 Poster: A snowHead
|
I dont know if this is the correct forum, so forgive me if not.
I am having a discussion with my friendly tyre fitter about what tyres I need on my VW Passat. Having mentioned that I will be driving to the Alps once a year, he recommended Vredestein Wintrac tyres. I will not be having 2 separate sets of tyres for summer and winter. The tyre fitter said these would be OK to use in the summer also.
Does anyone have any opinions on the effectiveness of these in the snow, and also using these as an all year tyre.
Steve.
p.s. 205/55/ R16 91 @ £86 each all in fitted.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
ringingmaster, bargain price!
I had Vredstein's but they do noticeably wear quicker and on my car were noticeably noisier, so I only had them on in winter, absolutlley brilliant on English muddy slippy damp wet roads! On snow and ice no noticeable difference to tarmac, absolutly reccomended:-D
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
Used then on my mercedes, eventually all year. Brilliant tyres, howver in summer not quite the planted feeling of the conti summer tyres i had. Merc was well insulated so not much more noise. They got us everywhere in the alps etc for 6 years and never used the chains. (used 2 sets they do wear in summer)
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
I have just had a set of Wintrac Extremes delivered and am wondering whether to have them put on the existing wheels, keeping the present M+S Dunlops with 4mm tread for summer, or get another set of wheels to save faffing around having tyres changed every 6 months. I try to minimise summer mileage anyway (use small No 2 car for commuting and shopping) so would it be worth just leaving the Wintracs on for summer? What sort of mileage have you guys obtained ?
(225/60 R18 were £570 for 4 mail order  )
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
Yoda, Got about 12k on them, but we did use them driving through france one summer (with the car very loaded) at over 30 degrees, they didn't like it at all. Sold the car with the next set on at about 7k and they looked virtually new. They were amazing in the snow/ice and got my old merc to places it should have not got to! Much better than the avon ranger ice we have on the replacement subaru forester, they are very noisy, seem to go out of balance all the time. At the price yours cost i would get a second set of wheels and use summer tyres as the wintertracs did not wear very well when it was very hot, the rear tyres really suffered.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks Boredsurfing and carroz, I had a bad feeling a new set of wheels was going to be the answer  Looking at minimum three alpine trips this winter so that will be about 6000 miles plus whatever I do here. Will be interesting to see how they wear.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yoda, Boredsurfing where did you buy your winter tyres from?
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
I have Wintrac Extreme's on my spare Standard 17" BMW Wheels and used them from Dec till May last season.3 Trips to the French alps and a Scotland Trip from Cheltenham and they have 7mm Left on them still.So pretty good really but I dont know about using them all year round,You may shread them if you do alot of motorway miles.Paid £450 for mine fitted bought from
http://www.thmc.co.uk/
Regards Mark
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I paid £400 for mine fully fitted they are 215/60 R16's They arrived at the local garage yesterday and are yet to be fitted....
got them from mytyres.co.uk they had 33 winter tyres in my size to choose from
Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads  on Sat 15-11-08 20:38; edited 1 time in total
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
| rob@rar wrote: |
| Yoda, Boredsurfing where did you buy your winter tyres from? |
rob, I got mine from micheldever tyres just off the M3/A303 http://www.micheldever.co.uk/ plus theres a nice pub in the village for lunch 
(They were out of stock and ordered in)
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
ringingmaster, In that size and 91 load, they're only made in Run Flat and might not be compatible with your rims. Are you sure they're Wintrac and not Snowtrac? If they're Snowtrac, you should be paying about £80 each all in.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
rob@rar, from mytyres.co.uk
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
| Yoda wrote: |
| rob@rar, from mytyres.co.uk |
Me too, several times. Went for GT Radial and they're fantastic. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
I've got a quote from mytyres and the cheapest they do for my size (235/45 R18) is £200+ per tyre, just for supply only. I was hoping to pay a little bit less than that.
I have a set of winter tyres from a previous car which are currently unused. They are not the right size for my current car but I was wondering if I got a new set of steel rims to fit the old tyres would it be possible to use them with my current car? I'd need to double check but I don't think the old tyres are significantly different - something like 245/40 R17 IIRC.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
|
rob@rar, the price of the Wintracs I bought was actually about £15 less per tyre than the cost of replacing with the "standard" M+S's that come with the car, which rather surprised me. I don't know the answer to your question but it would not really be an option for me as my chains would not then fit (hoping I won't need them but you never know). I bought those last year to fit the standard tyres. Actually the standard M+S tyres on my previous car (also hairdresser's 4x4) got us up to Tignes in a blizzard with no problem (waved through the chainage area by the gendarmes) but I got to thinking about the going down bits, braking distances on dodgy roads etc and have decided to go the whole hog this year having experienced winter tyres on a hire car.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
Is the Vredestein Wintrac a current model? (the QUATRAC appears to be the current model) If not check the date of manufacture as tyres typically hve a 4 to 5 year shelf life.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
rob@rar, You're old tyres are 2.7% smaller than your near ones, so negligible difference in terms of rolling circumference, only a 10mm difference in radius. Speedo will be slightly out. The main thing to check is with regard to the Rims rather than the tyres. Is the offset the same? Is 17" big enough to clear the Brakes, etc? If there are other models within the range, maybe at different trim levels that have smaller diameter rims, the last point shouldn't be an issue.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
| Spyderman wrote: |
| If there are other models within the range, maybe at different trim levels that have smaller diameter rims, the last point shouldn't be an issue. |
That's a good point. Yes, there are models below mine with a 17 inch rim rather than the 18 inch that I have.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
| rob@rar wrote: |
| Spyderman wrote: |
| If there are other models within the range, maybe at different trim levels that have smaller diameter rims, the last point shouldn't be an issue. |
That's a good point. Yes, there are models below mine with a 17 inch rim rather than the 18 inch that I have. |
Just as long as the offset is OK and your model doesn't have uprated bigger brakes or trick suspension, you should be fine.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
Yoda, I doubt if the Dealer is paying more than £50 each. Cost to Honda more like £20 each.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I've just ordered a set of Wintrac Extreme XL. They were the only tyres that I could get in my size at the moment. £538 delivered, plus local fitting charge. Will try to find a reasonably priced set of rims for next winter. Need to sell my old winter tyres now - is there much of a secondhand market for winter tyres?
