Currently running on Michelin Pilot Sports 225/45 ZR17 91Y.

Further to this thread - http://briskoda.net/general-car-chat/anyone-tried-neuton-tyres/101191/ , I'm thinking of Neuton Tyres as a replacement as I've been quoted £330 for 2 new Michelins (can get 4 Neutons for less than £200).

Anyway, the only downside to the Neutons seems to be the performance in winter. I've been thinking of winter tyres for a while, but never gone for it.

Two of my Michelins are below 3mm's, and with winter approaching, my thinking is to put 4 new winter tyres on the wheels that are on the car, and get 2 Neutons to go along with the 2 good Michelins, onto a set of wheels I have in the garage for summer use.

A quick search gives these:

http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m11b0s637p15166

Thought these would be £452 plus fitting.

There seem to be a lack of suppliers who deal with winter tyres - can anyone recommend where to get them, and which tyre is recommended?

Any general advice on winter tyres?

Final question is, are my current tyres the correct load index? They are 91, which is 615Kg - my Superb is 1567 kg according to Parkers. Is it calculated as 615 for each tyre, so 615 x 4 = 2460Kg, which is more than 1567Kg + passengers???

Edited 22 September, 200916 yr by kprm77
Stupidity

I think the weather there is somewhat milder than what we have up here so you most likely do not need studded tyres, right?

I'd personally take a long look at Nokian or Michelin friction winter tyres - they work quite nicely even in our climate.

Nokian W

Nokian WR

Nokian Hakkapeliitta R

Michelin - Cold Weather Tyres, Tyres for winter, snow, alpine tyres, car tyres, 4x4 tyres, van tyres

One source:

mytyres.co.uk - Search for tyres: Car - Winter Tyres

Thanks for those links - very informative

Definately studless tyres. It's more for black ice / freezing conditions, and for the odd covering of snow.

This was interesting reading - one driver recommends Nokians too:

Why don?t we fit winter tyres? - Anything goes

IMO we don't get harsh enough (or long enough) winters to warrant spending a few hundred £'s on winter tyres

I think the weather there is somewhat milder than what we have up here so you most likely do not need studded tyres, right?

Can't use studded tyres in the UK

You are welcome.

IIRC these past 30 years I have driven mostly with Nokian winter tyres with a single winter on Goodyear's - that's what the car had on when I bought it. i have had mostly studded tyres but have also some personal experience of the now obsolete Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSi. They were great and I suppose the newer models are even better.

Colleagues have used Michelin and Continental friction winter tyres and they have been very pleased with them, too.

Nokian WR are my personal favourite for the UK,good mileage, low price and do the job.

Another good bet, especially when snowploughs fail like every other year, are Pirelli W 210 Snowsport, though these are worse than Nokians in good weather (more noise, less comfort).

Keep in mind that at this time of the year most dealers, including mytyres, hike the prices for winter stuff. Best time to buy winter tyres is probably around May or so

If you want to save a lot of money further and stay with good performance tyres, get 16in steel rims for your winters and go to 205/55/16 H winter tyre spec. Even including the cost of the rims you will save from the first change. It is OK to have lower speed winter tyres.

On the Octavia I use 2 Nokian WRs on front and 2 summer tyres (Nokian Vs) at the back in winter, then swap them over for summer. With Octavia's front as heavy as it is, there seem to be no unwanted side effects if you drive with half-loaded car sensibly on wet snow or ice. The only time I managed to induce a skid and an oversteer is when I did it on purpose to show my wife that the ESP is working very well indeed.

On the Superb, I use at the moment 4x Pirelli W 210 Snowsport and they are excellent on wet snow and good on ice. The only downside is low max inflation pressure rating which on the V6 Superb is too close for comfort to recommended operating pressure. No such problem for the Octavia.

Loading of 91 is just about making it for the Superb, but personally I prefer 94 due to driving at high speeds in a heavily loaded car for 2000 mile round-trips at a time. I just don't like inflating tyres to the max pressure listed on sidewall...

If you want to save a lot of money further and stay with good performance tyres, get 16in steel rims for your winters and go to 205/55/16 H winter tyre spec. Even including the cost of the rims you will save from the first change. It is OK to have lower speed winter tyres.

I was just thinking about that. I take it Passat B5.5 wheels would fit the Superb? Far more of them about to choose from. Surely a second hand set of steel rims wouldn't cost too much? Hardly anything about for Superbs, but loads for Passats...

Loading of 91 is just about making it for the Superb, but personally I prefer 94 due to driving at high speeds in a heavily loaded car for 2000 mile round-trips at a time. I just don't like inflating tyres to the max pressure listed on sidewall...

Can't see why there would be, but would there be any problem having 94's on one axle and 91's on the other axle?

Passat 5.5 has the same offsets and hub bolt pattern, so will fit just fine.

94 is stronger than 91, the car is specified with at least 91 rating so there will be no problems.

As long as you keep the same tyres per each axle you should be OK.

