# My winter tyre experiences! Awesome! HD vid inside! ;)



## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

Well guy, im blown away by the ability of my new winter tyres.

So, quite obviously i went to find the biggest steepest hill in my area, that was well lit and full of ice and snow!

Its about a 1/4 mile long and its a 1 in 4 hill!

here are the results...


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## DE 1981 (Aug 17, 2007)

Pfffttt winter tyres you big softy lol 

Ive lived in snowy Scotland all my days and im used to snow driving without winter tyres and never had any probs, having said that my car is currently tucked away in an air chamber for the winter so havent ventured out.

Ive read good reviews about those tyres.

Gav


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

Sorry , I thought the title said Awesome HD video - I was well disappointed 

See my comments on yr youtube for my opinion :thumb:


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## tmagnet (Feb 27, 2009)

I've been doing the same, finding the steepest snow covered hills and testing out the 4motion :lol:
Winter tyres do make a big difference, bet the tyres sales places have been loving it


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## Sharpy (Mar 25, 2007)

interesting, do you only have the winter tyres on the front?


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

Detail Ecosse said:


> Pfffttt winter tyres you big softy lol
> 
> Ive lived in snowy Scotland all my days and im used to snow driving without winter tyres and never had any probs, having said that my car is currently tucked away in an air chamber for the winter so havent ventured out.
> 
> ...


Yep, i was expecting a lot from them and they have surpassed my expectations! 

I normally run 19 x 8 BBs CH's but they dont lend themselves to winter driving, plus i want them tucked up for summer!

Im running 18 x 7.5 BBS CO's here, they look similar!


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

sharpy24 said:


> interesting, do you only have the winter tyres on the front?


Yep, only on the fronts for now. Believe it not, my tyre supplier pretty much rationed the supplies! i have the other two on the way


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## john2garden (Nov 16, 2006)

Are you only in Manchester? The snow must be bad there to need winter tyres.


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## andy monty (Dec 29, 2007)

sharpy24 said:


> interesting, do you only have the winter tyres on the front?


i was thinking that bit of a risk if you are of having a very lively back end


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

brinks said:


> Sorry , I thought the title said Awesome HD video - I was well disappointed
> 
> See my comments on yr youtube for my opinion :thumb:


My experience have been awesome. I doubt i will ever make an awesome video mucker! haha

with regards to the youtube comment, it was never meant to be a review...just a quick video to demonstrate the ability of these tyres.

And fitting the old tyres. Have you ever seen a 1 in 4 hill?!!! you never get close with summer tyres!


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

john2garden said:


> Are you only in Manchester? The snow must be bad there to need winter tyres.


In 25 miles north in the Rossendale Valley, and the snow has been as bad as anywhere! i think my house is about 800ft above sea level too!

theres been hardly any snow in manchester. Well, one day last tuesday...but its been terrible up where i am since about the 18th december.


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

andy monty said:


> i was thinking that bit of a risk if you are of having a very lively back end


yep, its pretty lively, but not too bad. Ive got Two Michelin tyres on the rear with about 5mm tread on. Soon to be replaced with the other two Vredesteins!


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## andy monty (Dec 29, 2007)

JPC said:


> yep, its pretty lively, but not too bad. Ive got Two Michelin tyres on the rear with about 5mm tread on. Soon to be replaced with the other two Vredesteins!




running Vred's Snowtrack 3's on my punto (match the size and speed rating of my OEM tyres) very impressed with them

Oh and LIDL have wheel storage racks in at the moment for your spare set/summer wheels


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

andy monty said:


> running Vred's Snowtrack 3's on my punto (match the size and speed rating of my OEM tyres) very impressed with them


good man. Before i bought them, i couldnt really imagine how much better they'd be. There is a lot of hype and i was expecting a lot. Fortunately, i wasnt disappointed. Far from it!

now im the One hyping them up, but i didnt want to hype them up without showing people their abilities. Now, how better than a 1 in 4 hill? haha! :thumb:


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## brinks (Jun 21, 2006)

JPC said:


> My experience have been awesome. I doubt i will ever make an awesome video mucker! haha
> 
> with regards to the youtube comment, it was never meant to be a review...just a quick video to demonstrate the ability of these tyres.
> 
> And fitting the old tyres. Have you ever seen a 1 in 4 hill?!!! you never get close with summer tyres!


I'm only jesting with the comments - your vid was AWESOME!!!!!! :thumb:


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

I know mate! Haha!


