New tyres - help needed please

[martyxs]

Hi all,

I'm looking for new front tyres for my car to help get a bit of traction when pulling away and also to help get up my fairly steep road in snow. My car is very light and front wheel drive and tends to wheel spin when pulling away. I'm aiming for something around £40-£55 per tyre, ideally under £100 for the pair, doing around 10-12k with possibly about 1-1.5k of that on motorways.
Can anyone offer their opinions on the following:
Uniroyal Rainxpert - £42 (reduced price)
Firestones - £43 (reduced price)
Goodyear/Dunlop - £53+
Michelin - £60+
Kumho - £50
Maxis - £45
Avon - £47

Some of the prices above were reduced to compete with other dealers so not normal prices.

I don't have any other details of the tyres but what are people's opinions of the above brands? I've had some favour the Uniroyals, others for Goodyear/Michelins... really confused...

Many thanks in advance

[snowmuncher]

Have a look at http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/

Lookup the list of specific tyres you've been given on there.

[Nick3point2]

Your post indicates you are buying replacement front tyres, so I'm assuming these are summer tyres? If that's the case, they will all be pretty pants in the snow, it would be like buying your flip flops based on how easy it will be to climb a snowy mountain.

Don't consider snow performance when buying summer tyres, just buy them for being the best compromise between performance, life and budget.

And if there isn't enough money left in the pot for winter tyres get yourself some snow socks, they got my father in law through the alps last winter on wide low profile summer tyres.

[martyxs]

Many thanks Nick3point2, in the end I went for a pair of part worn Hankook verso k415s for 20 quid each. Compared to the badly worn Hero Tyres I had before they're a massive improvement. My car pulls away, turns and stops with no noticeable skidding or slipping at all. I checked on the tyre reviews site before buying and the ratings seemed good. They seem to really hold well in the wet too but are summer Tyres so will see how they do in snow and ice...

[stevieturbo]

Totally and utterly pointless buying any normal road tyre and expecting them to work in snow.

Just buy snow tyres. And I wouldnt bother with part worn snows, unless they had a good 5+mm of tread left.

[snowmuncher]

stevieturbo said:

Totally and utterly pointless buying any normal road tyre and expecting them to work in snow

+1

Rubber will be too hard and they've got no sipes

[Nick3point2]

martyxs said:

My car pulls away, turns and stops with no noticeable skidding or slipping at all.

that shouldn't be a badge of honour. I would expect any tyre to provide enough grip for pulling away and stopping...

martyxs said:

They seem to really hold well in the wet too but are summer Tyres so will see how they do in snow and ice...

They will be rubbish.

[martyxs]

It was a nice change though as having cheap budget tyres that had worn down to almost the legal limit I was able to really notice the improvement. I had serious problems in wet weather pulling away even with other tyres before, my car was badly prone to wheel spin in wet weather, these tyres seem to really grip the road.
Possibly snow socks or something might be an option but to be honest I'll just hope careful driving will help me through this winter...

[Nick3point2]

Hankooks are pretty budget any way, what sort of condition are they in?

Being careful doesn't break the laws of physics: if you have no grip then being careful won't get you up that hill, or stop you going down it.

[martyxs]

But it's a good excuse for being late for work Sort of...
Mind you, you could have great winter tyres but be stuck behind a load of other cars which are stuck because their tyres aren't adequate anyway...
The tyres I got weren't too bad, had a few bits of grit stuck in them and were from the same car with about the same about of wear, still good tread though. At £20 a piece I'm hoping they'll at least keep me going till I have enough money to get some new tyres... still waiting for that 'have enough money' time to come, it's taken 33 years so far...!