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
Dealer prices ar daylight robbery. We got a couple of 'extras' for our Nissan direct from the factory at a bargain price compared to the dealer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
rob@rar, I got £250 for my vredsteins on E bay when I changed cars.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Spyderman, hmm well aluminium is around 2000$ per tonne at the mo so if a wheel weighs in at (guesstimate) 10kg that's about 20$ just for the aluminium base metal + whatever other things go into the alloy. Then there's forging/casting, machining, finishing whatever. Can't see them doing it for £20 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
|
Yoda, More like 7KG for an Alloy wheel. £20 was a guess, but I bet it's not far off, given their buying power.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
| Boredsurfing wrote: |
| rob@rar wrote: |
| Yoda, Boredsurfing where did you buy your winter tyres from? |
rob, I got mine from micheldever tyres just off the M3/A303 http://www.micheldever.co.uk/ plus theres a nice pub in the village for lunch
(They were out of stock and ordered in) |
Interesting...
I ordered some 'snow tyres' from Micheldever last week, and based largely on this thread went for the Vredsteins, and asked for the snowtrac. They've actually fitted the Quatrac 2, which would appear to be an all-season tyre. It does have the M&S designation however.
Will that be good enough or should I go and complain?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
| bertie bassett wrote: |
Interesting...
I ordered some 'snow tyres' from Micheldever last week, and based largely on this thread went for the Vredsteins, and asked for the snowtrac. They've actually fitted the Quatrac 2, which would appear to be an all-season tyre. It does have the M&S designation however.
Will that be good enough or should I go and complain? |
Did you ask for winter tyres generally, or the Snowtrac specifically? I wouldn't be happy with the Quadtrac tyre if I wanted a winter tyre specifically for snow performance. Vredstein's own website damns the Quadtrac with faint praise ("adequate winter tyre"). If your place in Micheldever can't get hold of winter tyres for you try some online dealers such as tyremen.co.uk or mytyres.co.uk
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
| rob@rar wrote: |
| bertie bassett wrote: |
Interesting...
I ordered some 'snow tyres' from Micheldever last week, and based largely on this thread went for the Vredsteins, and asked for the snowtrac. They've actually fitted the Quatrac 2, which would appear to be an all-season tyre. It does have the M&S designation however.
Will that be good enough or should I go and complain? |
Did you ask for winter tyres generally, or the Snowtrac specifically? I wouldn't be happy with the Quadtrac tyre if I wanted a winter tyre specifically for snow performance. Vredstein's own website damns the Quadtrac with faint praise ("adequate winter tyre"). If your place in Micheldever can't get hold of winter tyres for you try some online dealers such as tyremen.co.uk or mytyres.co.uk |
I definitely asked for the snowtrac specifically!!
Ok I am going to get annoyed now...
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
bertie bassett,
The word "snow tyres" can be confusing as to me and others it means tyres designed just for snow whereas "winter tyres" are designed for winter conditions. The two terms are often interchanged esp by the Americans. It's best to use the term "winter tyres" when seeking a tyre to drive to the alps from the UK.
You have all season tyres not winter tyres here is a comparison of the two tyres in german (scroll down for results, the lower the score the better the performance).
http://www.oeamtc.at/refresh/frameset.php?p=http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seiten/reifentests/winter2006/185_60_14/uebersicht.htm
There isn't a massive difference between the two but the Snowtrac 2 is the slighty better tyre during winter conditions. According to this link http://www.vredestein.com/File_Banden/2006/Testen/DUITS-TESTLEAFLET%20QUATRAC%202.pdf?UserSessionID=96414912 the Quatrac 2 has a 'snowflake in a mountain' symbol so they will be accepted as winter tyres.
IMHO if your tyres have this symbol then it's not worth complaning, I doubt you would get very far and you wouldn't gain a lot. The all season tyre probably performs better over the range of use a 'UK resident who drives to the alps' would have anyway.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
bertie bassett, Complaining time for sure.
Quadtrac is neither a good summer tyre or a good winter tyre. 'Adequate' at both? I wouldn't want it.
More importantly, it's not what you ordered.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
| bertie bassett wrote: |
| I definitely asked for the snowtrac specifically!! |
Snowtrac or WinTrac (which might be a bit more capable at higher speeds, eg the drive to/from the Tarentaise).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| rob@rar wrote: |
| bertie bassett wrote: |
| I definitely asked for the snowtrac specifically!! |
Snowtrac or WinTrac (which might be a bit more capable at higher speeds, eg the drive to/from the Tarentaise). |
Maybe it's a sizing issue... having now dug through the Vredestein website I can't seem to find anything better than what they've fitted for 195 / 65 R15s
It's even more complicated than buying ski-poles 
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
bertie bassett,
Here are the ÖAMTC (Austrian AA equiv.) 2008 results for 195 / 65 R15s
http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/download/document/auto/WR08_195_65.pdf
If it's a winter tyre you are after (i.e. you will be running summer tyres during the summer) then one of the 4 top left tyres give the best performance.
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Thu 11-12-08 9:40; edited 1 time in total
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
