 Poster: A snowHead
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| willow 15 wrote: |
| How many people here get the most out of there skis, and how many people get to use an XYZ rating on their tyres. Many people will bellow their ski/driving prowess but I would suggest the marketing people are winning. For F*&^ sake if anyone can get 15000k out of a winter tyre with 500bhp all year round, good on them. I am going to try with a masssive estste car and half the bhp. I will look out for you Chattonmill this season (at yad moss, etc) and give you a race down the Tyne Valley when we start getting snow in November. |
Up here I would have been going nowhere in my car during last winters snow without the snow tyres, marketing or not! I also travel to the alps regularly having to my chalet. The requirement to have chains or snow tryes make them an easy choice for me.
And yes for me the speed rating is important, Autobahn and lack of speed limit means I would not feel comfortable at speed with a tyre that wasn't suited to the car.
Unfortunately you will not see me at Yad Moss etc, as having spent the money on my French Pad I want to use it as much as possible! (But if you see me down the Tyne valley......)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| boredsurfin wrote: |
Changing tyre wheel size if possible (due to brake calipers etc) should involve informing the insurance company. If under warranty the change may invalidate the t and c's. (I had an ongoing debate with Jaguar a while ago on simply using different tyres!) Smaller wheels will of course mean the speedometer is wrong, although that is open to date with electonic speedo's working off the crankshaft.(?)
Probably simpler to speak to those nice people at Micheldever http://www.protyre.co.uk/outletsdesc.aspx?id=11049 who will supply a low profile winter tyre at a sensible price. |
There was a scare last season about winter tyres and insurance which I personally queried with my company. According to my source, reputable companies will have no problem with their fitment.
Car warranty I grant you may be a problem. Especially with Jaguar, it seems, although they didn't bat an eyelid when I changed to inch smaller wheels and tyres last year on my X, admittedly to genuine Jag wheels but on a narrower tyre than they recommend.
Smaller wheels doesn't mean the speedo will be wrong if you use the appropriate tyre profile. I used this calculator when I was deciding on my tyre sizing:- http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible_pg4.html
Besides a tyre from manufacturer A could have a different revs/mile than the same size and aspect ratio tyre from manufacturer B. Generally I understand that up to a 2% difference in speedo reading is acceptable.
As for speed rating, I just looked at one of the leading seller's site and found 32 winter tyres listed for the size I use for my summer tyres all of V rating or above. Fast enough for most folks I would think. Also, it's not all about getting the most out of your tyres but more about having the safety margins that the appropriate rating and loading will give. However, I would suspect there maybe insurance issues using a lower rated tyre on a car which could exceed that rating.
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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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Narrower winter tyres / wheels work better in winter conditions and also often give you better clearance for snow chains.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| DB wrote: |
| stiffdrink wrote: |
Winter tyres to follow but a small dilemma. The car currently has all season low profile
tyres on 17" rims. If I buy a second set of wheels, 16" rims would give me a bigger selection
of not so low profile winter tyres whilst maintaining rolling diameter. Anyone have any
thoughts on this? |
Incidentally my summer wheels are 17" while the winter wheels are 16". The tyres have also the same diameter so there is only a slight difference in the speedo reading. Winter tyres normally have a higher profile and are narrower than summer tyres.
Give me all the cars details (year, engine size, model, petrol or diesel, estate or saloon, 2WD/4WD, top speed / speed rating of summer tyres etc) and I'll try to find out which winter tyres the Austrians would put on it over here. |
DB
That would be great help.
Volvo XC70, Jan 2008, 2.4L diesel estate, 4WD. Factory fit tyres are Pirelli Scorpion Zero 235/55 R17 (so overall diameter 690mm) on 7.5x17 alloy wheels. (These tyres are supposedly all season but definitely more summer/road than the Scorpion STR M&S tyres fitted to our old XC70)
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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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| cran wrote: |
The only problem with using mine in the summer is the speed rating.
Not that I often exceed the T rating for day to day driving, but my wider summer performance tyres do grip better in the dry/wet than the winter tyres when I'm having fun (e.g. a track day or an autobahn) |
I found that the Nokians came in two ratings, same price. Higher is 149mph which is a little beyond what the car can reach.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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stiffdrink,
I'm finding 5 different engine power outputs for the 2.4 diesel engine (from 163 to 205 BHP). Can you confirm what the power output is and what else it says on the tyre e.g. 96 V
i.e 235/55 R17 96 V
The smallest winter tyre for that engine is given as 205 / 60 R16.
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Speed ratings on tyres aren't just how fast they can go, it also equates to the expected loads that the tyre is likely to be subjected to, in terms of cornering and braking forces also. It's given a speed rating to match the requirements of the car.
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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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DB
XC70 SE Lux D5 AWD Geartronic 185PS/ 136kW
235/55 R17 V99
Thanks again
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stiffdrink,
With this link
http://www.reifenshop.at/de/TyreSize/Search/Carwinter
first clicking on "Fahrzeug auswählen" and then selecting your car, I am offered various tyre sizes including .....
