Winter Tyres

[Bry-Sel]

Hi all,

Had my 220d sel for a few months now and I love it. Usual things are odd that you already know....fuel consumption, fast idle, poor gearing.....but will live with these!

I have already sourced a set of 16" wheels for next winter and was looking for any opinions on which winter tyres.

given they will only cover 12k max over 3 years do I need to spend a fortune? My thinking is that if budget brands wear down quicker, then this doesn't matter to me, however I am looking for good grip in the snow and ice as I have a steep driveway to my house.

Also, will I get a bargain in the summer?

Any thoughts appreciated.

Bry

[stevet]

Sorry I've no information on the tyres but I would not recommend the Diesel if your only doing 12k miles over 3 years. Change it for a petrol and all your odd things will disappear.

[Postman]

I have a BMW 535d which I've had winters on now for the third year. The car is transformed in snow and ice ie it actually can be used as it is totally useless without them on a gradient (worst car I have ever driven in winter conditions in over 30 years driving). We have our IS220d about a month now but I will be sourcing an extra set of rims and winter tyres will be on for next year.

Tyres I have on the BM are Vredestein Wintrac Extreme. I haven't tried any others but did take my time reviewing the reviews before I bought them and decided they were the best compromise for me. They are not out and out snow tyres but then I live on the Emerald Isle and not in the Alps. I will be ordering these for the Lexus.

I was a little ahead of the wave for winter tyres 4 summers ago and nobody in the UK had any winter tyres for sale during that summer. I ended up ordering them from http://www.tyres-pneus-online.co.uk/ and they were delivered from Holland (at the time the website was not .co.uk so I don't know where the stock on the aforementioned site will be sourced). Another good website is http://www.reifen.com/

Apparently they make a europe sized batch of winter tyres in the summer so availability in the summer may be scarce or depend on what has been left over from the previous year. Tyres are certainly a lot cheaper before the harsh weather sets in.

[mraines]

This is my 2nd year of fitting winter tyres to my IS250 and as the previous post said, it transforms it in snow/ice/cold conditions. It enables the car to be used in the most adverse of weather condtions and being softer rubber you will not have any of the tyre slip/scrub on full lock when doing slow turns.

I kept my 17" rims on which limited my choice of tyre but have been pleased with the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D, which I think are still around but have been superceeded.

Hope that helps.

[Bry-Sel]

Mevet

Thanks for your reply, but what I mean is the winter tyres will do 12k over the three years

Even I would not be driving any "tractor" if I was doing 4k per year.

I'll be getting nearer 40k over the 3 year period

Bry

[Bry-Sel]

Hi Postman

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I've got some research to do! I'm in Fife and need the car for work, so I suppose a decent set makes sense. My reason for quoting my mileage is that I'm hoping one set will see out the life of the 220 in my hands.

good to know that it completely transforms the car.

Bry

[Bry-Sel]

thanks Mraines

I will price up the Dunlops too.

I found a brand new set of Lex 16" alloys on eBay for £200. Managed to haggle the guy down to £125! Not good looking, but I think they were a steal.

Bry

[mraines]

@Bry-Sel

Happy reading:

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre-Tests/#winter

Cheers.

[marleyp]

I have always gone for a good All Season tyre rather than Winter tyres, due to the poor wet weather performance of Winter tyres. If we had snow for 4-5 months on our roads like they do in Scandinavia, then Winter tyres would be the option. We have had a bit of snow, but most of the time in British winters we drive on wet cold roads, that's when you really need the grip as well.

[Bry-Sel]

Marleyp

Another angle! Hadn't thought of All season tyres

I appreciate your reply and will discuss with my local tyre guy who is an independent business that I trust.

Thanks for all the replies.

[Postman]

I have always gone for a good All Season tyre rather than Winter tyres, due to the poor wet weather performance of Winter tyres. If we had snow for 4-5 months on our roads like they do in Scandinavia, then Winter tyres would be the option. We have had a bit of snow, but most of the time in British winters we drive on wet cold roads, that's when you really need the grip as well.

Winter tyres are designed to perform better at temperatures less than 7C, than summer tyres. This is regardless of road conditions. Now we can be talking apples and oranges when comparing one tyre to another as no two are the same but when I researched mine the braking distances for the winter tyres on cold wet roads were better than my summer set up which were made by the same manufacturer. I have noticed when the temperatures get above about 10C the winter tyres tend to go off a bit and are very soft and squidgy so performance is affected. I would suspect that all season tyres are a compromise between the two, being adequate all year round but not as effective as either specialised tyre in it's proper environment.

[Mic220]

Hi I have had fitted for the last 2 winters Hankook I*cep evos and have found them to be very good, espcially for the price. I live in rural Lincolnshire down a single track road which does not get gritted and have had absolutely no problems this winter despite lots of ice and considerable snow. The good thing about the tyres is that they a V Rated as well unlike many winter tyres that are only H or T rated. I have done around 18,000 miles on this set so far and they still have around 6mm of tread left so should do another winter or possibly 2.