Mega Winter Tyres thread, all questions here!!

tw0nk

This will be my first year buying winter tyres, I drive a RWD, I am going to go for 4 tyres but I have just bought 2 new tyres for the back wheels a week ago.

When you are buying winter tyres and get them fitted, what do you do with the old tyres that are still good? bring them home in the back seat and store them in the shed until spring?

Also, would there be much of a discount if buying 4 winter tyres at the same time?

Mar4ix

copacetic wrote: »

That's why they swopped the tyres over to show how they worked on both cars?

sorry, my bad... didnt watch video till end.

cjmcork

so I've been thinking about winter tyres also...........I did the snow socks thing last year, and I definitely stand by them but I'd rather take my chances with the winter tyres............would you just routinely put them on first week in November and keep them on till end of February (I drive Cork / Dublin twice a week) or what would folks recommend (bear in mind I can't change a tyre!)

EPM

cjmcork wrote: »

so I've been thinking about winter tyres also...........I did the snow socks thing last year, and I definitely stand by them but I'd rather take my chances with the winter tyres............would you just routinely put them on first week in November and keep them on till end of February (I drive Cork / Dublin twice a week) or what would folks recommend (bear in mind I can't change a tyre!)

I'm probably going to buy 4 with steelies and fit them myself at the first freeze. I do about 1500km a week so once they're on they're staying on. Seriously, changing a tyre is the easiest thing in the world. I'd be worried if someone can't do a simple task like that. Try it sometime if you have a spare few minutes:)

cjmcork

EPM wrote: »

I'm probably going to buy 4 with steelies and fit them myself at the first freeze. I do about 1500km a week so once they're on they're staying on. Seriously, changing a tyre is the easiest thing in the world. I'd be worried if someone can't do a simple task like that. Try it sometime if you have a spare few minutes:)

at 1,500km per week, how long do you reckon you'll get out of them??

Shane732

EPM wrote: »

I'm probably going to buy 4 with steelies and fit them myself at the first freeze. I do about 1500km a week so once they're on they're staying on. Seriously, changing a tyre is the easiest thing in the world. I'd be worried if someone can't do a simple task like that. Try it sometime if you have a spare few minutes:)

Where are you getting the steelies? What are you driving EPM?

I'm not overly keen on putting steel wheels on my car as it'll look like sh*t for 3 - 4 months of the year!

If I spend a bit of money on a replica set of 18" alloys and get 4 decent winter tyres they should do me for a few years.

cjmcork

I'd rather a gammy looking set of steels with minimal damage in the snow than a lovely set of alloys sticking out of my car crashed into the car in front of me when we inevitably run out of salt!

EPM

Shane732 wrote: »

Where are you getting the steelies? What are you driving EPM?

I'm not overly keen on putting steel wheels on my car as it'll look like sh*t for 3 - 4 months of the year!

If I spend a bit of money on a replica set of 18" alloys and get 4 decent winter tyres they should do me for a few years.

I have them lined up already from a garage (they have a few spares that will fit). My spare is a 16 so they will do fine covering the breaks. It's a vrs but I think the 18s that are on it currently are too big for winter tyres really. I like the idea of getting them supplied and fitted with steelies though - would save the hassle taking them to be fitted.

EPM

cjmcork wrote: »

at 1,500km per week, how long do you reckon you'll get out of them??

How long is a piece of string? I'll be buying tyres I haven't used before. Currently have 30k km on my present tyres and there's another 5-6k left in those. If I got the winter out of them I think they would be worth the investment.

Anan1

cjmcork wrote: »

would you just routinely put them on first week in November and keep them on till end of February (I drive Cork / Dublin twice a week) or what would folks recommend (bear in mind I can't change a tyre!)

That's what I did, anyway.

rameire

ive been looking for winters for the last month.
looking to get new summers, winters and a set of steel rims for the winters.
bloody impossible, unless i go directly to a car dealer garage, where of course the prices will be slightly more than i want to pay,

so after doing some more digging around was told that duffys car scrap yard will prob have steelies and there is a garage in tallaght that has a sister garage in dublin that has winters and will be getting more in.

but i also found walkingstown tyres, they have a good few part worn winters and alloys, so will prob get the wheels from there.
walkingstown tyres are also on adverts.ie

Anan1

rameire wrote: »

ive been looking for winters for the last month.
looking to get new summers, winters and a set of steel rims for the winters.
bloody impossible, unless i go directly to a car dealer garage, where of course the prices will be slightly more than i want to pay,

so after doing some more digging around was told that duffys car scrap yard will prob have steelies and there is a garage in tallaght that has a sister garage in dublin that has winters and will be getting more in.

but i also found walkingstown tyres, they have a good few part worn winters and alloys, so will prob get the wheels from there.
walkingstown tyres are also on adverts.ie

I'd order the winter tyres online, and get a spare set of wheels off adverts or the like.

