winter tyres

[Smick]

Just love how topics get hijacked into something which then gets three miles away from the original post! And the number of handbags that people have....

I've posted so much about tyres that I'm not going through it al again apart from re-iterating that for me, 16" work better than 17" for ride quality.

For what it's worth I have a set of unused VW/Skoda 16" x 7" steels that I was going to fit last winter, but as the alloys from my last Scout fit fine on the Yeti, with the Vredestein winters I have, I'm going to sling the steels on to the market shortly at about £80 the set.

Anyone interested - just a little matter of coming to the Lake District to collect them ?

[Expatman]

Aldi currently have a torque spanner set on sale for £15.99 complete with extension bar and 17, 19 and 23mm sockets, ideal for anyone changing their summer wheels for winter wheels and wanting to tighten the wheel nuts to the correct torque. Seemed very cheap but it looks identical to the Siverline wrench that was recommended by Auto Express as a great budget buy so I bought one!

To test it I set it to 120Nm and "torqued" the wheel nuts on my 2012 Yeti - wheels were put on at the factory and haven't been changed since. I checked 4 nuts on each wheel (didn't bother with the locking nuts). Resulrs as follows:-

Wheel 1 - spanner 'clicked' on 2 nuts without any movement of the nuts, on the other two there was a slight movement of the nut before the spanner clicked.

Wheel 2 - 3 nuts no movement before click, 1 nut slight movement before click.

Wheel 3 - 2 nuts no movement before click, 2 nuts very slight movement before click.

Wheel 4 - 3 nuts no movement before click, 1 nut very slight movement before click.

I am assuming that the factory fitted the wheels to the correct torque and it seems that the Aldi spanner is quite accurate because it mirrored the factory settings almost perfectly. Seems a good buy and will insure your wheel nuts are tightened evenly to the right torque when you change to your winter steel wheels, and probably more importantly, when you change back to alloys in the Spring.

[vegit8]

Will look for one of those when we go to get our eggs tomorrow morning!

[Kiwibacon]

As mentioned many times before winter tyres are NOT snow and ice tyres. Those are a completely different tyre used where there are no cleared roads etc and often have studs etc.

In the UK we have winter tyres which are just that. For Winter, for when temperatures drop below 7 degrees.

They are one and the same. Studs/studless is just another option for some winter tyres.

[rockhopper]

They are one and the same. Studs/studless is just another option for some winter tyres.

I'm not so sure. I would be surprised if they used the same tyres, in say Scandinavia, Canada or North America where they drive on snow all winter, as the winter tyres we have in the UK. Ours are more cold weather & tarmac biased rather than snow biased, but work okay on snow, but not as well as dedicated snow tyres.

A bit like all terrain tyres and mud tyres. There is a crossover but both have their specific uses.

Snow tyres have a different tread as far as I can tell, and yes can be studded or not studded.

What I'm trying to say is that people in the UK calling 'winter tyres' 'snow tyres' is incorrect, as they are for temps below 7 degrees, not just for snow.

I don't think many people in snow bound countries would be using Continental WinterContact TS830P tyres. They would be using Continental ExtremeWinterContact tyres as an example.

[Kiwibacon]

I'm not so sure. I would be surprised if they used the same tyres, in say Scandinavia, Canada or North America where they drive on snow all winter, as the winter tyres we have in the UK. Ours are more cold weather & tarmac biased rather than snow biased, but work okay on snow, but not as well as dedicated snow tyres.

A bit like all terrain tyres and mud tyres. There is a crossover but both have their specific uses.

Snow tyres have a different tread as far as I can tell, and yes can be studded or not studded.

What I'm trying to say is that people in the UK calling 'winter tyres' 'snow tyres' is incorrect, as they are for temps below 7 degrees, not just for snow.

I don't think many people in snow bound countries would be using Continental WinterContact TS830P tyres. They would be using Continental ExtremeWinterContact tyres as an example.

They are all the same. No-one makes winter tyres just for the UK, the market is too small.

The important parts in a winter tyre are a tread compound that works in cold temperatures, wide tread voids (M+S etc) to clear water/slush and sipes to allow the tread blocks to flex more to grip ice and snow. These functions work in the cold and wet as well as the snow. The description of the conti wintercontact and extremewintercontact don't read that differently, each list water clearing as important feature and snow/ice traction. You'd likely have to ask Conti for a detailed breakdown.

All around the world you have contractors working to keep roads clear in winter, so whether it's europe, canada or the colder parts of the US the road conditions aren't a lot different. No-one intentionally takes cars into deep snow but ice, packed snow and melting snow are the main risks. I have visited people in Tahoe who fitted studs over winter. Not many places you can legally do that, which restricts what is sold. No-one in NZ sells winter tyres, I live in one of the few regions where they are useful but there are plenty of sets that come in on used cars imported mainly from Japan.

