 Poster: A snowHead
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I know there are some real tyre experts on Snowheads, and that most recommend changing to proper winter tyres for the drive to the Alps. However I'm not sure that swapping tyres is warranted for a yearly trip in April, when for the rest of the year the car will rarely leave Wiltshire.
So I was wondering about fitting all-season tyres next time; the new Michelins seem to have had a big launch (ie effective use of marketing budget), but I'd be very interested in actual experience of these tyres.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Not the Michelin Cross-Climates, but I fitted the similar Nokian Weatherproofs some months ago and they have been excellent. Hardly any increase in noise on the motorway, and great grip on some very snowy roads around Chamonix last week.
But winter tyres for April? I wouldn't bother - where are you going? You will probably not need them, just take a pair of chains incase of a late snowstorm.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Cheers [@RobW]
We're off to Courchevel. Last year's trip arrived in Morzine in heavy rain at around 1C; I'd been quite grateful it wasn't dumping snow for my first experience of driving myself + family into the mountains.
I've got snowsocks as a just in case, but wondered whether 'all season' tyres are any good for the whole year - my wife is gettting a bit antsy about driving the family bus (S-Max fully loaded with 2 adults and 4 increasingly large children).
These new Michelins apparently have the snowflake rating *and* reasonable warm weather performance and durability. However I'm a little wary of them being not particularly good for either the winter or summer; compromise eh?
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Hi cannot comment on the Michelins, but I have run a Ford Mondeo on Vredestein Quatrac 3's for a few years. These are all season tyres with snowflake/mountain symbol.
I used them all year round, and have driven in the Alps in the snow and in UK summer sunshine. I certainly didn't feel they wore out any quicker than a normal tyre, and they were certainly better going up the mountain in snow than normal UK road tyres, having used both on the same car.
However have now changed to a Skoda Superb 4x4 and have just put on a set of steel rims with goodyear Ultra grip 9's. Full on winter tyre. With the Superb I can drop from its standard 18 inch alloys to a 16 inch steel rim, therefore I can use normal snowchains, ( no clearance issues ) and a set of 4 tyres on 16 inch rims works out cheaper than 4 18 inch all seasons. look at a site called Mr winter wheels. You can put your car in and get a quote plus free next day delivery if ordered before noon. Also look at Tyre Reviews web to get good info on whichever tyre you think of getting
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/
http://www.mrwinterwheels.co.uk/
Just looked at Mr Winter wheels, 16 inch steels with a snow tyre set of 4 £360 for an s max, only show one choice of tyre though, which is strange as my car I had the choice of 5, may be worth a phone call if you think of going this route.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@tomj, Of course, you can look at it from a different perspective. Winter tyres are also highly recommended for use in the UK. I'm about to go outside in the next 30 minutes and swap mine over. In addition, unless you plan to change the car in the next year or so there is very little financial downside as the summer tyres will now last twice as long. The only negatives are the initial outlay and the small amount of hassle in switching them over. I have an extra set of rims (that will be resold for much the same price when I flog the car) so I can do the change myself.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I almost bought them, but I ended up buying Nokian Weatherproofs same as RobW above. No complaints so far and they were much cheaper than the Michelins.
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I'm running them at the moment and they seem fine as regular tyres and also behaved well in heavy cold rainfall in the mountains yesterday, although I've yet to try them on snow. From what I understand, unlike all the other all-season tyres which are winter tyres with some traits to make them acceptable in summer, the CrossClimate's are summer tyres with winter traits, which certainly seemed to me like a better option for living in Spain! If I were in the UK going on infrequent ski holidays then I would certainly prefer that orientation in the various places where I've lived.. but then again I've not lived properly up north.
All things considered, I'd rather have two different sets of tyres (with rims), as indeed I did have before I changed car; but aside from the extra expense of getting hold of the rims, and not being sure of how long I might keep the current car for (and I don't want to be stung again by that), I have very limited space to store the spare set. And to be honest, if I lived in Wiltshire I really wouldn't be bothered with the faff of having two sets!
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Cheers @Pyremaniac
Yup, that's my view too - probably more hassle than it's worth to have two sets of rims and tyres for an occasional trip, if there is a tyre that is passable in the snow and decent in the wet/cold that is most of a British winter.
How noisy do you find them? Much different?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I haven't noticed any extra noise, but then again I haven't paid any attention either! I usually have music on in any case 
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Thanks again to you all for the advice and comments.
We've run CrossClimates on the family bus for the last month or so, and I'm very happy with them; they were very quiet on the autoroute down through France - coped particularly well when I had to slam on the brakes at 130kph as a lorry pulled out suddenly without indicating - and gave me a lot of confidence on the mountain in rain/sleet at about freezing point.
Tom
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@tomj, @tomj, ….this is a further interesting thread - although I know that some will roll their eyes at the conjunction of 'interesting' and 'winter tyres'.
From 2002-8 we used Pirelli Snow Control 120s - a full winter tyre - and at that time they were way better than the Michelins which we had on hire cars. We could compare them exactly since we always have to negotiate exactly the same steep garage apron, the same roads, and the same steep car park ramps - and had some very snowy winters. Both were way better than the weird-origin and weirdly-named Far East offerings on various hire cars. We NEVER have had to use snow chains, even in deep snow on these steep roads in and around resort, and the few times there has been snow all the way through France, including V cold deep conditions in the micro-climate of the Jura.
But things change all the time with tyres, and the replacement Pirellis were not as good as the first set. In turn, the latest Nokians WR series which we recently bought - best in various tests - is just not as good as the original Pirelli series, which we find interesting. They are good, no two ways about it, and meet our needs travelling to CH and around the mountains, but objectively they do not get us up the steep area in front of our garages in the same way, under the same snow conditions.
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