MENTAL PRICE INCREASE ON WINTER TYRES

Still too mild to fit winter tyres up here. Yes, we've had a few cold days but the daily temperature is still peaking above 10degC (heck, it was showing 15degC on Tuesday) so my winter wheels are staying off. Once the daily temp is struggling to peak above 8-9degC I'll stick them on - probably going to be mid-Nov or so.

Lucy said:
After I'd spent an afternoon shovelling snow though and eventually managed to get out, it wasn't too bad everywhere else.
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That's the annoying thing about where I stay too: last year (most of the time) if I'd managed to get outside a 4-mile radius of the house, the roads were generally not too bad. But that was immaterial as I couldn't get the car out of the street last year on summer rubber :D



Now, Nankang winter tyres... :o. Initially sounds like a bad idea given how crap their summer tyres are, but I've read quite a lot about them online. Lots of Merc forum users using them and highly rating them. Tempted to try their SV-2 tyres on my van as they've approx half the price of the next option (less choice as I need a high load-rating for a 3000kg vehicle). Oooh, just noticed they're £4/tyre cheaper today than they were yesterday!
 
Well, managed to get mine on and quite impressed. THe steering feels a little lighter but that might be due to the fact the tyres need to be run-in. Other than that the car feels pretty much the same as before under normal driving. Maybe the ride is a little softer over worn roads, hard to tell really.
I went with the BMW recommended size for the M, narrower rears and lower profile fronts. The guys at the tyre place got a little excited about the rears tyres I was putting on, commenting along the lines of 'the handling will be crap'.In fact they did mention I would have to sign a disclaimer but actually I didn't have to do that, I just mentioned it was the BMW recommended tyres size for the car for winter tyres
Looks alright too, the rears look a little anorexic and the rim is a little exposed so will be careful of getting too close to kerbs but always am anyway.
Thought the price was too good to be true, but four were fitted for £605. The current pricefor the same tyre on one of the popular tyre websites is £279 per tyre! (up from £250 a tyre earlier this week).

The tyres seem to have two wear bars, one only after about 4 or 5mm worn (snow effectiveness indicator I think), and the other same as normal (1.6mm before completely worn)- just hope I don't wear through the first part too quickly otherwise I expect they'll be as useless as normal tyres on ice/snow
 
Darren M, did you use the same rims but swap out the tyres? Would like to see a close-up of one of the rears if you get a chance please :thumbsup:

I had mine fitted today but on the Micra instead, was £280 all in.
 
Wondermike said:
Darren M, did you use the same rims but swap out the tyres? Would like to see a close-up of one of the rears if you get a chance please :thumbsup:

I had mine fitted today but on the Micra instead, was £280 all in.
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Hi Mike, I've quickly taken a few pics this morning to give an idea how they look on the wide rear wheels including one pic from directly behind the wheel. Included a pic of the tread on one of fronts also. The rears are inflated to 36psi and the fronts 33 as seems to be recommended by BMW, not that it makes a difference to how they look mind :).

Sideviewclose.jpg

Behindclose.jpg

Closeangled.jpg

Sideviewfull.jpg

Tread.jpg
 
Cheers. The rears do leave the rim very exposed but as you say, as long as you are careful around the kerbs, then it should be OK. Nice tread pattern :D
 
From behind it doesn't look too bad, just the bit where the tyre goes inwards before the rim makes it look more exposed. Think four wheels the same dimensions as the fronts would be better though for winter tyres.
I'll probably find birds perched on the rim edge in the mornings :)
 
Have just bought a set of 335 Coupe 17" wheels privately (£168) and had them fitted with Nankook Icebears. They don't look too bad fitted to a coupe.

Took her out to scrub them in, in the wet. Magic! No more tramlining. At all. The DSC takes noticeably longer to kick in when cornering enthusiastically, and braking is quite startling.

£101.50 a corner inc. fitting, 225/45/17 94V.

The chap who fitted them said the wheels aren't quite circular, but that this could be fixed when I swap 'em out in spring. Looking forward to long winter journeys in the cosy cabin of my Blitzschnellbahnkampfwagen. :D
 
chris_rayner said:
Took her out to scrub them in, in the wet.
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I was always under the impression that tyres can't be scrubbed in in the wet...?

I've only covered <100miles (in the dry) on my winter tyres so am reserving judgement on mine for the moment!
 
I was always under the impression that tyres can't be scrubbed in in the wet...?
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Yes, scrubbing is more effective in the dry, but it was raining when I finished fitting them, and I was most interested to see the difference. Much of the first effects of running in new tyres has to do with the removal of release agent. This used to be pretty lethal, especially on M/c tyres, but lately the manufacturers are using water soluble agents. I was quite surprised at the difference.

Interesting stuff on scrubbing in here: http://scottishbikers.myfreeforum.org/archive/scrubbing-in-tyres-the-does-and-donts__o_t__t_6471.html
 
I still find that my Vreds are poor in the dry (particularly if warm) compared with my summer tyres. I thought they would be more grippy but wear quicker, it seems that they are less grippy AND wear quicker!

They do work brilliantly well in the cold and wet though! :D
 
Put ours on this week, I got bitten by that price raise at MyTyres! Was going to get Michelins but they jumped £20 per tyre in a day so in the end I went for the Nokian WR G2 in 225/50/16 @ £99 each.
I mistakenly choose bank transfer and when I realised and rang to pay by card she said I'd have to redo the order, which she did for me on the phone and then tried to charge £115 per tyre! Suffice to say I sent a transfer and waited a few days. In all honesty they shipped pretty quick for a bank transfer..

