Most of you will know I'm well happy with new yeti. 

 

Now thinking about putting a set of winter tyres on her ,,,, swmbo has a different opinion on what to do with the considerable amount of cash required to replace what are , in essence, brand new tyres pn a 26k two week old car.

 

Thoughts ?

Gambling...

Depends on your requirements, I live just off the main drag up a slight incline and in times of snow / frost get no gritting so in my case winter tyres were a help.

Both sets of tyres we be on for roughly 6 months per year so your initial outlay will gradually be recouped if you intend keeping your Yeti any length of time.

Also the safety factors shorter braking distance and better grip should figure in your decision.

26k is a lot to write off for having the wrong footwear. Nearly wreaked my first Yeti in a snow blizzard; lost all grip on a hill and ended up spinning and tobogganing down the hill backwards, with a stalled motor :S from this I became a winter tyre convert and we switch all three family cars every year; far safer for all.

 

Also find winters work a lot better in the regular cold and wet conditions, like we are having now.

 

Options would be to either replace your factory tyres with a proper all season tyre, swap summer & winter tyres annually, although your alloys are more at risk from damage, or have a second set of wheels either alloy or steel.

 

 

TP

Yes. I doesn't work out as expensive as it might seem since you wear each set half as slowly and the safety and security they provide is excellent. I would never have a car without them again.

Point out you'll have 2 sets of nearly new tyres,and a lovely shiney newish set to put back on come Summer.

A long term investment (Especially if you live up in Stirling.)

Better than trying to dig Her out of an Icy ditch.

Hmmmm....considering the weather in Scotland, and although you have a 4x4, if I had to make that decision I would put on a set of winter as a 4x4 plus winters is the ultimate combination.

 

However, best if they were installed on either a spare set of alloys (I know - more expense), or a set of Skoda steels. That way you have not got to worry about changing tyres over twice a year, and will also prevent some careless tyre fitter buggering up those nice new alloys each time they swop them over, and also stop the salt ruining them.

 

Good luck and happy new year Kerms34.

swerving towards a set of goodyear vectors all seasons ,, but 600+ is still a lot of cash ,,, may have to just ride my luck for this winter and save up the cash !!!

I had the same consideration to make and ended up ordering a set of Spectrum alloys and Nokian winter tyres. I reckon the only expense is the alloys but I will recoup some of that if, and when, I ever need to sell them.they seem to drive really well in the wet so far - a bit more under steer but that is only to be expected as they are narrower and taller than the "summers" . They also seem slightly more forgiving on the bumps (May just be my imagination though) and also quieter on the surfaces I have driven on since fitting.

Steve.

JDI - the difference is well worth the extra £££'s - and  you only ever wear 1 set at a time - I'm now on my 4th winter with my Vredestein Extremes

If you go for steel wheels (4 for about £250), that's your only extra lifetime cost.  You are going to wear tyres out anyway, it just becomes an up-front investment.  You might need to slip the local tyre fitter some beer money to swap the wheels over twice a year, but it's easy enough to do yourself, in which case, I'd buy a torque wrench too.

 

Having noted that, I am planning to swap to all-season tyres when my current tyres wear out.

Edited 2 January, 201412 yr by Zib

And you can always sell part-worn winter tyres and/orwheels on afterwards - I sold some used winter tyres in early December, they got a lot of interest on Ebay.

Never had so many watcher, and offers...

I'm right on the South Coast so although I thought about a set of winter wheels and tyres on balance I've decided I'm going to see how I get on with the factory fitted tyres through the rest of this winter with a view to moving to all-season tyres when it's time to change. But my decision is based on a generally mild (but currently wet!) climate, being semi-retired so I can choose not to go out if the conditions are bad and seeing very little snow and ice in any year (two weeks would be extreme arctic conditions down here!!). Having skated around on the low profile summer tyres fitted to my previous car for a few years because I didn't realise there were different tyres for different conditions (and apparently nor did my main agent dealer who only suggest I could try turning the traction control off!) if I lived further north for me it would be a no brainer decision.  Better grip and predictable handling through the winter months for the cost of a set of steel wheels and 30 minutes or so swapping back and forth every 6 months, dramatically reducing the risk of a skid and accident or getting stranded - I'd say a few hundred pounds was a bargain. 

 

Perhaps SWMBO hasn't thought that fixing even a small accident through being on the wrong tyres could cost more than a set of wheels and tyres? 

This is what you need Kerms34  - cost £25k mind.

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151962437454737

Living in West London I've never had a problem, yet. Reading about winter tyres makes me think I should consider them, even if it's only for the wet.

Any comments about whether to have them the same size as existing wheels ie,17in or drop to 16in would help.

My mileage is around 1000+ miles a month, on main A roads & motorways, rarely on side roads.

A concern for me is that tyres are supposed to have a shelf life of 7 years, so I guess I would need to check age of tyres at time of purchase.

I haven't fitted winters and have never got stuck either, I know there are benefits on damp cold roads etc but from my experience the Yeti has tremendous grip even on worn tyres and moving is not an option but stopping is where the concentration needs come in, leave big gaps and brake slowly and you will probably manage fine on standard tyres.

 

 We were in Blair Atholl for Christmas, a good 6 inches of snow fell and our cottage was up a steep long hill through bridge of Tilt, Yeti had no problem climbing the hill, we also had to stop for a car coming down and got going again easily.

 

 As I say winters offer more than grip in snow but for the money and the hit and miss winters we have in the UK I really am not convinced it is a worthwhile option.

 

 

 Prepare to get flamed 

It was snow in South East London that persuaded me to get winter tyres.  I had a Passat at the time, and it had no grip at all in the snow:  touch the brakes and it slid and slid and slid....  only just avoiding a head-on collision with a large red bus.  Winter tyres transformed it.

 

Our local side roads don't get gritted, so rapidly become difficult the moment snow settles, especially on the slopes.  Parts of Surrey are quite hilly.

Why do people believe it's their car that grips the road rather than the tyre? When out on foot It's the footwear that provides grip not the person, same with cars.

My wife's cousin was proposing to sell his passat because "it's not good in the snow". When I suggested tyres might help he thought I was kidding.

To the OP, your new factory tyres will be better than older tyres obviously but in terms of cornering and stopping on cold wet surfaces (even more so in snow) winters are much much better.

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