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## Nickos (Apr 27, 2006)

andy monty said:


> Oh and LIDL have wheel storage racks in at the moment for your spare set/summer wheels


Just for info, if your keeping the tyres on a spae set of wheels you should lay them flat as appose to keeping them upright as you would on a rack.

Fine however, if you are dismounting them from wheels.


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## mwbpsx (Jun 23, 2006)

would these tyre types make any difference on black ice?


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## Nickos (Apr 27, 2006)

mwbpsx said:


> would these tyre types make any difference on black ice?


Yes from what i've read. they offer all round better traction, breaking & handling on snow & ice.


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## Davemm (Mar 9, 2009)

problem is winter tyres are like gold dustin most commen sizes, hence why he pobly kept two to make money of the next person to.


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## PaulGTI (Oct 21, 2006)

Well done for making a video. I had a similar setup on my golf GTI and I know they saved me alot of agro. There is no way the Bridgestone RE050s would get anywhere.


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## gt5500 (Aug 6, 2008)

john2garden said:


> Are you only in Manchester? The snow must be bad there to need winter tyres.


Why??? they are not snow tyres they are winter tyres hence they give a benefit throughout the whole of winter not only in the snow. I wish this metality of winter tyres only being for snow would come to an end soon then people would stop giving incorrect advice. :thumb:


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## buckas (Jun 13, 2008)

nice vid and motor


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## Nickos (Apr 27, 2006)

fitted a set of Nokian WR G2s today and i am shocked at the amount of extra traction they provide in general!! I want it to snow or ice over now so i can test further....


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

Davemm said:


> problem is winter tyres are like gold dustin most commen sizes, hence why he pobly kept two to make money of the next person to.


nah, that wasnt the case, hes a genuine guy and i he could only order what he could order. they should be with me soon enough


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

gt5500 said:


> Why??? they are not snow tyres they are winter tyres hence they give a benefit throughout the whole of winter not only in the snow. I wish this metality of winter tyres only being for snow would come to an end soon then people would stop giving incorrect advice. :thumb:


i know mate, its a shame its such a rife misconception.

i mentioned them to my partners dad who laughed at me. hes got a discovery with summer tyres on, but i bet it fair better on the roads overall!


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## ALANSHR (Jun 29, 2007)

Be very careful having all that grip only at the front, that's a recipe for the back-end overtaking the front.


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

Yes i know mate, i am constantly aware of that, so i know to drive within the limits


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

:thumb:

Looking good


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

thanks mate  you at autosport this weekend?


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## andy monty (Dec 29, 2007)

Nickos said:


> Just for info, if your keeping the tyres on a spae set of wheels you should lay them flat as appose to keeping them upright as you would on a rack.
> 
> Fine however, if you are dismounting them from wheels.


The rack holds them flat :wave:

its a X base with a centre pipe which you slide the wheel rim over (where the centre cap usually presses in and has 4 dividers that keep the wheels seperate












mwbpsx said:


> would these tyre types make any difference on black ice?


nothing will work on black ice bar studs and/or chains........


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## Nickos (Apr 27, 2006)

oh yes, i might get one in that case!


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## Cliff (Mar 4, 2007)

Interesting stuff :thumb:


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## dooka (Aug 1, 2006)

The Vreds are very good tyres, as long as you use them in the conditions they have been designed for..


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## NeilG40 (Jan 1, 2009)

How much are those lidl racks?


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## andy monty (Dec 29, 2007)

NeilG40 said:


> How much are those lidl racks?


£5 well £4.99

http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/index_7567.htm


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## NeilG40 (Jan 1, 2009)

Thanks just found them myself, I'll have a run tomorrow and see if they've any left.


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## Nickos (Apr 27, 2006)

NeilG40 said:


> Thanks just found them myself, I'll have a run tomorrow and see if they've any left.


same as, i've already found some sod selling them for 20£ on fleabay.


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## NeilG40 (Jan 1, 2009)

Nickos said:


> same as, i've already found some sod selling them for 20£ on fleabay.


Typical


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

great vid - thanks

Just out of interest, what did you pay? I am getting some as wel but lookig at steel wheels so I can get smaller sizes and keep the cost down as well as ease of changing?

As siad, careful braking, as its a recipe for some end swapping when the front grips and the rears cant


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## Nickos (Apr 27, 2006)

Bigpikle said:


> great vid - thanks
> 
> Just out of interest, what did you pay? I am getting some as wel but lookig at steel wheels so I can get smaller sizes and keep the cost down as well as ease of changing?
> 
> As siad, careful braking, as its a recipe for some end swapping when the front grips and the rears cant


i racked mine on a set of team dynamics wheels that i got cheap from magik wheels on ebay.

