Winter tyres vol 2

[BertBert]

I run winter tyres on a couple of cars all year round. The most notable being the touareg 4x4.. I run Generals which are awesome. Fantastic in the French Alps last winter and they have done 35k miles so far. Never had tyres last that long!!
Bert

[anonymous-user]

After deciding between Hankook i*cept or the Continental WinterContact TS 860 a mate just suggested getting a set of the Michelin CrossClimate+ as they are as good but much better if it's wet or dry.

I believe the latter but are they really that good in the snow?

Has anyone tried them?

Thank you in advance.

[Mr Tidy]

Paddy_N_Murphy said:

ELUSIVEJIM said:

This would be my preference.

Contacted Mini 2 days ago and they are trying to figure out which size will fit. As mentioned above the brake calipers are the issue according to the parts guy. He is filling in for someone so perhaps that's the issue.

Stated 16" then came back saying only 17" but now looking at it again.

Hopefully get an answer and can take it from there.

I only say all this as a Neighbour (mentioned in this thread) had the same fk on with his 'unusual' BMW 1 series.
Apparently his 123d has the same problem you likely have - bigger callipers and the jump from the readily available 16" steelies on the inter web, to the need for 17" Alloys with Winters.

He's got a redundant / misbought set of 16's" back on ebay, but an immaculate set of 17" Alloys and Blizzaks with probably 6mm of tread on them for £225 now fitted.
I'd do that.....

Paddy, why not look at the door pillar on the car - it'll tell you what sizes will work, including winter options.

Nothing "unusual" with your neighbour's 1 Series BTW - all 123ds and 130is had bigger front brakes that needed 17" wheels to clear them. (I had a 123d for 6+ years).

If you buy carefully, used wheels with the tyres you want are out there at sensible prices.

I sold a set of E46 wheels with Michelin Alpin Winter tyres for £125 last week - they were for my E46 but didn't fit my E91.

And my E91 came on winters anyway, so it needed summers! I got a set of four 17" wheels with tyres for less than £200 from someone who had upgraded to 18s.

[Silent1]

ELUSIVEJIM said:

Paddy_N_Murphy said:

I only say all this as a Neighbour (mentioned in this thread) had the same fk on with his 'unusual' BMW 1 series.
Apparently his 123d has the same problem you likely have - bigger callipers and the jump from the readily available 16" steelies on the inter web, to the need for 17" Alloys with Winters.

He's got a redundant / misbought set of 16's" back on ebay, but an immaculate set of 17" Alloys and Blizzaks with probably 6mm of tread on them for £225 now fitted.
I'd do that.....

I really can't see 16" fitting hence why I wanted to check but Mini who seem to have no idea either.

Funny thing is they can't offer a winter package deal as they don't have any. Wasn't going to buy but find that very strange.

If the 123d is 17" then I would be more inclined to go with that advice.

£225 fitted is a fantastic deal.

Going to have a good look at eBay.

Thank you again mate.

Great advice

Your dealer is a fking idiot, I’ve got a jcw f54 and I can get winter sets for that despite the jcw having a deeper dish (wider brake calipers) than all the other f54s, I know there’s at least 2 sets available one is 17” and the other 18” both alloys, the 17” come with non run flats and iirc come to £1500 and the 18s are runflats at £2000, that is for the jcw though and my parts man said that if it wasn’t a jcw you could get steel wheels for something silly like £100 over the cost of just the tyres.

[lemonslap]

anarki said:

Hi tobinen, I posted a few pages back that I opted for the quatrac 5's on my forester (215/60/16 H 99) and I've put about 600 miles on them so far.

Be mindful with the first 100 miles, I was driving in a remote part of Shropshire on a quick B road (B4363) just after I'd had them fitted, it was absolutely hammering down with rain and they felt quite skittish. After 100 miles they've scrubbed in and feel really good on all surfaces.

I haven't had the chance to drive them in freezing conditions yet but they feel responsive and grippy in the current climate (12'C most days) the coldest being 5'C where they felt fantastic compared to my previous budget tyres - which in the same conditions felt like you were driving on glass.

Hardly any road noise either and no noticeable change in fuel consumption. Would buy again.

- I'll also report back once we've hit sub zero temps and also when we get snow/ice. I'm looking forward to testing them in those conditions.

I’ve just put these tyres on my wife’s F56 Cooper SD and am struggling with them tbh, before with the Michelin run flats the car always felt planted with a lot of grip, now it will spin up in 3rd! Have 800 miles under them now, just hoping they scrub in and improve or I will need to replace them with something else. We normally run two sets of wheels on our vehicles, however with the TPMS on this car it makes it very expensive to do so.

