owelly
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| posted on 16/10/13 at 07:23 PM |
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Are we looking for all season tyres, cold weather tyres or winter/snow tyres?
I fitted a set of Pirelli P2500 4season tyres to my Audi last winter and they were brilliant in the snow. They're also great in the wet and OK
for the 3 hours of sunshine we get each year.
If you want four season tyres, I can get:
Cheapy ones for £50 each.
Toyo Vario V2+ for £68 each.
Pirelli P2500 4S for £67 each.
http://www.ppcmag.co.uk
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morcus
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| posted on 16/10/13 at 07:30 PM |
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Just a quick related question, are there rules on what your tyres have to be rated to speed wise? I've been told more than once that my car must
have V rated tyres because it will (theoretically) do 141mph, but it seems a waste of time as the fastest it's ever gone with me driving is 70
(ish) and rarely does more than 40.
On the insurance issue, is changing the wheels to another type of wheel a modification?
In a White Room, With Black Curtains, By the Station.
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owelly
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| posted on 16/10/13 at 08:13 PM |
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Some say that you invalidate your insurance if you fit anything other than original equipment tyres. Most agree that you must fit suitable tyres which
would be at least equivalent to the OE ones and this would include have the correct speed and weight rating. However, there have been cases where
insurance companies have tried to invalidate claims because of incorrect tyres but unless the tyres contributed or caused the claim, then there is no
argument.
http://www.ppcmag.co.uk
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adithorp
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| posted on 16/10/13 at 08:30 PM |
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Several people were told by there insurance companies last year that it would void thier cover. It was then raised with the insurance ombudsman and
the press got involved and the insurance companies backed down.
I'd also question who is claiming tyres speed ratings effect cover. Is it the tyre fitters or your ins'? There's more money to be
made on the dearer tyres. 
"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire
http://jpsc.org.uk/forum/
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matty h
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| posted on 16/10/13 at 08:50 PM |
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I put a set of winter tyres on my libra last year, made a big difference and would not think of not having them now.
Car was a bit of a handful on normal tyres.What you need to think is that well you have the winter tyres on you are not wearing your normal tyres out
so only real cost is for the extra set of rims.
Matty
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Mr Whippy
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| posted on 17/10/13 at 01:55 AM |
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A couple of years ago I bought a set of 4 Maxsport RB1 road legal rally tyres for the bluebird. Can't praise them enough the grip in all
weathers is really amazing especially very heavy rain and deep snow. Performance on pure ice is good too but there I think winter tyres might have the
edge, otherwise the rally tyres are loads better. I've dragged double axle trailers loaded with furniture through thick snow no bother which is
not bad for a fwd car. I went for the medium hardness which at first seemed quite soft but are lasting just fine with little wear to see.
There is one down side and that is noise, they are really loud, you know that loud droning hum from the engines when you about to land in an airliner
when seated in the back of the plane? well that's what they sound just like no joke. Personally I love it! I bought them from Demon Tweeks for
about £70 each iirc
Funnily enough I briefly fitted the low profile alloys onto it and the remembered why I didn't like them due to all the poor roads so are just
using the rally tyres all year round.
[Edited on 17/10/13 by Mr Whippy]
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dhutch
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| posted on 17/10/13 at 05:18 AM |
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I think for a snow tyre there are a few things you appear to want.
- For it not to be low profile, or super wide.
- For the rubber to remain soft at low temps.
- For it to have sipes, for packed snow and ice.
- Some larger/wider tread area, for loose snow.
- A driver who knows the limits of the car/tyre.
Everything will have a compromise. But it also appears from the reviews that the cheaper tyres work really very well compared to a summer tyre.
Obviously then if it gets really silly, you move to metal studs. Spending a week in arctic finland I got the opportunity to drive a mk3 golf with
studded tyres, in about minus 20, on mixed ice/snow/etc and I have to admit it was pretty dam cool. It was however also very noticeable that you did
not have any magic 'warm dry tarmac' like grip. You still head to pull off on a controlled manor, and the fact you could do 100kph down
the highway had a very lot to do with the fact it was dead stright, you drove down the middle, and there was a very large run off area of powder snow.
And you where keeping you eyes skinned for reindeer! All the roads had three tracks, one each way for the outside wheel, and a central one you shared.
Passing trucks was interesting to say the least, I slowed down to about 50kph, they did not.
Daniel
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Nickp
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| posted on 17/10/13 at 05:30 AM |
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This'll be the wifes Ibizas 3rd year on winter tyres that cost £200 for the set. Went from 205/40/17 to 195/55/15 so paid about £40 for winter
alloys also. They make a massive difference and as they're only on for about 3-4months can't see them wearing out anytime soon
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peter030371
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| posted on 17/10/13 at 08:18 AM |
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All season tyres are a compromise for people who don't have room to store two sets of wheels IMHO. As a previous poster has already said the
only extra cost is the second set of rims as you end up not using your summer tyres for 7-8 months of the year
Read the reviews on winter tyres and look at the videos on youtube (search Winter tyres) such as this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2wTg0l3_wI
they really are THAT much better and have to be driven to be believed 
Winter tyres also work better on cold wet roads not just snow and ice.
As long as you stick to a size of tyre/ wheel available for your model of car (have a look in the handbook for all the options) then the insurance
companies will give you no trouble as proven by several test cases over the last couple of winters. As an example my Mini Cooper came with 195/55/16
wheels/ tyres but coming up to its first winter I will be buying 175/65/15 winter wheels and tyres to see us safely though the cold and wet
conditions.
