Any pointers re buying winter tyres?

A snowHead

Should I get rims as well?
Storage?
Anything else that's important to know?

A snowHead

There are endless yards of debate on Snowheads about this. I'd suggest doing a search. But if you want specific advice people will need to know about your vehicle, and the kind of driving you expect to do in winter conditions.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@joffy69, it's about £100 to get the tyres swapped over (i.e. £200/yr), in case you want to calculate the "value" of rims/all season tyres etc. vs 2 sets and swapping.

I just use Michelin Cross Climate all season tyres, which, even on a RWD car, work well.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

The range of "all season" tires now is good enough not to swap from one type to another for MOST users that will occasionally visit alpine destinations.

Also no need for rims to be anything other than the std set, along with being certified/marked in compliance with European demands for "winter" rated tires in their jurisdiction.

All of the notable manufacturers make a very good product to cope with this eventuality. Definitely worthwhile to consider this path.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Another vote for all season. Michelin cross climate are a solid choice. In summer you will likely only notice the difference if you're REALLY pushing it round corners in hot weather.
In winter they are excellent, but they will give out a bit before full on winter tyres. In tens of thousands of miles in the Alps and Pyrenees, I have only had to resort to chains, where full on winters coped, for one stay at a remote farmhouse at the end of a very steep road.

You'll need to Register first of course.

@joffy69, for a number of years I used a second set of wheels that I'd bought 2nd hand to which I had winter tyres fitted, and I just swapped these between the original wheels fitted with summer tyres myself.

However most modern cars have TPMS (tyre pressure monitoring system). Some of these work by using TPMS sensor valves inside the tyre that send a radio signal to the car's computer, and if your car uses this system then you'll need an additional set of TPMS sensor valves in your second set of wheels to avoid the TPMS warning light coming on (which is an MoT fail). So on my latest car which has such a TPMS system, and as others have said the best 'all season' tyres are now so good in winter (meeting the 3PMSF certification) that I now just use 'all season' the entire year round.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@ski3, those would have a snowflake symbol on them? Is that right? Just want to be legal.

After all it is free

Best to check you can put chains on the all-season tyres. (Some cars can only accept snow chains on a narrower tyre). It‘s often the case that winter tyres are narrower. Some chains also damage alloy wheels.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

I bought a set of rims for my van so I can just swap them over. The local garage charge me £25 to swap them. I could do it myself, but it would take me much longer so happy to just get them to sort them.

Does obviously then require a bit of space in order to store them during the summer.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

I had "proper" winter tyres when for 15 years I spent many months in the Alps each year (and always had chains too and sometimes needed them) but now I'm happy with all season Michelins - they came into their own last January in extraordinarily icy weather on some steep and narrow local hills in the New Forest! They weren't needed at all when I drove to the Alps in April!

snow reports

You know it makes sense.

For those with TPMS with sensors attached to the valves which show a PSI reading per wheel, I bought a programming tool online for £20 to avoid having to pay the local main dealer to do it, which was £50 each time they were changed. Took me 5 minutes to work out how to get started, and 3 minutes to complete the process.

Yes, you can get a cloned set to avoid the reprogramming, but if you need to rotate the wheels then you need to either reprogram or swap the tyres between rims instead. And even without the reprogramming you need to mark them all up so you know which goes where.

Have the winters on steel rims to avoid chain damage to expensive alloys. Make sure you can fit chains because you may need them.

Also watch out for clueless fitters who have never had to deal with directional tyres. Putting them on backwards makes them perform really badly.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@ousekjarr,

A snowHead

A snowHead

@joffy69, my limited experience with all seasons but 18 years of living in/near the alps suggests that all seasons w 3PMSF symbol in good condition and deep enough tread are good enough for "occasional" use but performance degrades quickly as tread reduces (faster than the winters I've used).

That said, performance between premium winter models is far more variable than I would have imagined.

Being in the local infrastructure, as it were, we've never bothered buying rims.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

My 2 cents - Its worth checking what the cost difference is between the rim sizes that work for your vehicle - there can be quite a price difference just going down to a more commonly available size. Our Golf uses a 17" wheel, but our winters are on a 16" (2nd hand off eBay) and it saves about £25 a corner. Don't forget to increase the tyre wall size to compensate.

Other thing is if you're not used to winters is that they do tend to kick up quite a bit more road noise that an all season, if you notice that kind of thing.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

I drove through some really bad (or good depending on how you look at it!) snow on the way to and in the Alps last season and was amazed by the Goodyear all season tyres. My front wheel drive car passed virtually everything, even some cars with what looked like winter tyres that were stopped and fitting chains. They were fairly new, in fact the fronts had only done about 2k and the rears about 6k and were Goodyear Vector 4seasons Gen 2. My latest car has Michelin Cross Climates already fitted and to be honest I'm not as confident they will be as good, they've done similar mileage now to the Goodyears but they feel smooth and hard where the sipes on the Goodyears still feel 'rough'. I might give them a go but will probably change to the Goodyears before heading to the Alps. The Goodyears are usually cheaper than the Michelins as well!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

i use summer / winter tires since 2009 i think and never regret
But some points
winter tires are not always winter tires
Someonce can find with 50 Euro pro Tire until 130 pro Tire (for the same size)
Do not expect that a 50 Euro aus China will work better in hard conditions as the 130 Euro tire
Except that many people leave their tires for over 5-6 years
Maybe the profile is over 4mm but if the tires are really hard the do not work so gut , especially winter tires

As regards as the all weather tires pay attention that all weather models with M + S but without the snowflake symbol from September 2024 are not recognised als appropriate for winter. At Least in Germany

You'll need to Register first of course.

