What Tyres Are You On? Do You Change Them For Winter?

[Jefflex]

Hi all. I thought it might be interesting to start a thread to know what tyres folks are on and if you change for winter if so, what are you rolling with.

Above all else are you happy with the handling braking/grip/dry/wet you get from them?

Snaps

[steve2006]

Rear wheel drive,250 BHP is not a good combination in either wet or icy conditions, with 255/40/17 rears and traction control it may as well have a pair of ski's, my Citroen van handles better,front wheel drive and narrow tyres.

[ManicMark]

Michelin summer tyres every time for me, great in the dry,superb in the wet, they dont do bad in the snow aswell, for winter tyres I went for Continental winter contact & found them fine in the snow, my first winter tyres on the lex so have nothing to compare them to.

[sir john]

Im on Avon: ZV3 i think. Hard round corners the car rolls but the tyres never let go. Id have them again. I do get a bit of road noise but it depends on the road surface. Overall im happy with Avon.

As for winter tyres: I use the land rover if it snows.

[GEN]

Hi all. I thought it might be interesting to start a thread to know what tyres folks are on and if you change for winter if so, what are you rolling with.

Above all else are you happy with the handling braking/grip/dry/wet you get from them?

Snaps

Last year I had the P6000 (Pirellis) - absolutely lethal in the snow and poor in the wet. I have already changed to the winter (snow&mud markings) Vredsteins (highly recommended, cheaper than Pirellis - the only downside which in England is a moot point is that, like other winter tyres, they are limited to a mere 120mph!) and the car feels solid in the wet, as for the snow I will let you all know after I have a chance to experience it.

all the best

[Jefflex]

Rear wheel drive,250 BHP is not a good combination in either wet or icy conditions, with 255/40/17 rears and traction control it may as well have a pair of ski's, my Citroen van handles better,front wheel drive and narrow tyres.

Yep!

and I wont be rolling with Pirellis in the near future either

[Chris Skelton]

Japanese issue Dunlop Sports (you CAN get them ordered in UK!)

Will be looking at the tyre string in a couple of years.....

[ChrisW]

I've just bought a set of Nokian WR G2 winter tyres, which will be going on the car once the weather gets seriously cold. My Falkens were hopeless last winter!

[Chris Skelton]

Hi all. I thought it might be interesting to start a thread to know what tyres folks are on and if you change for winter if so, what are you rolling with.

Above all else are you happy with the handling braking/grip/dry/wet you get from them?

Snaps

Last year I had the P6000 (Pirellis) - absolutely lethal in the snow and poor in the wet. I have already changed to the winter (snow&mud markings) Vredsteins (highly recommended, cheaper than Pirellis - the only downside which in England is a moot point is that, like other winter tyres, they are limited to a mere 120mph!) and the car feels solid in the wet, as for the snow I will let you all know after I have a chance to experience it.

all the best

"ONLY 120 mph? In Winter!! Skiing in a Lex? Obviously like living on the edge. :winky:

[GEN]

Hi all. I thought it might be interesting to start a thread to know what tyres folks are on and if you change for winter if so, what are you rolling with.

Above all else are you happy with the handling braking/grip/dry/wet you get from them?

Snaps

Last year I had the P6000 (Pirellis) - absolutely lethal in the snow and poor in the wet. I have already changed to the winter (snow&mud markings) Vredsteins (highly recommended, cheaper than Pirellis - the only downside which in England is a moot point is that, like other winter tyres, they are limited to a mere 120mph!) and the car feels solid in the wet, as for the snow I will let you all know after I have a chance to experience it.

all the best

"ONLY 120 mph? In Winter!! Skiing in a Lex? Obviously like living on the edge. :winky:

That's what the tyres are rated at. Me? I'm not even dreaming of that! But felt obliged to point it out since the summer tyres would have a higher rating (???mph) and the car is, supposedly, good for 149mph, in Germany, I presume... In the meantime I'm looking forward to the snow to see how the winter tyres do at legal speeds.

