Mega Winter Tyres thread, all questions here!!

opinion guy

Thanks Matt appreciate that!!!

Matt Simis wrote: »

I have 20mm spacers on my BMW, thats a negative 20mm adjustment to Offset/ET!

So that means you're wheels are pushed out 20mm ?

I think what I'm looking at shoudl be ok then - its a 1 inch smaller diameter rim with a narrower tire and a -7 ET.

Simple, most manuals cover a range of cars. Most car models have 5-20 wheel choices. Each wheel may be different width, offset, size etc. So all you need to do is know what you have (stamped on the wheel) to change.

I would still like to have a table of data in an appendix or something to tell me all this - surely not that hard ? I did look on one of my wheels and could find no markings..but then this one was repaired so its possibly been obscured

Damie

Maybe someone can give me advice, I've a e46 320CD with 18's(Front 225/40/18..Back 255/35/18). I need to get winters for it because its fairly giddy when its barely wet! I've no idea where to start, any advice is appreciated...Cheers....

Matt Simis

Damie wrote: »

Maybe someone can give me advice, I've a e46 320CD with 18's(Front 225/40/18..Back 255/35/18). I need to get winters for it because its fairly giddy when its barely wet! I've no idea where to start, any advice is appreciated...Cheers....

Get a set of 17" BMW alloys and something like 225-45-17 Winters (roughly something like that). On the wheels, avoid E39 and X5 BMW wheels as they have different centre bores.

kennyb3

Matt Simis wrote: »

Get a set of 17" BMW alloys and something like 225-45-17 Winters (roughly something like that). On the wheels, avoid E39 and X5 BMW wheels as they have different centre bores.

+1, also maybe check your door and see can you go down to 16'. I ve an e46 myself and went from 17's in summers to 16's in winters as the cost saving when buying is significant.

They are worth every penny, mine arrived half way through last years snow and from going to not being able to move my car twice to get home from work (and having to get a lift) to being the only vehicle bar 4*4's to be able to get out of my estate (up a decent hill) was great. The look on the neighbours faces as i drove out no hassle was priceless.

Not only will it get you moving but braking and handling is hugely improved in my experience.

opinion guy

So it seems Audi are offering a deal on winters. At least in UK:

http://www.audi.co.uk/owners-area/winter-tyres.html

Edit:
Details from last years Audi Winter Tyres program:
http://pooleaudi.blogspot.com/2010/09/new-winter-wheel-and-tyre-programme.html

Errr.....those are actually decent prices for new OEM alloys and top of the range winter tyres.

PAULWATSON

I'm really rich, therefore i'll get new "winter tyres" just to feel nice and smug.

cjmcork

49801 wrote: »

Hi cjmcork,
pm sent
also curious are you planning on hub caps?
fellow mondeo owner here:D

not sure if i'll get hub caps - might have a look and see what's around, have to buy a little outside boxy yoke to store them for the summer..........argos here I come!:D

Damie

Matt Simis wrote: »

Get a set of 17" BMW alloys and something like 225-45-17 Winters (roughly something like that). On the wheels, avoid E39 and X5 BMW wheels as they have different centre bores.

I have a set of these that could probably do with a refurb, any ideas what they are worth?

Would probably trade these in for a smaller set with winters....

Cheers for the info

opinion guy

PAULWATSON wrote: »

I'm really rich, therefore i'll get new "winter tyres" just to feel nice and smug.

Good man. We need people like you to keep the economy on life support. Well done!!!

E39MSport

opinion guy wrote: »

Good man. We need people like you to keep the economy on life support. Well done!!!

