AZURES3 Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 With the recent weather and what seem like wetter winters, it does make sense to look at winter tyres for use October to April. I believe this is the law in many coutries ? Been looking at options these 2 look good. mytyres.co.uk - Details: Vredestein Wintrac xtreme 225/40 R18 92W XL mytyres.co.uk - Details: Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 225/40 R18 92W EL with rim protection ridge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 All very good and will make hell of a difference in the wet/ice/snow.. but for the one week of the year we get conditions like this I think the expense of a spare set and the fact that you need to change them over will put most people off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZURES3 Posted December 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 All very good and will make hell of a difference in the wet/ice/snow..but for the one week of the year we get conditions like this I think the expense of a spare set and the fact that you need to change them over will put most people off. I agree about the snow for a week etc and a ball ache to keep changing but winters have been quite wet recently so you could leave them on for 3months + a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tipex Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 Certainly doesn't seem worth the effort for me on the south coast, Temp doesn't drop below 7c for more than a couple of weeks a year normally, and snow/ice is pretty rare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m4ttm4son Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 What about sticking them on a set of steels and keeping them in the garage? Hardly any hassle at all if we get a few weeks like this and will protect your alloys from hidden kerbs Do tyres degrade much if they're kept stored? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZURES3 Posted December 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 What about sticking them on a set of steels and keeping them in the garage? Hardly any hassle at all if we get a few weeks like this and will protect your alloys from hidden kerbs Do tyres degrade much if they're kept stored? Great idea and as you say if you do have a slip and hit a kerb you wont care. As long as they are kept inflated they last 3-5 years apparently. I would put them in the roofspace of my garage. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemod Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 What about sticking them on a set of steels and keeping them in the garage? Hardly any hassle at all if we get a few weeks like this and will protect your alloys from hidden kerbs Do tyres degrade much if they're kept stored? I have a mate does that, the Vredestein ones are fine in the dry and wet and superb in the ice and snow, he sticks them on about middle of December and takes them off in February. He does live up a large hill in the country so needs them. Usually manages three years out of a set.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bircham Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 he other alternative are UHP all season tyres - the yanks use them all the time in places that get wet and or snowy conditions. I have these on my A8: Pirelli PZero Nero M&S Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisan Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 Been looking at options these 2 look good. mytyres.co.uk - Details: Vredestein Wintrac xtreme 225/40 R18 92W XL mytyres.co.uk - Details: Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 225/40 R18 92W EL with rim protection ridge The Wintrac xtreme might be a bit overkill for the UK unless you're in the highlands. I've just put some Nokian WR G2 (from mytyres.co.uk) on my quattro which is a more general purpose winter tyre - the results are outstanding. Traction and braking is vastly improved over the Pilot Sports that were on. On my wife's Kia, I've gone for Vredestein Quatrac 3. Again, I can't believe the difference they make. Traction and stopping ability is quite superb. These were from camskill.co.uk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simkna Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 Pirelli PZero Nero M&S Jon In best husky / sexy voice... These aren't just tyres... they're M&S tyres. Seriously though, winter tyres really do make one hell of a difference. Si. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 Snow tyres are almost a must here with most people in Toronto with 2 wheel drive cars running a second set of wheels / tyres. Lots of garages offer to store tyres out of season as a service but from what I've heard / seen from this winter in the UK YOU would be fine but your not going to be able to get anywhere with all the others on normal tyres ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisan Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 It's a valid point, but I planned to put some winter tyres on this time. The last bout of snow (in February) - my car was awful. Setting off was OK (quattro), but braking down hills was nonexistent on the Pilot Sports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemod Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 (edited) I bought a set of these back in September, Snow Socks, and they are superb. My road is pretty impassable at the moment and the Postman and Parcelforce man failed to get up my lane. Put these on today as I left the nicely salted dual carriagway and couldn't believe the grip thay give on a snow packed road. The only issue I had was that if you hit the brakes to hard you have so much grip on the front compared to the back that the