Winter Tyre Choice - Continental WinterContact TS 850
Discussion
I'm looking at turning my Octavia Estate into a winter hack that I can leave in a shed in the hotter months while driving something a bit more exotic. The colder and wetter weather coming in correlates nicely with the current Continental summer tyres running down to the bars.
I've never used winter tyres before but have researched the options and it seems like the Conti TS 850's offer excellent performance in cold, rain and snow (while some other tyres seem good at the rain and snow but struggle when it's cold and dry). I was wondering if anybody could confirm if these are good one's to go for?
I'll mostly be doing a round trip of around 15 miles on a daily basis around Dunfermline but occasionally travel to Dumfries (down the country roads), Glasgow and Aberdeen so good grip in all conditions is essential.
I've never used winter tyres before but have researched the options and it seems like the Conti TS 850's offer excellent performance in cold, rain and snow (while some other tyres seem good at the rain and snow but struggle when it's cold and dry). I was wondering if anybody could confirm if these are good one's to go for?
I'll mostly be doing a round trip of around 15 miles on a daily basis around Dunfermline but occasionally travel to Dumfries (down the country roads), Glasgow and Aberdeen so good grip in all conditions is essential.
I used these (or the previous revision) on my Mondeo estate. The tyres it came with are shocking in snow, effectively a very hard rubber with some grooves and no real tread. Put these on (very expensive at the time, around 650 for 4 running 245x45x18).
This was the winter we had loads of scow so 2010 I think. What a difference. Went looking for snow to play in.
Kept them on and ran them all year round and had no issues with grip in the wet or excessive wear. I got 30000 out of them.Not kidding here. They were great for everyday running of a car that has no real performance.
Thumbs up from me.
Martin
This was the winter we had loads of scow so 2010 I think. What a difference. Went looking for snow to play in.
Kept them on and ran them all year round and had no issues with grip in the wet or excessive wear. I got 30000 out of them.Not kidding here. They were great for everyday running of a car that has no real performance.
Thumbs up from me.
Martin
I can't comment on these tyres, but I put on vredestein wintrac 4 extremes last year on a Mercedes ML. They have been great in all conditions. I have actually left them on all summer as they have been so good.
They give great traction, no road noise and actually improve fuel economy.
Maybe worth a look.
They give great traction, no road noise and actually improve fuel economy.
Maybe worth a look.
Edited by RBrown on Wednesday 17th September 20:55
I'll have a look at the Vredstein's (a brand I have used before - I think they're Dutch and famous for making tractor tyres). It will come down to price and I'm looking at 75 a corner if I can get decent tyres for that. Black Circles are doing a fair few around that price (including Goodyear and a couple of other decent makes) but don't offer the Conti TS 850's. If they do end up being something daft like 50 a corner more than other decent tyres then I'll probably go with the lower priced selection.
I had the 830's a couple of years ago, fantastic tyres; braking performance in the wet was staggering. Lasted about 12k miles which included a front to back swap to even the wear out; not bad, as I live on the west coast and all they ever saw was twisty roads.
The current 'summer' tyres on my daily are about done in 7k miles!
The current 'summer' tyres on my daily are about done in 7k miles!
jshell said:
ModernAndy said:
I'd rather have winter than all-season as I will be either getting rid of it come spring or using it for winter weather until it dies
Winters all year round work better than so-called 'all-seasons', which don't work in the winter at all.I've used Vredesetin Quattracs (all-season) as my winter tyre for 4 years now, and they are superb, particularly here in Scotland when a lot of winter isn't actually snow/ice, (although they are very good in those conditions too.)
But don't just take my word for it, the Vredestien Quattracs were 5th in the Evo winter tyre test 2011, beating a number of the pure 'winter tyres', and were better than the winter tyres in the dry winter tests.
Evo said:
The Results
Winter tyres excel in the snow and fill the top positions in the cold wet tests too, yet in the dry they’re not far behind the all-season tyres. It’s a winter tyre that gets closest in feel to the summer tyre, too. Objectively, the winter Continental is the best overall with a solid set of results. The Michelin is a close second and has the best ‘on-road’ feel of any winter tyre, while the third-placed Pirelli was best in the wet and the fourth-placed Goodyear was best in the snow.
Best of the all-season tyres, the Vredestein, comes in fifth. It’s not far behind the winter tyres in snow and wet tests and is, objectively, best in the dry after the summer tyre but in feel it’s not as good as the Michelin. The advantages of the winter and all-season tyres in wintry conditions are enormous, and they are OK in the dry, too.
Winter tyres excel in the snow and fill the top positions in the cold wet tests too, yet in the dry they’re not far behind the all-season tyres. It’s a winter tyre that gets closest in feel to the summer tyre, too. Objectively, the winter Continental is the best overall with a solid set of results. The Michelin is a close second and has the best ‘on-road’ feel of any winter tyre, while the third-placed Pirelli was best in the wet and the fourth-placed Goodyear was best in the snow.
Best of the all-season tyres, the Vredestein, comes in fifth. It’s not far behind the winter tyres in snow and wet tests and is, objectively, best in the dry after the summer tyre but in feel it’s not as good as the Michelin. The advantages of the winter and all-season tyres in wintry conditions are enormous, and they are OK in the dry, too.
Edited by monthefish on Monday 22 September 16:25
Excuse the hijack but I need to put some new rubber on the wife's ML320. Trouble is, it has 20" wheels, 265/45/R20. I tend to stick with Vredestein tyres on my own cars as I've used them for a few years now and been very happy with them but I can't find any winter or all season Vredesteins in that size.
Any other suggestions for either a winter tyre that will still work fine in summer/wet conditions, or an all-season tyre that similarly works all year round? Would prefer not to have two sets of tyres if possible.
Any other suggestions for either a winter tyre that will still work fine in summer/wet conditions, or an all-season tyre that similarly works all year round? Would prefer not to have two sets of tyres if possible.
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