@Gored, why do you talk of changing two tyres? You do need to change all four wheels, you know! I doubt whether any garage is doing them for £25 a corner these days. The "storage" arguments are the same for changing tyres or rims, though the latter are a lot heavier, obviously. We changed rims when we first used snow tyres - it's quite a useful exercise remembering how to change a wheel. wink

There's a "spare tyre" issue which is worth thinking about.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@pam w, I find it ironic and somewhat counterintuitive to be defending gored, but that's not what he said:

After all it is free

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@nbt, depends on the car... most don't have an onboard reconfiguration option

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

> most don't have an onboard reconfiguration option
so what do you do when yout TPMS sensor says "the pressure is low"? I add some wind to the tyre and reset - perhapos I should clarify there there's a difference between "reset" and "reconfigure" but all I've ever done is "reset". I don't even make sure I put the same wheels in the same place, in fact I actively swap front and back (at least) each year

edit - BMW 3 series. F31 model I think

snow reports

@ousekjarr, Universal TPMS are normally configured when installed to match the setup of the vehicle manufacturer they are going onto, and all vehicles should have a reset option.

You know it makes sense.

Thanks @ousekjarr and apologies to @Gored! I am evangelistic about the need for a proper spare tyre. Two punctures in the snow in the alps (both caused by the kind of murderous pot holes which abound, especially towards the end of the season). The first, in a rented car from Geneva airport, necessitated an emergency lift of the passengers (my daughter in law and 4 kids), leaving the car in a hazardous place all night, rendezvous with break down truck the next day and taking two drivers down to the valley to pick it up when it was fixed. The second, me driving rented car to pick up friend at Geneva airport, in the dark and rain. Waited the best part of two hours for breakdown truck sent out by car hire people (who then waited till very late to give me a new car - full marks to them.

In both cases tyres damaged beyond gunk or repair.

A high proportion of AA call outs are for punctures where there is no spare. There is no excuse for cars without spare wheels. Recently had to talk my willing, and strong, but clueless son how to change a wheel on a 20 year old Toyota Yaris. That was a pot hole too - tyre U/S. I had also taught him, 15 years ago, how to put on snow chains. Feel my job as a mother is now complete.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@pam w,
no need to apologise

I agree about spares. This stuff in a can fix can be more costly if used, as it means a replacement instead of possibly fixing a puncture for a fraction of the cost.
Always worth calling around scrapyards trying to pick up a rim - sometimes you might get a decent tyre as well.

A snowHead

@pam w, I agree about the need for a spare wheel, at a bare minimum I'd want a space saver spare so that I can at least continue on to get the damaged tyre repaired or replaced.

A snowHead

We had a "space saver" on our Fiat but it was a con. Didn't save any space, just a few quid for the manufacturer. We could stow a proper size rim and tyre in the well, no trouble.

Flash modern cars tell you when there's something gone wrong with one of your tyres, but leave you bereft of the wherewithal to fix it.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/consumer-news/99109/flat-tyres-are-the-top-cause-of-car-breakdown-call-outs

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Yes, I'm sure that's the case. When we bought a Zafira there was no spare, but that was easily fixed by having a cage fitted under the car, which could be let down, to get the tyre out, from inside the boot. It came into its own on a trip home from the alps. We'd packed the entire back of the car the night before, but must have had a slow puncture, as one wheel was completely flat in the morning. Fortunately we were in the garage, not out in the snow, so changing the tyre didn't take many minutes (though getting all the stuff out was a pain). It was a Sunday, and I discovered it was completely impossible to buy a tyre on a Sunday anywhere round. I asked at the Swiss border and was clearly thought to be a heathen, beyond salvation, to even think of such a thing.

I was uncomfortable driving without a spare but fortunately we were able to get one on Monday morning, after an overnight stop.

The wheel my son changed on the Toyota was a "space saver" limited, as they usually are, to 50 mph but worked fine to get home.

You'll need to Register first of course.

@Je suis un Skieur, interesting. I can’t recall what our all season ones were - might actually be on the car will look in a minute.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

Something to bear in mind, not all factory sized wheels can take regular snow chains should you need/want them. I bought a new BMW X1 about 8 years back, had fancy large factory alloys, went into the BMW dealer to get chains to be told I'd have to change to smaller wheels as the standard wheels are too big and close to the suspension to fit chains. "That'll be £2,000 please." Mad

I then bought a s/hand set from a guy in German for £500 complete with winter tyres.

@joffy69, you now have a good cross section of opinions, experiences and prejudices. Laughing

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Legal requirement for tyre tread depth during the winter in Austria is 4 mm. During summer = 1.6 mm. Narrower winter tyres can be much cheaper than wider all-seasons. Winter tyres will perform much better on ice and compacted snow than all-seasons.

Help!!

Any pointers re buying winter tyres?

snowHeads Forum Index >>> Equipment Reviews/Questions