Winter tyres. Discuss.

[campbell]

I find the cheap ones are less likely to balance well first time.

CLCM every time for us.

[KevD]

Hello big brain ( SE collective)

On a small 4x4 ( for instance like a landrover freelander with my favourite K series engine) are winter tyres better than the semi-offroad style ( like a goodyear wrangler) for better grip in winter?

Mix of motorway and A road. I want the grip in the snow but without aquaplaning in the rain.

[Stevoraith]

Sanjoy, I've been using AD Tyres on Millie St in Kirkcaldy recently.

Not sure on cost for fitting but they're always willing to do a deal when buying tyres so I'd imagine they'd do a good deal for fitting 8 tyres.

The tyre fitters don't seem to be the usual monkeys and are all very careful at checking wheels for damage beforehand etc.

[Sanjøy]

Sanjoy, I've been using AD Tyres on Millie St in Kirkcaldy recently.

Not sure on cost for fitting but they're always willing to do a deal when buying tyres so I'd imagine they'd do a good deal for fitting 8 tyres.

The tyre fitters don't seem to be the usual monkeys and are all very careful at checking wheels for damage beforehand etc.

[tuscan_thunder]

Hello big brain ( SE collective)

On a small 4x4 ( for instance like a landrover freelander with my favourite K series engine) are winter tyres better than the semi-offroad style ( like a goodyear wrangler) for better grip in winter?

Mix of motorway and A road. I want the grip in the snow but without aquaplaning in the rain.

For what you're doing, I'd go with Vredestein Wintracs or similar: more snow biased than off-road style but good on wet tar.

[Tommy Twist]

Hi folks.

Can anyone recommend winter tyres for my S2 Elise S?

The car will not be used on snow or slush (that's the wife's car's job), but I'm looking for something that will give more grip than a summer tyre on frost or cold damp tarmac, so that I can continue to drive enthusiastically (within reason) on the drier days during the coldest winter months. Ideally I'd like something with a good contact patch – i.e. nothing too drastic in terms of water channelling or tread 'blockiness'.

I'm also interested in opinions regarding 175/55 vs 195/50 on the front, bearing in mind that I don't intend to take the car out on snow, slush or standing water.

Thanks!

:

P.S. My summer rubber is Yoko AD07.

[Shug]

Tyres won't help - something like the standard fit AD07 will be about as good as you can get (they are already much stickier than a normal road car tyre), but the laws of physics dictate that a lightweight car won't generate much heat in the tyres and will be more prone to aquaplane. If you want to drive hard in winter, get some good driver training or practise pulling it out of ditches, I'm afraid.

[Tommy Twist]

Tyres won't help - something like the standard fit AD07 will be about as good as you can get (they are already much stickier than a normal road car tyre), but the laws of physics dictate that a lightweight car won't generate much heat in the tyres and will be more prone to aquaplane. If you want to drive hard in winter, get some good driver training or practise pulling it out of ditches, I'm afraid.

It's my understanding that the softer, higher silica-content composition of a winter tyre's tread will allow heat to build up more effectively and offer more compliance at the point of contact in low temperatures, moreso even than a 'softish' summer tyre like the AD07. I'm also led to believe that the sipes in some winter tyres can (up to a point) give grip on ice where a non-siped tyre will slide.

That said, I don't necessarily expect any winter tyre to outperform the AD07 on a bone dry road, even at low temp. I am however looking for consistency, so that if I lose some outright grip on bone dry surfaces, but gain a little on the frosty bits underneath trees, and on damp roundabouts and the like, I'll consider the winter option a success . I also accept that the car will not feel anywhere near as sharp on the 'spongier' winter rubber.

As multi-purpose as the AD07 are, I find it hard to accept that they're absolutely the ideal option all-year-around...

[Shug]

Tyres won't help - something like the standard fit AD07 will be about as good as you can get (they are already much stickier than a normal road car tyre), but the laws of physics dictate that a lightweight car won't generate much heat in the tyres and will be more prone to aquaplane. If you want to drive hard in winter, get some good driver training or practise pulling it out of ditches, I'm afraid.