Bought some battered wheels on eBay for £50, spent about £65-70 on refurb materials (DIY refurb), £400 for the tyres and £20 for fitting. Seems a lot to some people but you cannot drive on two sets of tyres at once, while I'm wearing out the winters the more expensive 255/18's are sitting in the garage. If you look at it over a number of years the only additional cost is the wheels themselves, so I'm pretty happy :lol:

Went for 16's to keep the tyre cost down, I was going to use 205/55/16 but in the end decided I might sacrifice too much grip and went 225. They drive and feel really good, steering's gone a bit light but grip as well as the summers it seems.

Bring on the snow, I've never been so excited :D I'm waiting for the roof down winter wonderland moment with great anticipation :driving:

Some pics...






 
Winter tyres are handy, but the biggest issue is the 255 width and relatively low weight.

Better off with 16's or 17's with narrow tyres in a proper winter compound.

That said rwd is just crap in winter full stop anyway. Best with a fwd with narrow tyres :D

Dave
 
Magsy said:
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E46 wheels? Look good on the Z4.

Same tyre size as me, although I went for Kuhmo KW27's instead of the Nokians. I think you got a good price on them as I'm sure they were significantly more expensive when I was buying (£120ish comes to mind). Agree with you that it makes financial sense as you're not wearing out your summer tyres while these are on, but it does mean you need to keep your Z4 for a few more years to get the use out of both sets of tyres. Damn, what a hardship eh :)

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=22796
 
I couldnt get my e46 330 off the drive in the white stuff last year so took my partners fiat punto instead no probs drove though 8" of snow with out a hick up . so my idea would be forget £600 to £800 for tyres and all the hasle of changing them and storage, get your self a £200 punto with mot and tax insure it for 4 months then sell it on in spring to some spotter erchin for £150 job done and probly save ya £300, plus if you stack it in the bad stuff who cares......! :)
 
jonnyfive said:
I couldnt get my e46 330 off the drive in the white stuff last year so took my partners fiat punto instead no probs drove though 8" of snow with out a hick up . so my idea would be forget £600 to £800 for tyres and all the hasle of changing them and storage, get your self a £200 punto with mot and tax insure it for 4 months then sell it on in spring to some spotter erchin for £150 job done and probly save ya £300, plus if you stack it in the bad stuff who cares......! :)
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Is more tempting.

Rwd even with winter tyres are crap IF you have no traction, which is easily possible on the long-standing compacted ice we had last winter.

Fwd gives you thrust vectoring, as you can steer with the driven wheels == best all-round solution bar awd I guess.

Dave
 
Personally feel there is far more hassle in trying to have a second car (which is still not equiped for winter) than spending £500 on winter tyres. I have considered that option but always feel that despite people going past in rusty old VW Polos as if it is mid summer, they are just inches away from a shunt because they do not realise how bad it really is, it might have forward traction when accelerating but I wouldn't fancy an emergency stop, no amount of steering is going to save you :P

Logically the winters pay off if you buy them when you get the car and you keep your car the normal 3-4 years. We have had ours 1 year and deffo keep it for another 2. For me I've only ever had one car for one year out of ten that was not a BMW and these wheels will fit most others, so I'll be keeping them for the next BM. The car cost £14,000 to us and £500 on tyres is nowt. It might well be overkill and they are deffo harder to justify in our climate but I hate the gritting of the teeth moments hoping and praying the car will make it, it is stress I could do without!

It was ok last year with two people and 25kg on grit in the boot, you sit right ontop of the rear wheels don't forget. The car is going to be fine with winters but I accept the ground clearance isn't great. Certainly far far less of a handful than my M3 on Mich PS2's, an LSD and snow may give more traction but sideways moments are mega scary :!:

I'm a winter tyre virgin and I'm ready to be disappointed but from what I have seen there is a night and day difference, half the braking distance for starters and thats the most important thing, bringing it all to a halt..

a11y: I almost got your wheels but I knew I'd need to refurb em so I picked the simplest ' pattern' that would be easy to sand and spray, yours would be a nightmare :D They are off some E46 and I was a bit suprised to get the tyres off and find a stamp saying 01/2000 on all four! Intact and balanced up ok though. The ride on 16's is awesome, its gonna be a shock going back to 18's!
 
I think, if you can fit them, 16's or at a push 17's are a good idea with narrow 215 tyres! Cheaper too. Winter tyres on the 18's seem a bit counter-intuitive... half the problem is they are too bloody wide :D

I've just got the use of a nice fwd Peugeot 405 Mi16 fitted with a GTi6 engine for winter use (if it gets that bad again). I've been up over the dales in a fwd Peugeot on Toyo T1-S (super sticky summer tyres) in, what is every winter up there, 6in of snow and drifts and weeks of compacted ice... so on all-season jobbies it should be perfectly fine :D

Cheaper than winter tyres anyway, eeek!

+ I'd rather bend an old Peugeot a bit at low speed, than bend a nice Z4 at low speed!

Dave
 
Trust me, small cars may look as though they are making great progress in bad road conditions but they cannot stop safely, it's an illusion, when they try to bad things will happen!

Categorically, having had the Zed up in the hills, in hail and ice and sleet already I can say that winter tyres grip far better when the roads are bad, although I will admit that I find them more challenging in good conditions (mine smelled of burning rubber when I gave it some stick!)

Mr Whippy - Winter tyres can grip even on an ice rink so they will definitely help even on compacted snow and ice.
 
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