205/60/R16
215/55/R17
215/60/R17
215/65/R16
V is the speed rating
99 is the load index
This link will help you to compare tyre circumferances
http://www.alloywheels.com/tyrecalc.asp
For 16" wheels
The 215/65/R16 has a very close match to your existing tyre -0.64% difference well within the 2.5% limit.
For 17" wheels
The 215/60/R17 has a very close match to your existing tyre -0.07% difference well within the 2.5% limit.
Full table of results here .....
Tyre code Diameter Circumference Difference
---------- -------- ------------- ----------
225/60 R16 676 mm 2124 mm -2.01 %
235/60 R16 688 mm 2161 mm -0.28 %
215/65 R16 686 mm 2155 mm -0.64 %
225/65 R16 699 mm 2196 mm 1.25 %
225/55 R17 679 mm 2133 mm -1.59 %
235/55 R17 690 mm 2168 mm 0 %
205/60 R17 678 mm 2130 mm -1.81 %
215/60 R17 690 mm 2168 mm -0.07 %
225/60 R17 702 mm 2205 mm 1.67 %
205/65 R17 698 mm 2193 mm 1.16 %
Are you planning to stay with 17" wheels or will you drop down to 16"? (Dropping down a wheel size is normal)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Very interesting thread. Does anyone know where I can get winter tyres fitted ie kwik fit or similar
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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We had 4 Continental Winter Contact fitted to our Skoda Estate last winter at KwikFit for just under £300. They aren't listing them on line yet but I expect you could reserve something.
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valleyboy, I bought on the net and the local Kwikfit charged £40 to put them on. Depends if you want a specific tyre or find a cheap site... can often work out better than buying through a local place.
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You know it makes sense.
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valleyboy,
Just Google "Winter tyres" , select the tyres and check for the local suppliers. They normally order directly from Germany and rarely have in stock.
Big tyre manufacturer outlets like Michelin and Pirelli do winter tyres too and may be quicker.
You can get tyres sent direct to your house and take them down to places like Kwik fit to put them on. Normally to remove tyre from an existing wheel, put the winter tyre on, fit new valve and balance the tyre again may cost about £100 for the 4 corners and you need to remove the winter tyres at the end of the season so about £200 each year. If you have storage space get some cheap alloys for the winter tyres should be a cheaper solution as you don't have to waste money to swap the rubber.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| valleyboy wrote: |
| Very interesting thread. Does anyone know where I can get winter tyres fitted ie kwik fit or similar |
Try www.mytyres.co.uk You order online and they'll ship them for fitting at a local fitter near you, all of the fitting costs and fitting locations are upfront on their website.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Spyderman wrote: |
| valleyboy wrote: |
| Very interesting thread. Does anyone know where I can get winter tyres fitted ie kwik fit or similar |
Try www.mytyres.co.uk You order online and they'll ship them for fitting at a local fitter near you, all of the fitting costs and fitting locations are upfront on their website. |
They can also supply tyres fitted to steel wheels
We went down this line with Mrs Gs car as we plan to keep it for a few years so worked out cheaper than getting tyres change over twice a year
Also got some cheep wheel trims from halfords rather than just having the steel wheels showing
Other plus is it stops the alloys getting grotty with the salt
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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DB
Thanks for that. I am intending to fit 16" wheels assuming that does not involve too much arguing with insurance company.
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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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stiffdrink,
The way it works here in Austria is that the allowed tyre and wheels sizes are printed on the cars paperwork. The first thing an Austrian tyre supplier asks for is the cars paperwork so he can select a suitable tyre size.
I suspect the tyre size you need is 225/65 R16 V99 but to cover yourself I'd get Volvo to confirm this in writing if you can. Volvo should be able to speak to their central European office to confirm which tyres/wheels are acceptable.
I had a quick look at what tyres were available with a tyre size of 215/65 R16 and most had a maximum load index of 98 (when you need 99). The highest speed rating for that tyre size was also H (210 km/h) not V.
e.g.
Bridgestone Blizzak LM-80 215/65 R16 102H XL BSW
Nokian WR G2 Sport Utility 215/65 R16 102H XL BSW
Many more tyres are available with a 99 load index rating if you go up to a 225 wide tyre, the speed rating also goes up to V ....
e.g.
Michelin ALPIN A4 225/55 R16 99V XL BSW
Continental WinterContact TS 830P 225/55 R16 99V XL BSW
Dunlop SP WINTER SPORT 3D 225/55 R16 99V XL
Vredestein Wintrac xtreme 225/55 R16 99V XL
Goodyear Ultra Grip Performance 2 225/55 R16 99V XL BSW
I'd point you in the direction of the top three tyres for best performance .....
Here's a tyre test in german for a similar tyre size .....
http://www.oeamtc.at/?id=2500%2C1143895%2C%2C
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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DB
My car manual states:
"Volvo recommends winter tyres with particular dimensions. These are stated on the tyre pressure label (diagram of label inside driver door)".
Unfortunately there is nothing on the label about winter tyres.
