# Winter tyres



## LMX (Sep 27, 2010)

Hi everyone. 

I'm looking to put winter tyres on my car this year. (They say we are in for a bad one again). 

Really want to know where people go to buy them and have them fitted. Budget is limited, so cheaper the better, not remoulds though. I am in the South East region. Was browsing online, but would really like a recommendation.

Thanks in advance! :thumb:


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Camskill or Blackcircles tend to always be the cheapest and they both offer a good service.


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## Spoony (May 28, 2007)

I've ordered mine from tyremen.co.uk ordered Friday after ion and got ancall saying they will be with me tomorrow so decent service. Price was about £270 for 4 vredestein snowtrac 3 delivered not sure if that's good or bad though.


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## LMX (Sep 27, 2010)

DMH-01 Both of those companies I have looked at, so good to know they offer good service.

Hi Spoony. 

That seems to be around the cheapest price I can find for 4 tyres too. Will have a look at their website.

Thanks


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## PrestigeChris (Nov 17, 2009)

depending on what car you have i.e front, rear or 4 wheel drive you dont always need four. especially on a fwd car.

when i worked in the alps we had renault master minbuses and they only had winter tyres on the front and never got stuck.


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Spoony said:


> I've ordered mine from tyremen.co.uk ordered Friday after ion and got ancall saying they will be with me tomorrow so decent service. Price was about £270 for 4 vredestein snowtrac 3 delivered not sure if that's good or bad though.


Depends what size wheel that's for but seems a good price. They're £170 each for the front and £230 each for the rear on mine :lol:


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## Pezza4u (Jun 7, 2007)

Spoony said:


> I've ordered mine from tyremen.co.uk ordered Friday after ion and got ancall saying they will be with me tomorrow so decent service. Price was about £270 for 4 vredestein snowtrac 3 delivered not sure if that's good or bad though.


What size was that for?



PrestigeChris said:


> depending on what car you have i.e front, rear or 4 wheel drive you dont always need four. especially on a fwd car.
> 
> when i worked in the alps we had renault master minbuses and they only had winter tyres on the front and never got stuck.


No, you must never do that, always fit 4 winter or 4 summer tyres, never mix them. It will cause handling problems as 1 end of the car has more grip than the other!!


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## Lazy-Moose (Sep 7, 2011)

I have had good results on FULDA KRISTALL MONTERO 3 the last couple winters and never got stuck once, they stay really nice and soft even in -20°C...I was impressed with them I've had 2 sets.

Research tells us that below 7°C winter tyres out perform standard tyres, so don't wait for the snow to come before putting them on, put them on in October and take them off in April.


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

Pezza4u said:


> No, you must never do that, always fit 4 winter or 4 summer tyres, never mix them. It will cause handling problems as 1 end of the car has more grip than the other!!


"Must never" is a little strong - it's common practice and one I did for years (before getting a AWD car) and what the OH did last year. It depends what you're trying to achieve - 'performance' or just not getting stuck.

The key to not getting stuck is traction - no traction then you're not going anywhere. FWD and 2 x front winter tyres are fine to get you moving then proceed as it you're on summer tyres. If you're attempting rally Sweden then 4 x winter's are obviously superior for ultimate performance.

All cars have a difference in front to rear grip....ant it changes by the seciond, weight distribution, tread depth, acceleration, braking etc all alter the front to rear grip balance even with identical tyres.


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## mishy (Jan 26, 2011)

Thanks Bero and PrestigeChris,
I was thinking of doing this on my FWD car. 

A Question though, do I have to have another two rims with the winters on or can I keep swapping the fronts every half year, thought I read somewhere its bad for tyres to keep removing and reapplying...? (forgetting the masses of lead weights and the black tacky stuff they leave behind ofc)


Camskill were great when i used them last btw.


