Winter tyres

[OCScene]

Hi guys,

Has anyone got any thoughts or opinions on winter tyres. I have just ordered an Octavia Estate DGS and have been hearing mixed opinions about the car. One thing that is consistantly cropping up is how useless the DSG's are in snow and ice.

I use the car to commute 25 miles to work everyday and I usually set off about 6am before many tracks in snow have been made by other cars.

I currently drive a Mondeo ST TDCI and it has just about coped (hairy at times) but it always got me to work.

Would buying an extra set of alloys from Skoda and getting them fitted with snow tyres be worthwhile? Just how much of a differnece do snow tyres make and also will they be fine fitted to a DSG car?

Many thanks

[cheezemonkhai]

I think you won't need them in a couple of weeks so it's probably better off just being careful and maybe a set of snosocks.

You could do it and it will make a lot of difference, but things are warming up and I'm looking to move over to summers in a few weeks.

[veloplus]

I think you won't need them in a couple of weeks so it's probably better off just being careful and maybe a set of snosocks.

You could do it and it will make a lot of difference, but things are warming up and I'm looking to move over to summers in a few weeks.

With temperatures this winter consistently below 5 degrees Celcius, it would have been worth investing in a set of winter tyres last November/December 2009.

That said, as my Skoda is a company car, I couldn't justify the personal expense of winter tyres. As an alternative, I've invested in a pair of Autosocks which cost around £60.00, plus a telescopic shovel and snow brush.

[Conti]

Hi there. I have just started working for a tyre manufacturer and a lot of my colleagues run cold weather (winter) tyres all year round.

Research that I have seen shows that winter tyres come into their own when average temperatures dip below 7 degrees C. Obviously, they make a great deal of difference in snow but they are also considerably better when stopping in cold wet conditions. It's all to do with the rubber compound used which remains flexible at lower temperatures apparently.

The upper range of their effectiveness is about 28 degrees C so given our grotty summers you can make your own call about using them all year round.

Hope this helps.

[cheezemonkhai]

I have a friend who bent his car and the reason provided was that the winter tyres just don't stop as well in the hot temperatures.

I think it's probably worth running summers on the basis that the winter tyres cost a lot more per tyre.

[ukcruiser]

We've got Vredestien Wintrac's on the wife's Kia Cee'd for use during the winter. A second set of alloy wheels are used during summer months with Michelin road tyres fitted. The Kia now goes (almost) everywhere my current car, a Sorento with All Terrain tyres goes!

I have ordered a Superb Estate 4x4, and WILL have a second set of wheels with Winter tyres fitted for next winter.

Al.

[BIG BOSS MAN]

How about a compromise and get all season tyres?

[Nick P]

How about a compromise and get all season tyres?

That's why not

Edited 3 March, 2010 by wega3k

[Guest musky]

But thats on pure flat ice - I'd like to see them test on normal roads, and also dry and wet roads as I am very unlikely to buy another set of wheels and tyres just on the off chance it snows again, but I might buy the all season ones as a compromise if they work literally in all seasons. Plus yanks and rear wheel drive europeans probably don't mix

[Conti]

Great video wega3k. I appreciate that it is an extreme example but it clearly shows the difference between summer and cold weather tyres. I have a young family and moving forward I will be changing tyres in April and November each year.

[octywagon]

How about a compromise and get all season tyres?

Reading various tests (ADAC germany etc ) they dont do dry/wet as well as summer tyres and dont do snow/ice/wet as well as winters so they are just that - a compromise - jack of all master of none!!

Edited 6 March, 2010 by octywagon

[rum4mo]

