Full winters or 4 seasons?

[speedy1]

Hi

 

id like some advice, i know its strange to be thinking about this in August but thats how my mind works so here we go.

 

My daughter started driving  a couple of months ago and ive manged against all the odds to get her a car and insure her without remorgaging the house.  so she has just got a job but its early mornings and i'm starting to think about her driving in the winter, i know we don't get severe winters in shropshire but the road from our house is a B road that always ices up badly and claims at least 3 or 4 victims every winter (not deaths just cars going through hedges mostly)

 

So has anyone experience of 4 season type tyres in ice and are they too much of a compromise in the summer/rainy season or should i just get some spare wheels and get a set of full winters.  advice on what ones you  choose and what month you tend to put them on  would be great as well. 

 

I had set my heart on the michelin cross climate but they don't do them for a corsa :(

 

Many thanks Tom

Edited 17 August, 2015 by speedy1

[domhnall]

I put Continental all season tyres on my camper van last year and they performed well. I've put the cross climates on my new Octavia but not tested on icy roads yet - mind you on Saturday they worked really well in the downpours we had and it was only 9 degrees so I've got high hopes for them.

 

In terms of pure winter tyres ,my wife has Nokians on her car and I had Vredestein Wintrac Extremes on my yeti, both of which are  excellent on slippy surfaces. 

[speedy1]

I put Continental all season tyres on my camper van last year and they performed well. I've put the cross climates on my new Octavia but not tested on icy roads yet - mind you on Saturday they worked really well in the downpours we had and it was only 9 degrees so I've got high hopes for them.

 

In terms of pure winter tyres ,my wife has Nokians on her car and I had Vredestein Wintrac Extremes on my yeti, both of which are  excellent on slippy surfaces. 

Thanks for the reply

 

I would like to go for a 4 season type tyre  but they seem to be very hard to find for a vauxhall corsa.  i see your further north than me when do you put your winters on?

[Huskoda]

If her annual mileage is not excessively high and she isn't going to be pushing the car, then just run winters (I recommend Continental TS850s) all year around. I know several people who do just that without any issues.

 

I put ours on when the forecast is for every day to be under 10 (early November here) and take them off when the forecast is every day over 10 (March/April).

[speedy1]

If her annual mileage is not excessively high and she isn't going to be pushing the car, then just run winters (I recommend Continental TS850s) all year around. I know several people who do just that without any issues.

 

I put ours on when the forecast is for every day to be under 10 (early November here) and take them off when the forecast is every day over 10 (March/April).

hi huskoda

 

Thanks for that i was thinking November to March.  interesting that you say winters all year around could work,  i'll consider that but dont mind swapping  every year.

i'll have a look at the continental Ts8550s

 

Thanks again

[dbg400]

What size all seasons are you after? SWMBO has the Goodyear Vector 4Seasons on her i10 and they are great in the snow, though I've not tackled steep hills with them yet.

 

I've run Nokian WR A3s winter tyres into late April when it's been pretty warm and there's no obvious change in behaviour.

 

There are other all season tyres coming out - take a look at Nokian Weatherproof, which are winter tyres designed to work in summer, compared to the Michelin CCs which are summer tyres that work in winter. I'm strongly considering the Weatherproofs for the Yeti and dropping the need for the twice-yearly swapover.

[speedy1]

thanks to all

 

I've gone for the continental TS850s with wheels from pneus online £66 a corner all in which i thought was pretty good.  i will be able to sleep at night in the winter now

 

Thanks again

 

Tom

[Huskoda]

Good price

My other half also works very early mornings and she's never had to drive without winters as I wouldn't allow it.

[domhnall]

Thanks for the reply

I would like to go for a 4 season type tyre but they seem to be very hard to find for a vauxhall corsa. i see your further north than me when do you put your winters on?

We put them on at the start of October, take them off at the end of April, basically whenever we tend to get frost.

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[speedy1]

I put Continental all season tyres on my camper van last year and they performed well. I've put the cross climates on my new Octavia but not tested on icy roads yet - mind you on Saturday they worked really well in the downpours we had and it was only 9 degrees so I've got high hopes for them.

 

In terms of pure winter tyres ,my wife has Nokians on her car and I had Vredestein Wintrac Extremes on my yeti, both of which are  excellent on slippy surfaces. 

I've decided The cross climates are going to be the next tyre for my faithful octavia..just .as soon as my soon as my uniroyal rainsports wear out!

[okenobi]

I've run Nokian WR A3s in a Lake Garda summer. Wore quickly, but otherwise wonderful. That was on my old Mk1 vRS after a far more fun Italian winter. The UK never gets hot enough to bother changing if you value safety & security over the ultimate driving experience in the summer.

[kipperbailey]

Domnhall how've you found the cross climates???

[fabiamk2SE]

Ive got Goodyear vector 4 seasons on the Fabia in 195 55 r15's.

They are a very good tyre. Its like a little compromise on both winters and summers though.

In snow and ice theyre miles better than summers. Ill run out of ground clearance in the fabia before it gets stuck on the flat.. But it wont pull up hills like the full winters would on the Polo. But they are 165 65 r14's. So narrower. Might of had something to do with it.

In summer, they grip well. You have to really push it round corners to get it to let go. Only way its not as good as summers is the precision feel. They dont feel as precise on turn in as summers.

