Winter tyres vol 2

[Bennyjames28]

Give it a month or so and I will be swapping my summer wheels over for winter steel wheels I won on eBay for 25 quid (plus 50 quid I kindly gave the bloke for delivering them).

Had them last winter through all the bad snow. I never got stuck and felt very confident in the snow.

Shed life.

[Mr Tidy]

I've had BMWs for years now so know how terrible they are if there is any snow or it gets icy, so I bought a set of Michelin Alpin winters on rims for less than £200 a few years ago for my E46. They worked a treat!

Then in February I sold my E46 and bought an E91 that had Bridgestone Blizzak winters on it - no problem with the Beast from the East!

Winters work for me - they may not be for everyone, it's just about making a decision that suits your needs!

[Kccv23highliftcam]

Paddy_N_Murphy said:

Whilst my General Snow Grabbers only have maybe 4mm above the marks, they were great in the foul flooded motorways yesterday,
I've grabbed the deal (and availability before idiocy begins in panic buying)

4 x Michelin CrossClimate SUV 235/55 R18 V (104) for my Audi All Road A6 - £475.

I'll get them fitted in November when the car goes for an MOT and I suspect Brakes too.

Bad write-ups about sidewalls and tendency not to stay in one piece....

[bennettse2025]

Definitely getting me some winters this year after the hideous experience I had of driving during the snow earlier this year in my Lexus gs300.

Question is, do I just buy the winter tyres or do I buy a second set of wheels as well? I like the idea of being able to swap the wheels over myself on the drive rather than taking the tyres and car down to the shop and have someone swap the tyres for me. But does convenience justify the extra expense? The second set of wheels will need TPS sensors fitted too, so more expense on top.

[jon-]

Bill said:

anarki said:

Hi all, need some input please on my next tyre choice

I do not have the storage for a set of summers and a set of Winters. I drive pretty conservatively, rarely on motorways, with the odd blast here and there. My thoughts were to go for an all season tyre.

With a tyre size of 215/60/16 here are my candidates:

Maxxis AP2 All Season - £76 a corner
Kleber Quadraxer 2 - £107 a corner
Bridgestone Weather Control A005 - £109 a corner
Goodyear Vector 4Seasons G2 - £115 a corner
Michelin CrossClimate+ - £136 a corner

I live in Bristol so very rarely get harsh snow, however I often drive on B/unclassified roads and lanes where it can be quite slippery in the Winter months. The Maxxis caught my eye obviously due to price and the reviews seem pretty positive but am open to peoples opinion.

Thanks.

No idea about the Maxxis but I've had the Quadraxer and CC+ on my wife's car and have absolutely no complaints about the CC+s and found the Quadraxers a bit squirmy when pushing on when it's warm.

Oponeo have the Vredestein Quatrac 5 for £94 in your size and they seem to get good reviews. (My brother has an older version on his car with no complaints.)

I actually just made an all season video which should answer the question. The short version is I'd probably take the Michelin or Goodyear, but there's plenty of good options out there. The new Bridgestone is relatively untested at the moment, and currently bridgestone don't have a great reputation of putting a tyre out which tests as it does in it's internal tests, so I'm super excited to see this years all season testing data. If you want the longer answer, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe-gkTCOs7E

[Kolbenkopp]

jon- said:

I actually just made an all season video which should answer the question. The short version is I'd probably take the Michelin or Goodyear, but there's plenty of good options out there. The new Bridgestone is relatively untested at the moment, and currently bridgestone don't have a great reputation of putting a tyre out which tests as it does in it's internal tests, so I'm super excited to see this years all season testing data. If you want the longer answer, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe-gkTCOs7E

Very interesting, going to watch that now (Thanks for the vids by the way. Excellent content, much appreciated!). We have to run winter tyres for insurance/legal reasons here and I need a set for the new Golf.

I am leaning towards the Michelin CC+ but not as a year-around tyre -- just for winter use. Thinking behind that: we have very mild winters in NW Germany. It gets coldish, but not much snow. So why run a full-on winter tyre if it is mostly wet and above 0 celsius?

[jon-]

Kolbenkopp said:

Very interesting, going to watch that now (Thanks for the vids by the way. Excellent content, much appreciated!). We have to run winter tyres for insurance/legal reasons here and I need a set for the new Golf.