This reply really is far too late, but it might help for next year! I've always thought about getting winter tyre but did nothing - until that is, this January and my wife just could not get her Polo 9N out quite a few days and so I left her the Passat 4Motion and I took the bus! Thinking a bit more seriously about this I checked up in Costco about getting Michelin Alpins in a couple of wheel sizes - just in case I had difficulty getting a set of steelies from a scrappie - fact was by that time there were no Michelin Alpins in stock in UK - well not enough for a complete set. Next plan was to buy a set from MYTYRES as they were offering a deal on tyres fitted to steelies, they were very easy to get within a few days and worked really well in the snow and ice. My wife's Polo came with optional 195/55 X 15 Alloys so I settled for 185/65 X 14 (I think) as a good comprimise, the guy at Costco suggested "going the whole hog" and coming down to 13" rims to maximise grip with narrow tyres - but I seemed to have done enough just dropping one wheel size. As said in other posts, the added bonus in using these winter tyres is the cold braking grip, as well as the ability to get and keep moving, but I only plan to use them between late November and early May. It really depends on how far North you live and at what altitude - so its pointless some Southerns dismissing the idea of using winter tyres when they hardly ever see snow or ice. One way to look at it is, usually these tyres will last for maybe 10,000 miles if rotated and most of us travel fewer miles in winter - and your summer tyres will last longer as they are not getting used in winter. I my case, I unwittingly make a very bad choice of normal tyres for the Polo - ie Michelin Pilot Exalto as they are great for warm/hot UK conditions but terrible when its colder - they are sold as summer tyres but I missed that point, again the Costco guy said that since he discovered, by personal experience, how bad they were in colder conditions, he always advises people to avoid them for use all year round up here in Southern Scotland. One other point is, it was taking me a couple of hours work and two large bags of rocksalt every time it snowed to make sure that my wife could reach the main road - and the price of salt shot up from about £4 a bag to £9 a bag when the demand rose this winter, after fitting winter tyres I merely pushed some of the snow off and she could drive on what was left. I seem to remember that we got a "dump" of snow more than 15 times this past winter! So the cost of salting our access to the main road must have reached about £250 - a scary thought - but that is assumming that we managed to buy salt when it was needed, which became another problem as UK government banned its supply eventually for domestic use!

Edited 15 May, 2010 by rum4mo

[thebigguy]

really good point you made and something i never thought of before but its certainly given me food for thought

[DaveCH]

I moved to Sheffield last year. The first time I have lived anywhere really hilly.

I was surprised how many problems occurred with the snow we had last winter, partly due to other people not being able to cope with the conditions.

I had 2 secondhand Continental Winter tyres fitted to a couple of spare rims at a cost of £65 the pair, standard size tyres on standard rims.

The difference in traction in the snow and even on icy polished surfaces was amazing.

I was able to simply drive around people who were struggling for grip and spinning wheels but not moving.

This was on a Rover diesel and I will be looking for a couple of spare rims for my recently aquired Skoda Octavia before next winter.

If you live in a snow risk area or have to travel whatever the weather, I would certainly recommend the benefit of proper winter tyres.

PS: They are still on the Rover and drive perfectly well in normal conditions.

Edited 19 May, 2010 by DaveCH

[reddez]

Hi Guys,

This is my first posting to Briskoda forums.

After driving on ordinary all-year tyres for the past 28yrs, I got a set of winter tyres in November for my Octavia.

What a difference!

Throughout that awful November/December weather, I didn't slip or slide once, they are truly effective.

Even on solid ice, they give added traction.

However, there is a price to be paid for improved safety in snow & ice - there is a detrimental effect on fuel consumption.

I calculate that my fuel consumption is at least 11% poorer in ideal conditions, and more like 15% overall.

That said, it is the first winter in 28yrs where I've driven with some confidence in snow and over ice.

Cheers.

[fabdavrav]

Where to start??? Like some of the above people.... YES!! WINTER TYRES ARE BRILLLLLLL!!!!!! Overtaking SLOW (35Mph in 60mph zone) 4X4 Landies, etc. driven on standard tyres IS THE BEST HIGH YOU CAN GET!!! THE LOOK ON THEIR FACES AS YOU OVERTAKE THEM... HAHA I run 185/60 Michelin Alpin B3's on the original 14" alloys for winter, and Toyo Proxes T1-R 195/50 on 15" TD prorace for summer! On the back roads up here they might be cleared but still have 6" of snow on them with 5ft high banks either side, so grip is important!! Also they are brill in the warmer winter/spring weather when you get lots of standing water, as they just cut straight through!!! With the way my car is set up I can "drift" my car around the corners on the winters on snow... if I want to play.. without it feeling "out of control" !!!!

P.S. EVO magazine did a test around the Bedford Autodrome West Circuit when it had about one to two inches of snow on it, with a new Jaguar XFR 4door saloon (rear wheel drive only) on stock tyres, and then on winters. They then went around it in a stock Mitsubishi Evo X FQ330 4wd (with stock tyres) the Jag on winters beat the evo!!!! HAHA methinks they work!!!

In quite a few european countries it is a legal requirement to have winter tyres on all vehicles at certains times of the year!!! The quicker we adopt this the safer for everbody... and no more "I can't get out of my driveway" because of 2 inches of snow!! let alone 2ft!!

Edited 4 April, 2011 by fabdavrav

[carlscott33]

living in the UK, do I need to change tyres for the seasons? the weather doesn't deviate too much, between -3C - 30C.

