As per title really folks.. need to change the tires and as winter is supposedly coming bad, i might as well get a good set on the current wheels and keep them for winter, then put summer set on my 18's that are being re furbed.

Being new to subaru's and AWD, i'm guessing that the right tyre is very important.. so what would you suggest??

Thanks.

 

i have nexan winguard sport 215/40/17 on my classis and at 62quid a corner i cant fault them,in fact i didn't bother to take them off all summer and they still have 5-6mm on after 18months of use

 

cheers, i cant remember what make i was quoted a few wks back, but they were nearer £100 each.

 

don't get me wrong they are cheep, but they grip like a scotsmans pocket on a wallet, in wet or dry, if pushed to hard in the dry they do squeel a bit on shiny tarmac, they where put on october 2012 and have been on eversince, for the money they are superb. just praying for snow this year to test them proper before they wear out lol

 

You need snow tyres if you want to play in the snow.

 

i'm probably wanting something more for very wet conditions. Seems we get very little snow down here in cornwall.

 

i know lol these are what i bought mainly for a laugh to see how crap they where just for the one winter, to say i was shocked at how good they are is a understatement
http://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rsh...gan=Wi&Breite=
read the reviews on the link

 

I've a brand new set of 18" nexen winter tyres here if interested. Bought for my newage sti which I no longer have and they won't fit my forester sti

 

Just fitted a new set of Uniroyal Rainsport 3's on my blob. Should get me through the worst of the winter.

 

I have cooper weathermasters on mine, proper winter tyres with the m + s and snowflake symbol (some are only m+s). They're AMAZING in the snow, think driving in the sun in the summer for comparable grip levels...
They're great in the dry too.

BUT, they understeer loads in the wet, which isn't ideal!

 

Nokian WR A3s on mine - 215/45/17. No complaints although haven't done a back to back comparison with summers but I needed 4 new tyres anyway (previous ones were non-matching). Main thing is that they are designed to work below 7c, which is ideal as I have a lot of early starts where it's zero or below. Whether I'll get the chance to test them in snow is anyone's guess.

 

I've a set of Nokian winters on my 17s, they seem to be the best of the budget tyres, win a lot of categories in the 2014-15 AutoExpress test:

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accesso...ts-by-category

 

Do you guys run H or V rated winter tyres and is there any difference, apart from cost, if you keep your speeds below 130mph?

 

Mate no offence but at this time of year in the weather we get, those sorts of speeds should be the least of your concerns!
Save the nutter manouvres for the summer
You could try an all season tyre rather than winter if that suits better.
I find budget winters are great in ice and snow (I have a cheap set) but pretty bad in the wet.

 

That's exactly the point of my question.... - No offence!

Interesting that your quote includes an additional line.

 

Cooper Weathermasters are terrible relative to the proper winter tyres out there. They're good in snow but in cold, wet & greasy conditions they're very easily provokable. Fun when you want it but when you're up at 4am and driving on ice covered back roads they just don't cut it. I've used Conti TS790/810/830 in previous years and even the old and outdated TS790 strips chunks out of the Coopers in British winter conditions. The Michelin PA4's are sensational, the new PA5's on a par, and the newer TS850 Conti's are the same. The cheaper winters will keep you moving when the snow hits but you'll always be very aware you have winters on. With the proper high end winters you're able to continue enjoying your driving year round; their performance differential in grease, slime and ice is worth the extra cost a hundred times over.

 

on British roads, you're probably best off on the Continental 850s or the Nokian WRDx winter tyres; up here we all pretty much run the full fat Nokian Hakkapeliitta tyres (for obvious reasons).

 

Summers on the way,just put some Yokohama Prada 2 on mine.
Not so great in the wet

 

Does anybody have any updates for this thread please - looking to buy a set of winters soon and would like some feedback from last winter please.

Thanks

 

The Nokian tyres are a very good winter tyre for snow but a little sketchy in the wet the best all rounder out there are the continentals .

 

rainsport 3

 

I've got Conti TS830's for the family motor and Nokians for the WRX and if I'm honest the Nokians are just as good, so good in fact that when the Contis need replacing I'll probably go for...you guessed it...Nokians.

I must admit though, last few winters have just been cold/damp/icy with very little snow here in Edinburgh. Just waiting for some decent snow to test the winters properly.

 

What speed ratings do you run - mine's a 2004 blob WRX that needs V-rated 17" tyres for summers, but there is nothing on the door shut label about winters - probs as its a JDM only model.

Thanks for the replies thus far - which version Nokian tyres are you talking about modrich and dannymot?

 

The Pirelli Sottozero 3's I was running were epic. Good feel and great grip on cold, damp and greasy roads, which is the main turning in this country. In snow they were superb as expected (most winter tyres are), but on slush they were the best I've driven on, including the highly rated Michelin Pilot Alpin 4, and that was the reason I chose them as I spend a lot of my time in winter driving through all conditions, usually before the gritters or ploughs have been through. Even in deep 4-6" of wet slush they were sure footed and cleared the crap away effectively. Slushplaning resistance is what Pirelli call it and I'd certainly say their claims that it was the prime design remit holds true, especially when overtaking and pulling through the central bank of snow or going in the outside lane to get past stuff when it's still covered in crap.

 

I've run Pirelli winter sottozeros (not sure which version) a few years back on a classic and was very happy with them. They kept the turn in and steering pretty sharp, not as mushy as some winter tires.


Now I got a newage with Goodyear UltraGrip Performance GEN-1 225/45 R17 94V XL.
Again I'm very happy with them, plenty of grip in all conditions and what I like a lot is how smooth they go from static to dynamic grip.

 

Earlier this year, there were some tests on all weather tyres which, IIRC, came out better in the snow than winter tyres. They would also be better in the intermediate conditions which we find ourselves in most of the time - although not too sure about up't north.

It's certainly something I'm going to investigate when my current set expire.

Otherwise, I still have my set available for sale https://www.scoobynet.com/wheels-and-tyres-for-sale-446/1032193-winter-tyres-virtually-new-on-17-hawkeye-sti-standard-silver-wheels-5x114-3-pcd.html I found them brilliant over a wide temperature range when I had them on.

On the matter of speed rating, I'm pretty sure that you need to have the correct speed rating tyres on your car even though you have no intention of achieving that speed.

 

Very impressed with yoko w drives.

Im pretty out in the sticks so have two sets of wheels for the two seasons. The w drives hang on really well in any condition but dont last too long when it gets above about 8 degrees.

Yoko w drives for the winter and ad08's for the summer is a really nice mix.

 

Nokian WR G2 & WR A3 like THE ONES Geedee is selling

 

Thanks - do need tyres; don't need wheels (and they are the wrong fitment)

 

Nokian WR A3 here and found them very good in the dry, wet, snow and slush. Very quiet and good on fuel also unlike some others out there