Mine are fur lined

cjmcork

E39MSport wrote: »

Mine are fur lined

to be honest, I probably won't even use mine, I could use the helicopter.....:p

rameire

Went to walkinstown tyres today. Got my summers. Partworn 35 a corner. 2 are dunlop and 2 are event. Look pretty good. He has loads of winters. 35 a pop. Will be going back on e I get rims.

cjmcork

rameire wrote: »

Will be going back on e I get rims.

that's nice, but you shouldn't drive while on drugs

gooner99

Well finally got my winters (r15/195/65) fitted to my steels today.parts worns, 2x dunlop winter sport M2 and 2x dunlop winter sport M3. They are the performance range from dunlop.get pretty good reports.altough i read that they have been replaced by 3D in many sizes. Anyway cost was €120 for the steels (brand new,used them for summers and put the winters on my current set) and €100 for the winter tyres fitted.so €220 total.bought a set of new summers at the same time,so maybe i got the winters a bit cheaper,as they normally come in at €30-35.

rameire

gooner99 wrote: »

Well finally got my winters (r15/195/65) fitted to my steels today.parts worns, 2x dunlop winter sport M2 and 2x dunlop winter sport M3. They are the performance range from dunlop.get pretty good reports.altough i read that they have been replaced by 3D in many sizes. Anyway cost was €120 for the steels (brand new,used them for summers and put the winters on my current set) and €100 for the winter tyres fitted.so €220 total.bought a set of new summers at the same time,so maybe i got the winters a bit cheaper,as they normally come in at €30-35.

where did you get the rims and tres from?

PAULWATSON

winter tyres?, it feels like winter all year round in paddy land.

gooner99

rameire wrote: »

where did you get the rims and tres from?

Got the rims from a Skoda dealer.new,only on a few days when the owner decided to fit alloys.Part worn tyres from a small tyre dealer (shed at side of house).Tyres come from Germany and are pressure tested.I have to say one thing is that the tread on these tyres are probably half worn down at about 4-5mm.Now this would be great for summer tyres as they are grand down to the legal limit of 1.6mm at which point they are illegal.Winter tyres again are ok in Ireland down to the 1.6mm mark,but they lose the best of their effectiveness at about 4mm.Some have extra indicators at the 4mm mark,to warn you that they are not so good from then on.In fact in Germany they have to change winters at 4mm I believe.So depending on how long they are on, I may get one, max two seasons out of them.Time will tell if they are effective from 4mm to 1.6mm. Of course 1.6mm is the min and tyres should probably be changed before then.However I see bald tyres on a daily basis,so in that case 1.6mm should be ok.Anyway I will see how they go and then weigh up the pros and cons of buying new next time.

Tips for buying new would be to buy now,don't leave it any longer as demand rises from September on.During my research I shortlisted these tyres...

Dunlop, Michelin,Continetal,Goodyear,Nokian,Vredestein.

opinion guy

gooner99 wrote: »

Got the rims from a Skoda dealer.new,only on a few days when the owner decided to fit alloys.Part worn tyres from a small tyre dealer (shed at side of house).Tyres come from Germany and are pressure tested.I have to say one thing is that the tread on these tyres are probably half worn down at about 4-5mm.Now this would be great for summer tyres as they are grand down to the legal limit of 1.6mm at which point they are illegal.Winter tyres again are ok in Ireland down to the 1.6mm mark,but they lose the best of their effectiveness at about 4mm.Some have extra indicators at the 4mm mark,to warn you that they are not so good from then on.In fact in Germany they have to change winters at 4mm I believe.So depending on how long they are on, I may get one, max two seasons out of them.Time will tell if they are effective from 4mm to 1.6mm. Of course 1.6mm is the min and tyres should probably be changed before then.However I see bald tyres on a daily basis,so in that case 1.6mm should be ok.Anyway I will see how they go and then weigh up the pros and cons of buying new next time.

Tips for buying new would be to buy now,don't leave it any longer as demand rises from September on.During my research I shortlisted these tyres...

Dunlop, Michelin,Continetal,Goodyear,Nokian,Vredestein.

What car are you gonna drive on 4mm winter tyres ???
I wouldn't drive on them. They are expired. Given they've started at 10mm that done a **** load of miles and they are likely fatigued.

