Is it about time to start my yearly winter tyres thread :D
 

May aswell get in first before you all start whinging you have crashed your cars in the snow bearing in mind you don't get enough snow in the UK to warrent wasting money on winter tyres..

Thinking about it a new set of alloys is much cheaper than a set of winter tyres that will last you about 5 years aren't they :D

The cost of winter tyres is slightly less than dying wrapped round a tree me thinks ;-)

And no they don't have metal studs, and they are not just for snow.

Between 7c and 14 c there is not much difference but below 7 degrees there is a massive difference in grip!

Try them you will never turn back!!!

If they do a group buy on bumpers, that will probably be cheaper than a set of winter tyres too! Or maybe its just the whiplash claim that makes it cheaper not to fit winter tyres :D

But as ever Wurzel, nobody will have any of this winter tyre rubbish because they're all perfect drivers! ;)

Mine are being fitted on Monday :norty:

I keep thinking about winter tyres but never quite got around to it. The RE070s are certainly rubbish once the temp drops below ~5C.

I've been relying on an old set of RE040s for winter but these are ~3mm and need replacing.

What winter tyres should I be buying to fit a MY02 STI with 225/45/17/90W.

Thanks, Mark

I have the Goodyear Untragrips on mine, they are a nice tyre. I will be buying them again unless something better comes along. The ADAC here has a comparison site, Maybe the AA does in the UK too.

I have Nokian WR on mine and they are fantastic.

tyres online @ mytyres.co.uk: cheap passenger tyres, summer tyres, winter tyres and tyre dealer look here.

I have these .

mytyres.co.uk - Details: Nokian WR 215/40 R17 87V XL

I've have Pirelli Sotto-Zero and was very impressed with them for the month or so I spent on them last year, although never tested them on snow yet! Have tried Michellin Pilot-Alpin, Goodyear Ultragrip and Vredstien (somthingorother).

The Pilots weren't much cop on snow but were the best for wet and slippy conditions. The others were all much better on snow/ice and still performed really well in the wet. Overall, I'd rate the Goodyears the best, but can't really comment on the Pirellis yet as I've not done enough miles on them yet, but they seem promising so far!

Generally you go for a wheel/tyre size down from your normal fit. e.g. if you run 18" wheels with 225 width in summer, then 17" wheels with 215 would suit for winter. However unless you live in a particularly wintery part of the UK, I would stick with the same tyre width, just drop from 18" to 17"!

I put Nokian WR on mine last year with the intention of buying some more summer tyres once the weather improved. Still got the Nokians on!!!

5t.

Not normally advisable, winter tyres really don't work well when it gets warm, although given this summer it probably wasn't a bad idea ;)

I would recommend running two sets of wheels then its quite an easy job to just swap them over every 6 months. I'd also get KwikFit or someone to swap them and do the recommended 6 monthly balance check while they're at it!

It also makes a good opportunity to swap the fronts and rears to even out tyre wear!

i hate my prada spec 2's, there hopless i spend most of tonights drive home from work sliding. i need a decent wet weather tyre!

yokos = great in the dry! ****e in the wet lol

Best all round tyre I have used is the Pirelli P-Zero Nero. Seems to grip in all conditions, it was even holding up in the light snow this morning (but I was driving like my Grandma)... time to fit my winter tyres tonight :thumb:

That was the plan but between babies and house moves i never got the chance to buy some more.

TBH i've been very impressed with the Nokians. You can tell they aren't a super grippy tyre in dry hot conditions but the majority of the summer has been in the wet and they've been great. Very hard wearing too.

5t.

I think what all you guys need to do, is come to Japan for a weekend, and get some normal winter tyres sent back over to the UK. Yokohama, Bridgestone, Dunlop and all the main brands make, "studless" winter tyres, which perform amazingly in the snow.

The shops UK wouldnt profit from selling winter tyres though, but hey :lol1:

Or take a ferry to Sweden for the weekend ;-)
There are really 3 kinds of winter tyres.
1, studded, probably not legal in UK?
2, non studded 'nordic' tyres, similar to sudded tyres but with finer thread pattern to catch thoses small profiles on the ice/snow/road.
3, 'euro' winter tyres, usually higher speed rated, thread aimed at wet not freezing conditions but still much better near to freezing than summer tyres.
I recommend narrower tyres for the winter tyres.

Actually, what was I on about, just get a set of rally tyres..... or even better, winter rally tyres (not the studded ones of course) :lol1:

you sound worse than women, "winters here time for some new boots".

