Recomendations for Winter tyres

[gizard]

Can anyone recomend a good winter tyre for an E46

225/40 R18 Front
255/35 R18 Rear

???

[sleep envy]

look in your hand book - it will give the recommended size

[gizard]

These are the sizes - I'm wondering which brand to go for. There seems to be huge variation in price for winter tyres.

[sleep envy]

ah - gotcha!!

there's a discussion in the porsche forum about this, there's a few recommendations there

[rassi]

Dunlop Winter Sport 3D or M3

[gizard]

Thanks - funnily enough I would like them for a porsche too - but obviously in a different size.!

[Ashok]

Michelin Pilot Alpin and Continental TS810s are both good winter tyres for sporty cars like BMW's.

[Shropshiremike]

The ADAC magazine ( German based ) had a good article on winter tyres a couple of months back - I think one of the test mules was an E46. Also used a Passat

[RacingTeatray]

I looked into this in depth for my Alfa 156 GTA (it being very important over here) and eventually plumped for Nokian Hakkipelitta RSis (225/45/R17 fitment and studless) as every Russian I spoke to (and review I read) swore by them. So far they are proving to be excellent.

On my Z1, I have Toyo Snowproxes for winter use (again studless) and they also endow it with startling grip in the slippery stuff for a RWD car - I made it over a steep Alpine pass in a full-on blizzard with no trouble at all and no need to resort to chains.

[gizard]

Thanks for all the helpful info. Certainly the TS810s and Blizzacks are available in the correct size but no one I can find stocks them or can get them very quickly - any one have any ideas as to where I can get these in the afore mention sizes?

cheers

G.

[phelix]

You might want to think about some second-hand 17 inch wheels; the money you'll save on cheaper tyres and not having to swap tyres in the spring (and back and forth again next winter) will make a significant, if not complete, contribution to the cost of the wheels. You should be able to pick up a set for £200-250 from ebay or the like. The narrower tyres will also give a bit better grip in the snow. And if you kerb a wheel in the snow it won't hurt anywhere near as much!

[gizard]

TVR moneypit said:

For use in this country?

Verdestien Snowtrac 2's.

In europe as well but mainly a good cold winter tyre for the uk during the winter season.

I had thought about extra wheels and i'm not so sure. I am off next friday for a week in the alps so i might just have to take chains and hope for the best.

[rassi]

gizard said:

I had thought about extra wheels and i'm not so sure. I am off next friday for a week in the alps so i might just have to take chains and hope for the best.

Can only strongly encourage you to get some winter tyres (preferably 17" and with a narrow snow tyre), as IMHO it would be madness to go to the Alps in a RWD car with 255 section summer tyres.

[0836whimper]

Yes did just that. Drove to St Gervais and back in RWD 3 series with summer tyres. My 18's won't take chains, so I bought snow socks for the front and rear to use in emergencies.

I couldn't justify snow tyres as I was only going for a week and (this is the crucial bit) St Gervais is low, just off the motorway and doesn't involve going over any passes. This worked out fine.

But, if was going somewhere a bit more serious, I'd defintely put snow tyres on. All the continental visitors use them and very rarely have to use chains. As you say, large section summer tyres and RWD are a terrible combination, especially if you can't take chains.

It's interesting how few 4WD offroaders there are too compared to the UK. It seems a small FWD car with snow tyres will go pretty much anywhere, making dedicated 4WD's a waste of time.

[gizard]

Ahh help I have tried everywhere to get either Dunlops / BridgeStones or Continentals (as far as I can work out these are the only ones in these sizes) And only one supplier could actually get the Conti's but not in time for this coming Friday - my only other suggestion is these 'socks' - where can I get these from in the correct sizes and are they easy to fit and - what are they like on tramac?

cheers

G.

[gizard]

Hmm, since discovered that scocks are not legally passed in the alps...

[phelix]

Why not go 225/40 all around with the winter tyres?

[phelix]

gizard said:

Hmm, since discovered that scocks are not legally passed in the alps...

Yup; socks are a way of making summer tyres more winter weather friendly but they don't hold a candle to chains.

[Talkwrench]

These chaps have four of these available. They look eminently suitable to me!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/225-40-18-V-Continental-Wint...

[gizard]

Thanks for the tip but there are not enough in the right sizes.