Thats' some scam someone has going. Buy (buy?!?! they probably jsut throw them out in Germany) expired no longer legal winter tyres in Germany and flog em in Ireland as part worn.

gooner99

opinion guy wrote: »

What car are you gonna drive on 4mm winter tyres ???
I wouldn't drive on them. They are expired. Given they've started at 10mm that done a **** load of miles and they are likely fatigued.

Thats' some scam someone has going. Buy (buy?!?! they probably jsut throw them out in Germany) expired no longer legal winter tyres in Germany and flog em in Ireland as part worn.

As I said I will probably only run them for a few weeks this winter,then go for new ones for next year.The main reason I went for them was because of cost.I also bought rims and new summers,so got these as they were €100.Buy all my new summer tyres of this guy for both my cars and have always been happy with his service.Sure he's not a big fancy centre,but has all the brands and all the equipment and just happens to offer part worns.Just checked my brand new summer,only a 100 miles on them and the tread is 8mm, I would doubt new winters would have more thread?

So 4mm is part worn and would be grand if they were summers.Also grand for winters,although winters are best from 4mm+. Can I ask if you bought new winters,would you only wear them half way down to 4mm or would you wear them down to the legal limit (please be honest with your answer)?

I know there is a grey area where you don't know the tire history.But aren't you already driving around on once new summer tyres with a s**t load of miles or do you change them half worn at 4mm (again please be honest with your answer)?

rai555

After you drive new winter tyres from 10 mm to 4 mm, they'll do the job in summer, the rubber is soft and there's chance wont last whole summer

opinion guy

gooner99 wrote: »

As I said I will probably only run them for a few weeks this winter,then go for new ones for next year.The main reason I went for them was because of cost.I also bought rims and new summers,so got these as they were €100.Buy all my new summer tyres of this guy for both my cars and have always been happy with his service.Sure he's not a big fancy centre,but has all the brands and all the equipment and just happens to offer part worns.Just checked my brand new summer,only a 100 miles on them and the tread is 8mm, I would doubt new winters would have more thread?

I'm not disputing any of that. But yes winters have more thread they come with 10mm thread new AFAIK

So 4mm is part worn and would be grand if they were summers.Also grand for winters,although winters are best from 4mm+. Can I ask if you bought new winters,would you only wear them half way down to 4mm or would you wear them down to the legal limit (please be honest with your answer)?

For summers 4mm is part worn, for winters its fully worn for use as winter tires. Thats the point - they won't be offering you any advantage in winter conditions - there is a reason the Germans have a 4mm limit.
I intend to buy new winters. I would intend to change them at 4mm thought I expect that won't happen for a couple of years as I will not bedriving them all year round.

I know there is a grey area where you don't know the tire history.But aren't you already driving around on once new summer tyres with a s**t load of miles or do you change them half worn at 4mm (again please be honest with your answer)?

Coincidentally my summers which i have from new are 4mm. I intend to keep driving on them down to 2mm at least. But summers are still effective down to 2mm as summer tyres.


You are making a false comparison. You are equating the effectivenss of winter tyres at 4mm with summer tyres at 4mm. But this ignores conditions. Winter tyres in winter conditions - the whole reason to have them in the first place- lose effectiveness below 4mm in those conditions, the same way summer tyres lose effectiveness below 2mm in summer conditions.

In summary - driving in winter conditions on winter tyres < 4mm is the equivalent of driving in summer conditions on summer tyres <2mm (or 1.6 if you want to split hairs)

gooner99

opinion guy wrote: »

I'm not disputing any of that. But yes winters have more thread they come with 10mm thread new AFAIK



For summers 4mm is part worn, for winters its fully worn for use as winter tires. Thats the point - they won't be offering you any advantage in winter conditions - there is a reason the Germans have a 4mm limit.
I intend to buy new winters. I would intend to change them at 4mm thought I expect that won't happen for a couple of years as I will not bedriving them all year round.



Coincidentally my summers which i have from new are 4mm. I intend to keep driving on them down to 2mm at least. But summers are still effective down to 2mm as summer tyres.


