I've just brought a new vrs last week and it has been real fun in the dry! However the tiny amount of snow we have had on the south coast and I barely had any grip. New continental sport contacts but seemed rubbish today with the weather. Think I may have to look into winter tyres but was hoping to wait untill later in the year( hoping that the bank account has recovered from the purchase of the car!). Anybody else had fun today. Any recommendations for good, cheap winter tyres? Guess I'm also going to have to look for a set of alloys. Is it much cheaper to get 17"s?

Plenty of threads on this site if you have a search (link below is one such thread with the info and arguements for/against 16, 17 or 18" winter tyres). However, in answer to your question 16" wheels are the smallest that will fit over the standard VRS front brake callipers. 205/55/16 tyres size with 5x112 pitch circle diameter for for the stud pattern.

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/215362-show-us-your-winter-wheels/page__hl__%20winter%20%20tyres

Not heard or read any bad reports about Nokian winter tyres, personally used the Nokian WR G2’s and WR A3’s… they are both very impressive, so much so I may even try their summer tyres this year.

I'm on the south coast too and not had any traction problems with 225/45-17 Kumho tyres. They've been really grippy today and are not winter tyres. Mind you I have only got 105bhp

Also on the south coast and not had any grip issues today either snow or no snow the roads were clear just bloody cold, maybe ease up on the throttle abit

Chances are your go get winter boots put on and in a week or two you take them off again

I have a brand new set on black steel wheels sat in the garage for when we get alot of snow and ice like we had over december/jan.

Man up!!

I'm running Summer tyres just now and its snowing outside "OH NO!!! Whatever will i do".....

A relevant search on here will reveal lots of arguments for and against winter tyres. I have them on mine but I drive around the ungritted Peak roads for work and travel distances to go winter ice climbing. Only you can decide if the cost is justified relative to their use.

I fitted 17" Audi alloys from flea bay as they are generally more available than Skoda ones. 7 1/2J and ET45 are wider than my Skoda Pegasus but fit fine. If seeking ultimate grip in snow a thinner tyre on a smaller diameter is better. If looking on flea bay just check the offset and make sure that the stud pattern is the same as yours. Earlier wheels were 5 by 100 rather than 5 by 112.

An alternative to winter tyres are snow socks which a couple of friends have used to get them out of trouble in snow.

Enjoy the driving anyway.

I work on the south coast and my winter tyres were of no real benefit today, 4 separate roads within half a mile of work all closed due to snow, while the only other road out had been nicely gritted.

Mind you I switched back to my Sport Contact 2s for a few days the other week after getting a puncture in one of my Ice Tourings and had the traction control cut in going round a slightly damp corner in the cold that I've taken at the same speed plenty of times on my winter tyres, so I'm happy that they do make a difference in cold weather. I went for 16" steel wheels from MyTyres.

Edited 11 March, 201313 yr by RizzoTheRat

Drove through 6" of snow today. No way my vrs would have done that without the winter tyres. Everyone was driving so slowly and I could pass them in the outside lane which no one had been in and car felt really stable. The seem to grip better the deeper the snow. Watched cars getting stuck and I could drive up same road no bother. Oh and thats still running 18" wheels as well

I've never bought or used a winter tyre in the 19 years I've been on the road - not only am I still in one piece, I've only ever left the road once when I didn't want to (and that was not in the snow - so winter tyres wouldn't have helped in that situation).

I say it's all about the driving style.

I am and have always been perfectly able and confident to drive in the snow with summer tyres. However despite adjusting my driving accordingly I had very little grip yesterday and I have become far more cautious since becoming a dad and also just having spent all my savings on my first NEW car. If it costs to protect these things then I think it's worth it.

Everyone seems to be a superman - just adjust driving style and you are fine. Talk about half-truth. How do you make sure that all the other drivers on the road have adjusted their driving style? Or are people really so confident that if you just go a bit slower you will be able to stop on snow with summer tyres in a surprise situation..? Man up.. year right.

For all the reasonable drivers - Nokian tyres are really good. Finns know winter, all I can say

The 'man up' argument doesn't stand. Women need to be able to drive in wintery conditions too

I don't see how being more masculine will help in this regard, of finding more grip?

As such, it's a bit of a daft comment....

For the record, I like my Vredestein Wintrac Extremes. I don't find I'm more feminine with them fitted to the car.

Ok thanks- glad to know that my masculinity is no longer going to be in question when I buy tyres- I had been considering sending my wife to get them fitted!!! I'm now off to hunt for some cheap wheels to don some new rubber.

For the record, I like my Vredestein Wintrac Extremes. I don't find I'm more feminine with them fitted to the car.

+1 for Wintrac Xtremes; great all round tyre. Excellent in the snow, and equally good at 100mph+ on autobahn in the dry. I will miss them when the neptunes go back on!