I am leaning towards the Michelin CC+ but not as a year-around tyre -- just for winter use. Thinking behind that: we have very mild winters in NW Germany. It gets coldish, but not much snow. So why run a full-on winter tyre if it is mostly wet and above 0 celsius?

I really like the idea of using all season tyres as winter tyres in milder climates, that's certainly the approach I'd take if I had a suitable vehicle / need to fit winters (I hardly use my own car these days!)

[Kolbenkopp]

And another excellent vid, really liked the graphs. Thanks! Also for your input and validating that idea. Wasn't entirely sure before, bit of a new approach apparently.

Asked my tyre shop for their opinion and they thought that was a most odd request. People like to do things by the book over here. It is winter. So you need Winterreifen .

Added bonus with the all seasons: higher speed indexes. Allmost all winters are rated for best case 240 kph. But lots of all seasons are good for 270 kph. My car can do 250 so I'd need a sticker (honestly, it's the law) on the dash saying "don't exceed xxx kph" if I was running winters in say V or H speed.

[Krikkit]

jon- said:

Kolbenkopp said:

Very interesting, going to watch that now (Thanks for the vids by the way. Excellent content, much appreciated!). We have to run winter tyres for insurance/legal reasons here and I need a set for the new Golf.

I am leaning towards the Michelin CC+ but not as a year-around tyre -- just for winter use. Thinking behind that: we have very mild winters in NW Germany. It gets coldish, but not much snow. So why run a full-on winter tyre if it is mostly wet and above 0 celsius?

I really like the idea of using all season tyres as winter tyres in milder climates, that's certainly the approach I'd take if I had a suitable vehicle / need to fit winters (I hardly use my own car these days!)

Michelin cross climate are designed for exactly that! They're snowflake marked to comply with the German law.

[Mercury00]

Well I've just had mine put on, it's six degrees C up here. I think we're in for a cold winter this year.

[AlexiusG55]

Kolbenkopp said:

Very interesting, going to watch that now (Thanks for the vids by the way. Excellent content, much appreciated!). We have to run winter tyres for insurance/legal reasons here and I need a set for the new Golf.

I am leaning towards the Michelin CC+ but not as a year-around tyre -- just for winter use. Thinking behind that: we have very mild winters in NW Germany. It gets coldish, but not much snow. So why run a full-on winter tyre if it is mostly wet and above 0 celsius?

I'm quite close to you the other side of the border (in NL) and am thinking of getting a set of Quatrac 5s for my Celica T-Sport. Initially I'm planning to use them year-round, but if they prove unpleasant in the summer I might get a set of summer tyres.

Quatrac not CC+ partly because they're cheaper and still V speed rated, but also because CC+ aren't available in quite the right size- the car currently has (worn and non-matching as I just bought it) 205/50R16 tyres on it, which is the OEM size. Quatracs are available in that size, the closest CC+ are 195/55R16 which will fit the wheels but I think the smaller contact patch outweighs any difference between the tyres.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

Krikkit said:

jon- said:

Kolbenkopp said:

Very interesting, going to watch that now (Thanks for the vids by the way. Excellent content, much appreciated!). We have to run winter tyres for insurance/legal reasons here and I need a set for the new Golf.

I am leaning towards the Michelin CC+ but not as a year-around tyre -- just for winter use. Thinking behind that: we have very mild winters in NW Germany. It gets coldish, but not much snow. So why run a full-on winter tyre if it is mostly wet and above 0 celsius?

I really like the idea of using all season tyres as winter tyres in milder climates, that's certainly the approach I'd take if I had a suitable vehicle / need to fit winters (I hardly use my own car these days!)

Michelin cross climate are designed for exactly that! They're snowflake marked to comply with the German law.

I'm in Luxembourg and have just done exactly this for exactly that reason. Snowflake essential but full-on winters a bit OTT for my needs. Had them fitted last month in the UK. I'm really impressed with the Michelin CC so far, even in warm weather.

[jamiem555]

[/quote] The second set of wheels will need TPS sensors fitted too, so more expense on top.
[/quote]
Not necessarily, I use mine without and live with the warning light. I’ve driven for years without them and I know when I’ve got a puncture. For the MOT I reset it and the warning light doesn’t come on for about 10 miles. More than enough to pass.

