Calling all winter tyre users
Discussion
vit4 said:
Ok, slight spin on the question.
Does anybody know a brand who does winter tyres in 13"? Seeming more the case that suppliers are only doing 14-15" upwards
What exact size? There's loads of options Does anybody know a brand who does winter tyres in 13"? Seeming more the case that suppliers are only doing 14-15" upwards
http://tyrepricebuster.co.uk/TyreSearch_Category%5...
jon- said:
vit4 said:
Ok, slight spin on the question.
Does anybody know a brand who does winter tyres in 13"? Seeming more the case that suppliers are only doing 14-15" upwards
What exact size? There's loads of options Does anybody know a brand who does winter tyres in 13"? Seeming more the case that suppliers are only doing 14-15" upwards
http://tyrepricebuster.co.uk/TyreSearch_Category%5...
vit4 said:
jon- said:
vit4 said:
Ok, slight spin on the question.
Does anybody know a brand who does winter tyres in 13"? Seeming more the case that suppliers are only doing 14-15" upwards
What exact size? There's loads of options Does anybody know a brand who does winter tyres in 13"? Seeming more the case that suppliers are only doing 14-15" upwards
http://tyrepricebuster.co.uk/TyreSearch_Category%5...
http://tyremen.myshopify.com/collections/winter-ty...
Zod said:
No, it is not OK to use winter tyres in summer. The compounds go very soft at summer temperatures. The tyres wear very quickly and grip is always compromised.
Mine have been on since the start of the year, and have been perfectly fine - hardly any wear and no grip issues either.Stedman said:
...what ones have you used and what were your experiences with the different brands etc? I'm thinking about getting some put on some steal rims and using them this winter as my Goodyear GSD3s will be lethal in any sort of frost/slippery conditions.
If we get enough feedback, maybe a Wiki could be made?
Thanks
I've run Conti WinterContact and Nokian WR tyres on heavy Volvo cars. Both excellent.If we get enough feedback, maybe a Wiki could be made?
Thanks
speed8 said:
vit4 said:
jon- said:
vit4 said:
Ok, slight spin on the question.
Does anybody know a brand who does winter tyres in 13"? Seeming more the case that suppliers are only doing 14-15" upwards
What exact size? There's loads of options Does anybody know a brand who does winter tyres in 13"? Seeming more the case that suppliers are only doing 14-15" upwards
http://tyrepricebuster.co.uk/TyreSearch_Category%5...
http://tyremen.myshopify.com/collections/winter-ty...
They're 155/80 iirc, skinny buggers.TVR Moneypit said:
Jez64 said:
Always run Vredestein Snowtracks
These ^^^^^^^^^^^Had them on an Audi A4, Saab 9-3 and the wife's Skoda Felica. Utterly fantastic tyres, if you can ignore the soft sidewalls.
Intrigued by the nokians as they seem quite popular with a few people on here.
Also would it be safe or make sense to shrink footprint and get a slightly narrower tyre for winter.
I run 215 16's though on mytyres if i put in my reg it gives the option of 205 but what if i went slightly thinner?
Last chrimbo it cost me iirc 100 quid to put a set of winters on conti wintersports i think.
jon- said:
northandy said:
We have a set for both cars.
One has a set of nokian wr g2 xl and the other bridgestone blizzak lm30.
Both are 195 55 16 and I would say the nokians are the better ones in snow.
Interesting you say that as the WRG2's are becoming known as the "dry optimised" winter tyres - ie excellent in the dry and average in the snow.One has a set of nokian wr g2 xl and the other bridgestone blizzak lm30.
Both are 195 55 16 and I would say the nokians are the better ones in snow.
The bridgestones were ok, but definitely more prone to spin up in snow whereas the nokians just seemed to cut through, I only got the bridgestones as the nokians were sold out.
Zod said:
No, it is not OK to use winter tyres in summer. The compounds go very soft at summer temperatures. The tyres wear very quickly and grip is always compromised.
Rubbish. They're fine in summer in the UK.Heck, the folks who live next door to the apartment we use in southern Spain run the Wintrac Xtremes on their RAV4 all year, and they're not melting or anything daft. They live in Spain most of the year but return to Scotland for a few months in the winter.
HellDiver said:
Zod said:
No, it is not OK to use winter tyres in summer. The compounds go very soft at summer temperatures. The tyres wear very quickly and grip is always compromised.
Rubbish. They're fine in summer in the UK.Heck, the folks who live next door to the apartment we use in southern Spain run the Wintrac Xtremes on their RAV4 all year, and they're not melting or anything daft. They live in Spain most of the year but return to Scotland for a few months in the winter.
