THE Winter Tyres Thread

[Fabcol]

Hi,

 

Snow is forecast gregoir but like you I wonder if I'll ever get the chance to try the new tyres in anger? 

 

Bron and I drive over to Meadowhall Shopping Centre a 23 mile trip each way; previously on the summer Goodyear tyres our Yeti had done an easy 60/62 mpg but yesterday now on the Michelin Cross Climate tyres our Yeti struggled to attain 51.5 mpg?  This won't bankrupt us and worth it for the more comfortable and quieter ride; these new tyres have transformed our Yeti we can even hear the engine now? 

 

Kind regards, Colin.

[Hermit]

I moved to cross climates a couple of months ago and noted a marked drop when the tyres were new but once the edges smoothed off I am back to my previous mpg if not a little improved. I was previously on Contisportcontact5. The point being the mpg improved once bedded in.

 

Also allow for the much colder weather today. It has been mild and today its very cold. My experience is you can loose 10% due to temp alone. So don't be too quick to feel disappointed. One serious bit of braking in snow/ice (or just very cold) and you'll be winning. What price all cost/hassle of a pranged car and of course no price on serious harm to anyone. 

 

Snow forecast here in the Welsh Berwyn mountains (SE edge of snowdonia).

[Fabcol]

Hi,

 

Thanks Hermit for your information and reassurance; I too agree that a drop of extra fuel is little compared to a pranged car;  just the added comfort these Cross Climate tyres gives us is well worth the money; we run over to Meadowhall quite often so I can use this as a measure to see how the mpg varies; I don't regret fitting the Cross Climates and will now stick with them in future; I'll report back in due course.

 

Sleet and gentle breeze forecast for us tomorrow but living so near to The Pennines messes around with our weather forecast; the surest forecast is to look outside.

 

Kind regards, Colin.

[gregoir]

A little bit of snow had turned to ice on the Chesterfield roads yesterday. My car felt fine on the Vredestein Quatrac 5,  but no one else was struggling on their summer tyres. I'm looking more at the tyres on the vehicle in front at traffic lights. A noticeable number have the fine sipes characteristic of cold weather tyres. Michelin Crossclimate are the easiest to id.

[gregoir]

 

I was idly looking at the German requirements for winter tyres.  My all seasons Vredestein Quatrac 5 tyres   have  the required M+S and three peaked mountain with the snowflake .

I did not buy them as winter tyres, but if I ever need to drive in Germany I will be OK. The bar must be set pretty low in their definition of a winter tyre?

[fabdavrav]

3 hours ago, gregoir said:

 

I was idly looking at the German requirements for winter tyres.  My all seasons Vredestein Quatrac 5 tyres   have  the required M+S and three peaked mountain with the snowflake .

I did not buy them as winter tyres, but if I ever need to drive in Germany I will be OK. The bar must be set pretty low in their definition of a winter tyre?

 

the bar is not set low, just some newer so called "all seasons" are very good at meeting the requirements of those stated standards...much like the Michelin cross climates..

[cheezemonkhai]

So as the nights are getting colder I am debating wether to stay on cross climates all year and sell the dedicated winters or to put them on a little later and off a bit earlier.

 

two thoughts...

 

1) Have cross climates really got close enough to full on winters such as the Michelin alpin6

 

2) with the roads being so good potholes will trash wheels

 

3) are there any good tyre storage services out there?

 

 

ta

Edited 30 August, 2019 by cheezemonkhai

[Ootohere]

@cheezemonkhai

Where is where you are and where you go to,

and do you usually really need full winters. Cross Climates are good but not the same as Snow Tyres are what you really need.

Have you not used the CrossClimates yet in snow?

 

This is going to be a really really bad winter, snowmageddon, frozen seas and everything, and the Daily Express has not even reported that yet, 

or maybe it will just be like many winters now, the beast from the east will surprise a few, loads of people might need their snow tyres for an hour or 2 then rain.

[cheezemonkhai]

Live down south, but not in a well cleared area. The cc should be fine, but drive all over the UK.

