Winter tyres

BostonB

What model Continentals are they? I got a cheap set of tyres on our 2nd car to pass the NCT, about a year ago, and they are truely dire even in the summer. Couldn't find a branded tyre in stock anywhere in dublin at the time. But really regret it now. Want to replace them with a better all round tyre.

I suspect this kinda bad weather is going to more common than it has been in the past though.

Seán_B

I put semperit winter grip tyres on a VW Golf just before the worst of the weather last year and the difference was night and day. I ran them all year because the type I got matched all seasons up to around 15C. IMO taking care during the few months of summer and having superior grip in all conditions for 6 months or more was worth it.

This year, I put bridgestone winter tyres on the girlfriend's car and the reassurance it has given her this week has been worth it alone.

Our temps during winter are getting lower and lower. If you need to go off the main roads then IMO winter tyres are a must.

But, no amount of grip will save you if you don't understand how a car behaves in these conditions. The amount of 4x4 I've seen this week who obviously think 4 wheel drives improve their braking performance is staggering!

Matt Simis

samsemtex wrote: »

Well considering the cheapest set of winter tyres i can find for my car are €710 + fitting its not always that easy. I cant afford to buy them at that price. Summer tyres wouldnt even cost half of that.

That sounds way OTT. Also you are paying a 100% premium for Winters over summers? Where are you getting your prices from!? What size are you looking at?

I put 4x part worn Goodyears Winters on my S8 for total of EUR200. How did I manage this?

4x 17" Alloys - free as I had them sitting around. You can pick up 16 or 17" Alloys cheap real easy
4x 17" Part Worn Good years = EUR200 fitted at AutoDepot
Whatever peoples hang ups are on part-worn tires in general, part-worn Winters will literally run rings around the most expensive brand new Summers.

What size are you looking at for Winter tyres? Even though I have 18" Winters on my 850CSi, I wouldnt bother looking for them generally, just get 17". Even new, you can pick up a cheap set (still vastly better than premium Summers) for a lot less than EUR710 (plus fitting).

keithclancy wrote: »

From Personal experience, my All Year Continentals are far better than my Vredestein Snowtracs when its around 0, also the Vredesteins are rubbish on corners and in the wet in comparison.
When you get to about -10 to -15 the Winter tyres are a little better. The Tread depth only really makes a difference if theres an inch or so of snow, when it turns into slush the Winters become rubbish.

Bizarre, you are the only person I have ever seen with this experience. From comparing 4 sets of Winters and 1 set of All Seasons, all I can say is either there is something wrong with those Vredestein Winters (Tire pressure?) or they are crap. Several others here tried All Seasons and they are quite inferior to Winters at +5 and below, as they should be, thats not what they are for.

Anan1

I'm guessing samsemtex is pricing something like 18" performance winters which, as you say, are completely OTT. I paid €600 for four new 215/60 R16H winters - i'd consider this expensive. That said, i've seen tyres in this size priced at up to €210ea online since demand has risen.

keithclancy

Matt Simis wrote: »

That sounds way OTT. Also you are paying a 100% premium for Winters over summers? Where are you getting your prices from!? What size are you looking at?

I put 4x part worn Goodyears Winters on my S8 for total of EUR200. How did I manage this?

4x 17" Alloys - free as I had them sitting around. You can pick up 16 or 17" Alloys cheap real easy
4x 17" Part Worn Good years = EUR200 fitted at AutoDepot
Whatever peoples hang ups are on part-worn tires in general, part-worn Winters will literally run rings around the most expensive brand new Summers.

What size are you looking at for Winter tyres? Even though I have 18" Winters on my 850CSi, I wouldnt bother looking for them generally, just get 17". Even new, you can pick up a cheap set (still vastly better than premium Summers) for a lot less than EUR710 (plus fitting).


Bizarre, you are the only person I have ever seen with this experience. From comparing 4 sets of Winters and 1 set of All Seasons, all I can say is either there is something wrong with those Vredestein Winters (Tire pressure?) or they are crap. Several others here tried All Seasons and they are quite inferior to Winters at +5 and below, as they should be, thats not what they are for.

Nope, all the lads here in work say the same.
Most stick with the All years, only the Lease cars get the Winters as part of the contract

Its not Cold enough this far north, In the south though, you would go nowhere without them, but in slush/wet the general opinion is that they suck !

Maybe its the poor road drainage on the Autobahn and their noisy as f*ck on the road. Their OK on Tarmacadam.

kennyb3

Any suggestions as to places supplying winter tyres on north side of dublin? (drumcondra to malahide region) That autodepot looks good but trying to get to tallaght after work today is a no go.

