Winter tyres

[couchcommando]

After last year being stuck in the house for a few days whilst my 911 sat on the drive unable to go anywhere I decided this year with my 335d to have winter tyres fitted, never used them before so called a friend who owns a tyre garage and he ordered some in. Had them fitted yesterday and the results are interesting. Pulled out the garage with TC off and floored it, the back came round quick and I realised it was going all the way so floored it some more and did a perfect 180 degree turn and drove back in to the garage much to the amusement of my friend and his fitters. So not a good start on a cold damp road but my fault as the tyres were completely fresh and I was dicking about
100 miles on and they are a bit better on cold/wet roads, not as good as a normal tyre and more road noise and a slightly harder ride. They are easier to slide and hold in a slide which brings some fun to the winter commute. Can't wait to try them on snow and by the same token can't wait to get some grippy tyres back on, I'll report back to how they cope with snow, anyone with experience of them on snow, Think these are cooper avon snow tyres

[briers]

Jesus

That would have been interesting to see

I had winters fitted on my 335d a few weeks ago and i expected them to be a bit "slippy" to begin with whilst the release agent was still on them. I would have never dreamed of nailing it with DTC off on new tyres.

They were more slippy than I expected. Driving in the wet was like driving on ice. I took it out for a blast on the back roads in the dry and they were very squirmy. Hopping in the corners etc. Back end stepping out easily too. Just be careful.

It took 300 miles of dry road driving to get them run in. They were finally run in after a real pasting in the corners to which they gripped almost as well as the summers and now they are superb in the wet.


Time will tell in the snow.

[Guyr]

I fitted Avon IceTouring to a 320d a few weeks back. First few days it was locking the ABS and triggering the t/c light a huge amount. After a week on dry roads they were much much better and are perfectly able to drive at speeds that any PHer would wish to cover ground at, though they do lack the ultimate dry grip of summer tyres.

I'm happy to give up 10-20% grip in normal conditions, which is more than my wife will ever use anyway to gain massive improvement in grip when we get frost/slush/snow.

It does look like the IceTourings are very much towards the 'extreme winter/snow' end of the market than the 'sports tyres with better snow grip' of the sportier brands, judging from the tread patterns.

I'm glad I had some warm dry roads to run them in on though, as tyres take forever to run-in on wet/cold roads.

[sadlerj]

Did you guys stick with the same size as the normal Tyres. My fitter recommended dropping the rears to the same size as the fronts on my 335d, keeps the costs down a little, and probably a bit more effective in the White stuff.

[Bumble SV]

Not sure which tyres you guys have gone for but the winter tyres I had fitted a month ago have been fantastic from the outset and in the cold heavy rain the other week the grip was significantly better than normal tyres.

Bring on the snow this weekend

[m1k1]

I think 225/45/17 is recommended size for the winter tyres on 335d/i

[couchcommando]

Well woke today to 4 inches of snow and I was first out on the roads, no problem at all and using normal throttle the tc didn't even light up, even with it off a deliberate push was needed to slide about, gotta say i'm very impressed and happy now to find an empty car park ;-)

[Silver993tt]

m1k1 said:

I think 225/45/17 is recommended size for the winter tyres on 335d/i

yep, that's what I have on my spare set of wheels for my E91 330D and were recommended for a winter set. The tyres provide far more grip in cold wet conditions than the normal summer runflats and clearly when there's a bit of snow on the road they're in a different league. Those findingthem providing less grip must have somethin amiss on their fitting or the sizes/profiles chosen.

[briers]

Yes i fitted 225/45/17 to my 335... bought a different set of non staggered wheels. My other wheels were 19" and 225/255(r)... too big for winter.

And yes, today, in the snow, the wintrac extremes were absolutely superb, exceeding all my expectations so far.

[Silver993tt]

briers said:

Yes i fitted 225/45/17 to my 335... bought a different set of non staggered wheels. My other wheels were 19" and 225/255(r)... too big for winter.

And yes, today, in the snow, the wintrac extremes were absolutely superb, exceeding all my expectations so far.

I'm using Nankangs and they're also very good. I think most winter tyres are going to give a massive improvement over their summer equivalents even if they do vary in performance amongst the different brands.

[m1k1]

Silver993tt said:

m1k1 said:

I think 225/45/17 is recommended size for the winter tyres on 335d/i

yep, that's what I have on my spare set of wheels for my E91 330D and were recommended for a winter set. The tyres provide far more grip in cold wet conditions than the normal summer runflats and clearly when there's a bit of snow on the road they're in a different league. Those findingthem providing less grip must have somethin amiss on their fitting or the sizes/profiles chosen.

Just don’t forget 3-4 bags of gravel in the boot, makes huge difference.

[chrisg_s2k]

I've just put conti wintersports on the 330d, 225/45/17 all round.

The cold dry grip is far superior to the OEM bridgestone runflats but not yet had a chance to try the wet or the snow. Ride is softer (read: better), road noise isn't noticeably different - nothing the radio can't cover.

Chris

[ghibbett]

I've got 4 x 225/45 R17 Goodyear Ultra Grip Winter tyres on my E46 330i and we've had 6" of snow today here in Austria. Still snowing now, so who know's how much they'll be in the morning. Tomorrow am I will venture out into it and report back on how well they work!!

[ghibbett]

Well 7" of snowfall on the ground last night. In a typically European way, they'd been working hard clearing it all night but I still managed to find some snowy / heavily slushy areas. And...the tyres were brilliant. Could give it far more beans that I though possible. A revelation!

[D6GMB]

I have vredestein wintrac extremes on my Z4M and can honestly say they are superb.
We have to turn right straight onto a hill as soon as we leave our driveway and about 30 feet later we have one of those raised block paved traffic calming areas,the z4 drove out yesterday in a couple of inches of snow with no slipping.Watched a few of the neighbours giving it the beans as they hit the block paved area but had to stop and reverse down the hill(same senario every year).Have also been down to the local car park for a wee play about dsc off.
Also bought a set of Nokian wr g2 for the wifes Honda Accord and very impressed with these also.

[dgm]

briers said:

Yes i fitted 225/45/17 to my 335... bought a different set of non staggered wheels. My other wheels were 19" and 225/255(r)... too big for winter.

And yes, today, in the snow, the wintrac extremes were absolutely superb, exceeding all my expectations so far.

I've put the same tyres on the Z4MC but in 265/30/19 and 235/30/19. They've handled the heavy snow here remarkably well so far although perhaps the smaller sizes are better again.

[briers]

dgm said:

briers said:

Yes i fitted 225/45/17 to my 335... bought a different set of non staggered wheels. My other wheels were 19" and 225/255(r)... too big for winter.

And yes, today, in the snow, the wintrac extremes were absolutely superb, exceeding all my expectations so far.

I've put the same tyres on the Z4MC but in 265/30/19 and 235/30/19. They've handled the heavy snow here remarkably well so far although perhaps the smaller sizes are better again.

I honestly didn't expect them to work so well. I drive to deep west wales occasionally i thought i best give my 335 a fighting chance by getting smaller wheels. From what you have said on your 19's and the grip i'm getting on 17's i probably could have just used my 19's.

I guess one benefit would be to save the corrosion of the 19s from all the salt.

[couchcommando]

Can't believe how good these tyres are as the snow gets deeper and worse here, the roads are now covered in a good few inches. I live in an old quarry and the road out is steep, made it out no problem this morning, quite a few didn't including a RR sport and a golf R32 !