I have been a winter tyre fan for 3 winters now and will not go back to not having them on my cars. As soon as the average temperature drops to 7-8°C
I put them on and they stay on until the weather warms up....for me in Kent that is 4-5 months a year.
Ask yourself this, whats the safety of your wife and children
worth?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2wTg0l3_wI
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mcerd1
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| posted on 17/10/13 at 10:17 AM |
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^^ I didn't think you lot in kent knew what winter was 
my argument for fitting good 'all season' tyres as winter ones is based on the fact that we rarely get a winter bad enough to need full on
winter or snow tyres (and the more extreme snow/winter tyres don't have the best grip on the days where the roads are clear)
the decent all season ones are soft enough for the winter temperatures and have just enough of a tread/snipes to deal with the occasional snow and ice
all the winter tyre tests I've seen are based on snow or ice - thats fine for canada/ norway/ finland/etc.... but barring a few weeks every 10
years its just not the weather we have here
the best way to describe the weather we have for most of the winter is dreich - and they don't seem to test for that
back in 2010-11 down in east kent where my GF was living at the time they had 3" on the ground and everything shut down and next to no one went
to work.... (no one down there had winter tyres or seamed to know how to drive in snow)
yet we had about 12"+ of snow on the ground for a good couple of weeks or more and not all the roads get ploughed round here... my all season
tyres worked fine in this - the biggest issue I had was the lack of ground clearance on the car, in fact the tyres had enough grip that my front
bumper has never quite been the same since (plastic bumper vs snow drift at 40mph  )
so I reckon my tyres would be fine for most folk in this country, but if I lived out in Mr Whippy's part of the world then I'd probably
get some more extreme winter tyres to deal with the snow - they get more than us and more often too 
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peter030371
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| posted on 17/10/13 at 10:29 AM |
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We have had some proper snow in Kent these last 2-3 years I will have you know. Certainly I have seen 10-12 inches on more than one occasion ...and
yes it does cause chaos  The only time I didn't get to work in this period was because the police turned me back saying 'you won't
get through here' to which my reply of 'do you want to watch me' was followed by a courtesy but firm 'you are not trying so do
you as are told'!
I have had all season tyres on a Focus and they are not as good in a typical winter as winter tyres IMHO. Also my summer tyres are better in the
summer than all season. IF you have the storage space and can afford a second set of rims then two sets of tyres is always better than one with no
compromise
Go on get some winter tyres and become a convert
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mcerd1
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| posted on 17/10/13 at 11:29 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by peter030371
Go on get some winter tyres and become a convert
I've got plenty storage space - but not unlimited funds
as it is I've got 4 decent OE alloys with quite grippy summer tyres, 4 knackered version of the same alloys with the all seasons on them and as
a couple of steels with random spare tyres (whatever I had the right size with some tread left)
I'd love a set of full on winter tyres to add to the collection (in which case I'd use the all seasons as an intermediate tyre, they
really are perfect for this )
but the car is heading for the scrapyard soon - so instead of buying new tyres I'm just using up all the tread left on my stockpile
quote:
Originally posted by peter030371I have had all season tyres on a Focus and they are not as good in a typical winter as winter tyres
IMHO
out of interest which summer / winter / all season tyres have you tried ?
[Edited on 17/10/2013 by mcerd1]
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peter030371
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| posted on 17/10/13 at 12:16 PM |
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quote:
out of interest which summer / winter / all season tyres have you tried ?
ohh let me try and remember.....
Bridgestone ER300, good summer tyre if a little fast wearing and noisy. Had these on 3 cars now.
Vredestein SNOWTRAC 3 which is a winter tyre, would happily use these again, VERY good in the snow but possibly not as good in the cold/wet weather we
normally call a winter. Sold the car they fitted on so the winter tyres went on ebay and ended up being driven to Moscow by the new owner!
Goodyear Vector 4season which as the name suggests is an all season tyre. I gave these a good go including some very deep snow and they did a good job
considering they are not a full winter tyre. I always felt the stopping power in the summer was poor which put me off.
Goodyear EfficientGrip Perfomance, currently my summer tyre on a Mazda 5. Had them on since April and now I have round wheels (don't ask!!) they
are very good.
I have Goodyear Ultra Grip 8 for our Mazda 5 now. Very good 'all round' winter tyre, maybe not quite up to the Snowtrac 3 for snow but
better in the cold/wet weather....will be getting a set for my Mini before the month is out now the Focus has gone (although the Continental TS850 is
getting very good reviews so might be tempted to try that if I can find the right size)
As you can see chopped and changed cars 4 times in the last 3 years it has allowed me to try more tyres than I would otherwise do (and I
haven't included the Toyo 888 or the Yoko A539 on the Striker)
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mcerd1
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| posted on 17/10/13 at 12:39 PM |
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888R's would be fun in the snow
quote:
Originally posted by peter030371
Goodyear Vector 4season
they always seem to be up there in the reviews with the quatrac3's I use (and they both have the proper mountain/snowflake symbol, so
they've been test to at least the min. legal winter requirements of other EU countries)
but goodyear only do an H speed rating
in fact they even put this little disclaimer on there site:
"This tyre is available in a lower speed rating (H).
Usually, it is safe to use winter tyres that are one speed rating lower than your summer tyres. Always check with your dealer before purchasing or
fitting tyres. Using tyres with an incorrect speed rating may invalidate your insurance"
I read that as: 'we won't tell you its ok - go ask ford if its ok'
[Edited on 17/10/2013 by mcerd1]
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