[neil]

Probably tempting fate, as we have not had any ice/snow down south yet, but has anyone considered buying at least 2 steel wheels fitted with winter tyres? You would then also be in a position to carry a spare wheel if you wished. If anyone has done this, or researched, then I would be interested to hear your thoughts.

 

[Andy]

I've been looking into this recently because I'm trying to decide if I should get winter tyres fitted when I collect my car. I've read a few reviews but probably the most convincing was this video review from Autocar where they test a 4WD Yeti on normal tyres against a FWD Yeti on winter tyres.

I've decided to have them fitted. I used to think they are only for snow but any temperature below about 7°C and the winter tyre compound works better so you have improved safety for a lot of mileage over the winter months.

 

[Paul]

Winter tyres make a MASSIVE difference in the right conditions. Also might affect consumption a little though.

 

[Andy]

has anyone considered buying at least 2 steel wheels fitted with winter tyres?

The only other thing I meant to say was that if you're putting winter tyres on it's recommended to do all 4 rather than just the 2 driven wheels due to the big difference in grip. It's actually illegal to do this in some countries.

 

[Steamrunner]

Winter tyres make a ma-hoooosive difference- but you must fit them to all four wheels, not just the driven ones.
I've got them on my Zoe (and our other cars). Can't say I've noticed a drop in range, but I normally drive it in fun mode so it'd be hard to tell!

Given the low cost of alloys these days, you might find the price difference for steelies isn't that much.

 

[George Jetson]

For the Ampera I costed it at about £600 for the 4 due to tyre size and sticking with a similar brand to what is on there already.

 

[Gary Taylor]

Bought mine for £91.36 each last year got the sizes including offset (important) off the German Opel site and ordered from MyTyres

Steel wheels with winter tyres (LK 5 x 115.00 x 70.00)Nankang Snow SV-2 BSW 205/60 R16 96HOpel ASTRA-J 2.0 CDTI P-J 1956ccm 118 kW 12.2009-

Gary

 

[Paul]

Used MyTyres a lot in the past and they were always good.

 

[Ecoskene]

I fit winters on both my cars as they make a big difference in low temps and snow. I got them fitted as part of the deal when I bought the car and they swap them over around May for me.

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

I swap tyres in the late Autumn and wait until we have sustained good weather in the Spring before swapping back. I was lucky enough to buy a set wheels from a crashed car so it's easy to swap over in a couple of hours at home.

Winter tyres are amazing in poor weather but really do eat into performance

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

So do you normally have a second set of wheels in this case or do people actually swap just the tyres?

I swap wheels with tyres on them because it's a job I can do at home in a couple of hours using simple tools. So I have two sets wheels and tyres in total... one for winter and one for summer.

 

[Gary Taylor]

Same as Kevin, two sets of wheels can swap them in a couple of hours if the weather turns, also I do travel to Germany Luxembourg where they are now a requirement October to March, so can swap them quickly without having to pay kwik fit or the like every time.
Gary

 

[George Jetson]

So Gary that is tyres AND wheels for £91 each - good price.....

 

[Gary Taylor]

As I far as I remember they were not the cheapest tyre on the site at the time, plus that included balancing, however as Paul kindly pointed out with the warm (and wet) weather I'm feeling they may be a little pointless this year

 

[Ecoskene]

I can officially predict no snow now that some of us are talking about winter tyres. So basically the best idea is to do a wheel swap?

Winter tyres are for temps below 7 Celsius, not just for snow.

What temp was it this morning?

 

[Bruce Tanner]

Out of curiosity, what is the effect of winter tyres during a warmer spell? I assume there is a downside otherwise we'd all be in winters all year round

 

[hopbackguy]

These days not *much* in terms of downsides depending what winter tyres you buy. You need to do a bit of research on performance in warm conditions for a given tyre, because it's possible depending on the design that stopping distances and cornering grip may be greater than regular tyres. They may also wear more quickly,but again, it's not a given, would need checking.

 

[Ecoskene]

They wear slightly faster than normal tyres in warmer temps

 

[Richard Gledhill]

How about all-season tyres? I've had these fitted to my parents' Corsa for a year or so and they're quiet, smooth, grip well and unstoppable in the snow. They don't appear to be wearing out particularly quickly either, though there's not many miles going on them really.

All-season tyres means you don't need to change wheels either, you just buy them and leave them on there. Pity about the summer tyres the car comes with though...

Actually, what tyres does the car come with? I've yet to collect my Ampera...

Thanks
Richard

 

[hopbackguy]

Mine (and I think all of them since late 2012) has Michelin Energy Savers on it, out of the factory. They're not the grippiest of tyres, but good for low rolling resistance.