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## pete330 (Apr 18, 2006)

mytres largests stock of winters

mine came in 2 days


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## johanr77 (Aug 4, 2011)

You can swap them over if you want, personally speaking I prefer having the winter tyres on seperate wheels so I don't have to go to a tyre shop to get them swapped.


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

As mentioned if you can get other rims it's cheaper than swapping tyres over twice a year, you don't risk kerbing your summer wheels and less chance of a spanner monkey damaging them at the tyre shop.

Look on ebay and gumtree - they'll probably be about 1/3rd the price of new ones.


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## mishy (Jan 26, 2011)

Bero said:


> As mentioned if you can get other rims it's cheaper than swapping tyres over twice a year, you don't risk kerbing your summer wheels and less chance of a spanner monkey damaging them at the tyre shop.
> 
> Look on ebay and gumtree - they'll probably be about 1/3rd the price of new ones.


Tried but they all seem to be 150 per 18" VW Interlagos rim. It is perhaps smarter to buy a set of 4 replicas at £400 but that means 4x 235-40-18 £180 tyres . 
Fitting balancing is about £10-15?

Tis getting expensive but my snow socks were ace last year and now looking rather worn.


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## johanr77 (Aug 4, 2011)

If you can stand to look at them mytyres do winter tyres on steel wheels and they only make about £50 of difference over taking just the tyres.


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## Spoony (May 28, 2007)

For those asking I got 195/65/15 to go on steelies over winter. Function over form.

I was going to rock with 2 fronts but was informed there is a good argument out there for all 4. I'd do more than £300 worth of damage if I have an accident so why not get them on.


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## mishy (Jan 26, 2011)

sorry for digressing the OP's thread...but can you get steel'ies @ 17"? Dont think anything smaller will clear my disc/caliper?


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## bluenose (Aug 15, 2007)

Winter tyres are fantastic even just in cold and wet weather. :thumb:










I ran Vredestein Wintrac 4 xtremes on my e70 BMW x5 last year and they transformed the car in snow, I'll definitely be putting them on my 3 series again once I have funds!

Availability might be tougher this year as more people catch on to the idea.


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## Pezza4u (Jun 7, 2007)

Bero said:


> "Must never" is a little strong - it's common practice and one I did for years (before getting a AWD car) and what the OH did last year. It depends what you're trying to achieve - 'performance' or just not getting stuck.
> 
> The key to not getting stuck is traction - no traction then you're not going anywhere. FWD and 2 x front winter tyres are fine to get you moving then proceed as it you're on summer tyres. If you're attempting rally Sweden then 4 x winter's are obviously superior for ultimate performance.
> 
> All cars have a difference in front to rear grip....ant it changes by the seciond, weight distribution, tread depth, acceleration, braking etc all alter the front to rear grip balance even with identical tyres.


There is more chance of losing traction with mixed summer/winter tyres though. Even approaching a corner slowly it only takes for the rear (summer) tyres on a FWD to break free and cos you have more grip on the front you will spin.

As spoony said, it's better to spend another couple of hundred getting 4 tyres than risk writing your motor off or causing an accident involving someone else!


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## PrestigeChris (Nov 17, 2009)

Most of the time its the driver not the tyres to be honest. We had another van that was on normal tyres from the uk and if you drive according to the weather then there was no issue. Like going up steep chalet drives in 2 ft of snow. All you had to do was reverse up because it put the weight on the front wheels and pushed you up instead of trying to pull you.


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## Bill58 (Jul 5, 2010)

mishy said:


> sorry for digressing the OP's thread...but can you get steel'ies @ 17"? Dont think anything smaller will clear my disc/caliper?


Yes I got them for my Insignia, bought winter tyres last year from mytyres, but be careful on price as it fluctuates all the time.


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## Sirmally2 (Feb 28, 2011)

Ill also put a good word in for camskill. Fantastic service!


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## andy monty (Dec 29, 2007)

PrestigeChris said:


> depending on what car you have i.e front, rear or 4 wheel drive you dont always need four. especially on a fwd car.
> 
> when i worked in the alps we had renault master minbuses and they only had winter tyres on the front and never got stuck.


