# Anyone use winter tyres?



## jamesfraser (Feb 11, 2008)

I'm looking at replacing my rear tyres on my BMW E39 Tourer and think the car would benifit from some winter tyres. I came off the road last year in my previous car, also an E39 Tourer, in poor conditions. Can anyone recomend a brand for me.

Thanks.


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## Eeloe (Aug 12, 2008)

Winter tyres....personally i only put winter tyres on my RX7, due to the lack of grip!

I use them for drifting as they let me just slip and slide around the place!

I'd go for a REALLY good set of tyres, if your worried about conditions in the winter.

BFgoodrich, are quite good for grip, and ya get a lot of mileage out of them.

I also use Bridgestone Turanza's on my civic...and the grip from them is something else....great tyres!


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## BestGear (Mar 25, 2008)

jamesfraser said:


> I'm looking at replacing my rear tyres on my BMW E39 Tourer and think the car would benifit from some winter tyres. I came off the road last year in my previous car, also an E39 Tourer, in poor conditions. Can anyone recomend a brand for me.
> 
> Thanks.


No offence meant, but if you are worried about winter, why not go on a driving course, or perhaps just book a session on a skid pan?

I would ensure that all your tyres are well above legal minimum and inflated properly. Beyond that, its driver ability....and seat of the pants intuition.

You could speak to your local IAM group and get a free assesment of your driving?!?

David


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## Grizzle (Jul 12, 2006)

Back to your original Q:

I Bought some Goodyear Ultragrip 7's for the van (ok not high speed grip) but there has been some heavy downpours and i felt pretty confident were as before i had Hankooks on the front and Kuhmo's on the rear and well.... lets just say i have had several packs of pants with those tires lol.

Get onto my tyres


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## Rich @ PB (Oct 26, 2005)

I used to run Vredestein snow tyres every winter when I was commuting in and out of Aberdeen, and they were excellent in the dry and snow/ice, but utter **** in the wet. Now that my commute is much shorter and not mission critical (I can run PB from home if I need to) I don't bother swapping. What I carry with me as a lasting memory is being able to drive at 40-50mph in 3-4 inches of snow with no loss of traction whatsoever and progressive loss only when forced - proper snow tyres really are unbelievable in snowy conditions!


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## Mr OCD (Apr 18, 2006)

Issue is these days that most decent high performance tyres are actually infact 'Summer Tyres' and its these that many complain about in poor conditions. They simply are not designed for it.

I have tried a lot of tyres over the years as I've always shown an interest in how tyres can differ in different conditions.

At present I am trying out the new Hankook EVO V12 (K110) that are sold as all season high performance tyres. So far I think they are excellent ... very similar to Goodyear Eagle F1's but seem to provide more feedback through the steering.


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## Zax (Jan 30, 2007)

Winter tyres are BRILLIANT! no arguments.

I have a set for my run around (mondeo) and got the girlfriend a set for her fiesta.

Having worked in Norway for the last 3 years I have seen the benifit on too numerous occasions to count. 
Contrary to common misconception Winter tyres are not necessarlily only usefull in snow. The soft compounds used in the tyres have massive benifits in rainy, cold, "greasy" Autumnal / Spring conditions.

Mitchelin had an advert last year advertising 7 free metres with every set of tyres purchased as that was the reduced stopping distance over their own summer tyres in the same conditions.

in Norway you must fit Winter grips to your car by the 2nd week in October (I cant remember the actual date) as if you are involved in a bump and you do not have tyres that are deemed appropriate for the conditions you insurance may be partially or fully void.

I have in the past driven my S2000 in the Snow and am perfectly capable of doing so however it was not a pleasant experiance Purely for trying to stop the car ( I dont mind it sliding about a bit)

As for a recomendation I have used Vrederstein in Norway both with the Studs and non studded tyres and they are both very good .
Currently I am using Kumoh Winter grips and they performed superbly last winter. (In the North East of Scotland)

For the sake of a couple of hundred pounds for a set of steel wheels (or cheap alloys from Ebay) and decent winter grips it makes driving in poor conditions whether it is rain snow, slush much much safer I recomend them to everyone that thinks it strange that I change over my wheels in Autum and Spring.

Finally my girlfriend (who was originally not wanting to have winter tyres on her car) finally sees the benifit after driving through her first winter on Winter tyres.
2 years previously (in a row) she kerbed her nearside front alloy due to Ice and snow on a a piece of road that has steep camber whilst driving at below 10mph . Since getting her a set of winter tyres there has been no more winter drama and she feels far saferdriving in poorer conditions. (I also dont have to change a kerbed alloy in teh freezing cold any more :thumb


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## toni (Oct 30, 2005)

I too run winter tyres, when temperatures go below 7 degrees. That's when they are recommended and help alot. Summer tyres, especially high performace ones, tend to go stiff at those temperatures but the winter tyres maintain their elasticity; so they're not only recomended on snow, where the difference is sky-high.


