Winter Tyre Questions

**joshA6** · 15-09-2011,10:03 PM

After the last 2 winters, and after getting a new set of rims for the summer, I decided to keep my old wheels and use them for winter tyres. I found my car (non quattro ) was absolutely useless in the snow.

Whats the deal with winter tyres. There seem to be so few choices in the UK. My questions are:

1. Can anyone reccomend a brand or type of tyre that they have used for winter
2. Has anyone ever got their tyres from europe (thinking german ebay) and had them sent over? If so, can you reccomend a company and tell me roughly how much it would cost to get them shipped? German eBay has tons of choice and the tyres appear to be cheaper.

**Deggers** · 15-09-2011,10:33 PM

Snow socks

**joshA6** · 15-09-2011,11:17 PM

OK, but you cant have them on all the time. My plan was to have 2 sets of tyres to balance the wear on the 19" rims. With 2 sets of rims, the tyres should last about 5 years and i get better winter performance to boot.

Anyone else?

**humphrey999** · 15-09-2011,11:31 PM

I had Pirelli Sotto Zeros on my S60 last year, they were fantastic in the snow and have very low rolling resistance so my mpg improved by 2-3mpg over the regular Michelin Primacys on the motorway. My FiL had GoodYear Ultragrip 7 on his 520d and he said they were amazing in the snow, he went everywhere he needed up and down the Newbury Downs - on standard RFTs of course, like every other BMW, he went nowhere. I'm looking at getting the new Dunlop Wintersport 4D this year for the A6... try camskill or tyretraders for the best prices and event tyres if you want them fitted as well.

**rharris** · 16-09-2011,09:07 AM

Josh,
Tyres perish like any other rubber, and so you'll need to watch for that if you feel he tyres will last a long time. Maybe that has improved, but in a past life we would change many tyres on low-mileage drivers just because of this - note its also something they check for in MOTs. Just something to consider.

Richard

**joshA6** · 16-09-2011,09:15 AM

Thanks for that Richard. I do about 20k a year so hopefully they won;t stand too long.

I know what you mean though. The wifes MK5 Golf is on an 05 and has done 23k. Had to change the tyres recently, not because of the wear (barely worn) but because the sidewalls started to crack and disintegrate!

**rharris** · 16-09-2011,09:17 AM

I'd love to have a second set of rims for some winter tyres; but I do about 5700 land miles a year....air miles is a different matter

**gianton** · 16-09-2011,11:48 AM

I have the Nokian 245/45/18 WR G2 and they are great on snow and rain.

**Accurate** · 17-09-2011,10:42 AM

Originally Posted by gianton

I have the Nokian 245/45/18 WR G2 and they are great on snow and rain.

I also have Nokian as above but 225/50/17 and would second that endorsement.

**coolraj003** · 17-09-2011,11:33 AM

i'm actually thinking of buying some winter tyres and was looking at keeping them on to see how long they last compared to the summer tyres and if te difference is marginal then i might just get winter tyres all the time obviously i have to check with the mot regulations etc as to whether it would be a fail if im driving on winter tyres all year round. To be honest Im skeptical of this car in snow even though i have driven my previous cars in snow without any snow tyres.

As per the OP, i think the reason we have so little choice of winter tyres is because its not really a law to have winter tyres in snow because we dont get that much snow to warrant for spare set and if you drive carefully and know how to tackle the issues in snow its not that hard. The problem we see here is a little speck of snow and people slow down to frigging snails pace driving. You will see more choice in winter with inflated prices when people will kinda panic buy those tyres. even though i never drove on winter tyres i can still guarantee that having winter tyres does not make up for incompetent drivers.

Anyone got any insight into the issue of winter tyres all year round then please let me know.

Regards
Raj