Riskymove

http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/uk/en/continental/tyres_for_life/themes/tyre-information/winter-tyres-misconception-en.html

Matt Simis

Fixed your link!:
"'Winter Tyres' - misconception? "
http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/uk/en/continental/tyres_for_life/themes/tyre-information/winter-tyres-misconception-en.html

Mr Benevolent

Hmm, I wonder if a pair of partworns might be available somewhere.

gooner99

I've been keeping an eye on winter tyres and summer is the time to buy,look to buy this month or next if possible.any later and they will rocket and wait till the snow starts and it will be a right rip off.

I was going to source some steels and a good set of tyres from eiretyres.decided on michelins purely cause they are meant to have the best wear and was hoping they would last a good few winters, as I plan to keep the same car. I also considered dunlop , continental , goodyear , vredestein and nokian. There are others too, if you check out this website you can see which ones did best in recent tests.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk

Anyway the steels and tyres were coming in at 480 - 520 euro on eiretyres, so decided to see how much I could get them for at a scrapie. Rang around and either they didn't have any or were looking for 40 euro a wheel.mad when you consider vw quoted me 63 euro a wheel new for my size r15/195/65. i'd say the scrapies may be hoarding them for when the snow comes.rang a few vw dealers to see if they had any that were taking off to fit alloys and in the end got a brand new set of 4 from a skoda dealer for 120 euro. the guy i normally buy new tyres from also does part worns from germany and has some dunlops with very little wear and will do a set of 4 for 140 euro. they should do a few years hopefully. he is also waiting for a container full in for the coming winter. so all in all a pretty decent deal.

two things i found on my research to keep in mind when going this route.

1. be careful that the wheel is right for your car. keep a eye out for the ET number usually etched on the wheel, which is the wheel offset.if it's wrong it could cause problems. mine was ET47 and I nearly bought some with ET37 from a passat. You can get away with a small difference, but best to be sure.check this website, as it explains it better.

http://www.ehow.com/about_5526131_wheel-offsets-explained.html

2. even though there is legal thread left, winter tyres are not great once they get below 4mm.

hope this helps someone

slimjimmc

This is my experience of winter tyres.
Do about 400km per week, sometimes more. Put a full set of Dunlop SP WINTER SPORT 3D on early last Dec and the difference was instant. Amazing grip compared to the all weather tyres (granted they were down to 3mm), all that twitching and sliding on snowy roads disappeared and the car was far more sure-footed on snow.
I needed new tyres anyway and was curious to see how winters would wear in warmer weather so kept them on, and still drive on them to this day.

Found they had decent grip in all weather including the few odd hot days we had. They're especially good in rain, though steering less precise due to blocky M+S tread pattern and few radial sipes. I was surprised to find them quieter than the old all-weathers despite being M+S.

When new they had a tread depth of 8mm, currently the front tyres (fwd) are down to 7mm after approx 15,000 km (10,000miles) in 9mths and I've been lazy about rotating them . That's a wear rate of about 1.1mm p.a. so I reckon they still be good for another winter or two at which stage I'll probably have moved to a different car.:)

CiniO

slimjimmc wrote: »

When new they had a tread depth of 8mm, currently the front tyres (fwd) are down to 7mm after approx 15,000 km (10,000miles) in 9mths and I've been lazy about rotating them . That's a wear rate of about 1.1mm p.a. so I reckon they still be good for another winter or two at which stage I'll probably have moved to a different car.:)

Seems to be unbelievable that for 15k kms it wore down only by 1mm.
Maybe we drive on different roads, but front tyres on my Bravo, after about 12k kms from 8mm are down to about 1.5 now. Rear are about 4.5mm left.
These were summer tyres.

gooner99

slimjimmc wrote: »

This is my experience of winter tyres.
Do about 400km per week, sometimes more. Put a full set of Dunlop SP WINTER SPORT 3D on early last Dec and the difference was instant. Amazing grip compared to the all weather tyres (granted they were down to 3mm), all that twitching and sliding on snowy roads disappeared and the car was far more sure-footed on snow.
I needed new tyres anyway and was curious to see how winters would wear in warmer weather so kept them on, and still drive on them to this day.

Found they had decent grip in all weather including the few odd hot days we had. They're especially good in rain, though steering less precise due to blocky M+S tread pattern and few radial sipes. I was surprised to find them quieter than the old all-weathers despite being M+S.

When new they had a tread depth of 8mm, currently the front tyres (fwd) are down to 7mm after approx 15,000 km (10,000miles) in 9mths and I've been lazy about rotating them . That's a wear rate of about 1.1mm p.a. so I reckon they still be good for another winter or two at which stage I'll probably have moved to a different car.:)

Truly amazin wear,even Michelin energy savers couldn't get close to that. Michelin Alpin winters are said to have the best wearing winters and lowest fuel consumption. The guy that is selling part worns said he had all brands last season, but the ones that he got the best feedback on were the Dunlop SP WINTER SPORT 3D, which I will be getting shortly. He said the grip was fantastic and that like you a lot of people left them on all year and are only taking them off now, he didn't say why but I would think it's wear (Donegal roads would be pretty sore on tyres).He said that there were no bad reports with them in warmer weather (but then again how many days was it above the mid teens here). So I was thinking that if you don't do a lot of millage an option may be to run them all year round (if our moderate summer temperatures this year are repeated) and even on the worst wear 2 sets per year would do, costing approx €280 per year for part worns. I might do this on my wifes car when she needs tyres again. For me the spare rims worked best, as I intend to keep the Golf for another few years, and will probably buy another similar VAG car anyway.