Hi Wurzel

Vredestein Winter extremes are supposed to be very good, i shall be putting them on mine for this winter in the Deutsch snow lol

evo mag last year had goodyear f1 eagles as best wet and dry weather tyre

^^ they certainly did and thats what i have fitted. performed as good as ever the other night on a run-- was dry, appart from a bit of drissle high in the hills, but quite cold. Mind you i was cornering pretty hard where road conditions permitted so think i generated a good little bit of tyre temperature.

been much colder since then and not driven since, i will be very interested to see how they go at less then 4 degreesC when wet/damp. infact i think when i first got the car i drove in those conditions and i lost the backend at 30mph going over a bridge... but that was largely a case of "know the corner, not the car":rolleyes: :rolleyes:

if this thread is still going i will report in when i been on a proper winter run:thumb:

Ash

yep i got them on mine too and cant fault them

I was running F1's as summer tyres last year. They are really great in the wet and dry, but when it comes to winter temperatures, they suffer like the rest of the summer tyres!

You may think they are really great, but until you've driven on cold, wet, slippy roads with winter tyres, you really can't begin to comprehend the difference!

Trust me, I've heard all the excuses for not using winter tyres, most of them from the OP ;) But after he tried them... well, now he starts posts on SN!

My favourite is... "I'm a good driver, I adjust my driving to the conditions and have never had a problem" :Whatever_ Rates almost as highly as the good old "ABS doesn't work in the snow!" :cuckoo:

I also adjust my driving to the conditions, but with winter tyres I can drive faster and stop quicker! As for ABS, works perfectly well in the snow, its the summer tyres that don't work!

thing is i cant really justify to the wife spending over £100 a tyre just for winter she would serve my balls up for dinner and since ive never had winter tyres on either of my scoobs or the golf gti i had or infact any car i have owned, i just cant justify it. would the tyre not get the feel back once some heat is in them ?

While that's true to some extent, the winter tyres will last you for a good few winters plus you'll not be using your summer tyres as much and will get more mileage out of them too.

I've 19" Eagle F1's on mine and with the snow the other day they performed exactly the same as every other "normal" tyre I've had before... ie I joined the main road sideways as they struggled to get any real grip at all.

see ive never had that ever and the previous 2 winters in the scoob i never either? maybe its me driving like a granny

Maybe... guess it also depends on how bad your winters are... I know that just my journey of ~20-odd miles to work can vary hugely. Often got a fair bit of snow at the house and by the time I get to work there's often nothing at all. Can imagine that there is a huge difference in the weather we're experiencing right across the whole country.

Oi!! I'll have you know I am a good driver and I do adjust my driving style to the conditions and ABS doesn't work in the snow :D there are you happy now.

Actually ABS does work when you have the correct tyres :D

I was the worlds biggest sceptic when I was told about winter tyres becasue like you lot in blighty I knew best and also knew that cars and snow DO NOT MIX, however after driving for 4 years in a 300ps car on sumemr tyres in German winters I decided to try winter tyres and I was blown away, I could drive my car ALMOST! as well in the sh1t weather as I could in the dry I was having so much fun being able to slide the car around under my control rather than the cars control, I could not believe it!! Honestly lads if you shell out for a set of winter tyres you will be wondering WTF have you been pussy footing around all these years on summer tyres in th ewinter when you should and could have been enjoying what your car can do in snow. Everyone says scoobys are sh1t in snow, this is just not true! They are amazing fun in snow when you have control of the car and these tyres will give you that control. Yes admitedly there are millions of idiots out there on summer tyres so you say why should I bother getting them? as I can stop but the idiot behinnd me can't. well there is no answer to that except you will know that you will not be the idiot behind and if anyone hits you it is their fault not yours.

It has just started Snowing here and I have mine already fitted and I have absolutely zero qualms about going out to work tomorrow, where as you lot wil be thinking oh sh1t it is snowing I am going to be driving like miss Daisy and sliding aroundall over the place.

Do yourselves a favour and try them, listen to advice from people who do actually know something you don't and it may just say you and your car from damage this winter.

I had a set of these on last winter and found them to be very good,will be putting them back on at the weekend.

You lot still don't get it do you!!!! SNOW HAS FCUK all to do with it !!!

winter tyres are winter tyre NOT SNOW tyres.

They have a higher silicon content and are softer and grippier on cold, wet, and slushy surfaces.

" I can't justify winter tyres the wife will kill me"

But can you justify a crashed car and the expense for new wheels, bumpers, body panels blah blah blah the inconvenience of an insuracne company arguing the toss or a hire car etc

It is ok I have insurance if I crash my car!!

woopee fcuking do,you have insurance but you also have no car for a week whilst they fix your pig headed fcuk up, not to mention your hike in premium due to a claim for your pig headedness. All because you couldn't justify a few hundred quid for a set of steel wheels and winter tyres that will last you minimum of 5 years to the wife, who needed a new handbag and shoes.

PS this is not directed directly at the poster whose post I quoted.

Vredestein come highly recommended.

I would hope not :lol:

I know it has nothing to do with snow, was merely pointing out that the almost new F1's were still complete sh*te in the snow we had (couple of inches at most).

Winter tyres make a huge difference once we're below 7 degrees. Have a set of Michelon Pilot Alpin 2's on the wifes Leon and once I got used to how much flex there was in the tyre initially you can fairly push on in them in pretty much all weathers.