[ChrisRs]

living in the UK, do I need to change tyres for the seasons? the weather doesn't deviate too much, between -3C - 30C.

Yes....'Summer tyres' begin to lose grip in temperatures below 7C

'Winters' even grip on sheet ice, slush and compacted snow!!

Dont think about it..Get some for next winter..August onwards when stocks are high and prices are low

[fabdavrav]

To Add to this I dug up the important stats from http://www.evo.co.uk/news/evonews/248524/winter_tyres_tested.html

Jaguar XKR 60Mph to 0 (braking) on standard tyres 238.4M !!

Same test on winter tyres 100.8M !!!! AND THAT IS NOT A MISS-PRINT!!!!

This test was done at the Bedford Autodrome West Circuit with one to two inches of snow on tarmac!!

Oh yehhh...this is what a main "B" road looks like uphere in winter..playtime and passable on winters...summers....dream on!!!

Edited 8 April, 2011 by fabdavrav

[P22ASB]

An extreme example but this is what is possible in snow with suitable tyres - I was using a set of slightly worn Pirelli K6 Rally tyres on my BMW, technically not legal on the road as they are for "competition use only" but I doubt any police would know any different. I managed to get along this track in Kielder forest in November last yea no problem at all.

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I'll certainly be getting some winter/snow tyres for the winter on my newly acquired Fabia vRS

[fabdavrav]

I was using a set of slightly worn Pirelli K6 Rally tyres on my BMW, technically not legal on the road as they are for "competition use only" but I doubt any police would know any different. I managed to get along this track in Kielder forest in November last yea no problem at all.

[

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I'll certainly be getting some winter/snow tyres for the winter on my newly acquired Fabia vRS

Non road legal tyres....Naughty!!!! Almost had to resort to that two winters ago when I got my first set as there was such a short supply of "road" tyres!!!! Did you have fun on that track ??? When you size your tyres for your Vrs remember to go down a rim size and tyre width from your "summers" as this is better!!! Hmmmmm...looks like you might not be able to reduce width unless you go for 195/55 R15" (brake clearence problems then??) So 205/45 R16" for winter as you'll get 205/40 R17" on the car.

[SteelGoon]

They are the law here in Germany, and I got my first set for both my Mazda and the wife's DS3, not cheap at just under £1000 for 4 tyres on steel rims. The difference they make is immense and as stated earlier in the thread, these will last for a good few years which in turn will prolong the life of my Summer tyres.

They may be expensive but you will be thanking yourself when you are able to get around in the snow and ice, and are able to stop in a fraction of the distance of summer or all weather tyres. They could pay for themselves in no time at all.

I will not be surprised if the 'nanny state' in UK makes them law before long (with another nice tax on top for the Treasury :wonder: )

[jesters3]

Just bought a set of Hankook Optimo 4S from blackcircles at £430 all in fitted. I know it is a bit early to get them but I though I might as well fork out for a set now as in 6 months it will be needed.

The Optimo got rave revies by AutoBild and are at a much better price compared to the Vredestein/Conti options.

[Scout66]

Hi guys,

Has anyone got any thoughts or opinions on winter tyres. I have just ordered an Octavia Estate DGS and have been hearing mixed opinions about the car. One thing that is consistantly cropping up is how useless the DSG's are in snow and ice.

I use the car to commute 25 miles to work everyday and I usually set off about 6am before many tracks in snow have been made by other cars.

I currently drive a Mondeo ST TDCI and it has just about coped (hairy at times) but it always got me to work.

Would buying an extra set of alloys from Skoda and getting them fitted with snow tyres be worthwhile? Just how much of a differnece do snow tyres make and also will they be fine fitted to a DSG car?

Many thanks

[Scout66]

Not sure if you're still watching this post. I lived in Germany for a while and it is now legal over there to fit winter tyres when the temp dips. Winter tyres are ABSOLUTELY INVALUABLE providing you know how to drive properly in winter conditions. I was constantly driving in several inches of snow without any problems. Providing you keep the car rolling and don't make any sharp/jerky movements then the winter tyres will stick like summer ones.

I recently bought a set of Audi alloys from e-bay to use for winter tyres. Cost me £80 for all 4 and thery are in mint condition, even put them on now to use up the tread left on them before i get winter tyres fitted. I intend to fit my winter tyres between Nov - March. Should last me about 5 seasons before needing fresh winter tyres. Also saves needless wheel spinning of your summer tyres.

Hope this helps - good luck