Winter Tyre Information - info / threads / posts / vids

Welcome to the forum KWK - pics in the newbies thread would be great when you get a chance :thumbsup:

... And 'being a girl' means nothing on here, so get your advice from the very knowledgeable folks on the forum, then go tell your local 'expert' what you want :D

As I'm in Kent where we get about 5 days of proper snow in a year, I went mid-range and had some Avon Ice Touring STs (225x45x17) fitted to a set of 103s [edit : not 105s, doh] bought from Koolchris on the forum -thanks Chris ! Bought the tyres from mytyres.co.uk, £114 per corner fully fitted at a local garage of my choice (from mytyres list of fitters). Have to say they look like they will do the business - 'chunky' is an understatement. I'm looking forward to my first RFT-free experience, but the darned temperature is still at 12 or 13 degrees at 5.30am when I get up for work :x
 
WLH said:
sars said:
Autocar have just issued a video test on wet road at 10c

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-video/winter-tyres-tested-in-the-wet-video-review/

In my view a mixed result, the winter tyres had better lateral grip in the wet but a longer breaking distance, overall they stated that in their view the winter tyre was better at this temperature.
Click to expand...
Why in the world would you switch from all season tires to winter tires.... :o
The test would have been more useful if it was between summer tires and winter tires.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that they actually mean all season tyres in the way that you in North America and Europe have all season tyres, i.e. It's not that long ago that I didn't know that there were such a thing as a seasonal tyre here in the UK, so our summer tyres were the all season tyre and we never changed them...... yes really.
 
Call me a cynic, but did anyone else notice a couple of things in that video...

  1. Where the male driver is doing the wet handling test, he's using one hand on the steering wheel and yanking it into corners when on the 'all-season' tyres whereas he's holding the wheel with both hands and putting gentle inputs into the steering when on the winter tyres.
  2. I also didn't notice any mention of running the tyres in to remove their curing compounds - which can make as much difference to handling as anything else would.
I wonder if the driver is subconsciously driving differently because he expects the non winter tyre to perform worse and vice versa?

Although I'm most definitely NOT saying that a summer tyre will beat a winter tyre in almost freezing, wet, greasy, leaf-covered, icy, snowy conditions - and am still tempted by Hark's winter tyres (even though I've got a 4-wheel set of snow-socks for emergencies in my 'winter pack' in the boot*)

* Winter pack includes self-heating soup/coffee, torch, batteries, folding snow shovel, blanket, extra clothes, etc.) :rofl:
 
sars said:
WLH said:
sars said:
Autocar have just issued a video test on wet road at 10c

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-video/winter-tyres-tested-in-the-wet-video-review/

In my view a mixed result, the winter tyres had better lateral grip in the wet but a longer breaking distance, overall they stated that in their view the winter tyre was better at this temperature.
Click to expand...
Why in the world would you switch from all season tires to winter tires.... :o
The test would have been more useful if it was between summer tires and winter tires.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that they actually mean all season tyres in the way that you in North America and Europe have all season tyres, i.e. It's not that long ago that I didn't know that there were such a thing as a seasonal tyre here in the UK, so our summer tyres were the all season tyre and we never changed them...... yes really.
Click to expand...

They stated in the video that they were test an HP Primacy tire which is sold and described in the US as an all season all weather tire and has an excellent rating by Tire Rack.
 
WLH said:
They stated in the video that they were test an HP Primacy tire which is sold and described in the US as an all season all weather tire and has an excellent rating by Tire Rack.
Click to expand...
Yet it's a test done by a UK magazine, and the UK Michelin website states it's a 'high performance summer tyre'.
 
Just wanted to say thanks to all for the very helpful advice on this thread. I've just taken delivery of a set of used TSW Spa 16" alloys (thanks bat1959!) with new Kumho KW27 winter tyres (thanks to A11y for the advice on those). The tyres were sourced locally by the guys at Specialist Tyres in Letchworth, who matched the cheapest web price and threw in mounting and balancing. Very helpful and excellent service.

Winter boots are now sitting in my cellar, waiting for the warmest autumn on record to turn into harsh arctic winter. It is going to snow at some point, isn't it? :? :)
 
jonno said:
It is going to snow at some point, isn't it? :? :)
Click to expand...

Not a chance... I'm just in the process of getting some winter wheels, which means it's not even gonna drop below 6 degrees this winter! :lol:
 
Did mine yesterday, in sweltering 17degrees... :(

Pleasingly, air temp was 8 at 0815 this morning, and it's now bl00dy cold, so my normal 0530 commute start should suit the boots just fine. Never been so happy it's almost winter !
 
I've fitted mine now too - Falken HS-439 non-runflats from MyTyres on some 17" rims from m44rt on this forum.
I did get a red tyre warning - because inexplicably the tyre fitters put 9 lbs more pressure in one than the others??
But otherwise all is fine, taking it easy so far until they lose the release-agent.
Most impressed with the increased ride-comfort though - so the summer wheels will be getting non-runflats too before they go back on in the spring.

I bet this'll be the warmest winter since records began?

