Can anyone recommend a Set of Winter Tyres
Discussion
Summit_Detailing said:
Michelin Cross Climates or Goodyear Vector 4Season - covers 99% of eventualities throughout the year.
Cheers,
Chris
Yes, I had CrossClimate+ on my recently-sold car, covered 20k+ with them and thought they were good tyres whatever the weather.Cheers,
Chris
My wife has Vector 4SG2 on one of her cars and they are also good tyres. Despite basically being designed as winter tyres with acceptable summer ability they coped just fine driving around this summer at 25-30'C on dry sunbaked roads.
I bought a lightly used set of Michelin Alpin 4 winters on matching alloys last winter for my S-Max.
It didn't snow. It never does when I buy winter tyres. They did feel superior in the colder climate, however, compared to summer tyres. Based on my experience something like Cross Climates might be the best option in the UK, as we never seem to get proper winter any more.
It didn't snow. It never does when I buy winter tyres. They did feel superior in the colder climate, however, compared to summer tyres. Based on my experience something like Cross Climates might be the best option in the UK, as we never seem to get proper winter any more.
Ron99 said:
Yes, I had CrossClimate+ on my recently-sold car, covered 20k+ with them and thought they were good tyres whatever the weather.
My wife has Vector 4SG2 on one of her cars and they are also good tyres. Despite basically being designed as winter tyres with acceptable summer ability they coped just fine driving around this summer at 25-30'C on dry sunbaked roads.
I put the Vector 4SG2 on my 2019 MX5 last winter and they had a lot less grip in the dry and wet than the ever so slightly wider Bridgestone Potenza S001 it has for the summer (which was fun in an MX5) so I do think you need to be aware of their limitations as a year round tyre. My wife has Vector 4SG2 on one of her cars and they are also good tyres. Despite basically being designed as winter tyres with acceptable summer ability they coped just fine driving around this summer at 25-30'C on dry sunbaked roads.
stickleback123 said:
I put the Vector 4SG2 on my 2019 MX5 last winter and they had a lot less grip in the dry and wet than the ever so slightly wider Bridgestone Potenza S001 it has for the summer (which was fun in an MX5) so I do think you need to be aware of their limitations as a year round tyre.
Well, that's the thing that puzzled me, regarding the Vectors and dry-mild performance.During lockdown and into the summer, about once per week I took the wife's Vector-equipped car on a slightly extended journey to a Tesco Extra to get things we couldn't find locally and to keep it from seizing or flattening the battery (Zafira, 205/55R16, 1.8-litre petrol).
With it being just me on board, after a reasonable time to warm it up I drove it far harder than any Zafira should be and it seemed to hold the road very well through bends, stopped well enough and didn't spin the wheels when pulling away hard.
If I didn't know, I really wouldn't have been able to tell that it was on winter-optimised all-season tyres.
Last winter I occasionally drove the Zafira very hard on wet/slimy/mud-smeared near-freezing roads and it didn't slip even a tiny bit despite me trying my best to find its limits. In those conditions, 'normal' (summer) tyres would have easily slid about.
Regarding the MX5 I can only guess that it's a lack of weight over the tyres affecting grip. I've always found lighter cars are much easier to provoke a loss of grip, particularly if they have 'sports suspension'.
.
Edited by Ron99 on Tuesday 1st September 19:06
I've used winters for decades on the daily driver - various Golfs Pugs and , latterly , Tiguan /Yeti. I have tried everything from upmarket Michelin and Contis , via Nexen , to cheap as chips ones. And although I am supposed to say that after exhaustive analysis the reassuringly expensive ones were far better - they aren't. Some were a bit noisier but all were night and day compared to summer tyres on the single track roads and forestry tracks I often use.Never got stuck , even in 8inches of fresh snow on steep hills on the North York Moors .
Buy the cheapies and use the money you've saved for some sexy summer tyres .
Buy the cheapies and use the money you've saved for some sexy summer tyres .
coppice said:
I've used winters for decades on the daily driver - various Golfs Pugs and , latterly , Tiguan /Yeti. I have tried everything from upmarket Michelin and Contis , via Nexen , to cheap as chips ones. And although I am supposed to say that after exhaustive analysis the reassuringly expensive ones were far better - they aren't. Some were a bit noisier but all were night and day compared to summer tyres on the single track roads and forestry tracks I often use.Never got stuck , even in 8inches of fresh snow on steep hills on the North York Moors .
Buy the cheapies and use the money you've saved for some sexy summer tyres .
Sounds like we're in the same area. I have to say that the cheapo Jinyu winters I used to have on my Outback were superb. After one heavy snowfall a few years ago the wife and I were on our way back from the Lion Inn up on Blakey. On the spur of the moment I decided to ignore the 'road closed' signs on Rosedale Chimney (often said to be the steepest road in the UK), and give it a go. Stupid really and I thought I'd get to the first hairpin and have to turn round but no, got all the way up through deep snow with just a couple of flickers of the TC light. Could scarcely believe it. I also went to the south of France in the summer and drove hundreds of miles of Pyrenean mountain roads with them on without issue. So I agree - if the cheap ones are that good I'll just plump for them again!Buy the cheapies and use the money you've saved for some sexy summer tyres .
Indeed - your experience echoes mine. In the early 90s I had an AX GT , a car which all the magazines said was great , but it was the worst car I ever owned . Anyway, I had some winters on its little wheels - 165 14s -and I woke one morning to see a lot of snow. We lived at Over Silton and I drove down to Kepwick and up the bank to the top . In 6 inches of virgin snow up a very steep track rising to about 900ft asl. It romped up there without any issue , despite 2wd and two stops for gates en route. Make of tyres ? I was broke at the time so it was the cheapest Northallerton Tyre and Batteries could get.
MInd you , th 2 CV I had in the 70s would have got up on its summer tyres - badass 125/15 Michelin Xs !
In my experience - and I do a lot of driving in bad conditions - the pricey winters may impress your petrolhead friends , but in normal driving they work no better than bargain basement . It may be different if your idea of fun is buggering about in old Discoveries while proclaiming One Life Live It but I drive on crappy tracks in winter only to get from A to B , not for fun .
MInd you , th 2 CV I had in the 70s would have got up on its summer tyres - badass 125/15 Michelin Xs !
In my experience - and I do a lot of driving in bad conditions - the pricey winters may impress your petrolhead friends , but in normal driving they work no better than bargain basement . It may be different if your idea of fun is buggering about in old Discoveries while proclaiming One Life Live It but I drive on crappy tracks in winter only to get from A to B , not for fun .
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