Winter tyres vol 2

[FiF]

tenohfive said:

jon- said:

19" winter tyre test up:

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2015-Sport-Au...

No surprises with Conti winning again. The Star Performer budget tyre actually looked OK. Sure, it finished 6th but was strong in the wet and dry. Looking at a performance winter tyre for the UK climate, according to this test it's a smarter purchase than the likes of the Nokian and Vred... which is something I didn't think I'd be concluding for another few years

Are Star Performer the budget arm of one of the major players?
I know it's not unknown in other product circles for the big guys to sink a bit more into their budget arm, bringing them head and shoulders above other budget brands. Wondered if that was in play this year.

Either way, unless I can find a decent discount on Alpin 5's (surprised they tested the 4's in that test btw) I think that's pushed me towards the Conti's as a year round winter tyre.

Star Performer are subsidiary of Nankang. Not sure what that says.

Certainly in Scandinavia I've had good service from Nordman, subsidiary of Nokian, so you get last year's Hakka at a budget price.
Gislaved, now a subsidiary of Continental, indeed I'd argue that Continental's good position in this market is partly down to their acquisition of Gislaved.

Edited to say the Nordman WR and WR SUV look suspiciously like the WRG2 pattern, no idea about compound obviously.
Gislaved are all Nordic tyres it seems.

Edited by FiF on Wednesday 25th November 21:12

[Northernchimp]

Any tips for a Fiesta ST (205/40r17)? I can just tell it'll be a total on the ice.

There doesn't seem to be a mid range option, they're either ditch finders or pricey. I'm not convinced winters will work anyway given the absence of side wall. Has anybody resorted to winter wheels in order to get decent tyres? I don't think 14s would clear the brakes, but are 15" Fiesta/Focus wheels with the same stud pattern likely to cause issues?

[andyps]

Northernchimp said:

Any tips for a Fiesta ST (205/40r17)? I can just tell it'll be a total on the ice.

There doesn't seem to be a mid range option, they're either ditch finders or pricey. I'm not convinced winters will work anyway given the absence of side wall. Has anybody resorted to winter wheels in order to get decent tyres? I don't think 14s would clear the brakes, but are 15" Fiesta/Focus wheels with the same stud pattern likely to cause issues?

Whatever you get has to clear the brakes, as long as they do that you are OK. The low profile doesn't matter too much - winter tyres are used on supercars with very low profile and will certainly work to the extent of being massively better than summer tyres on snow or poor conditions.

[Mr Tidy]

FiF said:

alistair1234 said:

RicksAlfas said:

The door jamb sticker should tell you the correct size winter tyre for your car.
If not the handbook will.

Strangely I've checked both and neither tell me.

I know how tyre sizes work, I just don't know how small I can go to 16"/17", and then what corresponding tyre sizes I need.

Also at the moment the rears are wider than the front. Do I still keep this or go the same size all round.

That's surprising re the door sticker, not the owner manual either? Sometimes it's not explicit and all a bit inscrutable with the code.

I'm not sure the sticker is necessarily specific to the model - I had a 123d for 6+ years and I'm sure I read somewhere that they need 17 inch rims to clear the brakes. Oh and as mine was an SE Dynamic it had a square set-up, no stagger so it will work that way.

The 123d seems to have the same brakes as the 130i, but for some reason the 125i has the smaller brakes so 16s will work, even though they are reportedly quicker - maybe not as heavy as a 123d?

Never had winters before, just slithered around in the 123d with run-flat Pirellis but this year I have winters for my 325ti Compact - just hope it snows now!

[ATM]

[nickfrog]

I

Mr Tidy said:

FiF said:

alistair1234 said:

RicksAlfas said:

The door jamb sticker should tell you the correct size winter tyre for your car.
If not the handbook will.

Strangely I've checked both and neither tell me.

I know how tyre sizes work, I just don't know how small I can go to 16"/17", and then what corresponding tyre sizes I need.

Also at the moment the rears are wider than the front. Do I still keep this or go the same size all round.

That's surprising re the door sticker, not the owner manual either? Sometimes it's not explicit and all a bit inscrutable with the code.

I'm not sure the sticker is necessarily specific to the model - I had a 123d for 6+ years and I'm sure I read somewhere that they need 17 inch rims to clear the brakes. Oh and as mine was an SE Dynamic it had a square set-up, no stagger so it will work that way.

The 123d seems to have the same brakes as the 130i, but for some reason the 125i has the smaller brakes so 16s will work, even though they are reportedly quicker - maybe not as heavy as a 123d?

Never had winters before, just slithered around in the 123d with run-flat Pirellis but this year I have winters for my 325ti Compact - just hope it snows now!

