Winter tyres on today

[pinkpanther]

I took advantage of the sunny weather this afternoon and switched the OEM 17 wheels / 215/40/17 Bridgestone Potenza's to an old set of 15" steel rims/ 185/60/15 Continental Wintercontact tyres I'd bought for a previous car (Rapid) 2 years ago.

 

Much improved ride comfort on the winter tyres and also surprised to hear how much quieter they are, compared with the OEM Bridgestone Potenza's.

 

The 15" steel wheels / plastic wheel trims don't do much for the aesthetics, but happy to put up with this, given the improvement in both ride quality and comfort.

 

4 degrees on the way home tonight (bonged up on dashboard), so may prove to be an opportune moment to make the switch

Edited 30 October, 2017 by pinkpanther

[rum4mo]

Yes, I did the same on Saturday, but only to my S4, my wife is away with her Polo so that job will probably get done when she gets back today.  Her Polo has 215/45 X 16 summer wheels/tyres and like your car 185/60 X 15 winter wheels/tyres, but I've never noticed any difference in noise or comfort between the summer and winter setup, her summer tyres are Conti Premium Cont 2 and the winters are Michelin Alpin A4.

 

In the case of her previous car, a 2002 Polo with 195/50 X 15 summer tyres and 175/65 X 14 there was vast improvement in ride comfort in winter though a bit more noise along with that due to the tread pattern on the Alpin A3.

[chrisgreen]

Very wise. Monday here in North West London was seriously icy (went out at 8am to get the Fabia Monte Carlo MOTed, had

to break out the de-icer spray). Also, that car has super low-profile (and worn) summer tyres. The drive over to the MOT test centre was ‘interesting’. The Spaceback is already on all-weather boots (and I have a spare set of 15inch rims in case I need to go to proper winter  tyres), need to think about the same for both Fabias.

 

I start my new job tomorrow, which also means I’m no longer commuting to work on the tube and will instead be driving to work again (which is brilliant). Will be a really good test for the Michelin CrossClimates. 

[Smileyman]

As a new Toledo driver I'm very interested in this line of discussion. Since 2010 I have (in previous car) run winter tyres, very necessary in 2010, but most of the winters after that not always so. However we live in hope of proper winter visiting these shores again and as most of my driving is done early morning or after nightfall ie outside the warmer parts of the day so I want to be safe and switch to winter suited tyres. The new Michelin Cross Climate tyre seems to be ideal for me, not just for winter use but all year round. However, for the Rapid/Toledo the only size tyre available is 185/60/15 ... the same size as the factory supplied spare tyre! To make matters sweeter this size tyre is  considerably cheaper than the quality brands available 215/40/17 or 215/45/16. (also, no need to stick to 50mph when using the spare if all wheels are of the same size).

 

My concern is the drivability of the 15" wheels, I read the comments about improved ride and reduced noise, but what about the handling ... is there a noticeable difference? How does car behave on corners? Since a change of jobs my daily commute is 78 miles return, a mixture of motorways and country lanes including a nice long hill, in Kent - a part of the country much more prone to frost and ice than one would think. 

 

 

 

 

Edited 19 November, 2017 by Smileyman

[pinkpanther]

18 hours ago, Smileyman said:

As a new Toledo driver I'm very interested in this line of discussion. Since 2010 I have (in previous car) run winter tyres, very necessary in 2010, but most of the winters after that not always so. However we live in hope of proper winter visiting these shores again and as most of my driving is done early morning or after nightfall ie outside the warmer parts of the day so I want to be safe and switch to winter suited tyres. The new Michelin Cross Climate tyre seems to be ideal for me, not just for winter use but all year round. However, for the Rapid/Toledo the only size tyre available is 185/60/15 ... the same size as the factory supplied spare tyre! To make matters sweeter this size tyre is  considerably cheaper than the quality brands available 215/40/17 or 215/45/16. (also, no need to stick to 50mph when using the spare if all wheels are of the same size).

 

My concern is the drivability of the 15" wheels, I read the comments about improved ride and reduced noise, but what about the handling ... is there a noticeable difference? How does car behave on corners? Since a change of jobs my daily commute is 78 miles return, a mixture of motorways and country lanes including a nice long hill, in Kent - a part of the country much more prone to frost and ice than one would think. 

 

 

 

 

Hi Smileyman

 

I run Cross Climates on my other car (4x4 Yeti TDi) and these have more than proved their worth, both in cold / wet conditions and fairly deep snow last year.