I've spent far too much time on tirerack.com (US site) lately looking for all season and mud/snow tyres for my vehicles. Interestingly the mud/snow tyres I want for my 4wd (goodyear duratrac) are studdable and sold in Australia (limited sizes) as simply offroad tyres where they never see snow. Comparing the tyres on offer there to blackcircles and other UK/euro sites has been very interesting. It appears to me to be more of a brand split with the US sites selling more asian and US made tyres than euro brands. Summer/winter and all season tyre availability is very different.

[r999]

They are all the same...

The description of the conti wintercontact and extremewintercontact don't read that differently,

At first sight there is not much difference in the descriptions, but in fact the ExtremeWinterContact is designed primarily for snow and ice, the ContiWinterContact primarily for tarmac. The same is true of tyres from other makers. In general, if you look at the winter tyres on sale in Sweden, Finland, Russia and the other Nordic countries, they are different from those available in the UK, Germany, France, etc.

For example:

from Continental, we have the ContiWinterContact, they have the ExtremeWinterContact, ContiIceContact, ContiVikingContact, and ContiWinterViking.

from Michelin, we have the Alpin and Pilot Alpin, they have the X-Ice 2.

from Goodyear, we have the UltraGrip 7 or 8, they have the UltraGrip Ice+ and UltraGrip Extreme.

from Bridgestone, we have the Blizzak, they have the Blizzak Nordic and Noranza 2 Evo.

from Pirelli, we have the Winter Snowcontrol and Winter Sottozero, they have the Winter Carving Edge and Winter Ice Control.

from Nokian, we have the WR A3 and WR D3, they have the Hakkapeliitta R and Hakkapeliitta 7.

These (both theirs and ours) are all still called winter tyres, are all for passenger cars, and it's nothing to do with having studs or not - some of them are studded or studdable and some not. The difference between theirs and ours is that theirs are designed for running for months on snow and ice with occasional tarmac, ours are the other way round.

So theirs are called Nordic winter tyres. Various manufacturers use that term, or refer to a Nordic tread compound, for example. They are not suitable for use in the UK except possibly if you live between Cockbridge and Tomintoul where the snow lies for months. They would be suitable for Grindelwald but not for Zürich, suitable for the Obersalzberg but not for Munich, etc.

[rockhopper]

They are all the same. No-one makes winter tyres just for the UK, the market is too small.

.

I know. My tyres came from Europe. I never meant that.

[rockhopper]

Maybe we should just call ours 'Cold weather tyres'.

[The Plumber]

Just bought winter tyres for our other Fabia II (yes we have two with a third on the way ) decided to save some penny's and went for Avon's Ice Touring ST, it's a British manufactured tyre made for our roads and if you look at these new tyre labels then they have one of the best wet road ratings

TP

[Kiwibacon]

I'm looking at pictures from an audi ice-driving event and trying to read the tyre model. Best I can make out is Conti-Winter-Contact-TS on the best photo.

This was a one day course on 100% groomed snow/ice skid pans about 4 years back. The tyres were flown in specially for it as winter/ice/snow tyres aren't sold here in NZ.

[weyland]

All, does anyone know if my winter wheels for my octavia will fit my future Yeti? They are 16" ET50 6.5j (112 x 5 stud pattern) with 205/55/16s

[bahnstormer vrs]

All, does anyone know if my winter wheels for my octavia will fit my future Yeti? They are 16" ET50 6.5j (112 x 5 stud pattern) with 205/55/16s

Not sure as you are caught between 16" 6J ET50 and 16" 7J ET45 that come on the Yeti. Its a matter of 0.5J and 5mm (on the ET).

Thinking on it, your 6.5J ET50 wheel will sit an extra 6mm(ish) inboard of the 6J ET50. It depends how much clearance there is at present.

[Smick]

Well, the same wheels fit my Yeti - well both the first and the second - with 215/60 x 16, 6.5J, ET50 offset. No problems with fouling, brake dics or anything else. BUT you need to make sure (in my opinion) that your insurers know that the wheel is slightly less width. Given that the lower powered Yetis run on 6.5, can't see it as being an issue. My Octavia wheels came off an L & K 1.9 litre.

[dbg400]

The German tyre & rim size guide - http://www.skoda.de/download.php?id=424 - linked from TP's http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/148948-yeti-tyre-and-rim-guide/ lists both the 16" 6J ET50 and 16" 7J ET45, both with 205/55, as suitable for the CFJA (TDI 170 4WD), so they should be fine with the rest of the models. I have some MSW 22 alloys which are 6.5J ET48 (so right in the middle of the two sizes) fitted with 205/55/16s ready to go on the car, the weekend after next.

[weyland]

Marvellous! Though i'll be keeping both cars it is at least a bonus to know I can fit the winter wheels on to either vehicle.

[weyland]

Marvellous! Though i'll be keeping both cars it is at least a bonus to know I can fit the winter wheels on to either vehicle.

