Winter Tyres

[Splat]

Thought that the title would get your attention! Yes, I intend to use my Vee throughout the winter. I commute two or three times a week from Hampshire to Heathrow, a round trip of 110 miles. Over the past few years I've run two Lotus Esprits (GT3 and V8GT), a Ferrari F355 and an Avantime as my everyday road cars and at no time have I considered winter rubber. But the thought of the Vee on it's summer-spec. tyres fills me with dread!

My options seem to be: Continental ContiWinterContact TS830P, Yokohama W.drive V902A (front) and V902B (rear), Dunlop Wintersport 4D or Dunlop Wintersport 3D. All rears are available in 245/40 R18 97V. All fronts are available in 225/40 R18 92V. Additionally, the Yokos are available in 215/40 R18 89V. All are "extra load" tyres suitable for the car and I consider the V rating (up to 149mph) acceptable.

Has anybody any experience of winter rubber on a Vee (255)? Or any experience of any of the above rubber that they'd care to pass on?

Reply soon. It's getting colder.............

 

[clarkeeuk99]

Hi Simon,

A very wise idea if you are going to use the Vee over the winter.

Although I am not using the Vee over the winter, I am getting some winter rubber on my Skoda Fabia. The snow around where I live (which includes a small country lane) is not fun when the snow and ice arrives! I am going to get the Continental ContiWinterContact tyres, as I have heard they are very very good. I will be trusting these tyres to get me to the Alps and back for our snowboarding trips this year too. The reviews I have read are great as they seem to offer not only good snow driveability, but also great stopping distances in ice and general below 7 deg weather.

Don't want to come across as a smart ass, but as they say in F1, always be on the right tyre at the right time!

Let us know which you end up going for!

Phil :approve:

 

[Jamesv6]

Handbook says 17" winter tyres. Is that very unusual?

LINK

 

[Kett]

Handbook says 17" winter tyres. Is that very unusual?

LINK

My Bee-em goes from 18'' M-sport to 16'' OEM winter set with skinnier, higher profile tyres. The rolling diam remains unchanged.

 

[Splat]

Yup, the handbook says 17" winter tyres, but that would require new rims and I'm just not willing to go that far. Contis were and are my leading choice.........

 

[clarkeeuk99]

I guess it's because the tyres running on 18s just would not have enough profile to make winter rubber work. i.e due to the extra movement that winter tyre rubber allows.

 

[teun]

on the extra 17' PH1 rims: Michelin Pilot Alpine as per advise. On the front with 20mm spacers, otherwise the steering will to be too nervous (different ET between 18' & 17'). For the 3rd year now. Not only with snow but also with heavy rain, much better driving. :race:
I believe the extra set of rims is well spent - otherwise you need to switch the tires on the rims twice a year.... will also cost a ?

 

[Splat]

Continental ContiWinterContact TS830P fitted. 225/40/r18 fronts and 245/40/r18 rears. Not covered more than a mile yet, so no worthwhile feedback yet.
I'll keep you posted...............

 

[ColinG]

Think of all the salt, and grit and dirty water / spray your poor Vee will be subjected to... [smilie=icon_eek.gif]

I feel faint :rofl:

 

[chunkv6]

Handbook says 17" winter tyres. Is that very unusual?

LINK

My Bee-em goes from 18'' M-sport to 16'' OEM winter set with skinnier, higher profile tyres. The rolling diam remains unchanged.

Quite comical trying to drive a 3 series on the 18s in snow isn't it Kett! I remember last year I drove half a mile down the street for a Chinese and nearly couldn't get back to my house.

 

[Kett]

Handbook says 17" winter tyres. Is that very unusual?

LINK

My Bee-em goes from 18'' M-sport to 16'' OEM winter set with skinnier, higher profile tyres. The rolling diam remains unchanged.

Quite comical trying to drive a 3 series on the 18s in snow isn't it Kett! I remember last year I drove half a mile down the street for a Chinese and nearly couldn't get back to my house.

The first year I had the Bee-em, I couldn't get it up my drive after a light smattering of snow. My friend nearby has a house with a huge flat drive, which I thought could serve as a safe haven. When I arrived, he already had another 5 Bee-ems taking residence!

Winter tyres work very well, but it's a PITA to switch each year. I think BMW plan to increase xDrive availability across the saloon/coupe ranges in the not too distant future.

 

[chunkv6]

lol they all had the same idea then!!

im eyeing up an msport touring atm and ive already factored in winter wheels and tyres for it.

as for the vee if its going to be used all year then winters would be a must IMO.

 

[CraigV6]

Think of all the salt, and grit and dirty water / spray your poor Vee will be subjected to... [smilie=icon_eek.gif]

I feel faint :rofl:

What he said!

 

[thunderstarter]

Handbook says 17" winter tyres. Is that very unusual?

LINK

My Bee-em goes from 18'' M-sport to 16'' OEM winter set with skinnier, higher profile tyres. The rolling diam remains unchanged.

Quite comical trying to drive a 3 series on the 18s in snow isn't it Kett! I remember last year I drove half a mile down the street for a Chinese and nearly couldn't get back to my house.

The first year I had the Bee-em, I couldn't get it up my drive after a light smattering of snow. My friend nearby has a house with a huge flat drive, which I thought could serve as a safe haven. When I arrived, he already had another 5 Bee-ems taking residence!

Winter tyres work very well, but it's a PITA to switch each year. I think BMW plan to increase xDrive availability across the saloon/coupe ranges in the not too distant future.

Don't take this the wrong way, but why is it a pita to change to winters every year? I've been doing it on my daily driver for the past 5 years. I live semi rural in Yorkshire so winters are a must have. I now have a set of wheels dedicated to winter tyres, for both mine and my wife's car. When the clocks go back in Autumn I change to winters, takes about an hour to do both cars... When the clocks go forward in spring, I swap em both back again to summers. The only pain I suppose is storage, but I have a big cellar, so it ain't such a problem.

 

[Kett]

The PITA is mostly 'laziness', but my other car's a Land Rover (which makes life very easy!)

 

[thunderstarter]

The PITA is mostly 'laziness', but my other car's a Land Rover (which makes life very easy!)

Fair doo's ... say no more! :salut: