Can you get away with winters on the front driven wheels only on a 2wd.

Would get you acceleration and (more importantly) braking, but what about cornering?

tom

Hi Tom,

would advise on all four wheels myself; my old Monster 180'd (on OEM Goodyears) and that was the back letting go before the front

Regards,

TP

Edited 27 November, 201015 yr by The Plumber

I would very much recommend against using winter tires only on the front axle. The difference in grip is HUGE, so cornering at any speed on slippery surface would probably send you spinning around.

The acceleration is of course the same as the grip is the same on the driving wheels, but for the rest of handling this really sounds like a nightmare situation to me!

Many tyre places will only do 4 tyres not two.

Have to say I went for all 4.

Cannot find the link now but on YouTube there is a video on winter tyres where they tried winters on just the front wheels and left summers on the back. It was a spin every time they braked hard and the fronts gripped whilst the rears did not.

Absolute no-no as far as I can see and a nightmare with insurance should you come a cropper.

There seems much greater awareness of the benefits of fitting winter tyres for the colder, wetter months.

Excuse my ignorance, but what are the disadvantages of keeping winter tyres on all year?

If you only had the means to maintain one set of tyres, why not have permanent winter tyres, as some of the most recent designs seem to match summer tyres for rolling resistance and noise.

Excuse my ignorance, but what are the disadvantages of keeping winter tyres on all year?

The two main factors would be increased wear and hot weather performance (in terms of grip ) imo. Ultimately they loose some feedback and initial turn in feel compared to the best summer tyres too but that could vary between different brands I guess.

Cannot find the link now but on YouTube there is a video on winter tyres where they tried winters on just the front wheels and left summers on the back. It was a spin every time they braked hard and the fronts gripped whilst the rears did not.

Absolute no-no as far as I can see and a nightmare with insurance should you come a cropper.

I too watched that YouTube video. You are better off on 4 summers than 2 of each. The rear will overtake the front. Not a great idea. I was also considering it until I saw this video. One of the winter tyre threads has a link.

Mike

There seems much greater awareness of the benefits of fitting winter tyres for the colder, wetter months.

Excuse my ignorance, but what are the disadvantages of keeping winter tyres on all year?

If you only had the means to maintain one set of tyres, why not have permanent winter tyres, as some of the most recent designs seem to match summer tyres for rolling resistance and noise.

Hi,

The Fiat Panda 4x4 is actually factory fitted with winter tyres and supposedly the Nokian WR G2 can be run all year round, according to the markings on the side wall.

Regards,

TP

There seems much greater awareness of the benefits of fitting winter tyres for the colder, wetter months.

Excuse my ignorance, but what are the disadvantages of keeping winter tyres on all year?

If you only had the means to maintain one set of tyres, why not have permanent winter tyres, as some of the most recent designs seem to match summer tyres for rolling resistance and noise.

If you do not drive too many miles in a year, I would think it a very good idea. I am very happy with the performance of my winter tyres in summer conditions, and the wear and noise seems completely acceptable.

If you want to experience massive oversteer at even walking pace and random slides even in a straight line the combination of winters front and normal tyres rear is to be recommended.You will certainly set off better than on normal tyres but quickly wish you hadn't....

Hi,

The Fiat Panda 4x4 is actually factory fitted with winter tyres and supposedly the Nokian WR G2 can be run all year round, according to the markings on the side wall.

Regards,

TP

Is that these so called All Seasons tyres rather than true winter tyres??

Is that these so called All Seasons tyres rather than true winter tyres??

Hi,

no proper winter tyres in both cases.

Regards,

TP

OK Thanks.

Not seen any all season tyres to see what the difference is. Can feel a google search coming on.

OK Thanks.

Not seen any all season tyres to see what the difference is. Can feel a google search coming on.

To start you off try verdestein a leading manufacturer of winter and all season tyres.

Regards,

TP

Hi,

The Fiat Panda 4x4 is actually factory fitted with winter tyres and supposedly the Nokian WR G2 can be run all year round, according to the markings on the side wall.

Regards,

TP

From the Nokian website FAQ:-

Can I drive my friction tyres all year round?

We do not recommend the use of friction tyres throughout the year. Modern friction tyres may wear unnecessarily quickly, particularly on coarse spring roads. The wear may also be uneven due to abnormally rapid wear.

Friction tyres should be mounted in the autumn when the ground freezes and replaced when the summer sun starts to warm the pavements. However, if the tread depth in spring is below 5 mm, you can use the tyre up in spring.

To start you off try verdestein a leading manufacturer of winter and all season tyres.

Regards,

TP

Am I glad I fitted my winter tyres last week ! The grip levels have been great, even on fresh snow overlying packed snow.

In answer to fitting winter tyres for all year use, our local tyre fitter said that it would be false economy, as many winters wear far faster in hot conditions, and may even start shreding the tread. He had had Goodyear Winters coming with with small sticky balls of rubber on the surface, where the compound had overheated. Bear in mind that road temperatures in summer can easily get to 30 degrees, and for tyres that are designed to work in 0 - 10 degrees, that is not good news. I fitted mine when the average each day was round about 10 degrees, and that looks like it for now until end of February / March.

Smick

Just found the link to the mixed tyre review.

Mike

Excuse my ignorance, but what are the disadvantages of keeping winter tyres on all year?

I must be bored, or eagerly awaiting my new arrival, but I have been reading the manual and found this:

"Do not drive with winter tyres all year round for this costs about 10 % more fuel. They are also louder and have poorer handling characteristics and higher wear at tempera- tures more than 10°C."

This is Skoda's take on winter tyres.......

Mike

Thanks for all the responses to my winter tyres all year question

I have a question on load rating, for the winter tyres on the 2WD SMs. I have seen some Continental Winter Contacts advertised and they look a good price, but have a load rating of 91, not the 94 on the wheels that it came with.

Okay, I've only got a 1.4, so not as heavy as some, so wondered if the 91 rating would be okay? They will be 205/55/16 on 6.5 J alloy rims that I got hold of that came from an Altea. Funnily enough, that is exactly the rating on the tyres fitted to those rims and I'd say Alteas were in a similar weight bracket to the Yeti.

That's just my logic though, what do you guys think?

I have a question on load rating, for the winter tyres on the 2WD SMs. I have seen some Continental Winter Contacts advertised and they look a good price, but have a load rating of 91, not the 94 on the wheels that it came with.

Okay, I've only got a 1.4, so not as heavy as some, so wondered if the 91 rating would be okay? They will be 205/55/16 on 6.5 J alloy rims that I got hold of that came from an Altea. Funnily enough, that is exactly the rating on the tyres fitted to those rims and I'd say Alteas were in a similar weight bracket to the Yeti.

That's just my logic though, what do you guys think?

Nigel may I refer you to The Pedestrians Link

look down at permissible winter tyre fittings - it is in the Yeti Technical guide area.

Mike

THanks Mike, yes, I've read tha thread a number of times, but my engine isn't mentioned there as it was written before the 1.4 was available I think. 77 and 81KW 2WD mentioned, but not 90KW.

However, having gone through it again, I found the German Skoda site link and that does quote the CAXA (1.4, 90 KW engine) and for winter tyres of the size I quoted, a load rating of 91 is acceptable.

Good stuff! Now just got to double check the offset by test fit and I'm in business!

( Wheels are 6.5J, ET 50, 50 is specced on Geramn site for 6J and 45 for 7J, so probably okay, but nothing like having a look in situ.)

Thanks guys for highlighting I need to update; apologies slipped my mind

Regards,

TP