Hi peeps,

Looking for some winter tyres for my spare set of 16" vRS alloys.

Having moved to a rural location full time now I think it would be a good idea to stick these on come the cold wet and icy weather.

Been looking on mytyres.co.uk and have narrowed it down to Michelin ALPIN A4's

http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?details=Ordern&cart_id=71856743.110.32262&Cookie=tyrepricebuster&typ=R-205185&ranzahl=4&Breite=205&Quer=45&Felge=16&Speed=T&weiter=0&Ang_pro_Seite=10&Transport=P&dsco=110&sowigan=Wi

Any opinions from the more knowledgeable on my choice?

I have basically gone for the best tyre on the site with the the best review marks so nothing scientific.

I want to keep the profile 205/45 R16 as I have 312 brakes.

Thanks for any thoughts.

I have Michelin Alpins in 185 wide on 14" alloys for winter......have had this for the past two winters......very good even on slippy grease roads up to +7C! In full snow and ice temps of -18C etc very good....when they do let go the car drifts as a whole slowly!...so you can play! Doesn't trip the ASR or the ABS unless you are really trying to defy the laws of Phyisics!!! Great fun overtaking big Land and Range Rovers with standard tyres.....(but my car has 4x4!!!!) .....

Oh dear more winter tyres threads... i wish there could be a new section for winter tyre threads only, thats a great idea James, well done

Cheers for the info fabdav and sorry about the new thread sonner but I did look back a bit and used search but most of the discussions were not much help and not very definitive. It is rather a confusing subject to someone who is looking to make a purchase for the first time.

I agree a separate sub-forum for tyres woud be a good idea though.

Cheers for the info fabdav and sorry about the new thread sonner but I did look back a bit and used search but most of the discussions were not much help and not very definitive. It is rather a confusing subject to someone who is looking to make a purchase for the first time.

I agree a separate sub-forum for tyres woud be a good idea though.

P.s. Remember to get a full set....front and rear!!!!! and watch the bolts for your spare!...my summer alloys the bolts are taper shoulder......but winters and spare are radius shoulder...so I keep a set of winter bolts in the car for summer!!

sorry i didn't aim this at you jifster...

buying tyres is always a minefield.

i think there are so many threads about them and different answers in different threads because opinions vary so much.

they are very few people that get through enough tyres on the same car to actually recommend which out of say 4 different tyres is the best.

normally people have different tyres and on different cars so more often than not the opinion of the handling and grip is often an extension of the car's abilites rather than a fair reflection of the tyre.

TBH i really rated the cheap Nankang xr611 tyre in the wet because of the predictable limits and great feedback and all for around £30 a tyre. i was raving about them for ages as the best economy brand tyre, however when i fitted them onto my little felicia i found them to be noisy and squealy with poor wet weather grip. and why is that???

Well the first car i put them on was a Porsche 944 which has amazing balance and grip due to the chassis, second car i fitted them to was a mk3 MR2 which again they felt sensational for the money.

in reality it was just the car proving it's ability no matter what boots it had.

Edited 19 September, 201114 yr by Sonner

p.s. i used mytyres once and the tyres took ages to arrive, they send them from Germany sometimes even though they say they have them in stock.

Try www.camskill.co.uk, until their recent cariage cost increase i would have said they where the cheapest ctyre company online.

Carriage costs seem to have gone back down! woop

Edited 19 September, 201114 yr by Sonner

I've always had great experiences with the toyo brand, and i can see you use the T-1R

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m96b0s627p62533/TOYO_TYRES_WINTER_SNOW_CAR_TOYO_S953_SNOWPROX_TOYO_S_953_-_205_45R16_87H_XL_TL_

The Toyo snow tyre looks pretty good.

Edited 19 September, 201114 yr by Sonner

....... they send them from like germany sometimes ........

What is like Germany?

Austria maybe? Or Hungary perhaps?

Belgium is quite like Germany, especially the Eifel region, but with better food..........

I've always had great experiences with the toyo brand, and i can see you use the T-1R

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m96b0s627p62533/TOYO_TYRES_WINTER_SNOW_CAR_TOYO_S953_SNOWPROX_TOYO_S_953_-_205_45R16_87H_XL_TL_

The Toyo snow tyre looks pretty good.

Yes I use T-1R's and like them a lot.

Just had a look at camskill and they don't seem to have anything in stock! Whats it going to be like when winter arrives?

Last year you could not buy winter tyres for love or money. That's why I'm thinking of getting a set early this year. Like now.