Edited 9 October, 2012 by weyland

[Norse]

Hi all,

Just in case anyone is interested, here is the brand new test of winter tyres, published by The Norwegian Automobile Federation (The AA in UK, ADAC in Germany). They do this twice a year, and this test was published on October 11. The higher score, the better. Sorry, the test is in Norwegian only, but here's a link to the company which is behind the tests.

http://www.testworld.fi/

Studless tyres

Nokian Hakkapeliitta R - 7,5 poeng

Continental ContiViking Contact 5 - 7,5 poeng

Dunlop SP Ice Sport - 7,4 poeng

Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice - 7,4 poeng

Michelin X-Ice XI2 - 7,3 poeng

Vredestein Nordtrac 2 - 7,3 poeng

Pirelli Icecontrol Winter - 7,1 poeng

Bridgestone Blizzak WS70 - 6,9 poeng

Cordiant Winter Drive - 6,4 poeng

Studded tyres

Continental Conti Ice Contact - 8,5 poeng

Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice Arctic - 8,5 poeng

Nokian Hakkapeliitta 7 - 8,5 poeng

Dunlop Ice Touch - 8,2 poeng

Michelin X-Ice North XIN2 - 8,2 poeng

Bridgestone Noranza 2 Evo - 8,1 poeng

Pirelli Winter Carving Edge - 8,0 poeng

Gislaved Nord Frost 5 - 7,8 poeng

Sava Eskimo Stud - 7,7 poeng

Vredestein Arctrac - 7,7 poeng

Agi Sarek 2 - 7,0 poeng

Nankang NK Snow SW-7 - 6,9 poeng

[rockhopper]

Very few if any of those will you get in the UK, certainly not down where I am

[bahnstormer vrs]

Very few if any of those will you get in the UK, certainly not down where I am

Nor, hopefully, will we have the weather conditions to make use of them.

[Norse]

I believe you :-)

I haven't read the test thoroughly, but generally it says to avoid cheap tyres all together, and then chose tyres according to what conditions you're driving on. No point with studded tyres in downtown Oslo or along most of the west coast, for example.

And of course it says that any winter tyre is better than any summer tyre on winter roads. Most of the drivers in this country knows exactly what that means :-)

http://www.vg.no/nyheter/vaer/artikkel.php?artid=10054838

This article is from last fall. Every year drivers wait to long before they put on winte tyres, so our roads look like this :-)

Edited 11 October, 2012 by Norse

[Kiwibacon]

http://www.vg.no/nyh...?artid=10054838

This article is from last fall. Every year drivers wait to long before they put on winte tyres, so our roads look like this :-)

The funniest thing about that article (I can't read Norwegian) is they are all Volvo's.

[Norse]

Haha, didn't see that before now

[vegit8]

One of the benefits of getting older is that you are able to accept it when you make a mistake, and with a bit of humility and an apology its is often possible to recover from that position.

For many years I have been in favour of a change to winter rubber, but up until the purchase of the Yeti have for some reason or other never got around to it.

Anyway, once the Yeti was ordered combined with all the informed views on here I set about getting myself sorted.

Having ordered the "special build" with 16" feet supplied from new, the choice of rim size was easy.

Next easy task was sourcing suitable rims, I opted for a refurbished set of Audi A3 alloys from an online auction seller.

Then the choice of tyre and finally size.

I spent a lot of time reading TP's tyre and rim guide and read many posts on the subject of tyre size.

Having decided I wanted the Hankook W310 I called my local Setyres tyre fitter for a price.

We have used this firm for years and are on very good terms with the depot manager.

Then I made the mistake.....

On my post it note I had 2 sizes of tyre written down and at the moment of telling him what I wanted I opted for 205/55/16 - in my defence I was more concerned that the tyre load factor was correct - which turned out to be 99 XL.

This was some weeks ago!!

The tyres came home and were placed on the tyre tree waiting for a car to arrive to fit them on.

Then some time later I stumbled across a post by Johann which had a picture of his Yeti on that tyre / rim combination.

It looked awful, the wheels seemed very small in the wheel arches.

So I had 2 choices.

1. do nothing, save my pride and hope no-one noticed.

2. Speak to my tyre fitter manager chappy and admit total numptiness and throw myself at his mercy.

I explained that the tyres had not touched the ground, fortunately he took pity on me and agreed to swap them for a set of 215/60/16 for just the price differential.

No charge for refitting, no restocking charge!

Obviously he will get a bottle of something alcoholic for Christmas.

The moral of this tale?

Being wrong is not always a total disaster, its how you deal with the consequences that make the difference.

Establishing a rapport with suppliers of goods always pays dividends in the long run.

[bahnstormer vrs]

The funniest thing about that article (I can't read Norwegian) is they are all Volvo's.

.... and looks like they got caught out by the heavy camber.