 

I'd previously run the Yeti on OEM 17" 225/50/17 summer tyres March - November, before switching to 16" steel rims / 205/55/16 winter tyres November - March. This was proving to be an increasingly onerous task and switching to the "all-season" Cross Climates has been a blessed relief!

 

I realised the Toledo Xcellence had a pretty unusual/ rare (and therefore costly) tyre / wheel set-up prior to purchase and had establish the Cross Climates were unavailable.

 

As posted above - I had a set of 15" steel rims/ 185/60/15 Continental Wintercontact tyres from a previous Rapid and these of course fit the Toledo. Apart from the obvious aesthetics, the 15" set-up drives well, across both urban and high-speed driving. The Toledo (or any of the Skoda clones) are not especially dynamically gifted cars, so I've not noticed any dramatic fall off in either grip, or road-holding abilities, since I switched from the 17's to the 15's.

 

I see Mytyres only list 4 all-season options for 215/40/17, 2 of which are costly (>£130 / tyre) and the other 2 are budget brands. Certainly makes the switch to a smaller rim size tempting, given the wide range of all-season tyre options this brings into the equation.

 

I came across this recently, which seems to offer decent (? unbiased) opinion of the correct tyre type to run, dependent upon prevailing local conditions.

What's the BEST tyre for winter 2017?

 

 

[Smileyman]

Thanks for the comment, appreciated, I've seen that review (and have read the tests found on the Tyre Reviews website), it only helps to convince me for my part of the UK the CC is an appropriate choice of tyre. When I've run winter tyres I've used Nokian, been very pleased with them but the CC presents the ideal opportunity to get away from the need to change wheels twice a year, as well opening the door to a much more cost effective tyre size option. These cars do come with 15" wheels as a standard manufacturer fit so it should keep insurers happy, I have never understood why so many manufacturers race to 17" or 18" wheels  - even if Michelin were offering the CC in the 215/40/17 or 215/45/16 sizes I would have still selected the 15" option and banked the savings. 10 years ago I switched from 17" to 16" wheels with my previous car and saved a fortune with the lower price of the 16" tyres a well as benefited from the more compliant ride.  

[RMurphy195]

Worth checking this out, especially if using different sized wheels and tyres than standard. https://www.abi.org.uk/products-and-issues/choosing-the-right-insurance/motor-insurance/winter-tyres/

 

I use Winter tyres on my MX5 (absolutley essential on that car in cold weather) - the tyres I use are to the specification in the tyres & pressures section of my handbook. If your dont't match the handbook spec for your particuar model, it may be wise to check with your insurer.

[pinkpanther]

 

10 hours ago, RMurphy195 said:

Worth checking this out, especially if using different sized wheels and tyres than standard. https://www.abi.org.uk/products-and-issues/choosing-the-right-insurance/motor-insurance/winter-tyres/

 

I use Winter tyres on my MX5 (absolutley essential on that car in cold weather) - the tyres I use are to the specification in the tyres & pressures section of my handbook. If your dont't match the handbook spec for your particuar model, it may be wise to check with your insurer.

Mine are the standard / manufacturer recommended  wheel and tyre package, so no worries on that count

[pinkpanther]

Judging by the weather forecast for this weekend (and last night's snowfall in the East Midlands) I'll soon have the opportunity to see if my winters / steel rims were worth the investment.

 

 

 

 

[CWARD]

I had the Continental Wintercontact tyres on my Octavia and they were good, better than the Michelin Alpin I've had before on another car and the Bridgestone Blizzak which I currently have on some steel wheel on the BMW which are pretty poor. 

 

My wife will be using four season tyres when her current ones need replacing on her car. Unfortunately the Cross Climates aren't available in the sizes she needs so will have to look at others that do including Vredesteins and Dunlop

Edited 8 December, 2017 by CWARD

[camelspyyder]

47 minutes ago, CWARD said:

I had the Continental Wintercontact tyres on my Octavia and they were good, better than the Michelin Alpin I've had before on another car and the Bridgestone Blizzak which I currently have on some steel wheel on the BMW which are pretty poor. 

 

My wife will be using four season tyres when her current ones need replacing on her car. Unfortunately the Cross Climates aren't available in the sizes she needs so will have to look at others that do including Vredesteins and Dunlop

 

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2017-All-Season-Tyre-Test.htm

[CWARD]

@camelspyyder Cheers. Looks like the Goodyears are a good bet.