Why do people buy winters wheels instead of swapping tyres?

[Vroomer]

Would be grateful for input on the thinking behind having spare set of wheels with winter tyres on rather than just swapping the tyres over...

[trashbat]

You don't have to pay for tyre changes twice a year.

Salt doesn't corrode your nice alloys.

You can use a different tyre size that might be more suitable for winter tyres (including pricing) and winter driving

However, the downside is you have to pay for and store them.

[rassi]

You avoid the risk of a tyre fitter scratching your wheels, when swapping between the summer and winter tyres (4x swaps per year), no need for re-calibrating/wheel weights and you can swap the winter wheels over yourself (if you are storing the wheels yourself, and have a proper jack).

[whoami]

I've never really understood it ether.

I pay 40 quid for the bloke to swap the tyres over while I have a cup of coffee. He also stores the other set of tyres free.

A bargain and little to no hassle.

[RichardM5]

Depends on the wheels and sizes I guess.

If you have 20 inch wheels with wide tyres then winter tyres of the same size will be more expensive and less effective than a narrower higher profile tyre. With a winter tyre you want a relatively narrow footprint.

Changing the tyre on a rim, again especially with very low profile tyres, does not do the side walls any good. It also introduces the possibility of damaging the wheels. Some cars are more sensitive to balancing than others, swapping just tyres means you have to get them rebalanced twice a year, that alone could cost you over £100 a year (using a Hunter Road Force balance machine on 4 wheels twice a year).

Also, the salt and grit on the roads in winter will chip the lacquer and eat into your nice summer alloys, better with a cheaper set of alloys or steel wheels for the winters.

[andyiley]

whoami said:

I've never really understood it ether.

I pay 40 quid for the bloke to swap the tyres over while I have a cup of coffee. He also stores the other set of tyres free.

A bargain and little to no hassle.

So let me just re-cap....... You pay £80/year & he stores them for free........





1p

[Funk]

Vroomer said:

Would be grateful for input on the thinking behind having spare set of wheels with winter tyres on rather than just swapping the tyres over...

Modern cars have big, wide, low-profile tyres - exactly what you don't want in snow. You ideally want narrower tyres which means a different rim.

[whoami]

andyiley said:

whoami said:

I've never really understood it ether.

I pay 40 quid for the bloke to swap the tyres over while I have a cup of coffee. He also stores the other set of tyres free.

A bargain and little to no hassle.

So let me just re-cap....... You pay £80/year & he stores them for free........





1p

No, the bargain was that it saves me messing about changing wheels.

The fact he stores them free (unlike virtually any other place) is a bonus.

Oh, and I didn't bother changing the winter tyres back onto summer ones last year, so it cost £40.

[andyiley]

andyiley said:

whoami said:

I've never really understood it ether.

I pay 40 quid for the bloke to swap the tyres over while I have a cup of coffee. He also stores the other set of tyres free.

A bargain and little to no hassle.

So let me just re-cap....... You pay £80/year & he stores them for free........





1p

Just to add my 2p, as I have mine on extra wheels.

Wheels cost £100 off the bay that is e, they sit in the garage & it takes me 10 min to swap them over exactly at the precise minute that I need them rather than planning it in for a time & day when someone else will do it for me while I wait and then pay for the priviledge & hope that the time is right, and that it didn't snow at night and I can hopefully get there.

No brainer really.

[Vroomer]

It costs £40 to swap tyres, so £80 year.

It would take a long while to get your money back if you bought extra wheels instead.

(Cost of tyres disregarded as you are simply using these in place of existing tyres which will have their life doubled.)

So can't see argument in favour of extra wheels on cost grounds, but do understand argument about thinner wheels in snow.

[Mr E]

Funk said:

Modern cars have big, wide, low-profile tyres - exactly what you don't want in snow. You ideally want narrower tyres which means a different rim.

Indeed. I have 265/35R18's on the back. Even with conti winter contacts, I am suspicious of their ability to do anything in the snow.

[RichardM5]

If you get some cheap wheels, say £200 to be generous that's the only extra cost.

Fitting is £80 a year, so in 3 years you're better off.

Fit narrower, cheaper tyres and that comes down to a year, if not less.

A full set of winter tyres in the correct size for my summer wheels would cost me more than £100 PER TYRE more than the recommended winter tyre size.

[Patrick Bateman]

Spare alloys are easily sold on ebay if you sell the car. Easily make your money back plus the ease of just swapping the wheels over at your leisure.

[Zod]

Mr E said:

Funk said:

Modern cars have big, wide, low-profile tyres - exactly what you don't want in snow. You ideally want narrower tyres which means a different rim.

Indeed. I have 265/35R18's on the back. Even with conti winter contacts, I am suspicious of their ability to do anything in the snow.

They are better than summers and they will work in snow.The winter rears and tyres on my E60 M5 were 245s vs the 285s it wore in the summer and it romped around in the snow, leaving 4x4s on wide summer tyres floundering. My current winter rears are 275s on a narrower rim than the 295s the car wears in summer. On both cars, the fronts were also narrower than the summers, but by a smaller margin.

[wombleh]

Vroomer said:

It costs £40 to swap tyres, so £80 year.

It would take a long while to get your money back if you bought extra wheels instead.

(Cost of tyres disregarded as you are simply using these in place of existing tyres which will have their life doubled.)

So can't see argument in favour of extra wheels on cost grounds, but do understand argument about thinner wheels in snow.

Don't forget you can sell the wheels at the end of it and get a chunk of cash back.

[RDMcG]

Pretty universal here in Canada to have spare (cheaper) rims. Firstly,your expensive summer rims stay pristine. Secondly, it it tough on expensive tires to remount them twice a year. I have had the same winter rims for years now,through two VW Touaregs and a Cayenne. Cheaper knockoffs which work very well and I care not about salt or grit.

[Lozw86]

Living in the South I have never had or seen the need for winter tyres let alone winter wheels

[Mr E]

Zod said:

Mr E said:

Funk said:

Modern cars have big, wide, low-profile tyres - exactly what you don't want in snow. You ideally want narrower tyres which means a different rim.

Indeed. I have 265/35R18's on the back. Even with conti winter contacts, I am suspicious of their ability to do anything in the snow.

They are better than summers and they will work in snow.The winter rears and tyres on my E60 M5 were 245s vs the 285s it wore in the summer and it romped around in the snow, leaving 4x4s on wide summer tyres floundering. My current winter rears are 275s on a narrower rim than the 295s the car wears in summer. On both cars, the fronts were also narrower than the summers, but by a smaller margin.

Interesting. Mine are the same width and profile for summer and winter. Obviously a different tread pattern and compound.
I just look at them and presume they'll fill up with snow.

[Maracus]

I bought a second set of OEM BMW wheels for £195 and some barely used Pirelli winters for £300, plus fitting totalled £540. These will last 3 winters, so the wheels will have been more than paid for taking into consideration changeover costs, plus I can sell them afterwards.

The winter tyres are 17s, not 19s and are considerably cheaper.

The wheels are stored in my garage.

It's a no brainer.

[andyiley]

Vroomer said:

It costs £40 to swap tyres, so £80 year.

It would take a long while to get your money back if you bought extra wheels instead.

(Cost of tyres disregarded as you are simply using these in place of existing tyres which will have their life doubled.)

So can't see argument in favour of extra wheels on cost grounds, but do understand argument about thinner wheels in snow.

See my post just above yours.

No it doesn't. EXACT same correct wheels bought for £100, (2 of the tyres were as new, so I actually saved myself well over the cost of the wheels) so no, it didn't take long to pay back.