On a positive note, I have swapped over to my Dunlop winter sport 5 225/55/16 clad wheels on the E class and they feel spot on. I may look at sticking with 16” wheels all year around, the car just feels “how it should be” (if that makes sense!) on them compared to it’s summer Goodyear F1 Assy 3 265/35/18 normal tyre and wheel setup.

[Bennyjames28]

LDN said:

Can’t go wrong with Continental! Nokian are great for proper snow; for UK driving though, I don’t think they’d be the best performing tyre

I got a set of Nokian tyres last winter for 75 quid on steels. They were brilliant for my needs, I got everywhere I wanted to in the snow. In fact it got to stage I would go out for a drive just to see if I could.

It's in news this morning there will.be a cold snap next week and we may get snow. I'm going to put my winters back on this weekend.

[DailyHack]

Run a set of Riken's all year on my E91 16" alloys, fit and forget. Once scrubbed in they are fine, use to swap my wheels around but really cba anymore - the amount of times my wheels were seized to the spignots after 6 months made a 10 minute job into an hour, time is precious and I just rather be doing something else.

Running them all year is perfect for my needs and car, they perform great in all conditions and they haven't worn much at all.

Friends on the continent (France/Italy/Spain) run winters all year, and it gets a little warmer over there - compared to our tropical 17 degrees here

But each to there own I guess.

Edited by DailyHack on Wednesday 14th November 06:09

Edited by DailyHack on Wednesday 14th November 06:25

[RicksAlfas]

ELUSIVEJIM said:

After deciding between Hankook i*cept or the Continental WinterContact TS 860 a mate just suggested getting a set of the Michelin CrossClimate+ as they are as good but much better if it's wet or dry.

I believe the latter but are they really that good in the snow?

Has anyone tried them?

Thank you in advance.

I have TS860 on my Merc. I’ve found them really good in all conditions. I stick them on at the clock change and don’t worry about them. To be honest I’d be happy leaving them on all year round. They are like a really wintry all season if that makes sense?

The Michelins would be good if you were going to use them all year round, but I would prefer to swap between winters and summers where we live. If you are looking at all seasons the Goodyear 4Seasons Gen-2 is good too.

[RicksAlfas]

lemonslap said:

We normally run two sets of wheels on our vehicles, however with the TPMS on this car it makes it very expensive to do so.

BMW wanted £380 for a set of four valves from their parts counter for my Dad’s 320d. I couldn’t believe it! I got the BMW parts number, and bought the exact same VDO valves, but in VDO boxes rather than BMW for....£120 from https://www.buycarparts.co.uk/

I then used the same company for some for my wife’s Suzuki and they were £100, so not too bad. I was miffed at BMW. I thought they were really taking the piss. Mercedes branded ones were £180 from MB. There’s no reason why BMW should be charging double that.

[tobinen]

lemonslap said:

anarki said:

Hi tobinen, I posted a few pages back that I opted for the quatrac 5's on my forester (215/60/16 H 99) and I've put about 600 miles on them so far.

Be mindful with the first 100 miles, I was driving in a remote part of Shropshire on a quick B road (B4363) just after I'd had them fitted, it was absolutely hammering down with rain and they felt quite skittish. After 100 miles they've scrubbed in and feel really good on all surfaces.

I haven't had the chance to drive them in freezing conditions yet but they feel responsive and grippy in the current climate (12'C most days) the coldest being 5'C where they felt fantastic compared to my previous budget tyres - which in the same conditions felt like you were driving on glass.

Hardly any road noise either and no noticeable change in fuel consumption. Would buy again.

- I'll also report back once we've hit sub zero temps and also when we get snow/ice. I'm looking forward to testing them in those conditions.

I’ve just put these tyres on my wife’s F56 Cooper SD and am struggling with them tbh, before with the Michelin run flats the car always felt planted with a lot of grip, now it will spin up in 3rd! Have 800 miles under them now, just hoping they scrub in and improve or I will need to replace them with something else.

Thanks both. Bearing in mind I'll be replacing Rotella Ditchfinders I can't see that I'll be worse off. Plus these will be for my spare/winter wheels.

[anonymous-user]

Silent1 said:

Your dealer is a fking idiot, I’ve got a jcw f54 and I can get winter sets for that despite the jcw having a deeper dish (wider brake calipers) than all the other f54s, I know there’s at least 2 sets available one is 17” and the other 18” both alloys, the 17” come with non run flats and iirc come to £1500 and the 18s are runflats at £2000, that is for the jcw though and my parts man said that if it wasn’t a jcw you could get steel wheels for something silly like £100 over the cost of just the tyres.

Think I need to speak to another dealer.

Having this information might help matters greatly.

