Winter Driving

[matt-c]

Thanks Dave - I think I read something somewhere about dates on tyres, but didn't know it was 5 years.

So forgetting the part worns - which I think I am, because if tread is down from 10mm to 4, that's a 60% decrease, effectively making them 60% less effective than new, which is kinda the whole point really - I've a choice between £180 worth of retread tyres, using Dunlop tread pattern, or £188 worth of budget Asian market tyres. Both are a bit of an unknown quantity really...

Question remains though (apart from the above); will a 205/50 17 be good enough in the snow? The rolling radius of a 205/50 17 is more or less the same as a rolling radius of a 205/55 16 - and the width section is the same, with both at 205. So I guess the question really is, is a 50 profile tyre that much less effective than a 55 profile tyre...?

[jay_russell]

well i just mounted my new winter wheels and tyres for the snow. i live in sweden and work in a tyre shop so....... i took adavantage of a promotion offered from goodyear for mine this year. i will be running 225/40/18 goodyear proformance 8 studless tyres with magnizuim wheels. hope they give me better grip than the continetial cvc5 i used last year. they were greay in the snow but the traction light came on all the time when i powered up the 280 bhp on the back wheels in the dry.

[matt-c]

Well, the more I look into it, the more it makes sense; increased traction (with most reporting "night and day" difference in moving off from stand still); increased stability while moving and cornering; increased braking and deceleration.

I know what will happen though - I'll spend £300 on wheels and tyres, and then we won't get any snow!

[jay_russell]

well today i put my new winter wheels and tyres on as i have a puncher in one of my summer ones. not bad grip and felt good on the drive home.... :) think after 4 years of driving the lexus in snow and ice in sweden and never crashed it once.... winter tyres make sence for sure

[jay_russell]

also on 17 or 16.... better with 16 " tyres as they are a lot cheaper and are a easy size to get.. 17 should be 215/45/17 and like me 18" are 225/40/18. make sure you get the right tyres for the car. they need to be at least 91 and or extra load and the speed is ( t or v ) anything under can cause problems. had a car in with 85 instead of 92 and it had a big bubble on the inside tyre wall from over weight .. the size of a banana.....wheels you can get steel ones from toyota if you dont have. auris avensis and verso all fit as well as some older avensis and camery but 16" is the smallest you can go

[matt-c]

Steel wheels from Toyota are FAR too expensive for what they are - about £300 (probably + VAT) over here. I can get a set of standard IS 17" alloys for £50! And 205/50's are cheaper than 215/45's here too. I don't mind going either 205/50-17 or 205/55-16, depending on the cost of the wheels; the 17's would look better than the 16's (spoke design; SE/Sport vs S wheels)

[Pete Shawn]

Steel wheels from Toyota are FAR too expensive for what they are - about £300 (probably + VAT) over here. I can get a set of standard IS 17" alloys for £50! And 205/50's are cheaper than 215/45's here too. I don't mind going either 205/50-17 or 205/55-16, depending on the cost of the wheels; the 17's would look better than the 16's (spoke design; SE/Sport vs S wheels)

true spot on

spot these Item number: 261096372593 on £bay

[sjrainsford]

Just a small point on cheap wheels, I think the Estima/Previa shares the same wheel fitting too. Should be quite a few cheapos available for them too.

Just looked though and they're mostly 15" on eBay, and few and far between.

[matt-c]

There's a massive list of wheels that fit; the ideal is not going below a 16" wheel (1- for getting as close to the stock rolling radius as poss and 2- so as not to get tyres with a lesser load rating and higher wall size) but try finding some for a decent price. I wouldn't pay more than £35-£40 for a set of steels, especially when I can (probably) get a set of grotty standard 17" alloys for £50-£100. I'd go for the S model 16's, but again I won't pay the extorionate amounts people want for them (ie, £200) since 1) they are a lesser wheel than I've got now, 2) they don't look even half as good and 3) I'm only going to have them on for 2, maybe 3 months of the year anyway

[J Henderson]

Definitely don't pay too much. My RX wheels only cost me £82.