I've never bought or used a winter tyre in the 19 years I've been on the road - not only am I still in one piece, I've only ever left the road once when I didn't want to (and that was not in the snow - so winter tyres wouldn't have helped in that situation).

How can you say its down to driving style when you've never used winter tyres? Yeah driving style does make a difference but if your trying to get up a hill in thick snow or ice then it mostly comes down to grip. Braking and cornering grip is greatly enhanced. ...proven fact. I know we don't get a lot of snow but if everyone changes to winter tyres we possibly would prevent the situations of motorways etc being brought to a standstill

How can you say its down to driving style when you've never used winter tyres? Yeah driving style does make a difference but if your trying to get up a hill in thick snow or ice then it mostly comes down to grip. Braking and cornering grip is greatly enhanced. ...proven fact. I know we don't get a lot of snow but if everyone changes to winter tyres we possibly would prevent the situations of motorways etc being brought to a standstill

I agree with the above post. Problem is the vast majority of road users dont use winters and never will. Therefore if you spend £600 on a full set of winter boots then get stuck in traffic as everyone else is on summers then whats the point of winter tyres? Even if the majority of road users miraculously start using them some plum on summers will still get stuck and block the road so you lose again. £600 to sit in the same traffic jam as everyone else.

Wheneve i see "traffic chaos" on the news its always huge tailbacks caused by a car or lorry being stuck or off the road or jacknifed etc etc so in these situations your winter tyres are of no benefit as its not like you can turn into a field and bypass the trouble spot.

Granted general braking and stopping is vastly improved on winters, i dont think thats even up for debate. Trouble is i havent had a motoring incident in 22 years of driving relating to sliding off at a corner or not being able to stop in time as generally when snow is on the ground all traffic is crawling along at a snails pace anyway so ther eis plenty time to react.

IMO winter tyres are to prevent me getting stuck and this is the only reason i would buy them. I simply havent experienced anything like enough situations whereby my day to day life has suffered as i didnt have winters on. I always get to my work by hook or by crook and i always get home.

If my day job involved driving a vehicle then thats a different story but it doesnt, driving is a means to an end for me so £600 cant be justified when it doesnt directly benefit me or earn me more money. If i cant get into work, who cares, why should i pay £600 to benefit my company. It its that important then my company would buy winters for me. The reason the dont is that i havent needed them since starting with them 17 years ago so the cost isnt justified.

A lot of people rave about them. This is because they are very good. Bottom line is that i just dont need them up here in Scotland. 22 years on the road proved this but i welcome being proved wrong if winters suddenly get worse but from what i can tell they are getting milder.

How can you say its down to driving style when you've never used winter tyres? Yeah driving style does make a difference but if your trying to get up a hill in thick snow or ice then it mostly comes down to grip. Braking and cornering grip is greatly enhanced. ...proven fact. I know we don't get a lot of snow but if everyone changes to winter tyres we possibly would prevent the situations of motorways etc being brought to a standstill

How can I say it's driving style when I've never used winter tyres?

Really easily - firstly I said it above - look, you even quoted it so it's in your post and mine above it.

Secondly, as I said, and as I'll say again - I've never bought a winter tyre and never run on any and I've never had a crash, an out of control moment or anything in the snow in the 19 years I've been on the road.

So, to put this another way:

19 years I've been driving a car. In that time I've been on "summer tyres". In my very early cars these would have been "cheap and nasty" and in later cars good brands. In those 19 years I've never had a snow related accident.

So I would quite categorically say that driving style makes a lot of difference to the chances of you having a snow related problem or not.

Or, to put it another way "it's all down to driving style".

Look, I've gone and said it again.

Edited 13 March, 201313 yr by Stoofa

That is very controversial of you Stoofa - suggesting that the majority of accidents or incidents on the roads in winter could be reduced by people actually adjusting their driving style to suit the weather conditions. You are the sort of person that maybe believes in slowing down in rain, leaving a greater gap between yourself & the car in front and turning on their lights so they can be seen by other road users.

Nope, much better to spend in excess of £600 on another set of tyres and then blame someone else when they do not overcome the laws of physics...

Okay the above was very much tongue in cheek before anyone gets too upset, but as Stoofa has said, much can be affected by driving accordingly. I'm not saying that winter tyres are no god - far from it, but I cannot justify the extra cost when in 21 years adjusting my driving style (which I would have to do anyway as I am a conscientious driver) has worked for me.

Plus winter tyres on your car wont stop some boy racer crashing into you.

The only scenario that winter tyres are beneficial for a situation outwith your control are when someone runs out in front of you in the road i.e braking. Now i think about it even this can be reduced by being more alert and properly reading the road ahead but i'll agree winter tyres will be a great help as it isnt possible to see every kid on the street and anticipate what every single one will do.