Thank you so much

[anonymous-user]

RicksAlfas said:

I have TS860 on my Merc. I’ve found them really good in all conditions. I stick them on at the clock change and don’t worry about them. To be honest I’d be happy leaving them on all year round. They are like a really wintry all season if that makes sense?

The Michelins would be good if you were going to use them all year round, but I would prefer to swap between winters and summers where we live. If you are looking at all seasons the Goodyear 4Seasons Gen-2 is good too.

Thank you mate. Great to know.

[Davie]

Chaps...

Landsail Winter Landers... any experiences?

Currently on Dunlop SportMaxx on an old diesel Volvo, doesn't get driven hard and we're rural and have been offered a set of these, done under 5K for less than cinema trip plus snacks for two so figured they may be worth trying as I'm sure the SportMaxx will be worse than terrible in frosty / snowy weather.

Can't really justify £400+ for a swanky brand, not on an old shed like this...

Worth a punt?

[LDN]

Davie said:

Chaps...

Landsail Winter Landers... any experiences?

Currently on Dunlop SportMaxx on an old diesel Volvo, doesn't get driven hard and we're rural and have been offered a set of these, done under 5K for less than cinema trip plus snacks for two so figured they may be worth trying as I'm sure the SportMaxx will be worse than terrible in frosty / snowy weather.

Can't really justify £400+ for a swanky brand, not on an old shed like this...

Worth a punt?

Not sure of those specifically but I know as a brand, they seem to have come a long way. Know someone with a Discovery on Landsails and he’s perfectly happy with them.

[Mr Tidy]

Davie said:

Chaps...

Landsail Winter Landers... any experiences?

Currently on Dunlop SportMaxx on an old diesel Volvo, doesn't get driven hard and we're rural and have been offered a set of these, done under 5K for less than cinema trip plus snacks for two so figured they may be worth trying as I'm sure the SportMaxx will be worse than terrible in frosty / snowy weather.

Can't really justify £400+ for a swanky brand, not on an old shed like this...

Worth a punt?

How much are they?

I bought a set of wheels with Michelin Alpins fitted for my BMW E46 3 years ago for less than £200!

And sold them a week or so ago for £125 (I'd sold the car) - seemed like a bargain for a "swanky" brand.

[seiben]

Davie said:

Chaps...

Landsail Winter Landers... any experiences?

Currently on Dunlop SportMaxx on an old diesel Volvo, doesn't get driven hard and we're rural and have been offered a set of these, done under 5K for less than cinema trip plus snacks for two so figured they may be worth trying as I'm sure the SportMaxx will be worse than terrible in frosty / snowy weather.

Can't really justify £400+ for a swanky brand, not on an old shed like this...

Worth a punt?

I imagine they'll be similar to the Zeta Antarcticas I had on an old Volvo V70 - absolutely fine for the car and the style of driving it gets.

[Tom_Spotley_When]

Morning,

Another boring winter tyre question.

2015 VW Touareg; probably does 5,000 miles/year. Countryside (well, next to an A road) and Motorways to Manchester/trips further afield. Next to no pretence at sporting driving, I won't be pushing the outer limits of handling balance, I don't tweek the nose of the handling gods and it's the least sporty car I've ever owned - (except that one time it was snowing, 6:30am and I had an untouched roundabout in-front of me....)

Anyone got any thoughts on General Grabber AT3/General Snow Grabber Plus. One pair to rule them all, sort of scenario.

Having just set up my own business and with an impending wedding next year, I don't want to think about having to commit to spending another £500+ on a second set of tyres for the summer just as I get married.....

[Barchettaman]

Low mileage, just stick on a set of all seasons.

[popeyewhite]

GG A/T3

https://www.generaltire-tyres.com/car/tyres/grabbe...

Possibly a bit more off road bias than you need, possibly a bit more noisy than your radials, excellent tyre. Also look at Yokohama Geolandars, similarly A/T winters, M+S etc.

[RicksAlfas]

Tom_Spotley_When said:

Morning,

Another boring winter tyre question.

2015 VW Touareg; probably does 5,000 miles/year. Countryside (well, next to an A road) and Motorways to Manchester/trips further afield. Next to no pretence at sporting driving, I won't be pushing the outer limits of handling balance, I don't tweek the nose of the handling gods and it's the least sporty car I've ever owned - (except that one time it was snowing, 6:30am and I had an untouched roundabout in-front of me....)

Anyone got any thoughts on General Grabber AT3/General Snow Grabber Plus. One pair to rule them all, sort of scenario.

Having just set up my own business and with an impending wedding next year, I don't want to think about having to commit to spending another £500+ on a second set of tyres for the summer just as I get married.....

You want some SUV All Seasons! Read here:
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2018-Auto-Bil...