You are making a false comparison. You are equating the effectivenss of winter tyres at 4mm with summer tyres at 4mm. But this ignores conditions. Winter tyres in winter conditions - the whole reason to have them in the first place- lose effectiveness below 4mm in those conditions, the same way summer tyres lose effectiveness below 2mm in summer conditions.

In summary - driving in winter conditions on winter tyres < 4mm is the equivalent of driving in summer conditions on summer tyres <2mm (or 1.6 if you want to split hairs)

We both seem to be saying the same thing.winters below 4mm are past their best and summers below 1.6mm are past their best.These will do me for a few weeks this winter and then I'll buy new for next.I must check out the thread depth of new winters,thought they would be 8mm.I read somewhere that even though some summer tyres are listed at more than 8mm,when you actually measure them the depth is 8mm.

rai555

If there was winter with 3 monts of driving with icy/mud conditions the winter tyres would last longer, driving them on dry roads will eat away the tread much faster

gooner99

gooner99 wrote: »

We both seem to be saying the same thing.winters below 4mm are past their best and summers below 1.6mm are past their best.These will do me for a few weeks this winter and then I'll buy new for next.I must check out the thread depth of new winters,thought they would be 8mm.I read somewhere that even though some summer tyres are listed at more than 8mm,when you actually measure them the depth is 8mm.

I found the info on the Dunlops. 11/32 (8.73mm) is the thread depth.I'm sure some other brands possibly have more.But that is a good point you have raised about thread depth and shows that while part worns may be a good buy for summers,they may not be for winters.


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Dunlop&tireModel=SP+Winter+Sport+M3.

Matt Simis

Ive never seen 4mm thread offered in a Part Worn place, on Summer or Winters. Its 6mm or above. I have a 3 sets of 6mm Partworn Winters and they are excellent, way above what an 8mm new Summer set could offer (which shouldnt surprise anyone!).

I did drive on a 3mm thread wide winter set (that I ran down semi-purposely) and yeah, totally brutal!

-Chris-

PAULWATSON wrote: »

I'm really rich, therefore i'll get new "winter tyres" just to feel nice and smug.

PAULWATSON wrote: »

winter tyres?, it feels like winter all year round in paddy land.

As per the Obnoxious Parking thread, if you're not willing to participate constructively in a thread, please don't bother posting.

PauloMN

Folks, what's your opinions on a set of 4 part worn winters (grade A, so 5mm+ of thread) for €48 a corner (premium brand), or buying the cheapest set of new tyres (Linglong - no laughing at the back ) for €55 a corner?

Tyres are 205/55/R16.

Would you go for part worn premiums or the el cheapo new ones? I'm just concerned that the cheapest new ones could be complete rubbish, but obviously I'd be getting the 10mm thread depth as opposed to 5mm.

R.O.R

PauloMN wrote: »

Folks, what's your opinions on a set of 4 part worn winters (grade A, so 5mm+ of thread) for €48 a corner (premium brand), or buying the cheapest set of new tyres (Linglong - no laughing at the back ) for €55 a corner?

Tyres are 205/55/R16.

Would you go for part worn premiums or the el cheapo new ones? I'm just concerned that the cheapest new ones could be complete rubbish, but obviously I'd be getting the 10mm thread depth as opposed to 5mm.

I have no experience of Linglong tyres, but after a quick google they seem to be held in equally high regard as Triangle's - which I do have experience of.

The 2.5mm of tread left on my Conti's hold the road much better than the 8mm of tread on brand new Triangles.

BostonB

My experience is brand new poor quality tyres are massively worse than worn good quality tyres. By good quality I don't mean brand, I mean a tyre that performs well.

Matt Simis

R.O.R wrote: »

I have no experience of Linglong tyres, but after a quick google they seem to be held in equally high regard as Triangle's - which I do have experience of.

The 2.5mm of tread left on my Conti's hold the road much better than the 8mm of tread on brand new Triangles.

What he said, absolutely +1.