Bad practice... Front end slides in a FWD are easier to correct than rears You need 4 to keep you on course Its ok getting forward drive but when it comes to cornering or stopping....


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## mishy (Jan 26, 2011)

Well Michelin would produce a video like that...but I agree 4 is better than 2. 

My motoring memories of last winter were not being able to get out of my parking space due to snowfall, whether that was outside the house or else where. Once on gritted tarmac everything is fine and everyone is doing slow speeds anyway.
Basically snow socks got me going when stuck and proved worth the money, a couple of hills had me stressed that I didn't put them on but now I'm looking to invest a bit more.


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## LMX (Sep 27, 2010)

Thanks for all your input guys. Lots of opinions here on 2 or 4 tyres but will probably go for 4. 

Thanks everyone.


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## andy monty (Dec 29, 2007)

mishy said:


> Well Michelin would produce a video like that...but I agree 4 is better than 2.


Well they would But have you tried driving on winter tyres? I have and the difference is literally Night and day


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## Old-scool- m3 (Nov 29, 2010)

I was lucky enough to purchace 4 Pirelli winter tyres on steel wheels this summer that had only covered a few hundred miles. They still have the nobbles on them. I got 4 of them for £100 which ws a bargain as the tyres are £95 each.

I was desparate not to get stuck in the snow as I did last year.
Having 2 BMW's in my house is not great in the snow.

I had a nightmare even trying to get on and off my drive, and from what reserch I have done, they are a must have in the snow for any RWD car.

I can also recommend Camskill as I recently used them and the price and service was top notch.


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## scratcher (Jul 20, 2010)

Function over form all the way on winter tyres.
My Bora came with new Pirelli Sotto Zeros when I bought it so they'll be going back on, helps to keep the good wheels away from the salt and stuff too :thumb:
It'll be interesting to see if the car will be too low to get through any snow though :lol:


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

Pezza4u said:


> As spoony said, it's better to spend another couple of hundred getting 4 tyres than risk writing your motor off or causing an accident involving someone else!


I understand your point, but it depends on your situation, if the option is: -

Affording 2 x winter wheels
or
Hoping you'll be ok on summer tyres as 4 are too expensive.

Then i'd advise 2 x winters all day long.

Where to you stop with 'for a couple hundred more'? For another couple hundred pounds and you could buy a winter car instead of your good summer one, for a couple hundred more it could be a 4x4 car, a couple hundred more and you could get winter tyres for it, a couple hundred more and you could get a 4 x 4 with a low ratio box, another couple hundred more you could get a jeep with better ground clearance, couple hundred more might get you one with electronic traction distribution etc etc. Each stage is 'just a couple hundred more' and would make you safer and less likely to have an accident.

2 x winter will put you in a better position than most people on the road; 4 x winters would be slightly better though. :thumb:


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## mishy (Jan 26, 2011)

andy monty said:


> Well they would But have you tried driving on winter tyres? I have and the difference is literally Night and day


I'm sure they are. Last year I coped with summer tyres and snow socks. problem is snow socks only come out when I was stuck and I was still fair better prep'd than MANY on the roads.
I'm sure having a set of winter tyres on a FWD will lower my chances of getting stuck or having an accident -not increase it. 
I can still put snow socks on the rear


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## ad172 (Oct 14, 2009)

Also worth pointing out that Winter tyres will help braking. I drive a 4WD that was great at going up hills, but when it came to stopping it was another game. (was running Toyo T1-Rs)


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## Millz (Oct 21, 2010)

I'm currently looking at options for winter wheels for my new BMW Z4. Can't get steelies (minimum 17" to clear calipers) so best option looks like some cheap alloys in a package from mytyres.co.uk.

