Picked up my Cup-S a couple of weeks ago and it came with STEEV's and Pilot Sport Cup tyres. Now I think they'll be a good tyre for the late Spring / Summer / early Autumn months, but don't really fancy running them over the next few months. As such, I've secured (well will do in a week or so (thanks to Jamie)) a set of 18" Cup wheels which I'll run from early November until around mid April. I'm in North East Scotland, and haven't, in 20 years of driving, had the requirement for anything other than standard tyres, but am open to suggestion about what to wrap the 18's with. Winters appear on the decline with a couple of days light snow the most we've had up this way in the last three years. What are the recommendations for tyres? Winters? All Season? Summers? I've got a budget I need to stick to and that's £400 - £500 absolute max. I've done a bit of research and like the sound of Vredestein Quatrac 5's. Any experiences?
Don't think just about snow, think about average temperatures when driving the car, precipitation in general, greasy roads etc.. Winter tyres will excel in all those conditions compared to summer tyres. As these are tyres that will be used only over winter I would base the decision on mainly on temperature. Winter tyres are superior usually when the temperature is below about 7 degrees. I should think in NE Scotland that you are probably still getting temps below 7 degrees? (Especially at typical commuting times early morning and once the sun is down coming home, if that applies to you). So if you agree that temps will be below 7 when you're driving, enough to warrant another set of tyres, then go for winter tyres... I live in Cornwall and in my opinion our winters this far down are mild enough to not really warrant them. Often the temp is closer to 10C when i'm about in my car, and my tyres seem to warm up OK and have plenty of grip. Therefore I cant really advise on actual winter tyre brands/models.
It's for those reasons that I thought an All Season tyre might be better suited than a winter tyre. Almost a middle of the road option..... I have no experience though, hence the query.
I've ran Nokian WR tyres for the last few years, I'm in north east England. It doesn't need to be hammering down with snow for them to be effective, I think it's 7 degrees and under when normal summer tyres are less effective. I've ran them on my second set of 19 inch Steevs for the last few years and I'd highly recommend them. Tyreleader are doing 19s for £114 a corner at the moment so 18s should be cheaper
I'm also in the NE of Scotland and have used winter tyres for the past 10yrs.... on both FWD /RWD / 4WD cars. They make a HUGE difference when it's cold and slushy. End of the day it comes down to safety, if I have my family in the car... I want as much control as I can get. This year it'll be cooper weathermasters in 17" for the 225. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Winter tyres are world's ahead in the conditions discussed, the comparison between your Michelin's and pretty much any mid to premium range winter tyre would be obvious. Recommended. Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
I run Continental TS 830P's on mine in the winter, Other than being quite soft and jelly like they provide am incredible amount of grip for what they are. I had a run out at the start of this year with a Track spec 172 cup on R888's and a Golf 7R on Cup 2's and was surprised, as were the others, as to how capable they are. That was on a warmish dry day as well, Circa 8-10 degrees so right on the edge of the operating window for them.
Hardly any real winter over here as well, but I'd hate to miss a flight due to having some snow on the odd winter morning. I once had to take my MINI home in a snow storm on summer tyres (while the winters were waiting to be fitted at home), and that was quite interesting. That being said, I plan to get a set of Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 for the Mégane, they're supposed to be very good in dry and wet conditions, that most of our winters seem to consist of.
Agreed on that.. exact same here... miss one day of work and the wheels and tyres would have paid for themselves... Only problem is everyone else on the road (stuck) who haven't prepared. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
People need to realise that just because there is no snow that doesnt mean they are a waste of time. Normal "summer" tyre compounds freeze at under 8 degrees.
I used Vredstein Snowtrac during a heavy winter on a high output Saab turbo. Mounted on some German market 18" steelies. Very Euro look. Anyway... Made a massive difference and I ended up overtaking folk that were sitting at 20 etc. Ended up selling them on to a guy who drove them to the Alps with his family. RS 175 Lux
This is more dependant on how close to the coast and how high up you live as we have some areas that can get really bad in the winter. I remember a few years back when we lived in Ilchester (next to RNAS Yeovilton), the place is like a big cold sink surrounded by hills. I went out one day in winter and felt something I never felt before, it was so cold it made my face hurt. Later that day on the news they reported the weather station at Yeovilton recorded the lowest temperature ever recorded in the south west equaling previous official records of -16 C. By comparison though we lived in Weymouth for a couple of years and had only one day of snow in 2 years which didn't even stick for more than a few hours. Been a while since we had a really cold winter maybe its due this time round.
Never strictly needed them, there are some areas up in the hills around West Yorkshire that you would but if you primarily drive in a city or on motorways it's not worth bothering with winter tyres. I did a winter on semi-slicks in my Clio and got on fine, I did once park it at the bottom of a hill and walk up said hill to get where I was going but that was so steep and so icy I doubt winter tyres alone would have got a car up it. It's very situational, some people get use out of them because of where they live and where they need to get to.
Winter tyres make a huge difference imo. Not just in snow but in pouring rain aswell as cold damp roads. My billy basic wintertyres would whip my super sports in most U.K. 'Winter' conditions.
Do you reckon a rubber compound has a higher freezing point than water Jamie ;-) ? Either way, I am a big fan of winter tyres but for me the threshold has always been closer than 2/3 C than 7 C.
Just to understand this... So it's 3 degrees. Tyres cold. Drive for 5mins, maybe even induce some wheelspin Tyre warmer... So presumably there must be a limit on how much tyres can heat up... but what if you can get to "normal" operating temps by wheel spinning and ragging the car. Would the tyres work just as well? This is just theory - I appreciate the rears would be cold and nobody should be trying this on the roads blah blah Just curious as to whether anyone knows the answer and can explain it
Winter tyres also have a specific tread pattern for grip! They ignore the needs of fuel consumption, rolling resistance and lateral side force (feedback) in order to produce decent traction through tread block design. They are designed to shed any slush or snow that's picked up which is often how tyres loose grip on snow or ice when it builds up on the first place. Don't get too bogged down with tyre temps being the rationale for fitment or not. General conditions worsen. Is not like you'll be on the same dry clean track with the only change being track temps. The Europeans have been faithfully swapping out summer and winter tyres for years. RS 175 Lux
