Winter tyres vol 2

[RicksAlfas]

My Mum's Golf winter tyres are 94XL instead of 91 and we can't tell any difference.
In theory the ride should be a bit firmer but it's not noticeable.

[Petrol Only]

TurboHatchback said:

I picked up my new winter rims yesterday, this year I am getting winter tyres for the first time as I'll be driving to the Alps in January. There seems to be a whole new crop of premium winter tyres out this year and I've not decided what to get yet. I'm currently looking at the following but can't find any reviews/tests of these tyres to compare:

• Nokian WR D4
• Michelin Alpin 5
• Goodyear Ultragrip Performance Gen-1

The pricing predictably goes Nokian -> Goodyear -> Michelin. They'll be going on a big, heavy, powerful AWD car so wear rate is fairly important and is where Michelin traditionally excel but would they be worth the extra?

I am also driving to the Alps for the first time. I chose D4 for my Octavia. First A rated winter for wet grip I believe? Tyre leader had a very competitive package for steels and rubber.

Edited by Petrol Only on Saturday 17th October 21:27

[Gandahar]

jon- said:

Here are my thoughts on the CrossClimate vs the best in category all season and winter tyres. Sorry it's a bit long winded!

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/Is-there-a-tr...

Thanks, excellent post.

The cross climates seem to be the first actual 4 season tyre. They move the game on.

Considering the lack of number of really winter days in the UK apart from some elevated regions such as Scot Highlands and Peak district, I can see them being the perfect tyre for A to B cars.

Winter tyres are always decisive on here. Seems a mantra people need to follow to be seen to be in the know. I think these tyres will reset what is the right path, and other manufacturers will almost certainly follow.

I will be getting some.

[Sheepshanks]

RicksAlfas said:

My Mum's Golf winter tyres are 94XL instead of 91 and we can't tell any difference.
In theory the ride should be a bit firmer but it's not noticeable.

Thanks for that. They're for my daughter's car and she's just moved to a village perched on a hill and her road is fairly steep. She can depart in either direction, but going downhill might be more dodgy than up! I'd settled my mind on the Goodyear 4Seasons but keep thinking about the Michelin Cross Climates.

[jon-]

Sheepshanks said:

jon- said:

Availability. 91H would have been my preference.

I know it was a brief and specifically focused test, but did you discern any issues in terms of ride and handling with the XL tyres, and did you have to adjust the tyre pressures as for any given pressure the load that standard and XL tyres carry is quite a bit different.

I was looking at putting Cross Climate on the fairly basic Golf we have in the family and don't want to mess it up!

There was no objective NVH measurements taken, but as a brief subjective summary, the CrossClimate, Goodyear and Conti were all noticeably more comfortable than the summer tyre. The Conti winter probably just had the edge, but it was minimal. I certainly wouldn't be disappointed in the comfort of the CrossClimate coming from a summer tyre.

[jon-]

Gandahar said:

jon- said:

Here are my thoughts on the CrossClimate vs the best in category all season and winter tyres. Sorry it's a bit long winded!

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/Is-there-a-tr...

Thanks, excellent post.

The cross climates seem to be the first actual 4 season tyre. They move the game on.

Considering the lack of number of really winter days in the UK apart from some elevated regions such as Scot Highlands and Peak district, I can see them being the perfect tyre for A to B cars.

Winter tyres are always decisive on here. Seems a mantra people need to follow to be seen to be in the know. I think these tyres will reset what is the right path, and other manufacturers will almost certainly follow.

I will be getting some.

Thanks for the positive feedback, appreciated. I don't think Michelin are doing anything magical, but they have developed a tyre which works particularly well for the majority of the UK climate

[anonymous-user]

jon- said:

Thanks for the positive feedback, appreciated. I don't think Michelin are doing anything magical, but they have developed a tyre which works particularly well for the majority of the UK climate

I think the tyre works well as they are not true winter tyres more cold weather tyres. They don't work well in snow which would be fine for this country considering we only get a few days every winter.

But I do think as no real long term reviews wear may not be as good as predicted. Another thing that all season tyres suffer from is cliff falls in grip as the tyre wears, again only long term tests can review this.

A good tyre which isn't really reviewed much is the Goodrich Grip all season which has the winter stamp approval in north America. Not many reviews and slightly cheaper than the cross climate.

