Winter wheels/tyres query

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will_0407

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Thinking of getting a set of winter wheels/tyres. I have 18" wheels on my 2014 A3 sport (the ones that are similar to the VW Monza design), so I was thinking of a set of the standard 17" 5 spoke alloys (part 8V0 601 025 BK)

If I got those wheels, do I need a specific tyre size or is there some allowance for various sizes? I don't want to spend loads, but I plan on keeping the car a while so I should get some reasonable use out of them.
 
I would go with 225/45/17. Other possibility is 205/50/17, but in UK I presume your winters usually are not that snowy.
 
makelja said:
I would go with 225/45/17. Other possibility is 205/50/17, but in UK I presume your winters usually are not that snowy.
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Yip days of snow even up in central Scotland are few and far between and all it does now is **** down horrendously
 
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makelja said:
I would go with 225/45/17. Other possibility is 205/50/17, but in UK I presume your winters usually are not that snowy.
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Depends which part of the country but compared to Finland I suppose we get nothing worth talking about other than in and around the mountain areas.
 
I would go 205/50/17, if snow is the major concern. The skinnier the better for snow traction.
 
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Flying Scotsman said:
I would go 205/50/17, if snow is the major concern. The skinnier the better for snow traction.
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I'm in Milton Keynes so snow isn't a massive concern to be honest, if the snow is that bad I'd likely try and avoid driving. In saying that, is it even worth investing in a set of winter wheels/tyres?
 
In your neck of the woods, I might give it a miss. But be aware that Summer tyres stopping distances and traction loss increase dramatically at temperatures less than 7 C degrees. Winter tyres are great for those frosty/icy days.
 
Flying Scotsman said:
But be aware that Summer tyres stopping distances and traction loss increase dramatically at temperatures less than 7 C degrees. Winter tyres are great for those frosty/icy days.
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That was my main reason for considering them to be honest- probably won't see much snow but we get plenty of cold days, currently have Eagle F1s Assy 3.
 
225x40x18 is the same circumference as 205x55x16.

The 16" wheels and tyres are cheaper than 17".

I am looking at getting 205x55x16 winters in the next few weeks.

Tyres are Continental TS860 XL 94V. Good reviews in Auto Express.

I have used Conti TS830 and TS850 on other vehicles and they have been really good in cold wet weather not just snow and ice. The TS860 is the latest version.

Cheers

Dave
 
Really don't understand why the Michelin Cross climates don't get more recommendations, especially given the performance range. Seems like they should be perfect tires for the UK weather. I haven't gone for them yet as it gets up to 40 degrees in Italy during the summer and not seen any reviews on their summer capabilities yet at that temp. But as soon as im back in the UK full time then these will be going on straight away.

If your worried about snow:

 
audi upgrades
All season tyres are a good compromise for UK weather and for light snow and about a 10% reduction in summer performance. True all weather tyres, these are not winter tyres, are even better in snow but lose out way more for summer/dry/wet performance and tend to be noisy tyres.
If you can afford it dedicated winter tyres and summer tyres on their own rims for changeover convenience offer the best grip and performance for the seasons they were designed for.
After saying that, I always used dedicated winter and summer tyres. But, this year I ditched the Pirelli P Zeros for Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus 235/35/19 tyres which have very good dry and wet performance in both summer and winter temperatures and light snow 1-2". Why? I live in Vancouver Canada and the weather at coast level is similar to the Inverness area in Scotland in the winter. I am retired now and no longer have to drive over the mountain passes which by law require winter tyres. If we have a real dump 2-6" of snow in Vancouver which can happen, I will just take public transport.
This is a compromise I am willing to live with but on icy/frosty and lower than 5-7 degrees C wet days, I would not want to be driving on summer tyres.
 
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Fatbloke said:
225x40x18 is the same circumference as 205x55x16.
The 16" wheels and tyres are cheaper than 17".
I am looking at getting 205x55x16 winters in the next few weeks.
Tyres are Continental TS860 XL 94V. Good reviews in Auto Express.
Click to expand...

Thanks, those tyres are a fair bit more than I was ideally looking to spend. I'd buy the 17" wheels second hand so in terms of price they'd potentially come in cheaper all round than a new set of 16" wheels.