Is there a consensus on tyre pressures for non-runflats 39 psi on the rears seems a lot???
 
geepee said:
I've fitted mine now too - Falken HS-439 non-runflats from MyTyres on some 17" rims from m44rt on this forum.
I did get a red tyre warning - because inexplicably the tyre fitters put 9 lbs more pressure in one than the others??
But otherwise all is fine, taking it easy so far until they lose the release-agent.
Most impressed with the increased ride-comfort though - so the summer wheels will be getting non-runflats too before they go back on in the spring.

I bet this'll be the warmest winter since records began?

Is there a consensus on tyre pressures for non-runflats 39 psi on the rears seems a lot???
Click to expand...

Mine, which are 225/45/17 with Falken HS-439's are currently pressurised to 2.5 Bar front and 2.9 Bar rear, ride is much better. The garage that swapped them over inflated them all to 2.4 Bar and it felt like the road was made of jelly.
 
sars said:
geepee said:
I've fitted mine now too - Falken HS-439 non-runflats from MyTyres on some 17" rims from m44rt on this forum.
I did get a red tyre warning - because inexplicably the tyre fitters put 9 lbs more pressure in one than the others??
But otherwise all is fine, taking it easy so far until they lose the release-agent.
Most impressed with the increased ride-comfort though - so the summer wheels will be getting non-runflats too before they go back on in the spring.

I bet this'll be the warmest winter since records began?

Is there a consensus on tyre pressures for non-runflats 39 psi on the rears seems a lot???
Click to expand...

Mine, which are 225/45/17 with Falken HS-439's are currently pressurised to 2.5 Bar front and 2.9 Bar rear, ride is much better. The garage that swapped them over inflated them all to 2.4 Bar and it felt like the road was made of jelly.
Click to expand...

Normally on my 3.0si the run flats are 2.3 bar front and 2.8 bar rear - you reckon they should be slightly over-pressure then sars ?
 
you are running 34 - 41?

why do you have harder rear tyres if the car has 50 50 weight distribution?
surely you get a smaller footprint/ less grip on uneven surfaces at the rear

I went for 34psi all round on F1 asymmetrics (2.3)
and 32psi all round on michelin alpin4s (2.2)
the car always feels well balanced

I may try a few higher pressures after reading this thread but
harder tyres = lower rolling resistance = better mpg = less grip = harsher ride
which sounds like a tricky compromise -or have I got it wrong?

conversions
BAR 1.90 PSI 27
BAR 1.95 PSI 28
BAR 2.0 PSI 29
BAR 2.10 PSI 30
BAR 2.15 PSI 31
BAR 2.20 PSI 32
BAR 2.25 PSI 33
BAR 2.30 PSI 34
BAR 2.40 PSI 35
BAR 2.50 PSI 36
BAR 2.60 PSI 37
BAR 2.65 PSI 38
BAR 2.70 PSI 39
BAR 2.75 PSI 40
BAR 2.80 PSI 41
BAR 2.90 PSI 42
BAR 3.0 PSI 43
BAR 3.05 PSI 44
BAR 3.10 PSI 45
BAR 3.20 PSI 46
 
Sorry, mis-type - front are indeed 2.3 bar, rears are 2.6 (not 2.8). Pressures come off my drivers side door plate, makes no distinction between summer or winter wheels / tyres in terms of pressure (though obviously they are pressures for run-flats). Every car I have had that I can remember has the drive wheels at a higher pressure. I don't know that 50:50 weight distribution comes into it much, but then I am not technical or an engineer at all. Sars would be able to explain as she is :D
 
Looks like the time is almost right, need to get those winters on soon. Maybe even tonight... if I have time.

Really want to get them fitted so I can get my lovely M wheels back to Lepsons... 1 chipped by my stupidity, 1 unavoidably clipped in Islay (still worth the trip!) and finally, 1 grazed the other day when some idiot coming from the opposite direction cut the corner and pushed me tight to the verge nice big line of paint removed :x

Once I do get the winters on I'll be eagerly expecting snow :)
 
PawnSacrifice said:
Looks like the time is almost right, need to get those winters on soon. Maybe even tonight... if I have time.

Really want to get them fitted so I can get my lovely M wheels back to Lepsons... 1 chipped by my stupidity, 1 unavoidably clipped in Islay (still worth the trip!) and finally, 1 grazed the other day when some idiot coming from the opposite direction cut the corner and pushed me tight to the verge nice big line of paint removed :x

Once I do get the winters on I'll be eagerly expecting snow :)
Click to expand...

Put my winter tyres on yesterday for the first time, and theyre non run flats and they are so much smoother ride - been itching to get them on
 
winter tyre pressure change? - annbody recommend changing the PSI on winter tyres or keep the same (im currently on roughly 32psi all round at tyre shops advice)
 
mark my words said:
winter tyre pressure change? - annbody recommend changing the PSI on winter tyres or keep the same (im currently on roughly 32psi all round at tyre shops advice)
Click to expand...
What size?

On my 225/50/16 winters I'm running 32f 34r. That's compared to 31f 33r on my summer 18s (225/40/18, 255/35/18).

Check the sticker inside your driver's side door - that's where I based mine on (although a good bit lower).
 
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