Michelin Cross Climate

[flyboy019]

For those looking for all climate tyres for their 18" VRS. Nokian Weatherproof are made in 225/40 R18 and I have found they improve the wet grip considerably. I have only had them fitted for around 3 weeks but have covered approx 1000 miles and have found them good

[loadswine]

Similar for me too. The traction control light has had a bit of a rest! Even in the mild temperatures we have had, I haven't experienced any deterimental effects on handling so far.

[bigGy]

Being from Romania where we have 4 months of snow and 13 years of driving I could confirm the following:

1. If you decide to buy 'all weather'or winter tyres, buy all 4. Difference in grip is by far worse than no grip at all.

2. We call the 'all weather' tyres 'no weather tyres'. They are good compromise only if you drive at 65 mph on the motorway.

3. Buy smaller, narrower winter tyres. My superb has summer 225/45/18, my winter ones are 205/55/16. Inflate at normal pressure. I have bought Michelins for 60 pounds a corner and 4 alloys at 80 pounds per corner. 36 pounds twice a year to balance ans swap them. 560 pounds investment but no headache. I drove uphill on icebeds of 3-400 yards with no problem, leaving tractors with chains behind. I have had the wheels now for 4 years and thread is excellent. 100 pounds per year si far+72 for exchange. My life is worth that.

4. I drive in Europe 2x year skiing and also in the UK mountains...so I need them. Depending on where you live, you'll see if you need them.

[Gyp]

Similar for me too. The traction control light has had a bit of a rest! Even in the mild temperatures we have had, I haven't experienced any deterimental effects on handling so far.

Interestingly, I've had the CCs on for a week now and have (if I understand you correctly) found the opposite.

In addition to a slight feeling of vagueness though the steering and more noise when accelerating, when I'm driving in a "spirited" manner on dry roads, the traction control light is doing a pretty good impression of the missus' gaudy Christmas tree lights.

Hopefully they'll be very impressive if the weather turns bad, but at the moment I'm missing the summer tyres that I took off :-(

[Gyp]

Hold on... They've fitted the wrong tyres.

I've got 225/50s on the front and 225/45s on the rear.

That can't help.

[andyvee]

Hold on... They've fitted the wrong tyres.

I've got 225/50s on the front and 225/45s on the rear.

That can't help.

That won't do the Haldex much good .....

[Gyp]

That won't do the Haldex much good .....

That's what I thought.

Driving home in a significantly less spirited manner & will park up until can be sorted

[Gyp]

On the basis that you judge a company on how they cope when things go wrong not when things go right, so far I've been impressed with Blackcircles.

The correct tyres are being delivered tomorrow, and I've opted for fitting on Wednesday morning.

So far, no fuss nor drama.

[loadswine]

Glad that you spotted their error and that they are sorting it out. That is good. Just for clarification, I don't have the CCs on my car, am running with Nokian Weatherproofs on mine. I can get the traction control light to flash if I am brutal with the throttle though.

Be interested to hear how the setup feels with correct tyres all round. Do you need to raise the pressures on the CCs by the way?

Had to raise mine by 0.2 bar, on advice from the manufacturer.

[Gyp]

Glad that you spotted their error and that they are sorting it out. That is good. Just for clarification, I don't have the CCs on my car, am running with Nokian Weatherproofs on mine. I can get the traction control light to flash if I am brutal with the throttle though.

Be interested to hear how the setup feels with correct tyres all round. Do you need to raise the pressures on the CCs by the way?

Had to raise mine by 0.2 bar, on advice from the manufacturer.

I was tempted by the Nokians, but the only supplier I could find didn't have a local fitter, so I went with the CCs.

The traction is interesting; when I had the 2WD 110 it would be busy exiting roundabouts, but the 4WD 170 jut dug in and got on with it. That was with the Pirellis. Hopefully the CCs will settle down when I've got a matched set - I'll take a trip to Swindon with my heavy boots and report back

Can't see any advice on pressures though

Edited 7 December, 2015 by Gyp

[RS939]

I'm getting the CC fitted tomorrow, I think I will check the sizes before they fit them I will post up what they are like on my 4x4 170.

[Gyp]

I'm getting the CC fitted tomorrow, I think I will check the sizes before they fit them I will post up what they are like on my 4x4 170.

 

The thing I spotted first on the 225/45s ws the higher (W) speed rating. Then I noticed the lower load rating (94). The last thing I noticed was the /45 sizing which is the big clearly printed thing prominent on the sidewalls

[flybynite]

On the basis that you judge a company on how they cope when things go wrong not when things go right, so far I've been impressed with Blackcircles.

The correct tyres are being delivered tomorrow, and I've opted for fitting on Wednesday morning.

So far, no fuss nor drama.

 

+1 for Blackcircles they may not be the cheapest online but I find their rubber is always quite fresh and in recent date

 

I have just had issue with tyres I bought a while ago, they have arranged collection and processed them quickly back to the manufacturers for assessment, pretty good really.