 

been on winters, Nokian wr, wrg2, a3, d4, a4, conti wintercontact on different cars and some alpin 6.

 

had to go collect a colleague with 4x4 and summers and another on cheap all seasons and I had zero issues.

 

at the same time, the new all seasons are better and at least a get you home safe option.

 

i think the fact you can bash a steel back to shape after a pothole (been there done that on previous cars) is a cost saver too.

 

i guess it’s mainly a space thing.

 

i’ve not run the cc in snow yet as there was an offer that made them a cheaper summer than summers.

Edited 30 August, 2019 by cheezemonkhai

[Ootohere]

 

 

[gregoir]

Interesting and informative. Not ruling out , good, budget tyres entirely then.

Edited 17 November, 2019 by gregoir

[Guest]

It thought it may have been a Black Friday offer ( just found it late last night ) but it's still being advertised today.

 

If anyone has access to Costco, there are some unbelievable offers on tyres right now. I've just bought 4 x Goodyear 4 Season Vector G2 all season tyres for my Octavia (225/45/17 ) for £231 fitted. Cross Climates are approx £10 a tyre more ( that should be around £271 fitted? ). There are of course other tyres to choose from where similar offers apply.

 

Seems like a crazy deal - hope it helps someone.

[Guest BigJase88]

Still rocking summer tyres on the work van and car. Both performing well and still alive atm

[Ootohere]

You have been trucking about the South of Scotland have you not, & if roads get very cold or they are forecast to they get treated,  and you have not been near the A939 daytime on the nights that snow gates were closed.

Or have you been venturing where there is no blacktop or thawing slushy roads?

 

People are not dying on roads around the Cairgorms and going off the road with their cars vans if not driving like plonkers .

The weather is pure balmy again for a while.

Edited 21 December, 2019 by Roottootemoot

[Guest BigJase88]

Today i have been to Leven in Fife in the van. Mild day though

[Ootohere]

This 2 year old vid is about 'Winter' tyres, so not All Season / All Weathers ,

but they are discussed in the 2nd vid, and there are recommendations. 

 

 

 

 

Edited 31 December, 2020 by e-Roottoot

[flybynite]

On 30/08/2019 at 23:03, cheezemonkhai said:

at the same time, the new all seasons are better and at least a get you home safe option.

 

I have been an ardent winter tyre user on everything but recently started using a set of all-season tyres (Goodyear gen2) on one machine. Although I still put a summer tyres on come spring, they have done really well.

 

Tyre technology has moved on a lot since I bought the last set of winters and there are good all-seasons now that have the wet performance of a summer tyre but have just enough snow capability to get you home safely in occasional snow. As a one-size-fits-all in the south of the UK they look good.

 

The only caveat I have is something I see a lot of,  wet tarmac just below freezing in the very early hours, more often than not, untreated. For that you need a good, soft, well-siped winter tyre.

 

As ever,  pick the tyre for the conditions you see most. With the choice of tyres and range of abilities on offer now that is easier than it has ever been, especially with the tyre information available on the net

[punyXpress]

5 hours ago, flybynite said:

 

The only caveat I have is something I see a lot of,  wet tarmac just below freezing in the very early hours, more often than not, untreated. 

One big hint is when the swishing sound goes quiet!

Welcome to the world of zero grip.

So listen!  Don't have loud musak etc

[flybynite]

14 minutes ago, punyXpress said:

One big hint is when the swishing sound goes quiet!

Welcome to the world of zero grip.

So listen!  Don't have loud musak etc

 

It is the way it used to work many moons ago, but these days I rarely venture out without my TS860 or TS860S in those conditions and they don't go quiet because they tend to grip.  if they go quiet south of Watford Gap hell will have frozen over 

 

Wouldn't be the first time I have driven and stopped just fine on a surface I could not easily walk on getting out of the car.

[cheezemonkhai]

11 hours ago, flybynite said:

 

I have been an ardent winter tyre user on everything but recently started using a set of all-season tyres (Goodyear gen2) on one machine. Although I still put a summer tyres on come spring, they have done really well.

