Winter Tyres

[bigal]

Well it's getting to that time of year and after the previous couple of years driving in winter I have decided to get a set of winter tyres on my spare set of wheels (standard IS 17's) so I'm looking for a reccomendation as to whats best, also can you fit more narrow tyres (maybe 205's) on the standard wheels.

Alex

[peter026]

Linky The michelin X ice came out tops on test from various motor mags

[Vyker]

sorry bigal, a little off topic, but im glad you brought this topic up....

i have 2 spare alloys wheels with no tyres.

i need to replace my 2 rear tyres soon, as i only have about 3mm of tred left.

for the coming winter, would it be best advised to..

a ) replace the tyres on the car with Dunlop SP3000A all weather tyres as per normal

b ) remove the rear wheels, buy budget winter tyres (no more then £40/tyre) and put them on for the winter. When summer comes put the old ones back on [which by then would have new tyres on]

any advice here would be grand...

also, just to add, would it be weird to have all weather at the front and winter tyres at the back?

[Rob]

DO NOT JUST PUT WINTER TYRES ON THE REAR OR FRONT WHEELS this causes instability - ie less grip on the front but traction on the rear

also AVOID like the plague toyo snowprox tyres they are complete shi.........

michelin pilot alpin are great and i have had no problems wih them at all and i regularly drive in the area the swiss army use for cold weather training

try the search as there has been a few posts about winter tyres and a fair bit of advise

oh michelin only sell the alpin in the UK - the ice x is for US and european markets

[D8driver]

Michelins are o.k. but Continental or Dunlop wintertyres are just as good (and much cheaper). Don't know if Vredestein is sold in the UK but Snowtrac/wintrac tyres have very good price/performance

[Rob]

yes the dunlops and vredestein are good also - prefer the dunlops out of the 2

[bigal]

Cheers for the replies i'll look into them

[D8driver]

I agree but over here dunlops are cost 20% less than the overrated michelins. Vredesteins are even 10% cheaper and do te trick allmost as good. Toyo, Bridgestone, Nokian etc. are much cheaper but don't perform that well on Lexus and I would rather choose a good all weather/summertire over these.

By the way over here we need good mud/wet condition tires. The real snow tyres are more for scandinavia.

[Vyker]

Cheers Rob

[P38Aaron]

I have Nokian WR's, Im very happy with them...from the little snow we had last winter I had no trouble navigating the country roads that didnt get gritted.

[afreemason]

Correct me if I'm wrong ........ and I probably am ....... but if you're thinking of winter tyres you're best to go for much thinner tyres than you inevitable have on the lexus ...... this will mean thinner wheels !!!!!!!! This would enable you to change them at short notice to avoid excess wear when it isn't snowing and enable you to keep decent looking wheels on the rest of the time.

If you're thinking of different tyres for wet conditions ...... you've not got the right road tyres in the first place !!!!!!

[Rob]

your thinking is correct, a thinner tyre is better than a wide tyre, in a season you would loose about 2mm of tread from the tyres but i wouldnt worry too much about loosing tread when not driving on snow. unless ur in the artic circle or above the snow line that wouldnt apply to many places. but its a good idea to have a summer and winter set of wheels

[afreemason]

your thinking is correct, a thinner tyre is better than a wide tyre, in a season you would loose about 2mm of tread from the tyres but i wouldnt worry too much about loosing tread when not driving on snow. unless ur in the artic circle or above the snow line that wouldnt apply to many places. but its a good idea to have a summer and winter set of wheels

Sorry didn't make myself clear a winter or snow tyre is compounded for use on snow ........ prolonged use on tarmac will cause it to overheat and wear more rapidly than expected, not to mention that in rain it would give you all the road holding of six bananna skins lashed together with dental floss as it's tread pattern is not designed to clear water from the contact area with the road rather cut through and grip snow !!!!!

It comes back to ....... for use in the UK use a halfway decent all purpose tyre and don't be so bloody stupid as to drive in the snow unless yo really really need to ...... and if it's so critical to go out in all weather a rear wheel drive lexus should be replaced by a stonking great defender !!!!!!!!!

:P

[Rob]

your thinking is correct, a thinner tyre is better than a wide tyre, in a season you would loose about 2mm of tread from the tyres but i wouldnt worry too much about loosing tread when not driving on snow. unless ur in the artic circle or above the snow line that wouldnt apply to many places. but its a good idea to have a summer and winter set of wheels

Sorry didn't make myself clear a winter or snow tyre is compounded for use on snow ........ prolonged use on tarmac will cause it to overheat and wear more rapidly than expected, not to mention that in rain it would give you all the road holding of six bananna skins lashed together with dental floss as it's tread pattern is not designed to clear water from the contact area with the road rather cut through and grip snow !!!!!