It's my understanding that the softer, higher silica-content composition of a winter tyre's tread will allow heat to build up more effectively and offer more compliance at the point of contact in low temperatures, moreso even than a 'softish' summer tyre like the AD07.

I'm also led to believe that the sipes in some winter tyres can (up to a point) give grip on ice where a non-siped tyre will slide.

As multi-purpose as the AD07 are, I find it hard to accept that they're absolutely the ideal option all-year-around...

Theoretically, you're absolutely correct, but I don't think any appropriate options have been found in S2 sizes, unless someone else can educate me.

Fact remains, the Elise, no matter what it's shod with, is a quick car in the dry simply due to the factors that make it a poor wet weather car. For less than the cost of a set of tyres with dubious benefits in such a light car, you could take a visit down to Walshy and learn exactly how to control it in all conditions - would be of far more use to just about 99% of Elise drivers IMO.

When it's wet, I drive like miss daisy or take another car - just trying to avoid a fellow owner wasting cash.

[Dominic]

I used my first elise all year round, in all conditions. I had few problems, other than getting up steep hills in the snow - but any other car on normal road tyres would have had similar difficulties. As Shug says, respect the conditions and you'll get on fine.

[Tommy Twist]

I don't think any appropriate options have been found in S2 sizes, unless someone else can educate me.

Hankook list S2 sizes (225/45/17 + 195/50/16) for their "IceBear W300":
http://www.hankooktire-eu.com/uk/tyres/ ... 1b9f9b9868

Tricky thing might be finding stock...!

When it's wet, I drive like miss daisy or take another car - just trying to avoid a fellow owner wasting cash.

I'm the same in the wet, esp. after a couple of twitchy moments a few weeks back... learning quickly to have low expectations of the Elise's limit of grip/traction in the wet (previous car was actually far more torquey than the Elise, but rear-biased AWD, which probably doesn't help ).

Anyway, to be clear, when I say I'm looking for something that grips well in cold and damp conditions, I mean "damp" in the sense "visible moisture on the road, but not enough to produce much spray". You know, the kind of conditions we see a lot of during the winter when it's rained any time in the last week but has been too cold to completely dry up

Cheers again, folks

[campbell]

I admire your spirit Tommy, but as has been said I don't think there is much experience of Winter Tyres on Elises and whilst they might make a marginal difference, the light weight of the car may work against its favour.

If you really *need* to use the same car through the winter, then I guess you'll find a set...consider going down a size front and rear to help with the pressure patch though. However you are then at the mercy of other road users...

If at all poss, I'd consider a cheap winter hack which you can offload after the snows have gone

The compromise, which I've managed with in all but real snow, is the trusty Toyo T1R which has good wide grooves, great water dispersion and is soft enough to work well at low temps. It's no winter tyre, but it's cheap as chips.

Good luck!

[neil]

I've been tempted to put a set of winter tyres on mine too. From driving other winter tyre shod cars I'd imagine any decent winter tyre will make a noticeable difference - just choose one that you can get in both front and rear sizes - I've put Nokian WRG2's on my shed and found them pretty good. However snow on A048's is great fun

[kerryxeg]

Does anyone know of a tyre fitter in the Kemnay / Kintore / Inverurie area that doesn't mind fitting tyres they didn't supply. I Normally use Motorwerk in Aberdeen who are excellent, but I've got quite a few winter tyres to get fitted for various people so the logistics at the moment is going to involve the trailer.

The last time I checked with Tawse they weren't happy to fit them unless they supplied them, which wasn't very helpful given that it was Lotus supplied A048's I had to fit.

[Stephen]

I have a set of old Pirelli winter tyres for the back of the Elise . The difference in the snow is night and day. Kind of leather soled dancing shoes v hiking boots. Summer tyres are only good down to 7 deg winter tyres are designed to work from there down.

I would look at vredestein, however while the tread will provide an improvement in the snow it is the rubber compound / heat generation / weight balance that needs to be considered in the cold. I would suggest fitting the softest tyre you can find.
With the S1 lotus recommend fitting front 15" wheels to the rear in the winter so it may be worth checking if it is the same for the S2.
I fit winter tyres to the other cars and will continue to do so given the pronounced benefit they provide.