 

Tyre technology has moved on a lot since I bought the last set of winters and there are good all-seasons now that have the wet performance of a summer tyre but have just enough snow capability to get you home safely in occasional snow. As a one-size-fits-all in the south of the UK they look good.

 

The only caveat I have is something I see a lot of,  wet tarmac just below freezing in the very early hours, more often than not, untreated. For that you need a good, soft, well-siped winter tyre.

 

As ever,  pick the tyre for the conditions you see most. With the choice of tyres and range of abilities on offer now that is easier than it has ever been, especially with the tyre information available on the net

Interesting you say this, as I’ve found the all seasons much better than expected in fresh snow, but definitely weaker on refrozen slush or the cold tarmac.

 

Depending on how travel goes post pandemic I could definitely see myself going back to two sets (I didn’t get rid of the winters as this was a trial)

 

I think a big part of this is 16” winters vs 18” all seasons, but also as you say a specialist tyre is by definition better at one thing.

 

Be interesting to see if the vector4 seasons or other winter rather compare on icy stuff vs summer biased CC+

Edited 9 January, 2021 by cheezemonkhai

[flybynite]

10 hours ago, cheezemonkhai said:

 

I think a big part of this is 16” winters vs 18” all seasons, but also as you say a specialist tyre is by definition better at one thing.

 

 To be honest I have never found the wheel size to make much difference in grip. I tend to use smaller wheels for better pot-hole cushion or because some winter tyres are not as available in bigger sizes.

 

10 hours ago, cheezemonkhai said:

Be interesting to see if the vector4 seasons or other winter rather compare on icy stuff vs summer biased CC+

 

You can tell by looking at them, blocks grip snow, sipes grip ice, grooves channel water. The mix of them on the tyre will dictate what it is good at.

 

Although there can be huge performance difference between similar looking tyres down to finer design and compound, you can tell a lot by the design.

[farty]

1 hour ago, flybynite said:

I tend to use smaller wheels for better pot-hole cushion

But smaller wheels will drop more into potholes.  For a smooth ride over potholes the larger the diameter, the better.  Riding a bicycle with small wheels should convince you of this fact - bikes like the Moulton are OK on smooth tarmac.....

[SurreyJohn]

11 hours ago, cheezemonkhai said:

Interesting you say this, as I’ve found the all seasons much better than expected in fresh snow, but definitely weaker on refrozen slush or the cold tarmac.

 

Depending on how travel goes post pandemic I could definitely see myself going back to two sets (I didn’t get rid of the winters as this was a trial)

 

I think a big part of this is 16” winters vs 18” all seasons, but also as you say a specialist tyre is by definition better at one thing.

 

Be interesting to see if the vector4 seasons or other winter rather compare on icy stuff vs summer biased CC+

I have Goodyear ultragrip 9+ winters on one car (205/60 R16).  In the recent weather (cold rain, sleet, frost, including ice patches) they have gripped the road like it’s a dry summer day

 

The tread pattern (the slightly curves V shapes) looks similar to the all season vector4 season Generation 3.   
 

When I bought them (Autumn 1999) there was not much choice in the standard wheel size 215/45 R18 and the limited choice of all seasons cost more than set of 16 inch wheels with winter tyres.  
 

To be honest if it wasn’t for the apparent waste of new tyres the car has come with, it has become clear to me that summer tyres are now generally pointless in UK, and latest all season are much better if you don’t intend to change wheels twice a year in UK

 

[Ootohere]

@farty When the wheels are smaller but the same circumference / total diameter is kept and the tyres, and tread width then what is the difference other than the possible same (edit) to one rim more than anothers  by size?

 

 

Edited 10 January, 2021 by e-Roottoot

[farty]

7 minutes ago, e-Roottoot said:

@farty When the wheels are smaller but the same circumference / total diameter is kept and the tyres tread width then what is the difference other than the possible dame to one rim more than anothers  by size?

Fair enough.  What is "dame" in your post?