It comes back to ....... for use in the UK use a halfway decent all purpose tyre and don't be so bloody stupid as to drive in the snow unless yo really really need to ...... and if it's so critical to go out in all weather a rear wheel drive lexus should be replaced by a stonking great defender !!!!!!!!!

:P

ummm yeah i know what a winter tyre is mate - i live in Switzerland and use them every year for 5 months. As said in an average season u loose 2mm - thats driving on the highway/around town and on the snow when in the mountains..... which applies to about 90% of people, but if you live in the mountains all the time or are in areas that have permanant snow then you would of course loose less.

As for rain/standing water no one i know has had any probs and esp when at lower altitudes it sometimes rains/sleets and melts instantly with the result of standing water and I have never seen anyone spin off or have a series of accidents, so the example of bananna skins is just pure scaremongering in my opinion. The same applies when they salt the road - it turns to water.

taken from a well know manufacturers site

"More than just a snow tyre, the winter tyre is actually designed for driving in all winter conditions :

on all types of surface: on roads that are snowy, lightly or heavily iced, marginally damp or very wet and under substantial depths of water but also on cold, dry roads &

in all of winters atmospheric conditions: fine or heavy rain, damp or alternatively very dry and cold & in very low temperatures."

[afreemason]

I bow to your superior knowledge sir and apologise for any unintentional offence.

The point being, syrely it's a waste of time buying winter tyres for the virtually non existant British Winter ...... Switzerland ..... yep, works fo me, Bolton ...... sorry ...... surely no point. I would guess someone would be better placed buying summer sticky tyres rather than winter tyres. All just seems a little pointless. When the last snow fall came I was in the 350 with 19" wheels, 9.5j front and 10.5j rear fitted with low profile toyo poxies and I managed to get home ok by being sensible ......... admittedly I then left the car on the drive for two days but hey ....... again being sensible ...... two days in a year hardly compares to a Swiss winter does it.

[Rob]

HAHA no offence taken. but people should remember that it is also to do with the temperature 7C is an agreed temperature to start thinking about non summer tyres...

in the uk, if someone is thinking about something for the colder months have a look at a good all season tyre - and put a few bags of sand in the boot.

[IanB]

Yes Rob's right you know. In case anyone is looking for winter wheels, I'm selling some here:-

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...showtopic=45235

Cheers,

IanB :D

[Rob]

just looked at ur ad - thats a bargain price!

[IanB]

just looked at ur ad - thats a bargain price!

It is Rob, but I'd rather get them to a good home. And I'm hardly local for many in the LOC. Maybe some of the Aberdonian contingent will be interested?

Cheers,

IanB :D

[Moffet]

Did you get any tryes fitted in the end Alex?

Can anyone post up a link to anywhere that you can get 215/45/17 winter tyres from? I'm struggling to find any anywhere that does them in that size!

I've decided to get some this year too and am having a few traction problems on the way to work in the morning already... don't want to see what it's like when it gets any colder and the sleet and snow start!

[SINGH182]

hi,

im thinking of gettin some Goodyear eagle f1 tyres on the rear off my is300, are the eagle f1 tyres a good all round tyre?, if not which is a good all round tyre for the 300?

- i have p zero rosso all round at the mo,but the back two need changing and want to get different tyres as i dont like the zero's in the wet

many thanks

singh182

[bigal]

I've got these on mine at the moment not really an all round tyre they are awesome in summer though

[Rob]

Did you get any tryes fitted in the end Alex?

Can anyone post up a link to anywhere that you can get 215/45/17 winter tyres from? I'm struggling to find any anywhere that does them in that size!

I've decided to get some this year too and am having a few traction problems on the way to work in the morning already... don't want to see what it's like when it gets any colder and the sleet and snow start!

U can get dunlops, michelins, nokians etc in that size the place just needs to order them.

i prefer michelin pilot alpins

[bigal]

I haven't got any fited as yet but i think i'm going to get em soon, i've been having some traction issues recently, i think i'm going to try either black circles or mytyres

[Steve_D]

I haven't got any fited as yet but i think i'm going to get em soon, i've been having some traction issues recently, i think i'm going to try either black circles or mytyres

At this time of the year I try to keep the fuel tank above 3/4 all the time, extra weight on the back wheels - extra traction.

Better than loading the boot up with bricks!