D
http://www.dunlop.eu/dunlop_euen/tires/ ... rom=browse

[greyrigg]

Put the winters on the 640. Down from 20's to 18's. Car is much nicer, on the 20's even hitting a cats eye makes you wince.

Malcolm

[ryallm]

Heard on the radio yesterday that so far this is the mildest December since 1948, and today it is forecast to be 13C in Edinburgh! This really illustrates the problem with the winter tyres in the UK. For much of the winter the daily temps are above the 6ish mark where winter tyres start working better, so you spend half the winter running around on expensive wheels and tyres with inferior grip all for the handful of properly cold or snowy days Got winter tyres now - give me snowmageddon

[tut]

0700 this morning it was 14 deg here, and that is on top of a 900ft hill.

tut

[BigD]

Couple of years ago I bought some snow socks for that exact reason. They are really only to get you out of trouble if you get caught out which is usually what happens. Not used them yet but they do seem good option.

My winter tyres sat in a tyre pile for 3 years.

[greyrigg]

Like Tut our house is 900ft above sea level and we usually get a lot of snow.

This used to result in a fight for the defender but now we have 2

Campbell wrote
Now there's a tweet for @middleclassprobs, ROFL

[rossybee]

Not fitted the winters this year, and going offshore tomorrow for Christmas (yay) so will see how things pan out weather-wise upon my return.....due to be spending Hogmanay in deepest darkest weegieland.

[sja]

My old Dunlop winter 4D tyres had lasted 4 winters and needed replacing, going that the weather is all over the place I decided to go for Michelin cross climate tyres at the end of November. We're running a VW Caddy Maxi life (Kid spec) and so far they seam to be performing well. Better than the Dunlop's when the weather is in the teens and just as good in the rain. No snow yet so can't comment.

I normally run separate summer / winter tyres but I intend to keep the Michelins on and see how they go.

[captain]

I've got Toyo s953 on my Elise and it's very surefooted on these cold wet roads.

I know quite a few people with SUV's who proudly claim they don't need winter tyres because they've got 4x4. Does anyone here know the brindy hill between Premnay and Keig? I passed three 4x4's (amongst some other cars and a bus!) stuck in a few inches of snow a few weeks back in my elise.

[pshanks76]

I've got Toyo s953 on my Elise and it's very surefooted on these cold wet roads.

I know quite a few people with SUV's who proudly claim they don't need winter tyres because they've got 4x4. Does anyone here know the brindy hill between Premnay and Keig? I passed three 4x4's (amongst some other cars and a bus!) stuck in a few inches of snow a few weeks back in my elise.

I used to pass many a 4x4 in my ST220 with winter rubber on heading up to the Lecht.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[Dominic]

Couple of years ago I bought some snow socks for that exact reason. They are really only to get you out of trouble if you get caught out which is usually what happens. Not used them yet but they do seem good option.

My winter tyres sat in a tyre pile for 3 years.

I used my snow socks on my Audi when I got stuck twice in one day quite a few years ago. They were very effective, but otherwise saw little use. Still have them somewhere.

When I / Mrs S wear out the winters on the mighty ST, I think I will replace them with all season tyres, for winter use. That seems to me to be a better compromise for our typical winters.

[Dominic]

I've got Toyo s953 on my Elise and it's very surefooted on these cold wet roads.

I know quite a few people with SUV's who proudly claim they don't need winter tyres because they've got 4x4. Does anyone here know the brindy hill between Premnay and Keig? I passed three 4x4's (amongst some other cars and a bus!) stuck in a few inches of snow a few weeks back in my elise.

I used to pass many a 4x4 in my ST220 with winter rubber on heading up to the Lecht.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

I may have mentioned this previously on this thread - I took great pleasure in passing a stuck Merc M class on a snowy/ icy hill in my Fiesta ST on winters. It is amazing the difference winters make - in those conditions.