The handbook also has "NOTE - Ask a Volvo dealer which rim and tyre types are most suitable"
I have asked three. None have an answer. My local one (who also falsely told me the headlamps do not and cannot be adjusted for driving on the right) told me that in 10 years they had never sold or been asked about winter tyres. OK this is Hampshire but they could ask Volvo. So I have tried ringing Volvo UK myself. They will not let me talk to a technical department and suggest I go to a dealer!
I shall see if I can download a German or French manual.
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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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stiffdrink,
I'll try and make a few enquires to see if there is another way to find out and get it confirmed in writing.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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stiffdrink, try contacting Volvo in Scotland. I know that when I sold my 940 TDi estate up there after driving it over from here, the buyers were over the moon that I had not only winter tyres, but they were on steel rims and I'd thrown in 2 sets of chains as well.
As for the adjusting of the lights - that is probably true. I had to purchase completely new headlight units to get my car through the German TÜV (MOT on steroids!). I thought I was being diddled but then they showed me the reason (the angles of the reflectors), so I bit the bullet and paid up. I took the original UK units back with me as well when I sold the car.
Alternatively I would email Volvo in Sweden making it clear that you were not getting the correct info via Volvo UK and ask there. They all have an excellent command of English so you should not have a problem getting an answer.
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Another vote for Winter Tyres - have been invaluable in the snow around us last winter. Didn't remove them to June this year and didn't notice any issue with them in "summer"
When the summer tyres are due for replacement, I'm not going to bother and just leave winter on all year
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| Quote: |
We had 4 Continental Winter Contact fitted to our Skoda Estate last winter at KwikFit for just under £300. They aren't listing them on line yet but I expect you could reserve something.
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Mountain Haddock
Were they the Conti Winter Contact TS830s (which are the ones that keep topping the comparison lists), the Conti 4x4 Winter Contact or the Conti Cross Contact Winter (both of which are 4x4 tyres)? Someone at Conti needs to think up some new names. Good price anyway, MyTyres are currently quoting £110-115 ea for the last of these.
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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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Bump
Thought I would give this thread a bump as the question must be due to appear soon
On the plus side it means winter and skiing is getting closer
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Good bump. Weissenfels Clack and Go Part Number: M43-13.
Good make/anyone any experience ?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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boredsurfin,
Are Mitcheldever tyres still the cheapest around? I remember going there with my dad about 40 years ago!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Nickski, We have two sets only used them once before Mrs G got her winter tyres
I have a set for my car as its leased they will not fit winter tyres to it
They are easy to fit and self tension
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musher, hmm not as automatically cheap as they were (part of a large group now) but still very competitive and huge stocks.
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You know it makes sense.
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Since this thread has been rewoken I thought I would complete the story..
Neither Volvo UK nor three UK dealerships could give me any sense about winter tyres nor would they give me any contact details for the factory. So I emailed Volvo Sweden to get their telephone number and a couple of calls later they emailed me the details of a German dealership who were offering winter wheel packages. They could not ship to the UK but their brochure included the part numbers for 17" alloy wheels and 16" steel wheels and a choice of tyres for both rim sizes.
MyTyres sell 16" steel wheels for the car but would not confirm that they would fit. Their call centre (apparantly in the far east) told me to ask Volvo if the would fit!
So I bought 16" Volvo black steel wheels from my local dealership (the first time they had ever sold them) using the German part number and Dunlop WinterSport 4Ds. That in itself a problem as no one had a set of 4, even Dunlop UK couldn't trace any. Ended up buying 3 from QuickFit and one from Mytyres.
As for adjusting the main beam of a european built car to drive on the right, my local dealership assured me that it could not be done. Much googling lead to a north american site with pictures. Open bonnet, pull out two large steel pins that look like tent pegs, pull whole headlamp unit out from front of car, reach behind bulb unit and flip a toggle! Ditto other headlamp. No right hand drive pattern but cuts off the left hand curb illumination.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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If it helps, i had the dilema of winter tyres, steel rims ect ect.
In the end bought 4 Vredestein Quatrac 3 all season tyres, They have the snowflake symbol on so are legal in places like Germany.
I have them on my Modeo Titanium Estate 235 45 R17. Last year we drove all the way up into La Rosiere in horrendous snow and didnt need snow chains ( although i carry Thule K summits )
Have left them on all year this will be their 2nd winter and they still have 6mm front and rear.
Thoroughly recommend them
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Poster: A snowHead
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stiffdrink, what was that site with pics? was it only for volvo?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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stiffdrink, Good to get an update
There is a lot of tyre companies etc in UK that are not really up on winter tyres, wheels etc though I think it has been improving.
They have been much more available about us after the couple of snowy winters
Personally I'm a fan of them for where we live even when the snow doesn't appear (I don't drive abroad in the winter)
If I lived in a milder part of the country I probably wouldn't bother unless I was to drive to the mountains.
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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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FAQ
Your story reminds me of the fuss I had with Jaguar who at one point tried to tell me that I would invalidate the cars warranty if I put non-specified tyres on it! 