Any recommendations on tyres for £60ish?
 
will_0407 said:
Thanks, those tyres are a fair bit more than I was ideally looking to spend. I'd buy the 17" wheels second hand so in terms of price they'd potentially come in cheaper all round than a new set of 16" wheels.

Any recommendations on tyres for £60ish?
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Have a look at Auto Express for the reviews. You can get the 91H version of the TS860 (130mph) for around £85 I think. I am going for the faster speed rating ones as I may also use them on our faster, heavier Skoda, just to keep the insurance happy but I think they are mostly a bit more relaxed about the speed ratings on winter wheels because you aren't going to be reaching 130mph in the snow. My local wheel/tyre place are trying to pick me up a set of trade in 16" wheels and the new 94V XL tyres were around £115 each. Remember, they will last you for several years. I just got rid of my van and left the winter tyres on it. They had loads of tread left and were 7 years old. I store them in the garage so they were in perfect condition. Have a check on the Camskill site for tyre prices


http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/access...ter-tyre-reviews-20162017-results-by-category
 
Traction and "digging" through the snow are two completely different things.

Wider tyre will always have more traction - physics. Try keeping traction with 1 inch wide tyre on snow and see how it goes if you don't believe me. :D

Skinnier tyre has better chances of digging itself out of the snow.

So bottom line is that you're less likely to get off the road and/or not break in time with wider tyre.
 
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I have a second set of OE alloys with winter tyres for my S3 (Dunlop Winter Sports) that I use dec-feb as I am a little bit in the hills.
Even in warm conditions they do remarkably well but are a little noisier, much safer in the wet as well. I have done may 10k miles on them and they look hardly worn. I have used them a couple of times in snow and unless provoked could drive around reasonably normally.
 
Rideen said:
Traction and "digging" through the snow are two completely different things.

Wider tyre will always have more traction - physics. Try keeping traction with 1 inch wide tyre on snow and see how it goes if you don't believe me. :D

Skinnier tyre has better chances of digging itself out of the snow.

So bottom line is that you're less likely to get off the road and/or not break in time with wider tyre.
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I know from experience that narrower tyres are better on snow and slush. I learnt this 30 years ago with a UR Quattro which used to slide about and try to bounce off the scenery on the standard 215 wide tyres, but was far better on 205 or less. (I didn't try 1" wide as you suggested though). There is a theory that this is because the weight of the car is supported on a smaller footprint which increases the contact pressure allowing the tyre to make contact with the road under the snow. Whereas wide tyres tend to float on top of the snow.
Have you every seen the tyres that rally cars use on snow and ice? They are very narrow!
What experience are you basing your theory to the contrary on, and what depth of snow are you taking about?
The only time wide tyres are better is when the snow is deep, then the wider the better as demonstated by trucks in Iceland that use very wide tyres at very low pressure.
 
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John SB3.2 said:
What experience are you basing your theory to the contrary on, and what depth of snow are you taking about?
The only time wide tyres are better is when the snow is deep, then the wider the better as demonstated by trucks in Iceland that use very wide tyres at very low pressure.
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Snow cleaning service where I live is utterly lazy so we get very deep snow on the roads (up to 6 inches!) so that's why my opinion is as stated above. I kinda forgot that in normal countries snow is cleared regularly.
 
Been driving nearly 30 years and never used winter tyres and never had an accident.

Maybe I'm just lucky.
 
Carefree69 said:
Been driving nearly 30 years and never used winter tyres and never had an accident.

Maybe I'm just lucky.
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Isn't there a law in the UK regarding this? Because if yes, you've had even more luck avoiding tickets. :D

Here in Bosnia, we must have winter tyres equipped from Nov 15th until Apr 15th.
 
Unless that particular law has passed me by over the years then no, I’m pretty certain that there is no law regarding winter tyres.

You see, winters here aren’t really that bad, we might get the odd flurry of snow or the occasional frosty morning, but compared to other countries the UK winters are more like Spring these days.

We’ll probably have a mini ice age this winter now I’ve said that:yes:
 
I would say winter tyres in the UK are probably a little overkill as the instances of snow are few and far between...
 
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