rears lock up quickly and it tries to come round to meet you.. Fine if you brake slowly.. Edited December 23, 2009 by mikemod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 The last bout of snow (in February) - my car was awful. Setting off was OK (quattro), but braking down hills was nonexistent on the Pilot Sports. That's why you use engine braking and gears to slow you down properly. Even a quattro with Tiptronic can slow down rapidly using the gears and no brakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frodo Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 Got to agree engine breaking is a better idea than hitting the brakes. Sometimes I've misjudged it a little this week going down hills but then I've just "driven" down the hill so I can ease off and the engine break takes over again. If anyone hasn't seen Ice Road Truckers on one of the Discovery / History channels I highly recommend it. Very impressive driving a huge truck and load across ice rivers / sea / road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Man Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 What about sticking them on a set of steels and keeping them in the garage? Hardly any hassle at all if we get a few weeks like this and will protect your alloys from hidden kerbs Do tyres degrade much if they're kept stored? A few years ago I use to regularly drive down to the Alps.....and this is exactly what I did.....and when push comes to shove our shiny expensive alloys are covered is sh*t....well road grime....from Oct/Nov to March anyway.....I live on Anglesey and it hardly ever snows here...but the Mountains of Snowdonia are covered in the stuff.....On a clear night with a full or half Moon the snow covered mountains look stunning...anyway; back on topic.My experience with winter tyres has always made me believe their advantages should be actively promoted by the Government....I don`t think we have the climate to make it a legal requirement.....but the public at large should be made aware that these tyres exist and that they do make driving in adverse conditions a lot safer...their not perfect...but by God:o they offer so much more grip than standard rubber(and yes I mean grip...at least on snow) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figure11 Posted December 25, 2009 Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 I'm sold on winter tyres. Just about to move up to Scotland to work so I picked these up from fleabay. Vredestein Sportrac2 Going to shove them on the 8 on some cheap alloys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 I think only studs would have worked here 7MPRmOUxRMY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 And the end result. Ooops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tipex Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 Fecking idiots, why would you bail out like that?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patently Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 Fecking idiots, why would you bail out like that?? I think the reason was that, as it was, it was only a minor Youtube hit. If the car had run them over, then it would have hit the bigtime? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Watson Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 It the law here too. Majority of people have a set of steel wheels so they can swap themselves or get them done quickly at a garage. The winter tyres are not normally the same size, usually the steels are 1 inch smaller, tyres have a higher profile and a lower speed rating. I really don't mind swapping them, its amazing how long the summer tyres last when you only do 10k a year and about 60% of that time is on summer tyres. Most new/used cars come with a set of winter wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCab Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 From 23/12/09: All very good and will make hell of a difference in the wet/ice/snow..but for the one week of the year we get conditions like this I think the expense of a spare set and the fact that you need to change them over will put most people off. Dave for the "Michael Fish of TSN" award, 2010! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisg Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 apparently the increased grip is noticeable from about 8c and below, even in the wet. There are many winter days where that applies so perhaps it is worth it as you could be running them for 3+ momths? If you only have 2wd it must be worth it ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCab Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 So, any recommendations for winter tyres? We drive up to and then around the Lakes fortnightly or monthly and intend to continue doing so, short of some kind of major Day After Tomorrow scenario, so I need something which is OK for pelting up the motorway for 4-5 hours on the one hand, and driving safely on slush and snow on the other. This is as much for next year as for the current, er, episode. I gather from the local fitter that Nokian is a budget brand in general and given that it will usually take me high motorway mileage to get to the snowy parts (other than right now), I don't want something that will wear out easily. So I was thinking of Dunlop Winter Sport 3Ds or Pilot Alpin PA3s. Anyone have experience with these? Also, after fitting, I assume the existing tyres will lob easily enough in the back seat (all 4 of them) to bring home to stick in the attic? I don't have a garage, driveway, or any form of DIY stuff for fooling about with wheels, so off to the fitter it will be, each winter and spring... any problem with this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now