I would highly recommend them for a car that isnt putting out too much power. They arent as good as 2 sets of wheels, summer and winters, but are more than good enough for most hatchbacks

[irc]

I just fitted four Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons Generation 2s to my Octavia. Choice based on the Autobild review which actually tested the same size tyres I fitted.

 

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2015-AutoBild-All-Season-Tyre-Test.htm

 

Early days yet but first impressions are good. They replaced a set of Bridgestone Turanzes which were down to 22mm at the front. There was always a lot of tyre noise with the Bridgestones. The Goodyears are rated 3Db quiter so I hoped for a noise reduction. The tyre noise was reduced by even more than I expected.  I've heard that all else equal new tyres are quieter than worn tyres. So maybe it's the new tyre effect combined with a quieter tyre.  With the old Bridgestones tyre noise was the most intrusive noise at all speeds. It has been reduced so much that at some motorway speeds wind noise and engine noise, while not loud, are all I hear. No tyre noise.

 

Harder to quantify but I think the new tyres are a bit smoother over bad surfaces, drain covers etc.

 

so, overall very pleased and no repeat now this winter of the scary moment I had last winter when braking on fresh snow o n a singletrack road in the highlands. On a downhill so even braking in 2nd gear the car slid for 30-40 yards. 

[domhnall]

Domnhall how've you found the cross climates???

Sorry never saw this. They've been spot on do far but to be honest we've not had very challenging weather. Just lots of damp with a few frosty mornings

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[Jevpls]

If her annual mileage is not excessively high and she isn't going to be pushing the car, then just run winters (I recommend Continental TS850s) all year around. I know several people who do just that without any issues.

 

 

Yeah, I know a lot of people that live that way. But... buy only hard compound winter tyres and not the soft ones (also called Scandinavian winter tyres). The soft ones seem to be a bit too soft for summer driving.

I guess that the most of winters in UK should be the hard ones but...who knows.

[StevesTruck]

Depends on how many miles you're doing.

 

If you do enough miles that you wear tyres out before you change the car, then it doesn't matter if you wear a set out in 2 years or two sets out in 4 years, so, excluding the cost of some second hand rims, you might as well have two sets of wheels.

 

If you don't, you're better off having year round tyres. Be it 4 seasons or as some people do, run your winters year round. Downside is they can be a bit noisier and wear out quicker.

[fabiamk2SE]

Depends on how many miles you're doing.

If you do enough miles that you wear tyres out before you change the car, then it doesn't matter if you wear a set out in 2 years or two sets out in 4 years, so, excluding the cost of some second hand rims, you might as well have two sets of wheels.

If you don't, you're better off having year round tyres. Be it 4 seasons or as some people do, run your winters year round. Downside is they can be a bit noisier and wear out quicker.

Not sure about the noise

The vector 4 seasons are a million times quieter than the Bridgestone Turanza summers i had fitted before.

[kidology]

Im on winters would not dream of running them all year. They are not ment to be used above 7 degrees really, reason being they move around because of the soft compound.

[Jevpls]

Not sure about the noise

The vector 4 seasons are a million times quieter than the Bridgestone Turanza summers i had fitted before.

 

I agree. Generally winter tyres are said to be louder but it depends on specific tyres.

My father recently changed his summer Dunlops to winter Hankooks and enjoys the silence

[speedy1]

Bit of an update on this. I fitted the ts850s and then a couple of months later she part ex'd it and got a ds3 so I had them taken off and am now selling them! This left me with a problem I didn't want to leave her with no winters even though her knew car has all the safety equipment ( esp abs etc ) that her corsa didn't have.

So the search began for the best tyres I could afford. This time I was looking for 205 45 r17 speed rating v so the costs were a lot more and I couldn't afford the ts850s again. I ended up settling on the Bridgestone blizzark LM 32s so hopefully they will be ok.

Just for those who are interested I paid £340 for the 4, I didn't want a cheap set of ditch finders so hopefully these will be ok. I read a auto express review of about 10 tyres and they came pretty low in, that but they should be better the the cheaper variety so I'm pretty pleased with them.

Edited 12 January, 2016 by speedy1

[Huskoda]

Yeah, Bridgestones are not particularly good. They're pretty poor tyres now riding on a good name from decades ago.

[irc]

An update on the Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons Gen 2s I fitted to my Octavia 1.4 Tsi a couple of months ago.  The replaced a set of Bridgestone Turanzas.  THe Goodyears are far quiter on all surfaces. So much that at many speeds wind noise or engine noise dominate whereas with the Bridgestones it was tyre noise at every speed.

 

After the first couple of days using them on mixed snow conditions I find them far far better than summer tyres. You can still spin them but it takes either a few inches of packed snow while cornering or being really heavy with the throttle. A huge improvement. A work colleague on Saturday had to get a taxi to work because he couldn't get his car out his drive. With decent all seasons the only thing that will stop them is polished black ice or the road being blocked by cars on summer tyres. The car I drive at work for the NHS is a 4WD Skoda Scout on summer tyres. On the side roads on Saturday it coped OK but was sliding when braking on some downhills. My FWD Octavia on the Goodyear Vectors coped better with mixed snow conditions.  The NHS could have save a few quid by fitting winter tyres to cheaper cars. I understand they went 4WD because the old fleet didn't cope well in the bad winter of 2010.

 

 

Believe the hype. All seasons (or winters of course) are worth it.