Winter Tyres

[percymon]

The problem with supply isn't the choice of tyre, but the reluctance for the UK to use winter tyres.  Blackcircles do not supply ANY winter tyres, full stop !

Winter tyres used over 7'C do wear more quickly and can be a bit mushy in steering response. Overall, you wont get the same mileage from a set of winters as summer tyres but if you are sensible with your sizing of the winter wheels the cost of the tyres comes down to more palatable level, and you can actually save money on tyres over the longer term. Eg 17" winter tyre typically £160, 16" £120, 15"  £85.  You might need 17s to clear the brakes as a minimum.

The problem is people do not realise how bad their summer tyres are below 5'C and certainly below 0'C even on dry roads.  Throw in snow and ice and there is no contest. Not helping the matter is that UK tyre retailers associate winter tyres as M+S or snow tryes, which they are neither necessarily. I actaully saw 8'C on the temp gauge yesterday, the first time i've seen that figure since October. So in the last 80 or so days i make it one or 2 days where winter tyres are not the better choice.

The bigger issue is because its not UK law, there is no system in place for winter tyres. On the continent cars can often supplied with both sets of wheels and dealerships offer safe storgae of summer/winter wheels for customers, often FOC.  Us Brits are left to buy are own, and try to store our own.

[Neil gti]

Yes i think people need educating on winter tyres,
Because we buy a good brand tyre for say £150 each, we think it is the best on the market and it will grip regardless of weather etc,
Until we had this recent spate of bad weather i didnt realise how bad these tyres are below 7 degrees, the F1 Assymetrics that i bought are like driving on slicks in the rain
i think i left it a bit late to get these as the weather seams to be getting a bit better now ? but i fit them or not i will have them come bad weather again 

[percymon]

if you believe the forecast i've got a nice early drive up Wales in snow tomorrow   

[Neil gti]

New tyres turned up this morning, will get them fitted to R32 wheels prob tomorrow and see how the weather goes next few days and see if to fit to the car or not?
Or might fit them anyway to see what the mk6 looks like withR32 wheels and of course with pics 

[Snoopy]

Or might fit them anyway to see what the mk6 looks like withR32 wheels and of course with pics 

please 

[MDSS MK6]

We went skiing just before xmas, got a lift to the airport off a m8 & very nearly didn't make it, he was all over the place, and there wasn't even that much snow & ice. Eventually we made it to milan & its snowing hard, taxi driver pigeon's the immortal words "snow tyre" & off we went with no bother whatsoever, most of the way uphill Whats more, we didn't see a single accident or abandoned vehicle, would have been very different back here! After sliding around merrily in an R32 on normal tyres once we got home, I'm convinced these things are a damn fine idea!

[Rolfe]

I'm really coming round to the idea.  Quite honestly, we're not above 7C that much even in an ordinary winter.  And this last month has been no joke.

Even on Tuesday, with clear roads, I was in trouble - and not alone.  There had been a hard frost, the roads were icy, and a lot of them had not been gritted.  Before I left home, the radio was listing several roads closed due to accidents, including my road to work.  I had to strike out across country to get to another main road going in the right direction, and I had to crawl.  Going up a hill, even aware of the problem and driving as carefully as I could, the dashboard indicator for skidding tyres came on.  Maye  I should have had the AutoSocks on, I don't know.

I was especially cautious because nearly three years ago, one March morning, I did actually spin right off the road in similar conditions.  I was incredibly lucky, because the Peugeot didn't hit anything, just crossed a kerb and a footpath and came to rest on a patch of rough grass.  No damage.  But it could have been so different.

We haven't seen 7C for many weeks.  We might not see it for many more.  What are we doing here?  I didn't even know there was such a thing as winter tyres until I came on this forum, and I've been driving nearly 40 years.  Although I admit 25 of these were in the south of England, many of my early memories, even before I could drive, involve digging car wheels out of snow, and (soon after I passed my test) spinning my Dad's car off the road in unfamiliar snow.

So tell me someone, do you actually need a different set of wheels, or can you just put the tyres on the existing wheels?  I have the 17s by the way.

Rolfe.

[gizzywizzy]

I'm pretty sure you need new wheels, tho someone may come on and contradict me.

I believe you need 16 or less for winter wheels, probably wrong

Autosocks were mentioned in Autoexpress as quite good, but too pricey and nowhere near as good as chains.

Gizzy

[Snoopy]

You can use the same wheels but it gets costly year after year getting someone to swop tyres. It is much easier to get a second set you can swop over.

Theres a few reasons its worse nowadays than back in the days we remember.
These are
Horse power+torque increases.
Weight has gone up
less feel in the steering wheel.
tyre treads have been more focused on certain condition
Tyre compond again is more focused.
But the main one is tyre width has shot up. Most hot hatches had max of around 185mm or 195mm or like the mk1 GTI 175mm, exec cars had max 185's thats smaller than the size on a 1.0 shopping cars nowadays

An original old style mini for example is great in the snow as it has only 145 tyres low power and torque but also low weight.

What VW list on the German configurator for winter for the mk6 GTI is as follows
Räder / Reifen - Winterräder (zusätzlich) *
Winterräder (zusätzlich) 4 Stahlräder 6 J x 16 Winterreifen 205/55 R 16
In google english
Wheels / Tires - additional winter wheels (*
Winter wheels (additional) 4 steel wheels 6 J x 16 winter tires 205/55 R 16
510 euro.
 

[Ess_Three]

I'm pretty sure you need new wheels, tho someone may come on and contradict me.

I believe you need 16 or less for winter wheels, probably wrong

Autosocks were mentioned in Autoexpress as quite good, but too pricey and nowhere near as good as chains.

Gizzy

Spare wheels save lots of hassle.
A cheap set of OEM Mk5 17" wheels can be had new, off eBay for £300ish...then add slightly narrower winter tyres. Job done.
You can go to 16" with higher profile tyres to offer more protection for the wheel/suspension  - a good idea - but those with big brake upgrades will suffer, and need to stick to 17" or even 18".

The size isn't as important as the compound.

I run some 195/45/16s on my Fabia vRS and it's epic in the snow, even on a wide (for the size of car) and low profile tyre.

You could happily run 225/40/18 winter tyres on a GTI.
Although, a narrower tyre (say 205) on a 17" wheel will probably do a better job and offer more protection.

My old man's Mk5 runs 205/55/16 winter tyres - 225/45/17s in summer.