AutoExpress Winter Tyres Test

[Aitcho]

AutoExpress has conducted a Winter Tyre Test which make interesting reading and viewing:-

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/total_tyre_guide/259435/winter_tyre_test.html

It has made me more determined to get a set of Winter wheels/tyres.

[guest2865]

Very impressive performance by the 'Winter' tyres in the video.

Makes me ask the question - why not use such tyres all the year round - what are the penalties?  Is it poorer dry warm performance - greater wear out - cost ?

[guest1262]

But: If we have winter tyres and the car behind us has summer tyres and we both need to stop quickly - then what?

[olduser1]

I can recommend mytyres.co.uk - they have a section for Complete Wheels and within the page search for steel wheels winter tyres by vehicle make. Even with all my trade contacts I could not touch them for £ for 4 new wheels & winter tyres.
I went for Nokian WRD3 tyres having had Nokians years ago ago on my Subaru.
These were delivered from Germany within 10 days.

Please note you can get cashback via Quidco on mytyres - let me know if you want details

[Aitcho]

Makes me ask the question - why not use such tyres all the year round - what are the penalties?  Is it poorer dry warm performance - greater wear out - cost ?

Well you can get 'All Season Tyres' but I would prefer to use a summer tyre and then switch to a winter tyre which are both specific for certain conditions.

I think the 'All Season Tyres' are a compromise between the summer and winter tyres but do not perform as well.

[Aitcho]

But: If we have winter tyres and the car behind us has summer tyres and we both need to stop quickly - then what?

No different from "If I am driving a car with new tyres in the wet and the car behind has tyres with the minimum tread depth of 1.6mm and we both need to stop quickly - then what?". 

[Aitcho]

Please note you can get cashback via Quidco on mytyres - let me know if you want details

Thank you for the information on Quidco, I visited their website and using the website placed an order for a set of steel wheels.

I wanted to check a couple of local tyre dealers to see what prices they would charge for a set of winter tyres and fitting to the steel wheels, one had problems trying to obtain any quotes on winter tyres but finally managed to get a quote on Nankang tyres and the other dealer I visited mentioned Evergreen tyres which when I did a search on the internet turned out to be manufactured in China.

Also looked at Falken and Syron winter tyres but think I would maybe prefer a well known brand of tyre which people have left reviews on.

Will have to make my mind up on brand of tyre and place an order as I did read in the papers that the courier firms might have problems delivering items due to the  forthcoming Christmas rush!

[guest869]

Another vote for Nokians from me.

My winter tyres are so impressive at the moment on cold went roads. I am going faster and faster around roundabouts and still no understeer.

[Aitcho]

Another vote for Nokians from me.

Thanks for your reply, it would appear that the Nokians are highly thought of, I have been checking some tyre review sites and they always score highly.

Intend to place an order for a set this afternoon after doing a quick check on some of the voucher code websites.

[Aitcho]

Great service from mytyres.co.uk and their couriers DPD, Nokian tyres ordered on Friday afternoon, order goes to warehouse on the Saturday and tyres were delivered this morning (Monday)!

Considering that the tyres were being sent from Germany I thought it would have been towards the end of the week before they would arrive, very pleased, now just waiting for steel wheels to arrive which were sourced here in the UK.

[Ramage]

I ordered Continentals from my tyres on steel wheels. They arrived really quickly from Hanover and were ready to fit ( they had already been balanced).

I had to let some air out as the pressures were actually too high.

The car now feels more sure footed on the cold wet roads and has a quieter more comfortable ride.

I got a set of Jazz wheel trims for the 14 inch steels from a Honda main dealer on e-bay so the car still looks smart!

[Aitcho]

I had to let some air out as the pressures were actually too high.

Hi Ramage I am still sorting out my winter tyres!

A number of websites that I have visited whilst checking on winter tyres advise increasing tyre pressure by 2 to 5 psi.

I emailed Nokian whose tyres I will be using requesting information on tyre pressure for my Honda Jazz 1.4 and they advised increasing the pressures for their winter tyres.

See whether Continental's website has a table advising on tyre pressures for your model of car, if they haven't send them an email and see what they advise.

[Ramage]

The tyres were at 45psi as delivered!  I dropped the pressure to the figure Honda quote for that size of tyre and things feel fine.

The wheel trims came from Balmer Green Honda. (They have an e-bay shop).

[Aitcho]

That is high I am not surprised you reduced the tyre pressure! 

The figures I received from Nokian for increasing tyre pressures are in the region of 4psi increase over standard Honda settings (1 to 3 car occupants), although they quoted pressure in KPa managed to find a 'BAR to PSI to KPa' converter on the web:-

http://www.tvr-webmart.co.uk/tvr_info_psi.asp

I wondered who the Honda dealer was who supplied your wheel trims, while  in B&Q yesterday bought some 15" Michelin wheel trims which look fairly decent also got £2.90 off the price by using their 'over sixties club' Diamond Card.