Winter tyres

[Scully]

Have some winter tyres for a friends car as she lives at the Fell bottom where the roads are rarely gritted.

I was going to buy her some new rims and then I could swap tyres back and forth as needed, but have been told that winter tyres are so good nowadays there isn't much point in swapping them about and once fitted can be left on indefinitely. If this is the case there seems little point in buying new wheels when I could just have them fitted to the existing ones.

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Edited: vehicle is just a small hatchback.

Edited October 28, 2016 by Scully

[mr smith]

I had some viking winter tyres on a yaris a few years back with the plan of changing over for summer tyres.In the end couldn't be bothered and just left the winters on for more than two years still plenty tread on when I sold the car.

[Medic1281]

I run good quality winters all year round. No noticable difference against mid quality summer tyres in the summer but better in the cold. The wear rate wasn't an issue as they seemed to wear well and lasted 20k. Noise and ride quality I think improved but that's subjective. They stop being effective in mud and snow when down to about 4mm so may need changing earlier than anticipated if you get heavy snow.

[Hamster]

We put Pirelli Scorpion winter tyres on wife's car nearly 2 years ago and to say I have been amazed at their wear rate and quietness is an understatement. Unfortunately I cannot vouch for their snow or even icy condition effectiveness as we simply did not get any but she reckons it made the car smoother and quieter, I can't tell the difference in handling and mpg went from 33.1 to 32.9, after almost 20k the rears still look meaty and the fronts have enough to blag a full set sale through ebay which I might just do shortly.

 

I am absolutely going to order the same again and fit them to the next car from new all through the year.

[McSpredder]

Panda 4x4 came with Continental "Cross Contact Winter" tyres as standard. Excellent grip on icy roads, even when other cars seem to be sliding around all over the place. Average life almost 30k miles (driving fairly gently, but on some very poor surfaces). Local specialist reckons it is quite sensible to use winter tyres all year round on these lightweight cars in the Scottish Borders, so probably the same would apply for Cumbria.

[Del T]

Will maybe need some for the wifes car this winter. 430bhp dct through the rear wheels and a heavy right foot might be an issue!

[B725]

Michelin cross climate will do what you want

[Scully]

Thanks very much everyone; looks like I'll have them fitted to existing wheels then. Cheers lads.

[aga man]

Michelin cross climate will do what you want

Also heard good things about these tyres. Not the cheapest but certainly upto the job.

[stuey]

Have ran winter tyres for 2 years on my old focus.

 

These were also getting good reviews in a recent copy of auto express.

 

http://www.blackcircles.com/tyres/brands/goodyear/vector-4seasons

[johnnytheboy]

Buy 4 season tyres if you plan to keep them on all year.

 

Summer tyres wear more in winter and winter tyres wear more in summer that's without a doubt.

 

Also swapping them over is a bad idea, buying wheels is best, I see time and time again wheels that have continually had tyres on and off developing slow punctures from wear and tear on the wheels from tyre changing machines.

[DaveyTed]

Check with your insurer before changing to steel rims from alloys or vice versa.

Sounds petty but insurers will use anything to avoid a claim payout.

[Scully]

Thanks again for all the advice folks.

[ben0850]

I've run winter tyres for about the last seven years on a Volvo S40, we live up a fair few hairpin bends on steep inclines to the farm and I've got home in the worst of snows using Vredestein wintrac extreme. IMHO they are about top notch winter tyres but I was very late changing them last year due to lambing and the warmer weather ripped the compound off a new pair and they ended up binned.

[Malinois]

I use winter tyres all year. I was using them before I saw this but this reinforced it.

 

[Scully]

Very informative Malinois; thanks for that.

[steve_b_wales]

I was told by my local garage that driving with winter tyres during warmer weather, means that they will wear down more quickly, owing to them being a softer rubber.

[Medic1281]

I was told that In this part of the country the temp is below 7degrees for about 160days a year. Add to that that most of my driving is before sunrise or after sunset I figure I drive in colder temps, I'm happy to use winters all year round. I've not noticed poor wear, grip is plenty good enough and on par with mid range summer tyres.

The ambulances and response cars run winter tyres all year round here with little detrimental effects.

[Scully]

A very knowledgeable mate told me that unless the road temp' gets into the high 20's over here, wear will be minimal. The person whose car they will be fitted to is a very steady driver...no hard accelerating and therefore ( barring unforeseen events ) no hard braking. She commutes just less than 9k a year.