The wheels were around 250 delivered and the tyres 325 from mytyres.

traction is impressive, i only slid earlier when i stupidly turned into a side road a bit too quick and the back slipped.


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

I was going to look at a set of mytyres steel wheels with tyres as they were about £100 a corner anyway


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## Nickos (Apr 27, 2006)

Bigpikle said:


> I was going to look at a set of mytyres steel wheels with tyres as they were about £100 a corner anyway


So was I,but it was cheaper to buy the alloys separately!! It also takes longer for the steel wheels and tyre combos which was another major factor.


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## Nickos (Apr 27, 2006)

I've just spoken to LIDL and only one region of the country got the racks and south east wasn't it


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## andy monty (Dec 29, 2007)

Nickos said:


> I've just spoken to LIDL and only one region of the country got the racks and south east wasn't it


:lol:

i had that problem last year with the Tyre rack when i wanted one :wall: got one this time tho


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## Orca (Apr 16, 2007)

We're *1200ft above sea level* (respect to anyone who can beat that) and I religiously swap over to winter tyres some time in November and back around the end of February.

The difference in temperature per 100ft means that we get snow when half a couple of miles (and 400-600ft lower), not a hint. We also get ice more frequently due to exposure and when the main road get blocked with cars unable to get traction, the only choice is to his the country lanes.

The difference really is staggering - even without snow, that grimy wetness you get over winter is handled much more effectively by winter tyres ... just as you get a LOT more grip in summer on summer tyres.


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## PaulGTI (Oct 21, 2006)

Orca said:


> ... just as you get a LOT more grip in summer on summer tyres.


Good point there. No one poo-poos the idea of sticking sticky tyres on for the track or summer use, yet when it comes to witer tyres you always get people that claim to be able to dis-obey the laws of physics and get traction on unsuitable tyres.

Right tyres for the conditions - you know it makes sense.


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## yetizone (Jun 25, 2008)

Great vid - and thanks for posting and taking the time to put it together. :thumb:

Having just bought a set of 4 X Vredestein Sportrac 3's (very good so far) I bet the Vred Winter tyres are going to be superb. I'll be looking for a 2nd hand set of alloys ready to fit as set Vred Windtrac Xtremes


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## PaulGTI (Oct 21, 2006)

Bugger.

Seems winter tyres are going to be increasing in popularity soon.

Gonna have to see about ordering mine in July...


Seriously though, It seems that the vast majority that have had winter tyres would recommend them. The only people have found that dont sseem to like them are bozos` on youtube that seem to think they should give the same grip as slicks on tarmac and have no idea about driving in winter conditions


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## NeilG40 (Jan 1, 2009)

andy monty said:


> :lol:
> 
> i had that problem last year with the Tyre rack when i wanted one :wall:  got one this time tho


Just got back from Stocksbridge Lidl where they had about half a dozen left, they didn't have any screenwash though.


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## -ROM- (Feb 23, 2007)

I'm looking around now and no where seems to have any winter tyres in stock!


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## Nickos (Apr 27, 2006)

rmorgan84 said:


> I'm looking around now and no where seems to have any winter tyres in stock!


mytyres.co.uk

They delivered my nokians in 3 days from Germany!!


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## catch the pigeo (May 17, 2008)

Nickos said:


> mytyres.co.uk
> 
> They delivered my nokians in 3 days from Germany!!


+1 if you get no joy searching winter tyres on there 
try cold weather tyres


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

rmorgan84 said:


> I'm looking around now and no where seems to have any winter tyres in stock!


so few winter tyres are sold in the UK and they are made in the summer, so they make a small batch, distribute them and they are sold out by mid summer usually.

My local tyre guy is taking pre-orders now for NEXT winter (eg summer delivery) and reckns he is already likely to have sold pretty ,uch everything he'll be able to get!

I expect next year will see manufacturers increasing quantities shipped here, but you MUST get them in summer of you can prety much forget it :thumb:


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## Braz11 (Aug 28, 2009)

Low profiles simply suck in the winter


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## Orca (Apr 16, 2007)

Braz11 said:


> Low profiles simply suck in the winter


I go up a ratio for tyrewalls in winter - my car runs 195/60 R15 as standard and so I go up to 195/65 R15 on my winter wheels. That little extra translates as a LOT extra on the crumbling roads.


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

Just another update, now the snow has pretty much gone overnight near me, I have to say the grip on the wet greasy Tarmac is phenominal. My car is fwd obviously, and having 360 ft lbs or torque, it's always trying to break traction. 