You can use them all year round - the WR G2s are all season tyres but they do perform poorly in summer compared to a summer tyre, for the same reasons they are so brilliant in the winter.
The compound does go softish, doesn't melt obviously, but it goes soft, the tread blocks are deep and tall so combine the two and you have a tread which moves round a lot. This can make the steering feel slightly vague compared to a harder summer tyre with larger, joined tread blocks. Grip is still more than adequate for normal driving.
The dedicated snow tyres probably are unsafe in summer, I'd not want to use them for anything other than short trips at low speed but most of the tyres mentioned in this thread are all season tyres - they work really well in the winter/snow and if you don't want the ultimate in summer performance, also work fine all year round.
My WR G2's came off in August because they were wearing out fast, much faster than summer tyres and I'd simply not bothered changing them . . . laziness !
But my Volvo is used for commuting on country lanes, slow A and B roads, hardly ever at high speed or motorway.
The compound does go softish, doesn't melt obviously, but it goes soft, the tread blocks are deep and tall so combine the two and you have a tread which moves round a lot. This can make the steering feel slightly vague compared to a harder summer tyre with larger, joined tread blocks. Grip is still more than adequate for normal driving.
The dedicated snow tyres probably are unsafe in summer, I'd not want to use them for anything other than short trips at low speed but most of the tyres mentioned in this thread are all season tyres - they work really well in the winter/snow and if you don't want the ultimate in summer performance, also work fine all year round.
My WR G2's came off in August because they were wearing out fast, much faster than summer tyres and I'd simply not bothered changing them . . . laziness !
But my Volvo is used for commuting on country lanes, slow A and B roads, hardly ever at high speed or motorway.NiceCupOfTea said:
HellDiver said:
Zod said:
No, it is not OK to use winter tyres in summer. The compounds go very soft at summer temperatures. The tyres wear very quickly and grip is always compromised.
Rubbish. They're fine in summer in the UK.Heck, the folks who live next door to the apartment we use in southern Spain run the Wintrac Xtremes on their RAV4 all year, and they're not melting or anything daft. They live in Spain most of the year but return to Scotland for a few months in the winter.
Merlot said:
vit4 said:
speed8 said:
vit4 said:
jon- said:
vit4 said:
Ok, slight spin on the question.
Does anybody know a brand who does winter tyres in 13"? Seeming more the case that suppliers are only doing 14-15" upwards
What exact size? There's loads of options Does anybody know a brand who does winter tyres in 13"? Seeming more the case that suppliers are only doing 14-15" upwards
http://tyrepricebuster.co.uk/TyreSearch_Category%5...
http://tyremen.myshopify.com/collections/winter-ty...
They're 155/80 iirc, skinny buggers.Have to say, in this year's/last year's snow it actually did surprisingly well on the summer tyres, only had one moment where it got a bit stuck, on my gf's very heavily cambered road. Reading what people have said I think I'm going to go for the Vredesteins too
Zod said:
NiceCupOfTea said:
HellDiver said:
Zod said:
No, it is not OK to use winter tyres in summer. The compounds go very soft at summer temperatures. The tyres wear very quickly and grip is always compromised.
Rubbish. They're fine in summer in the UK.Heck, the folks who live next door to the apartment we use in southern Spain run the Wintrac Xtremes on their RAV4 all year, and they're not melting or anything daft. They live in Spain most of the year but return to Scotland for a few months in the winter.
Zod said:
Call it rubbish all you like, but they are not designed or rated for summer. Low mileage in an ordinary car will not do any real harm, but you would never find anyone in Scandinavia, Austria, Switzerland or Germany using winter tyres all year round.
+1Certainly for anyone who commonly drives Germany anyway.
Most winter tyres are only rated to 120-130 mph, which
makes no odds in the UK, but is a serious issue in Germany.
Executive summary: winter tyres for winter, summer tyres for
summer. Changeover when the clocks change.
As an additional sanity and safety check, you get a
tyre check every six months too.
Busa_Rush said:
Zod said:
NiceCupOfTea said:
HellDiver said:
Zod said:
No, it is not OK to use winter tyres in summer. The compounds go very soft at summer temperatures. The tyres wear very quickly and grip is always compromised.
Rubbish. They're fine in summer in the UK.Heck, the folks who live next door to the apartment we use in southern Spain run the Wintrac Xtremes on their RAV4 all year, and they're not melting or anything daft. They live in Spain most of the year but return to Scotland for a few months in the winter.
Performance winters are quite different to studless ice & snow like the Dunlops.
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