I'm thinking of just getting the 2 for the rear. Cheapest is on "Achilles - Winter 101" tyres at £153 each. Anyone tried those tyres? Seem to have decent reviews. Avons are the next step up at £193.

The run flat versions are far too expensive, i'll get a can of tyre weld and hope for the best.


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

i got my parents 2 winter tyres for their focus last winter. never had a problem with the snow on the hills we live on  

will get another 2 asap while they are cheap


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## Spoony (May 28, 2007)

Mine came today getting them on the rims tomorrow.

Was considering some for family but they done well last winter so I can always let them use my car if they are really stuck as I can work from home.


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## Phil23 (Nov 29, 2008)

Just ordered Kumho Kw27's for my BMW. Staggered so 225 on the front, 255 on the back. Just don't want a repeat of last year, also gives me the excuse to look for a set of 19" alloys in the new year!!!


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## IbizaFR (May 22, 2010)

My mate is the Michelin Rep for this area and he has a set come through for his car, and last year where his brother lives in Wales he commented on how good they were. Hes still got them on now and they have done 22000miles and still wearing ok to the point they were so good in the dry he never bothered taking them off.


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## Andy_R (Aug 6, 2007)

Bought a set of winter tyres last year but demand was so high they took about 2 months to come - still in the garage wrapped up and waiting to go on this year. Best to get them now before the basic laws of supply and demand push the price sky high.

Not been mentioned yet but make sure you contact your insurance company if fitting winter tyres, some are bizarrely quite upset about you making your car safer and want to class this as an aftermarket addition. Think this applies even more so if you are changing the complete wheel and tyre. Just worth checking as if you do have a bump the last thing you want is a refused claim when you added winters with the best of intentions.


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## Eskimo68 (Sep 25, 2011)

Andy_R said:


> Not been mentioned yet but make sure you contact your insurance company if fitting winter tyres, some are bizarrely quite upset about you making your car safer and want to class this as an aftermarket addition. Think this applies even more so if you are changing the complete wheel and tyre. Just worth checking as if you do have a bump the last thing you want is a refused claim when you added winters with the best of intentions.


This was clarified earlier this year insurance companies cannot void your cover for having winter tyres nor increase your premium or charge admin fee, actually no need to tell them at all.

The ONLY reason this happened last year is because insurance companies were allowed to void policies on based of tyre speed rating being lower than manufacture fit per region and exploited this grey area. The clarification was simple even cheapest lowest winter tyre exceeds our national speed limits and mot requirements.

ps don't feel pushed into buying winter tyres just for snow, all-seasons with +4mm tread depth from nokian, falken, vredestein, goodyear ect are prefectly safe to use in snow. Below this tyre tread dpeth even dedicated snow tyres will struggle.


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## msb (Dec 20, 2009)

Lol all this talk of winter tyre's in the middle of a heat wave


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## J1ODY A (Nov 28, 2008)

I was looking to get GOODYEAR ULTRAGRIP 8 tomorrow for my Focus... anyone any experience?! Reviews all love them!

p.s. 2 winter tyres... check your insurance first as not sure they will like that!


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## S2TTB (May 30, 2011)

Millz said:


> I'm currently looking at options for winter wheels for my new BMW Z4. Can't get steelies (minimum 17" to clear calipers) so best option looks like some cheap alloys in a package from mytyres.co.uk.
> 
> I'm thinking of just getting the 2 for the rear. Cheapest is on "Achilles - Winter 101" tyres at £153 each. Anyone tried those tyres? Seem to have decent reviews. Avons are the next step up at £193.
> 
> The run flat versions are far too expensive, i'll get a can of tyre weld and hope for the best.


Same question from me with regards to the Achilles 101's.

Running Bridgestone RE050's just now and pretty much guessing they wont be upto much in the snow.


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## danger S3 (Aug 2, 2010)

is there a huge difference between the likes of rockstones for about £72 each and the ones for £150 each? ive heard that the only difference is more mileage from the more expensive ones


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