Winter tyres

[stripped fred]

I replaced the rear tyres on my S type with Goodyear Vector 4 season tyres, gen 1. It was off the road last winter being fixed so didn't get to try them in really cold weather. Seem to work okay in normal conditions. Have worn well. A bit noisier but not really noticeable. Still easy to get the back end out on roundabouts in wet weather but only when I want to not when the car wants to! I will be getting all seasons for the front when they need changing.

[bigfella2]

I have never run winter tyres but I remember years ago reading somewhere that you were supposed to tell your insurance if you ran winter tyres as it was classed as a modification as you had altered your car from factory spec. Or is this bullshit?

[Noel Tidybeard]

king meiler winter tact wt84 for 3 years on the spaceship

https://www.king-meiler.com/en/winter-tyres/product-details/wt84

 

yes they are retreads with H speed rating!

[Dj_efk]

Buy the best set of all seasons you can afford. You won’t regret it.

 

tyrereviews.com has the article you need. I’m a Michelin fanboi so Crossclimate + is my pick, the CC2 has just been released if you can find a set too.

[JimH]

9 hours ago, bigfella2 said:

I have never run winter tyres but I remember years ago reading somewhere that you were supposed to tell your insurance if you ran winter tyres as it was classed as a modification as you had altered your car from factory spec. Or is this bullshit?

Of course it isn't bullshit. Just as you have to inform your insurance company if you fit a set of tyres different to the ones the car rolled out the showroom on.

[stripped fred]

On 10/2/2021 at 8:29 AM, JimH said:

Of course it isn't bullshit. Just as you have to inform your insurance company if you fit a set of tyres different to the ones the car rolled out the showroom on.

You don't have to inform them.

https://www.abi.org.uk/products-and-issues/choosing-the-right-insurance/motor-insurance/winter-tyres/

[myglaren]

I watched a YouTube video concerning Sailun winter tyres and was reasonably impressed - naturally they would show anything detrimental but no different to other tyre makers there.

I did try to get some chucked on but the tyre fitters claimed not to know of them - despite a huge poster advertising them on the wall of the bay.

Bought a set - but not winter tyres - and found them to be the best tyres I have had, at any price.  Got them from Camskill.

The very strange thing was that they have never needed balancing - Citroen so the fitter, my usual garage, couldn't balance them.  Turned out they didn't need it and have been better than any previous tyres.

Year before last I had either mud and snow or all seasons fitted, didn't expect them to last but when the C5 met it's maker they were as good as new, unusual as I have had to replace tyres annually, prior to every MOT.

Ditchfinders currently on the Civic, new when I bought it.  Will replace with Sailun when the time comes, which may be soon although they still look OK.  Car has only done 7,250 miles since I bought it though 1500 this month.

Just seen this regarding tyres - general, not winter though.

Northern Echo.

[fraser.innes.3]

If... you make it back based on some people’s opinion of budget tyres. I’ve heard it said in here that it’s almost a Russian Roulette driving in the wet on budgets. It’s a miracle half of us haven’t been killed riding about on Linglongs. 

These are W rated tyres, they seemed ok at 130 on the M6 yesterday. Also had very good grip during the monsoons while travelling yesterday.

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[Flat4]

On 10/1/2021 at 9:27 PM, JJ0063 said:

Thanks for the replies guys.

Ive seen these on the book, just can’t decide whether to or not.

 

 

 

I had these on for 1 winter and I wouldn't use them again. Wet grip was utterly shocking, steering response was poor and they wore out quicker than any other winter tyre I've used.

I used to swap between summer and winter sets before the Cross Climates came out. Now most of the fleet are wearing them, apart from the Forester which has Bridgestone's version on it. Weather Controls. However, I will be switching back over to summer tyres next year when the temperatures get consistently over 7 degrees as summer tyre technology has also moved on massively and wet stopping distances on something decent like a Michelin Primacy 4 or Continental Premium Contact 6 are significantly shorter than their all season counterparts, at those temperatures.

[JJ0063]

Cheers for all the replies guys. I had no idea about them so it’s been useful reading these.

It’s a difficult one as the car is running a fair amount of power so in the ‘normal’ climate it’s running a set of fairly decent Advans which seem to work well, I think to be honest I might just run those until they’re in need of replacement then look at my options then. Perhaps for this winter I’ll just use it as a last resort now I’ve got the Disco with all terrains fitted. 

[martc]

Last minute advice, ditch the tyres and get one of these -

A Russian built TTM-1901 snowmobile with heated cab and seating for 4; 2 inside the cab and 2 outside the cab. It would seem that some are still more equal than others.

[warch]

My 2wd Quashqai doesn’t just use winter tyres it uses M&S tyres.

It did snow quite a lot last winter but I use the car off road and off tarmac all the time and they seem to cope rather well. No idea whether normal summer tyres would be just as good though but they seem to last quite well and have nice driving characteristics (Pirellis).

[Cento16v]

Had Goodyear Vector 4 Season Gen 2 on the Peugeot and they were great.

The Crossclimates on the V60 are worn out now almost so I'll replace them with 4 of those, they're great tyres, but not cheap.