Matt Simis

keithclancy wrote: »

Nope, all the lads here in work say the same.
Most stick with the All years, only the Lease cars get the Winters as part of the contract

Its not Cold enough this far north, In the south though, you would go nowhere without them, but in slush/wet the general opinion is that they suck !

Maybe its the poor road drainage on the Autobahn and their noisy as f*ck on the road. Their OK on Tarmacadam.

AutoExpress just tested both those points (and more), noise and Wet performance and the All Seasons came out worse on both accounts vs Winters:
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/total_tyre_guide/259435/winter_tyre_test.html

They did do quite well on average though.

kennyb3

kennyb3 wrote: »

Any suggestions as to places supplying winter tyres on north side of dublin? (drumcondra to malahide region) That autodepot looks good but trying to get to tallaght after work today is a no go.

Could i also ask as to what sort of cheap alloys can be put on an E46 320D? Is there a minimum rim size?

Cheers

Tabnabs

JJJJNR wrote: »

This is why I need "winter tires"



P.S. Its still snowing..

Nope, you need chains!

The pecking order is:

4wd & chains
chains
winter tyres
autosock type
Summer tyres.


Here's a graphic to illustrate

Anan1

kennyb3 wrote: »

Could i also ask as to what sort of cheap alloys can be put on an E46 320D? Is there a minimum rim size?

Cheers

This isn't an answer to your question, but I picked up a leaflet from Joe Duffy BMW last week offering a set of new 16" BMW star spoke style 158 alloys with RFT Continental TS770/790 winter tyres for €884 for a set of four.

Anan1

Dyflin wrote: »

Nope, you need chains!

The pecking order is:

4wd & chains
chains
winter tyres
autosock type
Summer tyres.

You're assuming that all his driving will be on deep snow, whereas this is almost certainly not the case.

kennyb3

Anan1 wrote: »

This isn't an answer to your question, but I picked up a leaflet from Joe Duffy BMW last week offering a set of new 16" BMW star spoke style 158 alloys with RFT Continental TS770/790 winter tyres for €884 for a set of four.

ouch, at that price i should buy a snow mobile to get to work.

I ll have to admit im totally ill prepared and coming too late, seems evrywhere is low on winter tyres except the internet but then i have to get my hands on a set of alloys.

BostonB

What you need is remote access to the work network and stay at home!

samsemtex

kennyb3 wrote: »

ouch, at that price i should buy a snow mobile to get to work.

I ll have to admit im totally ill prepared and coming too late, seems evrywhere is low on winter tyres except the internet but then i have to get my hands on a set of alloys.

Thats pretty cheap for a set of new wheels and tyres. Even more so considering they are official BMW alloys. Its certainly not expensive anyway.

samsemtex

Matt Simis wrote: »

That sounds way OTT. Also you are paying a 100% premium for Winters over summers? Where are you getting your prices from!? What size are you looking at?

I put 4x part worn Goodyears Winters on my S8 for total of EUR200. How did I manage this?

4x 17" Alloys - free as I had them sitting around. You can pick up 16 or 17" Alloys cheap real easy
4x 17" Part Worn Good years = EUR200 fitted at AutoDepot
Whatever peoples hang ups are on part-worn tires in general, part-worn Winters will literally run rings around the most expensive brand new Summers.

What size are you looking at for Winter tyres? Even though I have 18" Winters on my 850CSi, I wouldnt bother looking for them generally, just get 17". Even new, you can pick up a cheap set (still vastly better than premium Summers) for a lot less than EUR710 (plus fitting).

Ive been looking at new tyres. Ive checked the two main sites, eiretyres and camskill. I need 215/45/R17s

I know i can get higher profile but even at that it would only save around €100. They are all a minimum of €140 per tyre.

Matt Simis

Dyflin wrote: »

4wd & chains
chains
winter tyres
autosock type
Summer tyres.

You are missing 4wd + Winters, which presumably are above Chains on a 2WD?

samsemtex wrote: »

Ive been looking at new tyres. Ive checked the two main sites, eiretyres and camskill. I need 215/45/R17s
I know i can get higher profile but even at that it would only save around €100. They are all a minimum of €140 per tyre.

Gone up alright, when I posted back in September they could be got for EUR80 a side. You should look at used/part worn or something to get you over the hump. Or a good set of All Seasons (ones that actually do well in Snow, not all do).

samsemtex

Matt Simis wrote: »

You are missing 4wd + Winters, which presumably are above Chains on a 2WD?


Gone up alright, when I posted back in September they could be got for EUR80 a side. You should look at used/part worn or something to get you over the hump. Or a good set of All Seasons (ones that actually do well in Snow, not all do).

