winter tyres or good all season tyres?

[dickm]

Do you really need winter tyres in the south of Englandshire? Up here in the wilds of Aberdeenshire, they are essential for several months, but it's still a bit of a pain storing a complete spare set. Wouldn't really have thought there was enough cold weather in the south for them to be necessary.

If you do decide to go for a spare set of wheels for a VAG vehicle, Stevens VW dismantlers in ?Watford? seem to be reliable and know their stuff. Our Polo estate needs slightly odd size wheels, and they were the only place that did all the necessary checks.

Definitely counsel against just fitting winter tyres on the front, even with front wheel drive. Too easy for the back wheels to want to try and overtake you; not even sure if it's legal in some states of the US.

And among the cheaper brands, Matador seem to get quite good scores on the German test reports.

 

[Dodge]

The other thing to remember is that you must advise your insurer if changing wheel sizes or fitting snow socks or you could invalidate your insurance in the event of a claim. Some insurers also consider the fitting of winter tyres as a modification so beware

 

[MickCheese]

Know of any round wycombe way Mick?

There is a big one in Alperton Lane just off the A40 before Hanger lane in Alperton.

I think this is it

http://www.londononline.co.uk/profiles/100106/

Mick

 

[blurk99]

Got Pirelli Scorpion Ice and Snow (alternative is 'mud and snow') fitted to a spare set of alloys for my audi allroad (alloys £50 a set from fleabay, plus a set of hub spacers for the different offset....) bought mine from camskill online, got the local place to fit and balance etc for £12 per wheel, all in £500 ish, so not cheap but that should make a big difference

oh - check out which other make and model wheels you can look for on ebay, unpopular choices can lead to a bargain!

http://www.alloywheelsinternational.com ... guide.html

jim

 

[soulboy]

Do you really need winter tyres in the south of Englandshire? Up here in the wilds of Aberdeenshire, they are essential for several months, but it's still a bit of a pain storing a complete spare set. Wouldn't really have thought there was enough cold weather in the south for them to be necessary.quote]
Hi dickm, you are right we don't get the amount of snow you do up north but last Dec even Dorset got some!
My Mitsubishi Delica came with them and they perform ok for a 'knobbly', from the MDOCUK forum I have noticed plenty of people use Delicas in Scotland, a good, adaptable all rounder which copes well with off-roading and snow. send some my way please
regards chris

 

[Digit]

What's snow?

Roy.

 

[Steve Jones]

You might live to regret that comment Roy

Steve

 

[Digit]

I did last year Steve, as usual we had none, but I had to leave my little valley and head north, It was fine when when set out but we ran into white out condition on the way back.
I was driving a Fiat Doblo and with the wide front tyres the pig was all over the place. I got rid of shortly afterwards.

Roy.

 

[Mark A]

I was driving a Fiat Doblo and with the wide front tyres the pig was all over the place. I got rid of shortly afterwards.

Last winter our Scudo spun on a level crossing, with the Llanelli Express fast approaching! Now we've got a Doblo - should I be worried?

 

[Digit]

I found that 10000 miles was the average life of front tyres, confirmed by the Fiat dealership, and what ever the weight of a vehicle, the greater the tyre 'footprint', especially with front wheel drives, the less grip you will have in slippery conditions.
To get up some of the hills in the snow I had to make a run at them, acceleration simply provoked a slide.

Roy.

 

[Lons]

I was driving a Fiat Doblo and with the wide front tyres the pig was all over the place. I got rid of shortly afterwards.Roy.

:lol: :lol: :lol: You wanna try driving a rear wheel drive BM with 18" VERY fat tyres :roll: Great on dry roads - but in snow - gets embarrasing.

I know - serves me damn well right

 

[Harbo]

That's why a carry some snow socks especially when travelling up north!

Rod

 

[mickthetree]

well I'm pretty much decided. I need 3 new tyres. I could get 4 winter tyres with steel wheels but I will still need 3 new tyres in the spring. Works out better if I get a set of 4 all season tyres and a pair of snow socks.

I think!!......

 

[Harbo]

I thought All Season tyres work reasonably well throughout the year - so why the Snow Socks?

Rod

 

[Dibs-h]

well I'm pretty much decided. I need 3 new tyres. I could get 4 winter tyres with steel wheels but I will still need 3 new tyres in the spring. Works out better if I get a set of 4 all season tyres and a pair of snow socks.

I think!!......

What size tyres are you needing? I ask because assuming they aren't super wide, skinny ones you could get ones that have a more "normal" tread and therefore will perform better in the snow.

HIH

Dibs

 

[mickthetree]

205 55 R16 91V Apparently if buying winter tyres you can go down a couple of ratings so for winter tyres I'm looking at T rated.

Not entirely sure which one of those values I would be looking to change to get slimmer wheels?!

 

[blurk99]

the first figure - 205mm wide (that's suitable for a 7inch wide rim), the you have the aspect ratio '55' so the sidewall is 55% of the width (about 102mm then...) and they'll have a hole in the centre suitable for a 16inch dia rim

http://www.kouki.co.uk/utilities/visual ... calculator

good site - read the chart about rim sizes and then play with the tyre calculator to see if you can get cheaper prices by playing about with aspect ratio...

jim

 

[mickthetree]

Great stuff, Thanks Jim!

 

[Harbo]

According to Which, Goodyear All seasons came out tops?

Rod

 

[mickthetree]

ah, now thats interesting. I have goodyears on the front (the main ones that need replacing) and I've been pleased with them.

Found I need new breaks all round and the car insurance is due on the 11th as well. Looks like I wont be getting myself any christmas pressies this year then! :-(