I would recommend Vredestein winter or all-season tyres, we have them on my mother's Fabia and the Quatrac 2s are very good . My dad has had the Pirelli Snowsport's on his Subaru and again thoroughly recommend them.

I just wish Vredestein would make something suitable for my Furby vRS. Has anyone tried Goodyear F1 GSD3s on snow/ice/frost. :eek: They simply don't mix!

Has anyone tried Toyo S952 SnowProx tyres? I think I can get them for mine.

Passat 5.5 has the same offsets and hub bolt pattern, so will fit just fine.

94 is stronger than 91, the car is specified with at least 91 rating so there will be no problems.

As long as you keep the same tyres per each axle you should be OK.

Sorry for the further questions - but would any 16inch 5 stud VW wheel of that era fit the Superb?

How often are they going to be used on ice and snow?? If you are only worried about extreme weather, those days when there is a thick cover of ice or snow between you and the main road, buy a set of Autosocks.

They are a damn sight cheaper than winter tyres and will give you better grip!!.

They cost about £60-£70 a pair, take 2 minutes to fit over your road tyres, and can be used at up to 30mph on ice or snow. They can even be used on short cleared sections but they will wear out faster.

I have had mine for several years and I love driving past 4x4's that are stuck on hilly roads, slipping and sliding on their road tyres and not getting anywhere.

>>Sorry for the further questions - but would any 16inch 5 stud VW wheel of that era fit the Superb?

As long as it is from Passat 5/5.5 they will fit . Golf/Bora have different bolt pattern diameter (bolts are closer together)

Regarding autosocks, the winter tyres are working mostly in ice/wet driving in the UK, and for this autosocks won't really work - do you really want to drive at 70mph in them?.

Keep in mind that there are at least 2 distinct types of winter tyre: ice tyres and snow tyres. Snow tyres wear out extremely quickly on tarmac and are best replaced by Autosock for occassional use.

Most of Europe including the UK (well the 7% of drivers who do buy winter tyres anyway) ride on ice tyres, which have silica in the thread and basically cut into ice to provide grip. You can also use for this the All-Weather tyres, such as Nokian WR or (surprisingly) Nokian AllWeather

Still, I do have Autosocks in the Superb's boot as they have their use trying to get out of neglected car park under 2ft snow. For trips to South Germany I also take snow chains, never had to use them but they don't take that much space in the boot.

As long as it is from Passat 5/5.5 they will fit . Golf/Bora have different bolt pattern diameter (bolts are closer together)

The MK5 Golf also has 5x112, with an ET ranging from 35 to 50 so will also fit (as will the MK2 Audi A3 etc)

There have been a few threads on Winter tyres of late (sorry to suggest 'do a search') and I have posted quite a bit on my Vredestein Snowtrac 2 Winter tyres. Bottom line is they are superb. Phenomenal traction in snow and sleet, very good in standing water and pretty good on ice (as good as anything I have come across). The only downside with these tyres with a lot of Sipes and soft rubber is the steering feels a little vaguer. Oh and they don’t like extensive use once the temperature is above 7 Centigrade.

Would I be okay with 15 inch wheels? Have found a set of steelies on a Passat forum, but they're 15 inch with 195/65-15 tyres. This is from a 2001 B5.5 Passat... Suppose they'd look a little small though!

It depends on the brakes you have in front. For 288mm brakes you'll be OK, for 312mm disc diameter brakes (V6 engines for sure, but I am not sure about the 1.9 and Edition 100 in particular which might be different) you need 16in rims to provide adequate clearance to brake calliper and cooling of the discs.

For 15in I'd definitely take reinforced tyres (94 or 95 rating) - taller sidewall.

But on the plus side, narrower tyres are definitely better in winter on ice and slush, and 195/65/15 are even less expensive than 16in ones (eg Nokian WR G2 195/65/15 95 H for under 65 quid plus fitting).

Edited 24 September, 200916 yr by dieselV6

I am running on Vredestein Quattrac 3 in north germany where we have to put on winter tyres around november time. loads of snow and slush etc last year - they are awesome

IMO we don't get harsh enough (or long enough) winters to warrant spending a few hundred £'s on winter tyres

Exactly. Why spend money on rims and tyres when for 90% of the UK they're pretty OTT.

Some of us take the car to Europe over winter... plus for the UK, Nokian WRs that I mentioned earlier are not really winter but rather the all-weather tyres, handle much better on mud, snow, ice, slush, and in deep water. For heavy-nosed FWD car it pays to have all-weathers on front wheels in winter - thay deal nicely with anything that's not tarmac under the wheels. Swap them to rear for rest of the year and you can easily get 20k miles out of the pair.

I would have been stranded in the dead of night up in County Durham this winter, so I am pretty pleased to have winter tyres:)

After going through recent tyre tests up here I decided to go with Michelin X-Ice XI2:

The only viable alternative would have been Nokian R friction tyre but I decided to try Michelins this time. My studded choice would have been Nokian 7.