Summers off Winter on

[Si Jar]

Fitted my winter setup today seeing as the temperatures are going down and we had out first snow fall last week..

Summer wheels / tyres

Winter set up as used last rear on my GTD - VAG 16" steels plus Contintental TS 830P winter contacts

 

[mjr901]

Rollin' in style I see.....Get the steelies off! they're for 205 GTI's

 

[Minstadave]

Steelies are they way forwards for winter.

 

[Si Jar]

Steelies are they way forwards for winter.

Indeed they are, alloys will be cleaned, sealed and tucked up in the garage until next year.

 

[moag]

You must be expecting a seriously rough winter!

Get those steelies off, they look dire!

 

[TimG]

Maybe if you lived in Canada, but I have been to the Cotswolds, and don't remember the weather being bad enough to justify making your car look that bad

 

[MTRL]

I've never understood the need to have a summer set and a winter set. Is it the grit from the roads? Snow getting in the gaps?
I have a set of old sports 17" but it never crosses my mind that I need to swap them back over.

 

[Minstadave]

It's cheaper to buy winter tyres in smaller sizes, less hassle to swap over 4 wheels than go to the tyre fitter to swap tyres on your rims, skinnier tyres are better in the snow - off the top of my head.

 

[MrLapou]

Did the same , except I've got matching alloys.

 

[Ste_Nova]

i've got to winters too. but on cheap alloys (i couldn't go to steels!)

Untitled by Ste_Nova, on Flickr

 

[daz.h]

just about to swap my alloys over for another set with winter tyres on.

 

[id_doug]

Winter wheels and tyres is the future. If more people adopted this mentality then there would be less need for the reliance on salt on the roads, which actually has limited effect anyway. People in this country continually bury the head in sand (or snow in this case) and doubt there benefits of winter wheels and tyres.

Me personally, I couldn't go to steel wheels so bought a smaller set of Audi alloys and got the tyres fitted to them. That way it doesn't look to way out there

 

[mjr901]

Winter wheels and tyres is the future. If more people adopted this mentality then there would be less need for the reliance on salt on the roads, which actually has limited effect anyway. People in this country continually bury the head in sand (or snow in this case) and doubt there benefits of winter wheels and tyres.

Me personally, I couldn't go to steel wheels so bought a smaller set of Audi alloys and got the tyres fitted to them. That way it doesn't look to way out there

Thats the way to do it, and at least a bit of dignity remains.

 

[N8]

Last winter was very mild. My friend ran his Bentley Mulliners with polished lips all the way through and was absolutely fine! I've got new BBS split rims with a polished lip which I'm putting on next week for my trip down south, but the car will be mostly off road during winter let alone the wheels

 

[pjr]

I thought about steel wheels for my winter tyres, but would also have put plastic wheeltrims on. However, bit the bullet and went down the alloy route.

Summer tyres are 225/45x17.


Winter tyres are 205/55x16.


Car does look a little strange when I first put the winters on, but you soon get used to it - the winter tyres are also quieter and give me similar if not slightly better fuel economy - probably because they are narrower.

 

[rezulteo]

Great idea to swap over to winter tyres now the chill has set in! People have a common misconception that they're only useful in ice or snow but once temperatures drop below 7°C winter tyres really will provide more safety.

 

[timmythechef]

I think your expecting alot from winter to be honest.

 

[Ste_Nova]

Winter wheels and tyres is the future. If more people adopted this mentality then there would be less need for the reliance on salt on the roads, which actually has limited effect anyway. People in this country continually bury the head in sand (or snow in this case) and doubt there benefits of winter wheels and tyres.

everyone should be forced to fit winters, they should ban salt

 

[The Governor]

Out of interest, how does the Quattor behave in winter, is it closer to a 4x4 in character or a FWD car?

 

[Ste_Nova]

plenty of videos on youtube of quattros plowing snow

 

[TimG]

Quattro absolutely wees all over fwd cars in the snow!

 

[Minstadave]

Quattro absolutely wees all over fwd cars in the snow!

Until you have to brake.