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Post by wannabe on Aug 7, 2018 14:24:27 GMT
So, it's 32 degrees outside. What better time to start a thread on winter tyres?  
(Someone said something to me today that prompted me to think about last winter's fun on ice  which prompted me to think about the fact I need to research winter tyres...)
Sooo...
Does anyone run them?
Are there any recommendations?
When is the cheapest time to buy?? (Now, when the sun is beating down and supply/demand is low, or in winter, when supply is high but demand is also high?)
Michelin Alpin, Continental WinterContact and Goodyear UltraGrip are all good options IIRC, but is that just because they are 'the premium brands'??
Are the Dunlop SP Winter Response also good?
The evo magazine test from Jan 2018 is quite interesting - it seems to suggest that there is no 'one tyre to rule them all' because some are good in wet weather and some are good in snow, and they're not necessarily the same tyre!
www.evo.co.uk/features/13761/best-winter-tyres-2018 |
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Post by atlex on Aug 7, 2018 14:30:08 GMT
I can recommend Goodyear All-Season Vector 5+.
Used these down to -25 over eastern europe for a few months. They were great and not expensive. Drove them in some pretty tough conditions.
I've heard amazing things about Nokians, too.
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Post by howardb66 on Aug 7, 2018 17:07:07 GMT
I use Michelin Alpins on my errr Alpina & they’re very good. Without them it gets stuck on a flat car park if it snows.
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Post by niklas on Aug 7, 2018 19:49:42 GMT
Most nokians etc are very good. You need to have a preferred function. Here (Sweden) we get a lot of snow and ice, so if you live outside of the larger cities studded winter tires are preferred. It works on ice, nothing else does. For snow or wet conditions, a non-studded winter tire is usually better and quieter.
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Post by lowender on Aug 7, 2018 20:34:44 GMT
Nokian Weatherproofs are a good tyre for UK winters - very good in the wet and slush, , excellent in snow. Not a full winter tyre, an all-season, but better than a lot of full winters in the white stuff. I have them on one of my Subarus all year round.
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Post by davemk3 on Aug 7, 2018 22:04:49 GMT
Michelin Alpins here as well great winter tyre.
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Post by sandys on Aug 7, 2018 23:03:27 GMT
Used conti cross contact winter for past couple of years they have been respectable, just replaced some rainsport 3 summers which wore out in no time with Michelin crossclimate this week, this is a winter capable summer tyre, hoping not to have to switch wheels anymore. This is on 2 tonnes of 4wd Korean steel rather than the 5 so can;'t comment on performance characteristics due to it being a big jelly mobile but reviews seem positive on normal cars. It was a lot more dough than I normally pay for a tyre on this car but that's Michelin for you. www.michelin.co.uk/tyres/michelin-crossclimatepluswww.evo.co.uk/features/15600/michelin-cross-climate-vs-winter-and-all-season-tyres |
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Post by martiny on Aug 8, 2018 11:54:26 GMT
Happy with Vredestein Snowtrac 5. Good on snow, not bad on tarmac.
Had to go and collect Mrs Y from Watford (hospital, long story) at the end of Feb, just as the snow came down heavily. She told me the ambulance drivers were saying they shouldn't go back out in those conditions. Anyway the '5 was our only car with mud & snow tyres. The only real problem was waiting for other optimists to try (and fail) to get up hills before it was our turn. Pretty amusing driving straight up roads others had just given up on. Oh, and trying to pick a route for the last mile that avoided roads blocked by other cars was quite a game too.
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Post by wannabe on Aug 8, 2018 12:31:12 GMT
Thanks for the replies so far, all! 
Most nokians etc are very good. You need to have a preferred function. Here (Sweden) we get a lot of snow and ice, so if you live outside of the larger cities studded winter tires are preferred. It works on ice, nothing else does. For snow or wet conditions, a non-studded winter tire is usually better and quieter.
I think you've identified the key issue - the UK weather is so variable (as a whole and also from region to region) that it's hard to know whether it's just going to be a really rainy winter, whether it's going to be sub-zero but dry, or whether it's going to be super-snowy for anywhere from a day to a month or more!!
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Post by atlex on Aug 8, 2018 12:52:55 GMT
Stickied.. |
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Post by jackyboy on Aug 9, 2018 18:45:33 GMT
I should probably grow up and think about a second set of tyres and wheels. 🤔 i drove around all winter last year on ad08rs 🙄 not that i had any problems. They are great in the wet.
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Post by wannabe on Sept 11, 2018 18:20:46 GMT
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Post by cardo on Sept 11, 2018 19:47:52 GMT
I have a set of 195/50/15 Ultragrip Gen 1's on alloy rims that I used on the wife's MK2.5 daily.
Fantastic tyres that ploughed through all of the winter snow and slush with ease.
Now surplus to requirements due to Mk3.5 replacing the 2.5 if you were interested.
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Post by slowtwitch on Sept 13, 2018 10:55:21 GMT
My summer/track AD08R's will be replaced with Michelin PS4's as my 'winter' tyres, come end Oct or thereabouts. Brilliant in the dry, awesome in the wet, good from cold...prarrie canoee in the snow but in over a quarter of a century I can count the numer of time I've been stuck in the snow on 1 finger  Excellent attempt to explain the differences between the options here. |
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Post by jackyboy on Oct 5, 2018 19:34:01 GMT
Ive bern thinking about this. Tbh i cant afford a set of winter tyres and a new set of summer tyres. I never had any trouble on ad08r even on wet winter trackdays BUT snow was interesting when we had lots of it early in the year or whenever it was.
I was thinking.. get another set of ad08rs and if i can get 2x cheap /maybe used winter tyres for the rear if it happens 🤔
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which prompted me to think about the fact I need to research winter tyres...)
le sigh