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

interesting thread guys - never thought about winter tyres before, although have seen the benefit after spending quite a lot of time in Finland, Norway and Sweden in the winter - amazing how well those winter tyres work in severe snow and ice!

Being a southern'ish softy I wonder if there is really a need for a dedicated set of tyres - although something that works well in rain/water would be good for summer


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## Grizzle (Jul 12, 2006)

Goodyear do a tire called "Hydragrip"


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## Holden_C04 (Sep 27, 2007)

I find this thread funny. In Canada, the question of whether you have snow tires or not depends on how broke/cheap you are.


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## Grizzle (Jul 12, 2006)

Ah scarey ^.

tires and brakes you never skimp on.


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## Nickos (Apr 27, 2006)

winter tyres? its winter all year round in the uk and the michelin PS2's are holding up well


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## -ROM- (Feb 23, 2007)

Holden_C04 said:


> I find this thread funny. In Canada, the question of whether you have snow tires or not depends on how broke/cheap you are.


I would have thought that with the canadian climate they would be a must in winter!


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## Neil_M (Apr 5, 2007)

jamesfraser said:


> I'm looking at replacing my rear tyres on my BMW E39 Tourer and think the car would benifit from some winter tyres. I came off the road last year in my previous car, also an E39 Tourer, in poor conditions. Can anyone recomend a brand for me.
> 
> Thanks.


James, you may find the manual in your car recommends something for you to use is snowy weather. I know the E46 used to mention using winter tyres.

Any advice would be not to skimp money on a crappy set, speak to a friendly tyre dealership and they should be able to help.

As its been mentioned, its never an area to skimp on... I worked in the tyre trade for a few years so have a basic knowledge.

Others also load the back of the car with bricks!


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## fbi3000 (Jul 24, 2008)

One thing to consider is that you're not really spending more money by buying winter tires,
as you're only using one set for half the time.
Never really undertood the concept of driving in winter with summer or even all-year tires.
Also, I've been sideswiped by a car that couldn't brake and had no traction going down a snowed on moderately steep road. Guess what tires they had on ?


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## J55TTC (Apr 11, 2008)

Stormos said:


> winter tyres? its winter all year round in the uk and the michelin PS2's are holding up well


I agree entirely, I have PS2's on my TT and they are without doubt the best all round tyre I have ever fitted. I will continue to use these as IMO they are fantastic in the wet and dry. Previous to that I had bridgestone potenza RE040's and while they were fantastic in the dry they were rubbish in the wet and really made the PS2's seem lightyears ahead. That said, PS2's are crap in the snow even with quattro but then so are most tyres other than full winter ones.

I have continental sport contact 2's on my passat and they are crap in both the wet and dry, as soon as theyre dead I wont consider anything else but the PS2's.

Lastly my wifes focus has michelin primacys and they are better than the contis but not as good as the PS2's (both wet and dry).


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## 1000lakes (May 12, 2007)

Well for good winter performer I'd recommend Continental viking contact. However these may not be available over there. Lower the speed rating, usually the better winter tyre it is also. Over here it is required to have winter tyres.. by law and you really couldn't get anywhere with summer tyres during winter. 
Search for "talvirenkaat" with google to see what is sold over here.


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## lanciamug (May 18, 2008)

Winter tyres (as opposed to snow tyres) use a softer grippier compound and work much better in wet and cold conditions. Most manufacturers offer them and they are suitable for use all year round. Obviously they are not as good as sports tyres in dry warm conditions.


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## toni (Oct 30, 2005)

Hold on a minute, the 'winter tyres' you are talking about are actually 'all-season' tyres and are rubbish all year round.
The real winter tyres are divided in studded and non-studded. Studded are recommended for heavy snow and should not be used on tarmac, mostly snow. The non-studded are the ones to go for if you're not living in the arctic circle. 

I'll go for Nokian WR G2 this year, it's marketed as performance winter tyre, designed for slush conditions.


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## 1000lakes (May 12, 2007)

toni said:


> The real winter tyres are divided in studded and non-studded. Studded are recommended for heavy snow and should not be used on tarmac, mostly snow. The non-studded are the ones to go for if you're not living in the arctic circle.


Studded tyres only work better on ice and on icy roads including tarmac. That's where their biggest benefit comes from. However non-studded winter tyres are slightly softer compound and being such they work better in heavy snow conditions. (not the sport ones, they are only good for rain/slush easy winter) Theres not a ban here for studded tyres, most people prefer to use them during winter. (and yes these are driven quite a bit on tarmac too)
I prefer to use nonstudded tyres because of the awful noise. Because they are lowest speed class (Q) and designed for maximum grip, I haven't had any real problems.
They keep the grip surprisingly well, had only few problematic days when it rained water on ice making the driving conditions a bit slippery. :lol: 
Otherwise even on icy roads no problems.


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