Some 17' will clear the caliper / discs of the 123d/130i (330mm discs). I had 17' style 141 OE wheels as winters on the 125i upgraded to 130i/123d discs (same calipers). They will therefore fit 123d and are easy to find + cheap.

Edited by nickfrog on Friday 27th November 11:26

[ATM]

[ohtari]

Mis matched bridgestones, dunlop and a firestone off. 4x 195 65 R15 95V Michelin CrossClimates on.

Initial impressions are good. Slightly quieter at motorway speeds and much more bite on a cold damp roundabout that I know to have a particularly bad surface. Will give my full thoughts with a few hundred miles & frost/snow driving.

Steve

[f1nn]

blearyeyedboy said:

I've run winter tyres all year round without crashing and dying of death. No, you shouldn't take liberties while driving on them but a decent winter tyre in summer is less of a liability than a summer tyre in very cold weather.

But surely you are coping with a compromised tyre for a longer period, say late Feb to early Dec, than the potential benefits offered from mid Dec to Mid Feb.

This seems backwards to me, it really does.

[popeyewhite]

blearyeyedboy said:

No, you shouldn't take liberties while driving on them but a decent winter tyre in summer is less of a liability than a summer tyre in very cold weather.

It's surprising manufacturers still bother producing summer tyres really. What are they thinking when winters are so capable?

[gp3000000]

Northernchimp said:

Any tips for a Fiesta ST (205/40r17)? ... I don't think 14s would clear the brakes, but are 15" Fiesta/Focus wheels with the same stud pattern likely to cause issues?

I would double check that 15s fit - I assumed they would fit my 115bhp Focus diesel - turned out 16" is the minimum size due to 300mm brakes.

Any 5x108 will go over the studs - check the offset (ET) is correct. I doubt the Focus/Mondeo will be the same.

[HustleRussell]

There's a surprisingly consistent disregard for offset and centre bore in this thread

[FiF]

HustleRussell said:

There's a surprisingly consistent disregard for offset and centre bore in this thread

Completely agreed.

To some extent if the wheel centre bore is too big it can be taken care of by use of a spigot ring. Not a particular favourite solution of mine as the fit of the wheel on the spigot is part of the load bearing in the design. Guess a lot of people are lucky that car wheel fixings are generally over-engineered. Try these observed cavalier attitudes with heavy vehicles, e.g. trucks and buses, and they'd quite possibly find themselves with a loose or lost wheel incident, and if it resulted in a fatal then up in court facing a very serious charge as a result of causing a death due to their negligence.

[f1nn]

HustleRussell said:

There's a surprisingly consistent disregard for offset and centre bore in this thread

Woah, don't you be coming in here with your facts, as long as they can pick up a set of wheels from EBay that just happen to match the PCD fitted with half worn, years old winters, leave them on all year round, then they are happy....because 7 degrees okay?

[HustleRussell]

Actually now that I think about it there's quite a bit less wheel bolt / nut length, taper and tightening torque discussion than I'd have liked too.

[bigvanfan]

I have a trip to Orkney coming up at new year, I have a set of winters coming next week for my octavia , but I've been offered a discovery for the week , so what's the best bet to get me there if the snow and ice arrive?

[bigvanfan]

I have a trip to Orkney coming up at new year, I have a set of winters coming next week for my octavia , but I've been offered a discovery for the week , so what's the best bet to get me there if the snow and ice arrive?

[vikingaero]

Depends whether the tyres on the Disco are road biased. In the Nordic countries the mantra is winter tyres first, 4WD second.

[nickfrog]

f1nn said:

HustleRussell said:

There's a surprisingly consistent disregard for offset and centre bore in this thread

Woah, don't you be coming in here with your facts, as long as they can pick up a set of wheels from EBay that just happen to match the PCD fitted with half worn, years old winters, leave them on all year round, then they are happy....because 7 degrees okay?

This thread seems to be mainly frequented by well informed people who make choices based on experience. Personally, and like most, I stick to OE wheels, albeit second hand and OE size new winters. And like most, I recognise that the 7deg thing is marketing led. But guess what, in a non-binary world, it doesn't instantly render winters useless, it just means the threshold is more like 2/3 deg C. Which means I might get away with not needing to fit them, but at least I have the option at minimal cost as winter packages put together in summer show no depreciation when sold in November two years later, only in my experience of course, as I am sure yours will be different.
You either have a big issue with people on winters or you are a closet winter tyre lover. Either way, what does it matter to you so much what OTHER people prefer to fit on their wheels? Do your own thing and I am sure people won't mind.

Edited by nickfrog on Sunday 29th November 10:43

[bigvanfan]

vikingaero said:

Depends whether the tyres on the Disco are road biased. In the Nordic countries the mantra is winter tyres first, 4WD second.

Yes standard road based tyres, that's great and what I suspected thanks