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You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink - especially if it's frozen. How many times do the 'converted' need to post on here that fitting winter tyres turns the LS into a perfectly useable car in snow and ice. And here are some other facts about them:

Nankangs cost £300 for a set and are brilliant

It costs £30 to do the changeover including balancing all 4

if you do less than 10k miles per year you might as well leave them on all year (they wear out faster in summer but it doesn't matter for low mileage)

Winter Tyres are not just for Christmas :-) they are designed to be much better than ordinary tyres at sub 7 degree temps (ie all winter in the UK)

Winter tyres are noisier on tarmac - but not much

Winter tyres on your car will not stop the bloke behind ploughing into the back of you

..... so let's start a campaign to make winter tyres mandatory between Nov and March like some of the rest of Europe.

Mike

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That's what I'm goin to do then mike, I di about 8k a year so the nankangs are for me I think. Next job to try and find sone lol.

Can anyone explain thus to me ? Got the lex off the drive onto main roads today but had trouble.

The road was partial ice and eveyones drive ramp was clear so I though as long as I had a wheel on that I'd have drive! Not so... The wheel on the ice span up and the wheel with clear ground didn't pull at all !! Thought that was the job of the diff to supply drive to the wheel with traction?? Please someone put me right

Got out of road by taking a run at it from clear ground so all is well

Winter tyres for me next.

Steve

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I can understand why so many of you are having trouble, I been out every day and roards are bad and I ant had any problem getting about, other drivers have got stuck but my LEXUS just passes them, just make sure your choke as cut off before driving and use your gears not auto and use your snow button?

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Can anyone explain thus to me ? Got the lex off the drive onto main roads today but had trouble.

The road was partial ice and eveyones drive ramp was clear so I though as long as I had a wheel on that I'd have drive! Not so... The wheel on the ice span up and the wheel with clear ground didn't pull at all !! Thought that was the job of the diff to supply drive to the wheel with traction?? Please someone put me right

Simple diffs allow one wheel to turn faster than the other when turning. This is kindest to the tyres and easiest to drive in normal conditions.

Unfortunately they also allow one wheel to spin and the other stop in conditions such as yours.

Some cars have lockable diffs, or limited slip diffs, which help traction in these circumstances - and at the drag strip etc. But they are more expensive/wear tyres quicker/can let go more rapidly on a powered corner.

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Thanks andy , that makes sense, pity it doesn't work my way though lol

Will be goin for winter tyres within the next 7days.. Hopefully that will sort me out.

Thanks for all the advice gents....

Steve.

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just done a search for 225 55 17s in winter tyres and it looks like everyone is sold out unless you want to pay about £180 per tyre for the fancy ones

I will be buying myself another set of nankangs in June .... would hate to be caught out next winter without winter tyres.

Mike

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just done a search for 225 55 17s in winter tyres and it looks like everyone is sold out unless you want to pay about £180 per tyre for the fancy ones

I will be buying myself another set of nankangs in June .... would hate to be caught out next winter without winter tyres.

Mike

I don't know about 225 55 17, I use 225 60 16 Vredsteins (Wintrack Extreme) There was no availability when I got mine so I telephoned Vredstein, they told me to get the garage fitting them (and they are a Vredstein supplier) to telephone them and a week later the tyres materialized (cost: £110 per tyre, all inclusive: VAT, fitting, etc.). So you might want to try the same. By the by, I certainly have not noticed any difference in the tyre noise - had Pirellis before.

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Hi yep I'm on the 225 60 16 as well, so will try my local pro tyre centre in the next few days. Doin a bit of internet research ad well, but will prob settle for what they can get as long as vie heard of them and the price is right.

Thanks for the tip.

Steve

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just done a search for 225 55 17s in winter tyres and it looks like everyone is sold out unless you want to pay about £180 per tyre for the fancy ones

I will be buying myself another set of nankangs in June .... would hate to be caught out next winter without winter tyres.

Mike

I don't know about 225 55 17, I use 225 60 16 Vredsteins (Wintrack Extreme) There was no availability when I got mine so I telephoned Vredstein, they told me to get the garage fitting them (and they are a Vredstein supplier) to telephone them and a week later the tyres materialized (cost: £110 per tyre, all inclusive: VAT, fitting, etc.). So you might want to try the same. By the by, I certainly have not noticed any difference in the tyre noise - had Pirellis before.

I got my Nankangs last January after slipping and sliding everywhere last Christmas. At that time they were £52 each so in all I paid £238 and count myself very lucky. Having experienced them now for 2 winters I think even the £440 for the Vredsteins would probably be the best money you could ever spend on the LS. Yesterday I went up a frozen but slushy farm track to get some hay. Farmer couldn't believe I'd got up as his Merc has been parked up for the duration of the snow. I'd be surprised if any winter tyre is as quiet as a summer tyre. If you look closely each tread block has loads of tiny slits, and I think these are what make the extra noise - not much louder though - it's just that the LS is so quiet you do pick up the difference.

Mike

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I bought Nokian WRG2s just before this month's snow, and for once I have done the right thing! I drove through everything including one foot of snow on ice with no problems whatsoever.