[tjlees]

jon- said:

I actually just made an all season video which should answer the question. The short version is I'd probably take the Michelin or Goodyear, but there's plenty of good options out there. The new Bridgestone is relatively untested at the moment, and currently bridgestone don't have a great reputation of putting a tyre out which tests as it does in it's internal tests, so I'm super excited to see this years all season testing data. If you want the longer answer, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe-gkTCOs7E

Brill!

Thanks for this and the summer reviews as well!

Given my car is 19” asymmetric on the tyre front and winters are 18” symmetric, narrower and much cheaper, I’m sticking with two sets for the mo.

Your recommendation on the summer Goodyear F1 looks very good and they are 7db quieter than my current Bridgestones.

Also worth considering full winters if it’s a bit hilly near you, your drive setup (RWD,FWD or 4WD) and liable to be covered in snow/ice. This winter I just made it up our 1:6 hill on conti ts850s with fwd - the 4WD with 1.6t trailer (also had trailmaster winters) had no problem on similar winter contis.

[anonymous-user]

Wills2 said:

ruprechtmonkeyboy said:

Wills2 said:

janesmith1950 said:

Why revert to such an obviously false dichotomy?

Surely the answer is that people should fit the appropriate tyre for the circumstances. If the tyre manufacturer states the tyre is unsuitable for summer conditions, fit one that that is.

It seems a perverse mindset to be concerned enough to fit winter tyres in winter, against less suitable 'summer' tyres, yet in the summer, retain less suitable winter ones.

Not really, winter tyres are never lethal in the summer however summer tyres can be in the winter....

Bridgestone recommend you shouldn't use winter tyres in summer due to the increase in braking distance. I for one will take their advice over any of the posters on here!!!!

It would help if you read what has been written rather than what you think has been written Ruprecht...(apt name BTW)

It’s not my words Lynn, it’s the words of Top Gear magazine Bridgestone

[Barchettaman]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

I'm in Luxembourg and have just done exactly this for exactly that reason. Snowflake essential but full-on winters a bit OTT for my needs. Had them fitted last month in the UK. I'm really impressed with the Michelin CC so far, even in warm weather.

Me too, am in Frankfurt but it seems the best compromise is swapping in a set of all-seasons in the autumn.

Both our cars need new winter rubber.

The Chevrolet will get 16" Nexen all seasons, our local fitter has them in stock at a really low price. I fitted Nexen summers to it this year and thy've been great, mid range performance for the price of a Chinese budget.

My BMW winter wheels are 225/45 r17 and I will be trying the Goodride SW602 all seasons, they seem to get good reviews and are just under half the price of the Michelin CC+.

I'll report back from a ditch at some point in the winter!

[belleair302]

bennettse2025 said:

Definitely getting me some winters this year after the hideous experience I had of driving during the snow earlier this year in my Lexus gs300.

Question is, do I just buy the winter tyres or do I buy a second set of wheels as well? I like the idea of being able to swap the wheels over myself on the drive rather than taking the tyres and car down to the shop and have someone swap the tyres for me. But does convenience justify the extra expense? The second set of wheels will need TPS sensors fitted too, so more expense on top.

I purchased a set of new wheels and tyre sensors for my GS450 H two years ago. Aftermarket Momo's that look way better, weigh less and with winter tyres. Epic grip in snow and well worth the effort. Alas I sold that car but if you want the wheels and tyres PM me to discuss.

[bennettse2025]

belleair302 said:

I purchased a set of new wheels and tyre sensors for my GS450 H two years ago. Aftermarket Momo's that look way better, weigh less and with winter tyres. Epic grip in snow and well worth the effort. Alas I sold that car but if you want the wheels and tyres PM me to discuss.

PM incoming

[Evanivitch]

Kccv23highliftcam said:

Bad write-ups about sidewalls and tendency not to stay in one piece....

Michelin in general?

I've known people say this, but yet I've seen 30,000 miles from a pair of Michelin Energysaver that were already half worn when I bought my car.

[RammyMP]

Paddy_N_Murphy said:

expecting the tyres availability /pricing too start to rocket with all this 'cold for four months' forecasting hitting the news...

https://www.express.co.uk/news/weather/1021047/UK-...

I was considering swapping my car for a 340i but fk it, I’ll keep the quattro for a bit longer. But then again, they say that every year and it never happens!