Ah i dont think its worth it at the moment. I live on the old cork dublin road so i only have to go about half a mile in not gritted conditions and then im onto the motorway to cork which is fully gritted. I'm pretty careful and i have an idea of how to drive in these conditions so at the current prices ill just leave the summer tyres on i think.

Anan1

samsemtex wrote: »

Ive been looking at new tyres. Ive checked the two main sites, eiretyres and camskill. I need 215/45/R17s

I know i can get higher profile but even at that it would only save around €100. They are all a minimum of €140 per tyre.

I wouldn't buy winter tyres in that size full stop - they're too vulnerable to damage. I have 215/55 R17 summers and 215/60 R16 winters - if they'll fit over your brakes then i'd recommend you go for 15" winter tyres.

Stevie Dakota

Anan1 wrote: »

I wouldn't buy winter tyres in that size full stop - they're too vulnerable to damage. I have 215/55 R17 summers and 215/60 R16 winters - if they'll fit over your brakes then i'd recommend you go for 15" winter tyres.

Well I've just ordered 2 205/50 R17's, sure hope they improve things and arrive before the heatwave sets in...

pabloh999

I'm thinking about getting a set of chains for my wheels. good idea or not?

Matt Simis

pabloh999 wrote: »

I'm thinking about getting a set of chains for my wheels. good idea or not?

Nope, threads on this already. For emergency use, get some Snow Socks. For permanent all round driving, get Winter tyres.

tossy

Stevie Dakota wrote: »

Well I've just ordered 2 205/50 R17's, sure hope they improve things and arrive before the heatwave sets in...

This is the size i have on my Audi.bit narrower than the 235 summer tyre size too.Ideally i'd got for 16s but im leaving them on the car for a few months and don't want it to look crap

Id hate to be buying winter tyres in 18's!!!

Matt Simis

tossy wrote: »

Id hate to be buying winter tyres in 18's!!!

I got super lucky and picked up a pair of Fulda 18" 265s Part Worn in the height of summer for... EUR125 .. for both.. fitted. :pac:

MarkoC

Matt Simis wrote: »

I got super lucky and picked up a pair of Fulda 18" 265s Part Worn in the height of summer for... EUR125 .. for both.. fitted. :pac:

Why people still think "the bigger the better" ...
That width is same bad as the best all season 195 with tyres ... well, nearly

tossy

MarkoC wrote: »

Why people still think "the bigger the better" ...
That width is same bad as the best all season 195 with tyres ... well, nearly

the man is limited to 18s the 265 part should be a clue!,the fact of the matter is 265 winters are going to be far far superior than 265 summer tyres!

Dont be trying to poke holes where there no holes to be poked! he never said he got bigger tyres becasue he thought there was an advantage to be had!

Redisle

Where does one actually get part-worn Winters? Anyone know anywhere in Cork? Im guessing these would be much better than even brand new Summers.. especially since Im surrounded by hills..

RR2026

Hi
Any one know about 'WeissSock Anti-Skid Traction Device'. Not sure how effective they are ?
http://www.micksgarage.ie/proddetails.aspx?pid=1106779&pk=4116C

Matt Simis

MarkoC wrote: »

Why people still think "the bigger the better" ...
That width is same bad as the best all season 195 with tyres ... well, nearly

O' really? You will find an 850CSi uncontrollable with less than 265s.. infact 275s are the correct width. To reinforce this, the ABS and TC system will go haywire if the wrong width is installed. I tried 255s previously, ABS and TC intermittant problems and possible to not only loose traction but actually spin the car in 3rd gear in Summer mornings.. your suggestion that 195s on a car with 415 ft/lbs of torque would be nearly the same is, no offense, laughable.

And just to clarify, modern Winter tyres are designed to bite with their splines, you do not need to go skinny tyres. Without this tire technology advancement cars like this 8 series would be SOL in winter as you cannot put on narrower tyres (and again, control would be totally absent even if you could).

Bigus

Put a set of goodyear part worn winters on the son's 4 wd legacy. Amazing stopping grip on ice never mind get up an go through snow. Set up for winter now no stopping us .... except for ground clearance, !

MarkoC

Matt Simis wrote: »

...................... no offense, laughable.

Rally cars have more power and they run even narrower tyres, just think and make some research before you laugh again
Im not saying you should go for 195 but as narrow as possible for particular car.

Myth: Wide tires provide better traction under all weather conditions. In fact, putting oversize snow tires on a car delivers better snow traction.
Fact: The opposite is actually true. Wide tires tend to "float" on deep snow, and the tread lugs never have a chance to "dig" through to the road surface to gain traction. Narrow tires are a better option in deep snow. The tire acts similarly to a knife cutting through butter; the blade works best when using the narrow edge to push through the butter rather than the wide flat side of the blade.