I got them through MyTyres who have a deal with a German distributor, so there is no problem with supply. The tyres are std LS430 size, 245/45/18 and cost £128 each delivered. Came in 4 days as promised, and I had them delivered to my local garage who fitted them. I still have c.8000 miles left in the existing tyres so they are storing them for me until the Spring.

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Snow tyres are formulated to remain soft at lower temperatures, that is all. They often come with holes to fit studs.

Snow tyres (without studs) can be used on clear roads, but because of the extra soft compound (stickier) they will wear very fast at higher temperatures.

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Mine's all wrapt up until Spring......

Seasoned greetings to you ice drivers!

Here\s to 2011!

the bonus of a winter lay up is that it wont get ten tonnes of salt and grit in every nook and cranny , i just replaced my brakes and once the wheels were off i was amazed at how much grit was in the wheel arch despite regular jetwashings in those areas

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Snow tyres are formulated to remain soft at lower temperatures, that is all. They often come with holes to fit studs.

Snow tyres (without studs) can be used on clear roads, but because of the extra soft compound (stickier) they will wear very fast at higher temperatures.

That may be the case for snow tyres, but we're not talking about snow tyres. We're talking about winter tyres, which 1) do not usually have stud holes, and 2) are not merely made of softer rubber. They are made of softer rubber, but they are also much more heavily treaded (usually start at 9 or 10mm depth), and they are heavily siped (the zig-zag pattern slits in each tread block). It is the sipes that do the work on ice, the deep tread that does the work on snow, and the softer tread that does the work on cold tarmac. There is a hell of a lot more to it than 'formulated to remain soft at lower temperatures'.

It is also false that the tyres wear out very fast at higher temperatures. They will wear quicker, but there is no need to panic once the snow has cleared - they are designed to be used all winter ie until spring has come!

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Snow tyres are formulated to remain soft at lower temperatures, that is all. They often come with holes to fit studs.

Snow tyres (without studs) can be used on clear roads, but because of the extra soft compound (stickier) they will wear very fast at higher temperatures.

That may be the case for snow tyres, but we're not talking about snow tyres. We're talking about winter tyres, which 1) do not usually have stud holes, and 2) are not merely made of softer rubber. They are made of softer rubber, but they are also much more heavily treaded (usually start at 9 or 10mm depth), and they are heavily siped (the zig-zag pattern slits in each tread block). It is the sipes that do the work on ice, the deep tread that does the work on snow, and the softer tread that does the work on cold tarmac. There is a hell of a lot more to it than 'formulated to remain soft at lower temperatures'.

It is also false that the tyres wear out very fast at higher temperatures. They will wear quicker, but there is no need to panic once the snow has cleared - they are designed to be used all winter ie until spring has come!

Hmmm - this is very interesting. I don't think I could be bothered with changing from winter to summer and vice versa. Given that the speed ratings on the winter tyres are generally over about 100 mph and I don't do a huge amount of motorway driving would it be safe to assume that I could run winter tyres all year round? Most of my driving would be up to about 70 mph and about 4000/5000 miles/yr and I tend not to throw the car about. Although noise might be worse would grip levels be similar?

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If I only did 5000 miles per year it would be a no brainer to fit winter tyres and leave them on permanently. Years ago I believe insurance companies would try and slope their shoulders if you fitted tyres that were not rated for the maximum speed of the car, but I think a test case was brought and the policy now is that you have to be exceeding the speed of the rating of the tyre to invalidate the insurance (.... but I might be wrong).

Mike

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Hmmm - this is very interesting. I don't think I could be bothered with changing from winter to summer and vice versa. Given that the speed ratings on the winter tyres are generally over about 100 mph and I don't do a huge amount of motorway driving would it be safe to assume that I could run winter tyres all year round? Most of my driving would be up to about 70 mph and about 4000/5000 miles/yr and I tend not to throw the car about. Although noise might be worse would grip levels be similar?

Winter tyres can be rated quite fast - the ones I have on the Alfa are V-rated (149mph) and the ones I had last year on the GS were rated the same, though were different tyres. Certainly the grip I have from the Nokians in the dry doesn't give me any concern - and I do throw it about a bit and will happily use them at 80-90 on the motorways...

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If I only did 5000 miles per year it would be a no brainer to fit winter tyres and leave them on permanently. Years ago I believe insurance companies would try and slope their shoulders if you fitted tyres that were not rated for the maximum speed of the car, but I think a test case was brought and the policy now is that you have to be exceeding the speed of the rating of the tyre to invalidate the insurance (.... but I might be wrong).

Mike

I do just under 10000 miles per year and fully intend to stick with these (winter) tyres throughout the year - I put them on in September (no snow and not very cold either) and they instantly improved the handling capabilities of the car in the wet - I will readily admit that this would not be difficult as my previous tyres were Pirellis - smooth ride but that's about it, to put it mildly. In any event I have previously used snow tyres (as they are called Stateside) on a year round basis, on a similar car (5L V8 Caddilac), in New York where the temperatures can be extreme and had no noticeable side-effects. Will let you know by 2012!

P.S. These were also cheaper (by about £20 per tyre) than a comparable all year tyre. And the speed rating is way above the legal speed limit (I think 149mph, as suggested above).

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