I know there is a Tyres Section but I thought I would put this post here for more views.

I have just ordered x4 Marangoni Meteo HP Winter tyres 225/40/18 from Kwik Fit at £104 each, fitted. Great price so I thought I would share it.

Some good reading on Tyre Review website, probably not the best winter tyre but at that price I was sold. Other websites such as MyTyres and Pneus Online they are priced around £140.

Chris.

Seems a very good deal for 18s, although I haven't heard of the manufacturer.

Does this deal include fitting the summer tyres back on in spring?

No. Marangoni are Italian. Did a bit of research into them, they are a Smallish company and believe they are more widely used on the continent. I believe the are also into Motorsport.

Im considering getting some new 18's in the new year.... choices choices.

Thanks for the heads up, will look into this.

At the moment I'm not sure if I will get winter tyres for the VRS. I can work from home during the bad weather and if I do need to get about in poor conditions, I can use my wife's Corsa which performed excellently last winter!

I know there is a Tyres Section but I thought I would put this post here for more views.

I have just ordered x4 Marangoni Meteo HP Winter tyres 225/40/18 from Kwik Fit at £104 each, fitted. Great price so I thought I would share it.

Some good reading on Tyre Review website, probably not the best winter tyre but at that price I was sold. Other websites such as MyTyres and Pneus Online they are priced around £140.

Chris.

I saw that and NEARLY bought some. They have reasonable reviews over here, but not so favourable reviews from Canada and the continent.

What swayed me in the end was a winter tyre report that basically said people buy winter tyres for snow / ice, but actually these conditions only prevail for 15% of the winter in the UK. They recommended a winter tyre that is predominantly good in cold, wet conditions and thats where the mid - budget winter tyres usually fail.

I'm now considering Conti T830P, although difficult to find in stock at a good price, ot Dunlop 4D's, seen them for £155 (225 x 18 x 40), both excellent winter tyres in the wet.

I would however be really interested to hear how you get on with them, especially in the wet.

Conti's won the EVO winter tyre test IIRC.

TBH at that price the Marangoni's look like a great buy - so what if they're not quite as good as the "best".. they are still going to be miles better than running summer tyres.

I had been planning to put a new set of Assymetric2's on my vRS a month ago, but stuff happened and I didn't get it done - looks like i'll just go straight on to winters on my 18" rims now instead.

I have bought these as well. I had to use several days flexi time last winter when the Vrs couldn't go anywhere so £104 a corner is a smallish price to pay to avoid this again. I also have some Snowsocks too - cue the mildest driest winter on record no doubt.

You wont need the snow socks, if youve got winter tyres

Just fitted, new steel wheels (16") with Avon winter tyres. Bought four complete wheels with tyres from Mytyres for £470 delivered. Thats £117.50 per corner. Good value in my opinion

You wont need the snow socks, if youve got winter tyres

I stuck with summer tyres for the last two winters and used snow socks when it got really bad, which were brilliant, but after two winters they're now knackered, but were worth every penny of the 40 quid they cost. This year I have invested (somewhat more that forty quid) in a spare set of alloys with winter tyres and I almost can't wait for the bad weather to compare. However with temperatures not expected to dip below 10 celsius for the foreseeable future they are still in the shed!

Bob.

I've spent the last few months weighing up my options for the winter. I bought the Snowsocks first, then decided after reading the winter tyre thread that proper winter tyres are the way to go. I also decided against 2nd hand alloys or steelies because tbh I like my 18's and to have them sat in the garage for 6 months just seems a waste. Coinciding with the Kwik-Fit 25% off offer means the Marangonis are just about affordable. Plus it means I'll get another year out of my summer conti's.

Cant see the point of fitting 18" winter tyres cos the whole idea is to reduce the footprint of the tyre by going smaller on the width, (just look at the rally cars when operating in snow they are like bike tyres in width obviously reducing the footprint) I fitted some 16" steels and winter tyres last year on my Vrs and it never got stuck, The other point is in the event of catching a kerb when slipping in the ice and snow you only damage a cheap steel rim not a expensive alloy, and lets be right the alloys dont take much abuse. Rainworth Skoda are doing some good deals on winter tyre/wheel packages at the moment.

It's a compromise. But 18" winters are still going to be better in snow/ice/cold/wet than 18" summers.

