Winter tyres

[Restlessnative]

HGV's are causing all of the road closures up here.Transport Minister is gunning for certain companies for sending their (non essential) HGV people out today.Loads of people have been stuck in their cars since 2pm.
I've only used my Nokians for one Winter.But i was lulled into a false sense of security with last Winter being really mild.The Winter i used them on the snow and ice was like night and day.Went where even angels feared to tread.

Were nor the ones causing All the closures iv seen 5 incidents today and 3 yest none of which involved a HGV the odd puddle hopper and white van man yeah but no HGV..

Fair point gtilaps.I can only comment on what our(Scottish) Transport Minister has pointed out today.He was raging on the Scottish news tonight about the trucks that had caused a lot of the chaos (paper, furniture and other non essential stuff).I fully agree with having essential HGV's on the roads,regardless of the weather.
Same as Carers,Ambulance,NHS etc.M80 has been at a standstill for many hours now.

[O2Doc]

I’ve got a set of Vreds wintrac extremes on BBS alloys as my winters for the M3. Had them for 4 years...they are superb. I have driven up hills past multiple stranded cars in the snow without a hint of TC coming on! I have barely used 2-3 mm of tread on them in that much time!

My only issue in this country with using tyres is all the other muppets out there on summers...who want to sit on your rear bumper with no idea how much more grip you have than them and more importantly stopping power. That and muppets in 4x4s (most of which are 2WD SUVs but the owners don’t know better!).

[gtiaps]

HGV's are causing all of the road closures up here.Transport Minister is gunning for certain companies for sending their (non essential) HGV people out today.Loads of people have been stuck in their cars since 2pm.
I've only used my Nokians for one Winter.But i was lulled into a false sense of security with last Winter being really mild.The Winter i used them on the snow and ice was like night and day.Went where even angels feared to tread.

Were nor the ones causing All the closures iv seen 5 incidents today and 3 yest none of which involved a HGV the odd puddle hopper and white van man yeah but no HGV..

Fair point gtilaps.I can only comment on what our(Scottish) Transport Minister has pointed out today.He was raging on the Scottish news tonight about the trucks that had caused a lot of the chaos (paper, furniture and other non essential stuff).I fully agree with having essential HGV's on the roads,regardless of the weather.
Same as Carers,Ambulance,NHS etc.M80 has been at a standstill for many hours now.

Yeah cheers and fair points there. I know u guys get it rough more so than other parts of the country I was in Livingston Monday afternoon loading up I was lucky and got in front of the worse.
However it's bad all over I'm in Felixstowe at the moment and it's terrible conditions but hey ho onwards and upwards well across to Wolverhampton lol..

[deltarikk]

I'm a recent winter tyres convert, absolutely amazed at the difference  stuck a set of Conti 850's on few weeks ago and wish I'd done it sooner but hey ho live and learn and more than happy I did!

Good point raised though about other people not in a position to stop as quickly even if 4wd vehicle.....safe travels gtiaps, as good as these tyres are I'm luckily able to work from home today.

[p3asa]

It really is night and day with winter tyres. Even if they do only come into their own 2 or 3 times a winter its at those times you are so thankful for them. I know the winter tyres are for 8 degrees and below or thereabouts but lets face it, any tyre will get you from A to B in those temperatures. Its when the snow comes and grinds everywhere to a halt thats when you appreciate them the most.

I haven't got any for my R but gave my daughter a set for her Polo that came form an old Audi A1 I had. I've just been out in her car on roads that get shut with the least amount of bad weather (Eaglesham Moor road) and it sailed along as if it was on tarmac. Even stopping on quite steep hills and starting again was no problem. A bit of slipping until it got going but was then fine. It only has cheap Nankangs on it which I've found excellent.

The R must be a beast with 4 winter tyres on it.

[barrym381]

So glad I stuck 4 winters on the other halfs mk5 r32 worth there weight in gold in this weather

[drisser]

I tried to get to work this am and a few tasty snow drifts on the back roads, tyres kept me moving no issues at all, even snow a foot deep nearly that had drifted.   My other half couldn't even get her A1 off the drive !

I had to turn round 3 times with people stuck and even when turning on small roads I had pretty high confidence I would be fine. 

Continental winter contacts on my BMW and highly recommend.  They will do at least one more winter, maybe 2. 

[dubber36]

Continental winter contacts on my BMW and highly recommend.  They will do at least one more winter, maybe 2.

That's the thing, they really do last. Many people see them as an extra 'unjustifiable' expense, but this is the 5th winter I've got out of mine. One on my B5.5 Passat, three on my B7 Passat and this year on my Mk7 Golf. During this time I've saved wearing my regular tyres, so apart from the wheels they are mounted on (£200 secondhand Passat alloys) they haven't cost me a penny. In fact, if you take into account the accelerated wear rate of normal tyres during winter, that saving has probably paid for the wheels.

[mcmaddy]

What size wheel/tyres are people going with for winters? I know VW recommend 17" ones with the 205 width tyre for the pp gti but they also have 18"ones in the winter tyre brochure. Just interested in people's opinions on this.

[wigit]

What size wheel/tyres are people going with for winters? I know VW recommend 17" ones with the 205 width tyre for the pp gti but they also have 18"ones in the winter tyre brochure. Just interested in people's opinions on this.

Both of our Rs are on 18s running 225, wife's is on VW Rotary and mine is on set of TSWs I have to spare the diamond cuts the salt

Definite wear benefits on these, my wife's were originally on her Mk5 and so must be the fifth season