These tyres embarress my continental sport contact 3s in these conditions. It's certain that Tarmac Is going to wear these tyres quicker than normal, but I think I'll be doing roughly 4k miles each winter so these tyres will hopefully last 3 winters. Which is more than enough for me!


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## oskar9 (Jan 13, 2010)

Braz11 said:


> Low profiles simply suck in the winter


not always, I am running michelin X-ICE North 235/40/18 on my AMG merc and it has superb traction and even owns many of the fwd and 4wd cars on bad tires, if you have a low profile tire just get a Michelin X-ICE or X-ICE North, the best winter tires by far


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## PaulGTI (Oct 21, 2006)

Braz11 said:


> Low profiles simply suck in the winter


Nope, I had 225-40-18 on my GTI.

Like the above post, it did better then most front wheel drive and some 4x4 soft-roaders that must have had all seasons on


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## Mike Hunt (Jan 31, 2008)

Bigpikle said:


> so few winter tyres are sold in the UK and they are made in the summer, so they make a small batch, distribute them and they are sold out by mid summer usually.
> 
> My local tyre guy is taking pre-orders now for NEXT winter (eg summer delivery) and reckns he is already likely to have sold pretty ,uch everything he'll be able to get!
> 
> I expect next year will see manufacturers increasing quantities shipped here, but you MUST get them in summer of you can prety much forget it :thumb:


Or get them online from Germany:thumb:


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## Matt197 (Dec 27, 2006)

Save starting a new thread, what winter tyres do people recommend?

My car runs on 215/45/17 and the cheapest I can get are Continental WinterContact TS 790 for £108, are they any good?


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

anyone remember this?


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## Phantom (Aug 6, 2007)

Michelin have new ones out, Alpin A4 that look good
Kwik fit have 32% off on-line at moment


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## Guest (Nov 25, 2010)

JPC said:


> anyone remember this?


what bulbs are you (did you) using?

Reg plate really bright.


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

god knows, there LED something or other! haha!


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## Guest (Nov 25, 2010)

Yup, going LED on the Lada and from your clip looks the right way to go :thumb:


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## Jai (Mar 16, 2010)

Think I'll have to get some of those! Good stuff!


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## Grizzle (Jul 12, 2006)

Matt197 said:


> Save starting a new thread, what winter tyres do people recommend?
> 
> My car runs on 215/45/17 and the cheapest I can get are Continental WinterContact TS 790 for £108, are they any good?


Continental WinterContact TS 830 P Get a good write up.


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## Jiffy (Nov 21, 2009)

I've just bought some Gislaved Nord Frost 3s. Can't comment as haven't got them yet.

www.mytyres.co.uk seem to have a good stock and range of winter tyres.

If I hadn't got the Gislaveds, I'd have gone for the Nokian WR G2 or Goodyear Ultragrips.


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## Bill58 (Jul 5, 2010)

I ordered the Nokian WR G2 last week from mytyres at £97.40 each for 225/55 R17. Their prices change quite regularly, they have been up to £148 each a couple of weeks back.


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## Neil_S (Oct 26, 2005)

Bill58 said:


> I ordered the Nokian WR G2 last week from mytyres at £97.40 each for 225/55 R17. Their prices change quite regularly, they have been up to £148 each a couple of weeks back.


I bought my Nokian WR G2 a week ago today for £95 a corner. They are £173.20 a corner tonight.

I'm glad I got them when I did :thumb:


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## Bill58 (Jul 5, 2010)

Neil_S said:


> I bought my Nokian WR G2 a week ago today for £95 a corner. They are £173.20 a corner tonight.
> 
> I'm glad I got them when I did :thumb:


Just checked now £177.90 each !


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## Spoony (May 28, 2007)

I'm currently stuck in the snow lol. I'm thinking of getting some winter tyres on some new steel wheels for my mk5 golf. What prices would I be looking at all in for tyres and wheels?


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## Bill58 (Jul 5, 2010)

Steel wheels are about £60 each brand new, try Golf forums & ebay, you might pick up a set like I did for under £100. Winter tyre have just shot up in price, but I'm sure you could still get them from about £90 each if you do a search. What size of tyres do you need?


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## Spoony (May 28, 2007)

I think they are 195/65/r15. Just with my new job I got so much travelling at times so a worthwhile investment.


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## NeilG40 (Jan 1, 2009)

Spoony said:


> I think they are 195/65/r15. Just with my new job I got so much travelling at times so a worthwhile investment.


Same size as my Passat, I picked up a set of steels for about £80 from a VW breakers on ebay and a set of Vredenstein SnowTrac 3's from MyTyres. We've not had any real snow yet but even on cold wet roads I can tell the difference.


