Best tyres for rear of RWD car in snow and mud?

[singlecoil]

Time for some new rear tyres for the Volvo, which is an elderly rear wheel drive model. While I am at it I might as well get the most grippy type as I don't do a lot of miles but have difficullty getting out of the car park when it's been snowing. I'm not looking to save money, as I've already done that with the car, which has proved extraordinarily reliable.


All opinions welcomed.

[rallycross]

Any winter tyre will give you a noticable increase in traction. I've tried Bridgestone/Michellin/Vredestein they were all good in winter v's summer tyres.

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m95b0s4707p68749/Vredest...

[EDLT]

What size are the they, could you get some all-terrain tyres?

[Benbay001]

singlecoil said:

which has proved extraordinarily reliable.

Save your money. Now youve said that it will need a major repair tomorrow.

[HustleRussell]

I've been looking into Kingpin remould tyres lately- they seem to sell A/T style tyres with big, old-fashioned tread blocks, for car-like fitments. Being remoulds they'll also be cheap and made from a fairly soft rubber compound which can only be good for grip (if not longevity).
The reason I'm considering them is that they're £30 each for my old beemer and the tread pattern is basically a copy of an old Michelin which looks right on the car.

[MarJay]

Has to be a winter tyre. They have a very soft compound and usually have very fine zigzag cutouts in the tread blocks that 'grip' the snow.

I was demonstrated how good they are first hand in Norway. Two colleagues of mine had two identical Opel zafiras. One had changed his tyres the day that the first snow was predicted, the other one was a little more blase. The snows came during the day when they were both parked at their office. One could barely move across the car park, and the one with winter tyres drove home normally.

Obviously they don't make the car uncrashable (braking distances are still extended a lot) but winter tyres do make the difference between getting stuck and getting home.

[PhillipM]

HustleRussell said:

I've been looking into Kingpin remould tyres lately- they seem to sell A/T style tyres with big, old-fashioned tread blocks, for car-like fitments. Being remoulds they'll also be cheap and made from a fairly soft rubber compound which can only be good for grip (if not longevity).
The reason I'm considering them is that they're £30 each for my old beemer and the tread pattern is basically a copy of an old Michelin which looks right on the car.

Big AT tyres won't be anywhere near a proper winter tyre in light snow (albeit should be okay in 3-5 inches...) and probably won't match a normal summer tyre in cold and wet weather either.

[Serendipity72]

Did a big online investigation into winter tyres this morning, reading lots of reviews in different languages. It came down to Nokian or Goodyear. I would have bought the Nokians if we had more snow but I bought Goodyear UltraGrip 8 Performance because they have best wet grip in the cold and this is the English winter problem 99% of the time.

[SouthernSkye]

For one set of tyres only a good (known brand) all season tyre would be a good compromise.

For Winter tyres I use either Pirelli Sotto Zeros or Conti Winter Contact on my 2005 XJ.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2012-Auto-Bil...

Rgds
Sskye

[Stig]

Nokian WR32s - you can use them all year round too (I do).

[Caulkhead]

Here you go:



NB - they may be a tiny bit noisy on the motorway.