[Nitmoi]

Not being argumentative but my Falkens were great last winter when everyone else was sliding around I was sure footed. I replaced the Pirellis that were rubbish and wore out too fast anyway. Falkens cheaper and sticky.

[AKY-B]

Japanese issue Dunlop Sports (you CAN get them ordered in UK!)

Will be looking at the tyre string in a couple of years.....

hi i have just purchased a set of dunlop winter sport max in 235/50/18.they are quiet for a winter tyre and the difference in the cold and wet is certainly noticable.i checked that i could go from the oem 245/45/18 to the 235/50/18

and was told it would make little difference. i got them from GERMAN TYRE WHAREHOUSE(uk based),THRU eBay

[BodgerBen]

Kumho Sport KU31 225/55 ZR 17's Summer tyres - good value, on the second set of these would get them again.

Toyo Snowprox S952 225/55 VR 17's Winter tyres - they're only VR rated - but hey. Great in last years snow, just put them on for this year and down south we've not really had much snow to worry about, just cold weather.

We always change to winter tyres on the LS, Jeep or BMW - they are so much better in cold weather, snow or no snow.

The Jeep runs Michelin All Season tyres for summer - they are rubbish in the snow, great for summer but the proper winter tyres are so much better in cold weather.

The LS summer wheels and tyres can be seen on my Lex page http://www.bodgerben.com/Lexus.htm

Edited to say I got the Lex winter tyres from Camskill - but my local tyre place can now get a good supply of winter tyres, so I look up what I want on Camskill and pop a print out down to the local place and he'll sort them for me - no waiting in for delivery! ADD Tyres Lindford.

[John N]

I've got the 17" wheels that came on the 2001 LS430. The car was originally on a mixture of tyre makes, Bridgestone, Continental etc. and I had a lot of tyre noise.

Did an internet search for tyre test reports and a name that kept getting good scores for noise, grip and comfort was KUMHO. For the past 9 years I've stuck with Michelin, but the Michelins were nearly £200 each and the KUMHO were £100 !

I've now done 18,000 mile on the KUMHOs. They are quieter than the Michelins and just as comfortable, they appear to be wearing just as well and I've had no problems with grip in the wet, dry or snow. I’d recommend them to anyone.

The grip in the snow last year, using the 'snow' traction control setting, was better than any car I've had before.

Rather than spend money on a second set of winter tyres, I bought a set of snow chains with the money I'd saved buying one Kumho.

Nothing stopped me last year!

John N

[Chris Skelton]

I'm lucky. I use the BUS!

De-tax the car; wrap it up nice and warm, and bring it out about 4 months later!

Every year, I think about selling it, as I only do about 3K miles per year.

But, what else could I buy this good? :winky:

[NMac]

I'm lucky. I use the BUS!

De-tax the car; wrap it up nice and warm, and bring it out about 4 months later!

Every year, I think about selling it, as I only do about 3K miles per year.

But, what else could I buy this good? :winky:

I agree totally, my LS is covered with a huge snow mound as I didnt get back onshore before the snow came to NE Scotland, but I use the tyres attached to my LR Discovery, which are TOYO Open Country AT's (Great in the snow and slush) and will be putting the LS into a storage shed once the snow clears enough to do the 40 mile journey

[steve2006]

Something interesting on Radio 2 earlier in the week,I only heard the last bit but the crux of the matter related to the fitting of "winter tyres" and that some insurance companies are pulling faces as they are claiming fitting these tyres are a 'modification" and you must therefore inform your insurers of the change or your policy may be declared invalid.

We all know that some insurance companies will do all they can to avoid paying a claim and this appears to be another one.

I can't see the problem, the tyres should be of the approved type and road legal but there is no stipulation in UK road laws to say you have to fit them.

So if in doubt find out first!!!!

[Nitmoi]

It was a BMW on BMW approved tyres. When the insurance were informed they re-instated the insurance.