All other areas however where winter tyres are good i.e cornering grip, are under your control in the first place. Just take the corner slower. Actually you would probably have to take the corner slower anyway as the traffic will be slower so the increased cornering capabilities you have on winters is again irrelevant.

If you hit the car in front in winter on summer tyres then the fault is yours and not the tyres. Chnaging to winter tyres may prevent a similar problem but ultimately it was your driving style that was wrong in the first place therefore changing your driving style is the most important aspect of winter driving.

My point is that virtually all scenarios on the road are under your control and therefore changing your driving style is the best option as doing this is a proactive measure of avoidance. Fitting winter tyres and not changing your driving style is a reactive measure for incident avoidance.

Emergency braking for a legitimitedly unexpected event is only one aspect where a reactive response is probably the only realistic approach. Every other aspect of motoring can be massively influenced by driver attitude and therefore changing this attitude / style can be used to negate the requirement for winter tyres. This is certainly my experience of driving in Scotland for 22 years.

Look how many 4x4 drivers go off the road as they rely too heavily on their perceived winter capable vehicle i.e my 4x4 is unstoppable so i shall drive accordingly. Be pro-active and accept that summer tyres are compromised and drive accordingly. This is a safer option than fitting winter tyres and carrying on as normal IMO.

You could argue that i could do both i.e fit winters and change my driving style. Unfortunately the evidence doesnt back this up as my 22 years of trouble free winter driving testify to.

Even if the evidence did back it up driving style is still the single biggest influence on safe winter driving.

Here we go again....

All I'll say, from my point of view, is that some people who run winters also adjust their driving and driving style accordingly. This point seems to have been missed.

Winters are more suited to the conditions, end of story for me. I don't really care about what other motorists do. If I did, I don't think I'd ever leave the house!

Here we go again....

All I'll say, from my point of view, is that some people who run winters also adjust their driving and driving style accordingly. This point seems to have been missed.

Winters are more suited to the conditions, end of story for me. I don't really care about what other motorists do. If I did, I don't think I'd ever leave the house!

I actually just said it.

The point is that doing both i.e fitting winters and changing driving style isnt needed in Scotland so why waste money needlessley?

When winters become bad enough that i cant get about safely in my car then winter tyres are justified. The winters up here are simply not bad in fact they are so mild its hardly fitting to call it winter. We have 1-2 inches again today but the roads are all clear so whats the problem??

We get wet sleaty snow which clears quickly.

Winter tyres are better in winter so not sure why people keep stating this. I just dont need better tyres that what i already have especially not at £600. Even if i got stuck it wouldnt cost me any money to get moving again so why should i spend £600.

I posted that as you posted your last post.

For me it's not a needless waste of money. For one, you can only wear through one set of tyres at a time, as been well discussed. Also for me, I prefer to have a set of alloys that I'm less precious about, over the winter months where they get more salt/grit/road debris thrown at them. Again, it's a personal decision.

The £600 amount is also being bandied about very regularly in this thread. Not sure why - this is not a hard and fast figure. Winter tyres did not cost me £600. But again, that's a personal choice. You can spend less, you can spend more - your choice.

I take the view that you only have four contact patches between you and the road. Make them work as well as possible. Winter tyres work better at lower temperatures and when road conditions are wintery. Not all roads used by everyone are clear, or gritted.

The only time winter tyres will be a 'waste of money' is when you sell your car without wearing them out first. In any other situation you are just replacing one set of summer tyres with another set. If you never wear out tyres then you drive so little and sedately that you can get along on winters all year round anyway, or use all seasons.

Roads would not be so clogged if more people had them and the police actually enforce this http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1986/1078/regulation/103/made when people try and go out in snow and then get stuck blocking a hill. We don't even need any law changes.

The only time winter tyres will be a 'waste of money' is when you sell your car without wearing them out first. In any other situation you are just replacing one set of summer tyres with another set. If you never wear out tyres then you drive so little and sedately that you can get along on winters all year round anyway, or use all seasons.

Roads would not be so clogged if more people had them and the police actually enforce this http://www.legislati...lation/103/made when people try and go out in snow and then get stuck blocking a hill. We don't even need any law changes.

Totally agree. If you keep your car for several years then the cost of winters is absorbed. I still dont really need them though but i conceed they would be better.

As for all seasons. I cant find any to fit my VRS alloys. This would be my preferred option as i could then leave them on all year round. Why then do they not make them to fit the VRS, weird as its tyre sizes are hardly rare.

The reason they have different legislation in europe regarding winter tyres is because they have worse winters than us and therefore it makes sense. Untill the climate changes in the UK i doubt this will ever happen.

Edited 13 March, 201313 yr by Jockdooshbag