I agree 205 tyres will perform better (slightly) than 225's. But they are only 20mm wider. Not exactly massive. Also I have never pranged an alloy in the past with summer tyres on so it would be pure bad luck if I were to. Regardless of how an 18" winter tyre will perform it will be considerably better... I hope, than summer tyres.

I agree 205 tyres will perform better (slightly) than 225's. But they are only 20mm wider. Not exactly massive. Also I have never pranged an alloy in the past with summer tyres on so it would be pure bad luck if I were to. Regardless of how an 18" winter tyre will perform it will be considerably better... I hope, than summer tyres.

I have been running 225/55/16 winter tyres on my old Beemer (rwd)for last three winters and never been stuck, even drove out of Germany just before last Christmas when it was far worse than the UK

Cant see the point of fitting 18" winter tyres cos the whole idea is to reduce the footprint of the tyre by going smaller on the width, (just look at the rally cars when operating in snow they are like bike tyres in width obviously reducing the footprint)

I think the "reduced footprint" idea may be flawed. It would be valid if you were driving on snow all of the time, but in reality for the last few winters I've done thousands of miles on cold wet icy tarmac, and less than a hundred where I was actually driving on snow. IMO the increased grip you'd have on cold tarmac with the wider tyre would more than offset the benefit you'd get on snow with the narrower tyre.

Just my 02p etc.

I think the "reduced footprint" idea may be flawed. It would be valid if you were driving on snow all of the time, but in reality for the last few winters I've done thousands of miles on cold wet icy tarmac, and less than a hundred where I was actually driving on snow. IMO the increased grip you'd have on cold tarmac with the wider tyre would more than offset the benefit you'd get on snow with the narrower tyre.

Just my 02p etc.

That was my point regarding fitting winter tyres that were reviewed as performing well in cold wet conditions.

Most winter tyres perform very well in snow, but some have been slated for underperforming in the wet, and lets face it UK winters are predominantly that.

Autobild rated Rockstone winters that low in the wet that they labelled them 'defective'

No. Marangoni are Italian. Did a bit of research into them, they are a Smallish company and believe they are more widely used on the continent. I believe the are also into Motorsport.

Im considering getting some new 18's in the new year.... choices choices.

Chris is right, they are into motorsport, i bought some of their mythos tyres when i was living in italy as the toyos i normally use were too hard to get, they were bl**dy good tyres to be fair to them...made me think i should find some marangoni winter tyres.

Edited 1 November, 201114 yr by Oet

Just fitted, new steel wheels (16") with Avon winter tyres. Bought four complete wheels with tyres from Mytyres for £470 delivered. Thats £117.50 per corner. Good value in my opinion

you should really inform your insurance company, as you are no longer running OEM wheels - they will probably charge you for it, which, as it's a modification from factory spec, they can. - if they were Skoda rims, then this would not be an issue.

Cant see the point of fitting 18" winter tyres cos the whole idea is to reduce the footprint of the tyre by going smaller on the width, (just look at the rally cars when operating in snow they are like bike tyres in width obviously reducing the footprint) I fitted some 16" steels and winter tyres last year on my Vrs and it never got stuck, The other point is in the event of catching a kerb when slipping in the ice and snow you only damage a cheap steel rim not a expensive alloy, and lets be right the alloys dont take much abuse. Rainworth Skoda are doing some good deals on winter tyre/wheel packages at the moment.

It's a compromise - 2cm of width aint going to reduce the foot print by much really and having the wider tyre, would allow the car to "float" on top of the snow etc, rather than digging into it, to find the ice underneath. + I couldn't have my car looking naff with 16" Steel Rims!!

I run Vredestine Wintrac Xtreme's on Genuine 18" Skoda Rims, and last year, it was EXCELLENT!

Al.

I had some Marangoni Mythos 225 40 18 when a few year ago and they were really nice, at the time they were only £50 each but a year or so later when I got some more they were 90 a corner. loved them, really nice

It's a compromise - 2cm of width aint going to reduce the foot print by much really and having the wider tyre, would allow the car to "float" on top of the snow etc, rather than digging into it, to find the ice underneath.

Al.

It's all about contact pressure on snow and ice, narrower the tyre the more contact pressure and more grip. Biting into snow also greatly increases the ability to maintain steering input.

The only time you want to sit ontop of snow is if you are driving off road in very deep snow like an icelandic glacier perhaps, then you want very wide tyres at very low pressure and 4x4 with 3 lockable diffs.

Cheers

Lee