Edited by The Spruce goose on Sunday 18th October 21:28

[jon-]

Auto Bild 225/40 R18 UHP winter tyre test: http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2015-Auto-Bil...

The Spruce goose said:

jon- said:

Thanks for the positive feedback, appreciated. I don't think Michelin are doing anything magical, but they have developed a tyre which works particularly well for the majority of the UK climate

I think the tyre works well as they are not true winter tyres more cold weather tyres. They don't work well in snow which would be fine for this country considering we only get a few days every winter.

But I do think as no real long term reviews wear may not be as good as predicted. Another thing that all season tyres suffer from is cliff falls in grip as the tyre wears, again only long term tests can review this.

A good tyre which isn't really reviewed much is the Goodrich Grip all season which has the winter stamp approval in north America. Not many reviews and slightly cheaper than the cross climate.

Edited by The Spruce goose on Sunday 18th October 21:28

Auto Bild wear tested the tyres, the Michelin wore best and had a predicted 37k kms.

Be careful reading reviews about American market tyres. Their "all season" tyres have very little snow or wet performance compared to our tyres, as the primary focus for that market is tread life and comfort.

[Moonhawk]

loskie said:

VIT4

try Vredestein Quatracs.
Technically all season tyres but do have the mountain snowflake symbol so will be legal where winters are reqd by law.
I have run them in various conditions including through a frozen(-15) forest rally stage in an Octavia estate and they have preformed better than some wintertyres I have run.

I have just had these fitted to our XC60.

They seem pretty capable in the dry/wet. I'm hoping for some snow this year so I can put them through their paces.

[Forever Alone]

Chaps I'm currently leading so ideally I don't want to buy winter tyres again this year as it'll be going back soon.

What alternatives are there for me?

[Bill]

leasing.

[jon-]

Forever Alone said:

Chaps I'm currently leading so ideally I don't want to buy winter tyres again this year as it'll be going back soon.

What alternatives are there for me?

Snow socks.

Don't move the car if it snows heavily.

Bus.

Walk.

Hot air balloon.

[marshalla]

jon- said:

Bus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYI8DsG1BnI

[anonymous-user]

been looking to get new tyres and watching black circles for prices over last 2 weeks.

today price dropped from £73 to £66 with 3x tesco so really £64, for Cross Climate.

That is a very good price fitted so ordered x4. 205 55 16.

Edited by The Spruce goose on Tuesday 20th October 14:21

[bertie]

I've just ordered some Pirelli Sotto Zero for the FF, I want to use the car as much as possible!

Prices seem to go up exponentially once tyre sizes grow!!!

[monthefish]

bertie said:

I've just ordered some Pirelli Sotto Zero for the FF, I want to use the car as much as possible!

Prices seem to go up exponentially once tyre sizes grow!!!

Massively.

(That's why I'm delighted I can get away with 16" for my winter wheel set.)

[Orangecurry]

jon- said:

Here are my thoughts on the CrossClimate vs the best in category all season and winter tyres. Sorry it's a bit long winded!

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/Is-there-a-tr...

Hi Jon

you know I'm a big fan of what you do, so don't take this the wrong way, but shirley to give the tyres the 'correct' environment for a UK winter, you have to repeat this test at temperatures below 7 deg cel ?

Even in the warm UK, this is more representative of the temperature on the roads at commuting-time?

I understand that you are testing to see if a true all-rounder exists, but it has to be tested at the lower temperatures as well?

ps you have a typo ' and braking buy a huge margin. '

[bertie]

monthefish said:

bertie said:

I've just ordered some Pirelli Sotto Zero for the FF, I want to use the car as much as possible!

Prices seem to go up exponentially once tyre sizes grow!!!

Massively.

(That's why I'm delighted I can get away with 16" for my winter wheel set.)

I think I may have interference issues with 16" wheels on the FF!

[Lalli220]

bertie said:

I've just ordered some Pirelli Sotto Zero for the FF, I want to use the car as much as possible!

Prices seem to go up exponentially once tyre sizes grow!!!

I had to order some sottozeros for my Jag XFR last winter, cheapest place I found was tyre leader, german place on the inter web...think it was around £800 for all 4.

[VeegasRS6]

bertie said:

I've just ordered some Pirelli Sotto Zero for the FF, I want to use the car as much as possible!

Prices seem to go up exponentially once tyre sizes grow!!!

I'm with you on that - the 275 35 20's in SottoZero were not cheap for the RS6!