[Jeeves]

 

Blackcircles is owned by Mich anyway, so you you would expect great customer service and backup.

[Namo]

Well run across Poland.

[Gyp]

 

 

Blackcircles is owned by Mich anyway, so you you would expect great customer service and backup.

 

 

Well, new tyres on now, no fuss or nonsense.

 

I've not had chance to play as yet, and I'll leave it a couple of hundred miles before I do; the tyres seem to need a couple of hundred miles of running in to quieten down and settle in. Not known that in a car before, though I'm used to going steady with motorbike tyres.

 

I'll report back when I've been to Swindon!

[RS939]

Same here, As soon as I drove away I noticed how quiet they are they do feel softer its a really strange feeling. 

 

I haven't pushed the car its only done 20 miles with them on but so far so good.... 

[Gyp]

Good news! With a set of the correctly sized CCs, suitably run in, I can attack Swindon's roundabouts with careless abandon workout the dash lighting up like a Christmas tree.

Bad news! The box of used batteries that I was taking to the council recycling centre is now strewn around my boot and I've got old watch batteries lost in every nook and cranny.

Oops

Edited 13 December, 2015 by Gyp

[skomaz]

Good news! With a set of the correctly sized CCs, suitably run in, I can attack Swindon's roundabouts with careless abandon workout the dash lighting up like a Christmas tree.

Bad news! The box of used batteries that I was taking to the council recycling centre is now strewn around my boot and I've got old watch batteries lost in every nook and cranny.

Oops

 

 

It's early days for me (only a couple of weeks in) but finding similar on our tweaked Octy 2 4x4...   very quiet running but nice and grippy.  Maybe not quite as tight yet as the Vredestien Sportrac 3's that came off but I think the Cross Climates will improve further with running in as they've only done a hundred miles or so thus far.

[Chris29]

I dropped Michelin an email yesterday, cross climates in 225/40/18 92Y extra load TL will be available from June 2016 so a while to wait but hopefully on for next winter!

[Jeeves]

Good news, but just a shame they didn't provision 18s for this winter.  Nokian did so that's what I got, but I'm tempted to try the CCs for my "summer" set.  Sounds daft, but I don't need circuit-like performance from summers and the Nokians have coped nicely in recent snow, ice and floods.  It means I can be very lazy over the swapover window which is just as well since the wheels are normally over 250 miles away.  I just need to refit my current summers early to use them up then everything will be the same size at last.

[Mikebham]

I dropped Michelin an email yesterday, cross climates in 225/40/18 92Y extra load TL will be available from June 2016 so a while to wait but hopefully on for next winter!

 

That's good news, I reckon my summers will be about due a change then and I've been looking forward to giving them a go.

[Paul Ekins]

On the subject of winter tyres that do not have the same rating as original fit i.e. lower and insurance issues, I spent a long time trying to get a sensible answer from all sorts of people.

In the end I spoke to my local Skoda dealer, who was also a tyre dealer and was told by the person "I have just been on a course which covered this very question" and as long as the tyre has the winter logo on it, it is perfectly legal in the UK to use without infringng your insurance, even if the speed rating is lower than the original fit tyres. Winter tyres simply don't have a high speed rating, I guess because they are designed for bad weather / snow, having said that they are still higher than the maximum speed of a lot of vehicles!

So the combined winter / summer tyres like the Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons that I fitted to my Scout, have both the summer and winter logo on the tyre, and as long as the winter logo is included it makes it perfectly legal to use without any insurance issues even with a lower speed rating

I talked to a great many tyre dealers and insurance companies and none of them actually knew, so just took the safe answer that if the speed rating is lower than the one specified for the car it could be an insurance issue, which if it was true mean't a huge number of people could not fit winter tyres!

So as long as your tyres have the winter logo on them, they are perfectly legal with a lower speed rating, regardless of whether it is summer or winter.

i also noticed on my latest Octavia that there is a winter tyre speed limit warning that can be set, not that has anything to do with insurance issues.

 

Paul

 

 

[andyvee]

In the UK you only need a tyre that is rated to the maximum speed limit, ie 70mph, by law. You are not infringing or invalidating anything by fitting tyres with a speed rating lower than the OEM tyres, despite what many will say on here. I have had this confirmed by both my insurance company and by police.

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[pipsyp]

In the UK you only need a tyre that is rated to the maximum speed limit, ie 70mph, by law. You are not infringing or invalidating anything by fitting tyres with a speed rating lower than the OEM tyres, despite what many will say on here. I have had this confirmed by both my insurance company and by police.

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Thats really interesting Andy, will bear that in mind in future...hearsay always was that car had to have the speed rating the car was fitted with OEM as a minimum, unless agreed otherwise with your insurer (winter tyres with lower rating etc).

It rather does make sense that in a country where you "should not" go over 70mph that a tyre capable of that speed ought be fine.

Edited 22 January, 2016 by pipsypreturns