Won't bother with the Jag, if it snows 285 30 20s aren't going to be great regardless 😂

[barefoot]

On 10/3/2021 at 9:23 AM, stripped fred said:

You don't have to inform them.

https://www.abi.org.uk/products-and-issues/choosing-the-right-insurance/motor-insurance/winter-tyres/

Stephen the manky old silver car came from the VW with HR rated tyres - winter tyres are TR - which are slower, something like 106mph as opposed to 130mph. It's all absolute bollocks, but technically I'm running on lower rated tyres than specified. I'm the sort of twat (who worked in insurance) that actually sends a picture to his insurance company when he adds a new sticker to the sticker-bombed back window of Oliver the orange car. The fucker's will not catch me out for non-declaration. I even still declare being refused insurance back in 1994 by Direct Line when I replaced a 1300 Cavalier with Walter the white car. You'll never beat insurance companies, so play them at their own silly games.

[iainrcz]

I've never bothered.

[cort1977]

On 10/2/2021 at 8:29 AM, JimH said:

Of course it isn't bullshit. Just as you have to inform your insurance company if you fit a set of tyres different to the ones the car rolled out the showroom on.

You joke but I had some fucking tube telling a whole first aid course of about 30 people that was true recently. Twat wouldn't back down even when I sent him (and everyone) that link.

I can't abide people spreading that kind of BS.

[jon.k]

Another vote for cross climates. I've had them on four cars now and they do work very well all year. 

[Cento16v]

Just bought 4 Bridgestone Weather Control A005 EVOs in 235 45 17 to fit to the V60.

Not many tests out for it in car sizes yet, but I thought I'd have a change from Crossclimates or Vector 4 Seasons.

Only 104 quid a tyre including delivery from Oponeo, should be here later this week so I'll get them fit and see how they are!

[Schaefft]

Definitely will although with my useage I usually only get part worns for a single season. They make all the difference, not only in snow (but there particularly). I feel like driving a RWD car on non-winter tires in icey conditions is close to suicide.

[martc]

Alternatively -

Buran snowmobile, USSR, 1980s

[Flat4]

On 11/8/2021 at 4:01 PM, Cento16v said:

Just bought 4 Bridgestone Weather Control A005 EVOs in 235 45 17 to fit to the V60.

Not many tests out for it in car sizes yet, but I thought I'd have a change from Crossclimates or Vector 4 Seasons.

Only 104 quid a tyre including delivery from Oponeo, should be here later this week so I'll get them fit and see how they are!

I find them stickier than the Cross Climates but noisier and less feedback. I'd still buy them again for the grip tho, and they do work on snow, despite reviews to the contrary.

[horriblemercedes]

 

Winter steelies went on yesterday. Didn't use the trims. I could add them later but I think I'll keep the bare steels. Goodyear Ultragrip something or other. I haven't had this car for a winter yet so I'll see how it goes.

 

PS, with the jack and axle stand away, it did drop back to a normal height!

PPS, rear wheel is not attached and is standing on the ground. It doesn't have the rear suspension articulation of a rock crawler

[Cento16v]

49 minutes ago, Flat4 said:

I find them stickier than the Cross Climates but noisier and less feedback. I'd still buy them again for the grip tho, and they do work on snow, despite reviews to the contrary.

Hopefully they will come this week so I can get them on this weekend, the Evo is apparently better than the old 005 on Snow, but we will see! 

Or, I will if it ever does actually snow. 

[Jack D]

Shoved a set of Michelin cross climate + on the old Mercedes this week.  Shit me they’re quiet!  
Haven’t noticed any change in grip levels from the old Dunlop blu-response.   

 

Perhaps less importantly they smell superb.  

[captain_70s]

On 10/1/2021 at 1:54 PM, colino said:

Reality though is that the only sure fire guarantee for us to have a mild winter, is for me to go to the expense of putting winters on to the main two cars.

Yup, I ran my old Dolly 1850 on summers one winter and it was constant blizzards, the car drove like a bar of soap on ice.

Bought a set of winters for the following year and it it was unreasonably mild. 

[fraser.innes.3]

The Isuzu rodeo I have just bought has 4 new m+s on it, so the BMW got 4 new Michelin PS4's instead. It will be in the workshop hiding from winter weather when required.

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[horriblemercedes]

4 minutes ago, fraser.innes.3 said:

The Isuzu rodeo I have just bought has 4 new m+s on it, so the BMW got 4 new Michelin PS4's instead. It will be in the workshop hiding from winter weather when required.

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Any tyre can have M+S written on it. It doesn't really make it a winter or mud tyre. There's no standard for it

[Spurious]

There's a good chance if it's an All terrain 4wd tyre with M&S on it, it's probably got a 3 peak winter tyre symbol on it too.

[horriblemercedes]

2 minutes ago, Spurious said:

There's a good chance if it's an All terrain 4wd tyre with M&S on it, it's probably got a 3 peak winter tyre symbol on it too.

It's also true though that plenty don't. It's always worth checking if the 3PMSF symbol is there. I don't even take any notice of M+S - it could just be a matter of opinion without any kind of standard.

It's also true that some capable tyres don't have 3PMSF on them because the manufacturer didn't want to pay for the tests. I'd rather just buy some with it

[wuvvum]

I've just bagged a cheap part worn Hankook winter tyre to replace the barely legal nearside front tyre on the Scénic.  The offside front already has a reasonable winter tyre on it, so hopefully if we do get any snow I'll be able to go and stop a bit better than I otherwise would.

Having said that, the winter tyres I had on the front of the Rover of Doom a few years back were hopeless.  Although the ones I had on the Rover 45 were great - with those and the LSD it was an absolute beast in the snow.