Winter tyres. Discuss.

[vet111s]

Getting the tyres on Ellie's Bmw replaced tomorrow. Picked up some good-life-left Goodyear ultragrip 8 for £100 for the 4 from a local guy selling after his wife changed car. Will be interesting to see if any better than nankang that have been on for a few years.
Each winter I do worry I've made the wrong choice on the disco 3. Went for general grabber AT and by all accounts they should be great in deep snow and certainly better than summers in most winter conditions but think I should have plumped for dedicated winters on a spare set of wheels. Just couldn't justify the cost and GG AT seemed a good compromise

[Scottish Scrutineer]

GG ATs are good, had them on our D3, just remember almost 3 tonnes takes a lot of persuading to stop or change direction when there's little grip, no matter what tyres are on.


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[campbell]

No winters for us this year.

You expecting another mild winter Campbell?

Not necessarily but normally put them on our "2nd car" which last 2 years was our MINI. But this year that'd be the Evora...alternatively there may not be any 2nd car until around end of winter.

Certainly not putting the Evora into action on wintry days.

So not sure at the mo, TBH.

Might put Nankangs on the Skoda

[Mike Scib]

Might put Nankangs on the Skoda

Don't want to be doing that Campbell

Watch on YouTube

[campbell]

Thanks mate, had a set on the MINI and they did us fine. Pikey for the win

[Dominic]

Might put Nankangs on the Skoda

Don't want to be doing that Campbell

Fair point Mike, as a general rule I always reckon it's best to go for premium tyres and avoid budgets. However, in the context of winter tyres, surely budget winter tyres will perform better than premium summer tyres (which chances are will be at least part worn) on a frosty or snowy morning.

[campbell]

I took a recommendation for the Nankangs. For the price, I'd no complaints.

I don't spend a lot on summer tyres either, to be fair!!

[rossybee]

However, in the context of winter tyres, surely budget winter tyres will perform better than premium summer tyres (which chances are will be at least part worn) on a frosty or snowy morning.

Yes agreed, and I did this, but on the days where it's a bit mild (say over 6 or 7 C) and the roads are damp, the cheapo winters are truly crap.

Lots of TC light flicking even with light throttle inputs.

[Stephen]

My brother once fitted a set of Regal tyres that were so bad he renamed the "Lethal" and swapped them off.

[vet111s]

Have to say, the nakang sv2 we had on did the trick. So so much more sure footed in cool conditions than the kumho summers but it was only a 320d estate. So not exactly 73 million lb ft of torque or anything.

Oh, and Dom, there's a very very good reason your summer tyres are worn when you approach the winter (unless they've JUST had to be changed cause that geo issue has caused them to wear out prematurely!)

Ali

[Dominic]

Oh, and Dom, there's a very very good reason your summer tyres are worn when you approach the winter (unless they've JUST had to be changed cause that geo issue has caused them to wear out prematurely!)

Ali

[Mike Scib]

However, in the context of winter tyres, surely budget winter tyres will perform better than premium summer tyres (which chances are will be at least part worn) on a frosty or snowy morning.

Yes agreed, and I did this, but on the days where it's a bit mild (say over 6 or 7 C) and the roads are damp, the cheapo winters are truly crap.

Lots of TC light flicking even with light throttle inputs.

My experience to of cheap winter tyres.

Can't fault them in the snow over summers, but in any other conditions my BMW would have the TC flickering away, plus it was a lot easier to activate the ABS so defeats the purpose of fitting them to make the car safer.

TBH as much as I think winters are great I still don't run them on my van which does far more miles than the other 2 cars combined up and down the country. For me the winters are a piece of mind that hopefully Lynda wont get stuck somewhere with the 2 little ones in the car and that's not to due to me thinking I am a better driver (obviously I am ) If I get stuck, not ideal but I am sure I will survive

[kerryxeg]

Cheap winters - the wear and the sidewall used to be the issue, especially if you are using them on motorways. like most things I'm sure they have improved, but I have no recent experience.

All season tyres are a great option for low mileage normal performance cars, I put a set of Goodyear all seasons on my mums A4 4 years ago, she does about 5000miles a year and they still have over 5mm.

I was surprised to note the Pirelli Scorpions on our evoque are M+S labelled but have a treadwear of 600, which if that is on the same scale I'm used to is really hard rubber and not what I'd expect on a winter tyre. They are new so we'll run them through the winter and see how they cope.

Incidentally a friend has a set of 295 35 21 Pirelli winters suitable for a Q7 or a cayenne 7mm at £550 located in the NE, they are on gumtree if you are interested - a real bargain in my opinion.

[ClarkyBoy]

That's My Winters on now,

Kumho Izen's I bought last year and a set of wheels I had lying around, car drives well with them, instant comfort moving from RFT's and 18" wheels to 16" and big sidewalls


Untitled by clarkyboySE, on Flickr

[rossybee]

Looks like e39 se alloys, actually doesn't look too bad!