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## Grizzle (Jul 12, 2006)

Not sure if my old van steel wheels would fit your mk5 pretty sure it would Spoony if so your more than welcome to them for free.


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## Bill58 (Jul 5, 2010)

Spoony said:


> I think they are 195/65/r15. Just with my new job I got so much travelling at times so a worthwhile investment.


Goodyear 195/65/r15 winter tyres £66 on mytyres.


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## Sharpy (Mar 25, 2007)

I noticed the nokians that were £115 last week are now £165 lol what a pisstake


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## tomah (Sep 17, 2010)

Sharpy said:


> I noticed the nokians that were £115 last week are now £165 lol what a pisstake


Tis a joke indeed.


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## apmaman (Jun 8, 2010)

Just wait till spring time and they'll drop like a stone. Might pick up a set then.


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## Nanoman (Jan 17, 2009)

Spoony said:


> I'm currently stuck in the snow lol. I'm thinking of getting some winter tyres on some new steel wheels for my mk5 golf. What prices would I be looking at all in for tyres and wheels?


I've been looking into this. There are a couple of sites doing packages of winter wheels and tyres but it seems to be basic steel wheels. I had a look at the cost of buying a cheap set of 16" alloys and vredesteins and it was only about £100 more including fitting to get alloys.


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## Scott152 (Jul 4, 2010)

I bought some Nokian WR G2s for my corsa about a month ago from http://www.tyres-pneus-online.co.uk/ 
they were slightly more expensive than Mytyres, delivery took about 3 days, they were £80 each, im really impressed with how they perform

however I went on last week and they didnt have any Nokians and not many other manufacturers in my size

Scott


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## Spoony (May 28, 2007)

Grizzle said:


> Not sure if my old van steel wheels would fit your mk5 pretty sure it would Spoony if so your more than welcome to them for free.


What size are those Griz? I may take you up on that of you don't need them? Beer tokens would be provided. Now... I wonder if I can get to Falkirk lol

Post below seems good, good price me thinks.



Bill58 said:


> Goodyear 195/65/r15 winter tyres £66 on mytyres.


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

no where has stock of vredestine wintracs 

got my mate who is in the tyre trade to try and find me some. he rang his supplier, who then rang vredestein themselves, and they have no stock at all. with no restock date 

so ordered a pair of avon ice touring winter tyres to try on some spare steelies ive got


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## simonjj (Sep 25, 2010)

Recently bought some 16" 3 series wheels from eBay to replace my 18's for winter use, added some Conti TS830's courtesy of my local Kwik Fit who are very competitive ( 4 x TS830 all I'm for £360) had them fitted last Monday, certainly feel much more sure footed in this cold / icy weather.
Simon


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## 182_Blue (Oct 25, 2005)

ianFRST said:


> no where has stock of vredestine wintracs
> 
> got my mate who is in the tyre trade to try and find me some. he rang his supplier, who then rang vredestein themselves, and they have no stock at all. with no restock date
> 
> so ordered a pair of avon ice touring winter tyres to try on some spare steelies ive got


Glad I got mine, last time I looked they had gone up by over £100 each :, I got them put on to day but still have not had chance to use them


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## simonjj (Sep 25, 2010)

Not sure if it's been posted before - 2010 tyre test .... http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2010-Auto-Express-Winter-Tyre-Test.htm

Conti's I bought come second.


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## Neil_S (Oct 26, 2005)

182_Blue said:


> Glad I got mine, last time I looked they had gone up by over £100 each :, I got them put on to day but still have not had chance to use them


Take it easy on them for the first few hundred miles, I've heard lots of stories of lairy moments on the vredesteins until they are run in.


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## nick_mcuk (Jan 4, 2008)

you might all want to check this story out....seems insurance cos are bumping premiums...so if you dont declare the winter tyres you could be denyed a claim!!

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk - winter_tyre_ko_as_big_freeze_hits


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## dubstyle (Jun 13, 2007)

Well i had my first go in snow with my nokian WR G2 tyres and noticed a difference straight away. RWD BMW on summers wouldn't move in 2nd gear and just got stuck last year. now pulling away in snow in 1st gear no problem....glad i got them now


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## tomah (Sep 17, 2010)

nick_mcuk said:


> you might all want to check this story out....seems insurance cos are bumping premiums...so if you dont declare the winter tyres you could be denyed a claim!!
> 
> http://www.autoexpress.co.uk - winter_tyre_ko_as_big_freeze_hits


Further proof that car insurance is the most incompetent industry in the country!


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