I have storage so can clean and put the wheels away after winter and hopefully they will last a good few years.

Edited 19 September, 201114 yr by jifster

I got mine from the local ATS euromaster centre....they managed to get their hands on the last set in michelin UK's warehouse (two years ago) .........everyone else (seven) said they had nothing.....I think ATS have more buying power!

fabdav what happens if you get a mild spell, I dunno, maybe 10c, do you just have to take it easy with teh winter tyres on.. or do they have to be swapped back. I'd hate to have to keep on swapping back and forth!

fabdav what happens if you get a mild spell, I dunno, maybe 10c, do you just have to take it easy with teh winter tyres on.. or do they have to be swapped back. I'd hate to have to keep on swapping back and forth!

I only swap once the temp is constantly above or below +7C.......if a couple of days swing I don't swap.....they go on once...then come off at the end of the season....no....on,off,on,off

Ok thanks for the info. Sounds like a good plan.

Hi peeps,

Looking for some winter tyres for my spare set of 16" vRS alloys.

Having moved to a rural location full time now I think it would be a good idea to stick these on come the cold wet and icy weather.

Been looking on mytyres.co.uk and have narrowed it down to Michelin ALPIN A4's

Any opinions from the more knowledgeable on my choice?

I have basically gone for the best tyre on the site with the the best review marks so nothing scientific.

I want to keep the profile 205/45 R16 as I have 312 brakes.

Thanks for any thoughts.

You are correct to go by the reviews as long as "wet" and "snow" performance get good marks. I've got A3's on 14" steels for the 9N Polo and A4's on 16" alloys for the B5 Passat 4Motion. Idealy, for best cold weather performance, I should have gone down to 13" on the Polo and 15" on the Passat but didn't (narrow tyres work better in cold and snow), you needing to stick with 16" wheels on the Fabia will limit the grip that winter tyres will provide - but they will still be a lot better than running with summer tyres on these rims.

Hi Rum, thanks for your reply thats very helpful. The A4's did seem to have not only the best score but they were well balanced across the categories for the test so I think I have chosen the right ones. I understand about the smaller wheel, narrow tyre aspect but as you say, they will be an improvement in bad weather over my summer tyres which is the main thing. I have ordered them anyway as I don't want to come unstuck again this year. Any sign of snow in Europe and they will all be gone and the ones left will be sky high prices for lower range offerings. We will probably have a mild winter now but I'm not going to chance it after the last couple.

I'll have to look into getting some steels and winter tyres for the other halves polo now. I can't remember much about her car though apart from it's 09 reg and it's black (lol)

I should pay more attention really considering I'm paying for it.

Not sure she will be keen on 13's though.

Just had a look at camskill and they don't seem to have anything in stock! Whats it going to be like when winter arrives?

Suppliers still haven't been properly replenished from last year. Instead of making some winter tyres in the summer, ready for the winter, most manufacturers aren't going to even start producing their winter tyre range until October. You should see some stock appearing over the next month or so I reckon.

To the OP: I had Michelin Alpin on my 145QV, and they were great.

Consistently top rated winter tyres appear to be:

Continental Winter contact TS830 or 830P depending on size you need

Dunlop Winter Sport 3D or the newer 4D

Goodyear UltraGrip 7 Plus

These tend to be European tests though, probably with a focus on snow and ice. Another option might be an all season tyre, and just use it in winter. Something like the Bridgestone A001, which is supposed to be very good, and is still classed as a winter tyre for when in Europe, without being a full-on winter tyre.

To be honest though, as people have said on here before, as soon as the temperatures start plummeting, almost any winter tyre will perform better than a summer tyre. Only concern would be dry braking distance, which increases slightly. The benefits more than outweigh the negatives.

Instead of making some winter tyres in the summer, ready for the winter, most manufacturers aren't going to even start producing their winter tyre range until October.

There must be a fair bit of variation though - I bought some Vredestein Quatrac 3 tyres in late May and they had been manufactured in week 15 of 2011.

There must be a fair bit of variation though - I bought some Vredestein Quatrac 3 tyres in late May and they had been manufactured in week 15 of 2011.

Quite possibly. I rather flippantly stated "most", when what I really should have said was "Conti, Dunlop, and Goodyear", as I asked my tyre supplier to try and get me some, and that was the reply he got from the tyre distributors.

These tend to be European tests though, probably with a focus on snow and ice.

Hi Slamby, I did consider the European influence and their different weather conditions slewing the tests and results and I took note that the A4's have good all round marks for wet and dry breaking as well as snow conditions.