Anyone know what the story is with insurance companies and winter tyres. I would have thought all year round use could be a grey area, but what about winter use, is there anything set in stone?

I'm sure it's all fine and dandy until you have an accident.

Matt Simis

CiniO wrote: »

Seems to be unbelievable that for 15k kms it wore down only by 1mm.
Maybe we drive on different roads, but front tyres on my Bravo, after about 12k kms from 8mm are down to about 1.5 now. Rear are about 4.5mm left.
These were summer tyres.

Yes is a little odd. Maybe they were 10mm when new like Winters usually are.. that would "correct" the figures..

slimjimmc

Matt Simis wrote: »

Yes is a little odd. Maybe they were 10mm when new like Winters usually are.. that would "correct" the figures..

I'm fairly confident they had 8mm, I remember measuring them a few weeks after fitting and I'm using the very same tyre gauge. Drive smooth new motorway of the 90% time. I was expecting high wear and adjusted my driving style according, I go around roundabouts a lot slower (can really feel the tyres scrubbing otherwise), take tight corners more gently and avoid hard accelerating/braking. I'm sure all that has helped no end. Perhaps they'll wear a lot quick now the 'hard crust' is worn off.

cjmcork

so I haven't a clue what I should be looking for...........I'm currently on 205/55/r16 alloys, what should I buy as regards winters?

gooner99

cjmcork wrote: »

so I haven't a clue what I should be looking for...........I'm currently on 205/55/r16 alloys, what should I buy as regards winters?

I found this website to be a great help http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk.They have a lot of the main European tests translated to English.Tops seem to be Dunlop, Continental, Goodyear, Nokian, etc.. One report says that when it comes to winter tyres the big brands have the edge. But apparnetly even middle branded winter are good too, when compared to any summer tyre. I was going to go with Michelin as they are said to have the best wear and lowest rolling resistance, but now it looks like I will be getting part worn Dunlops. I'd say too it depends on whether you will take them off at the end of the winter or leave them on till they are worn. Nokian for example make the WR-G2 which is sold as a winter tyre in Europe and as an all weather in the US and Canada. They seem to perform well all year round.

cjmcork

so just wanted to see what people in the know think of this.............have located steels to put the winters on...........spoke with 2 companies today about the winters, my local guy said the UniRoyals are the job, and another crowd said that the Dunlop Winters 3d are the best, both will fit for me........I really want them for the snow (as opposed to the rain), want to be able to drive in the snow........would welcome any feedback

Anan1

cjmcork wrote: »

so just wanted to see what people in the know think of this.............have located steels to put the winters on...........spoke with 2 companies today about the winters, my local guy said the UniRoyals are the job, and another crowd said that the Dunlop Winters 3d are the best, both will fit for me........I really want them for the snow (as opposed to the rain), want to be able to drive in the snow........would welcome any feedback

When I read up on it last year the impression I got was that the 3Ds were the best. I couldn't get them, and bought Michelin Alpin A4s instead - i'm very happy with them.

JJJJNR

Well you get the best of both with winter tires, they work really well in the rain and snow. The best way I found to match is check the current rating of your tires, and match them up on a site like eirtyres.com and get them delivered to you and fitted by a local tire shop. These guys are only selling whatever tyre told to sell, you need to do some research yourself to find out what best suits your car.

Shane732

I've definitely decided to go with 18" alloys and winter tyres.

I'm just looking to either pick up a decent set of used genuines or a new set of replicas over the next few weeks.

I'm undecided on which tyres I'll end up going for.

Mr Benevolent

I'm wondering about winter tyres for our conditions Most of the snow in my area was actually graupel, which basically welds together after a day or so and becomes solid ice. Horrible to walk on and not pleasant to drive on either. Am I wrong about this or do winter tyres provide no real advantage on what will be essentially ice? I'm fine with buying winter tyres as long as they provide a real advantage over the tyres I have on now.

Graupel:

Matt Simis

Confab wrote: »

I'm wondering about winter tyres for our conditions Most of the snow in my area was actually graupel, which basically welds together after a day or so and becomes solid ice. Horrible to walk on and not pleasant to drive on either. Am I wrong about this or do winter tyres provide no real advantage on what will be essentially ice? I'm fine with buying winter tyres as long as they provide a real advantage over the tyres I have on now.

Graupel:

If the temp is around 0 then Winters are vastly better than Summers. Sure the pack ice is much harder to drive on than proper snow, but Summers are proportionally worse on every surface at that temp as the Rubber is all wrong for it. So its a moot point.

Whats your alternative to Winters anyhow? :pac:
Regardless, as the Ice Rink video from last year showed Winters are much better on Ice than summers, even without the Studs.

Mr Benevolent

Matt Simis wrote: »

Whats your alternative to Winters anyhow? :pac: