If you tyres are so bad why have you stuck with them so long? Odd decision, I wouldnt drive a 1.6 Impreza on tyres I didnt like for 2 weeks let alone a WRX for 2 yearsQuote:
Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior
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If you tyres are so bad why have you stuck with them so long? Odd decision, I wouldnt drive a 1.6 Impreza on tyres I didnt like for 2 weeks let alone a WRX for 2 yearsQuote:
Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior
I'm finding this discussion educational. In Britain we don't generally have winter conditions severe enough to merit changing to special tyres so I've no idea what the merits and demerits are. For a starter, is there a difference between a "winter tyre" and a "snow tyre". And are studded tyres different again?
Yes. Winter tyres have a compound such that they give superior grip a temperatures below 7C. So they will find grip in icy conditions which summer tyres will not.
Snow tyres are usually the types with studs and illegal in the UK. It doesn't help that people often call Winter tyres Snow tyres.
Winter tyres, snow tyres, call them what you want. There is no legal definition so they don't exist :p
Any tyre can be marked M+S (mud and snow), it doesn't mean anything. Tyres with a snowflake symbol have a guaranteed minimum snow performance as measured against a 14" Standard Reference Tyre, but that doesn't necessarily mean much either.
Studs are good for ice, but have no advantage over friction winter tyres on snow.
The main characteristics of a winter tyre are that it's tread rubber undergoes the glass transition at lower temperatures (whereas a high performance summer compound can already "freeze" around 5-10C), and that it's tread pattern is heavily siped for better grip on slippery surfaces.
7C is a rule of thumb, it's not like 8C is ok for a "summer" tyre and for 6C you need a "winter" tyre. By the way, it's not only grip that is affected by the temperature, but also tyre wear.
In Germany another rule of thumb is winter tyres from O(ctober) to O(stern) -Easter.
I'll be switching within the next a couple of weeks. :)
It took roughly a month for me to discover that it was the tires and not my suspension settings or alignment. The car has a full aftermarket, tuned suspension, so I figured that going to a different brand/type of tire may have affected the handling vs. the tires that were on it when I had the suspension tuned. That wasn't it. Once I confirmed that it was the tires, I tried to sell them but no one would buy them - my mechanic tried, but to no avail. And I wasn't inclined to flush $400 plus mounting & balancing down the toilet. The car is a daily driver, not a competition car. So I simply moderated my driving habits. As I collect birthdays, the need and desire to drive at 8/10th's + has lessened. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Nornbugger
In Sweden its mandatory by law of use winter tyres for the period of December 1st to March 31st if there are winter conditions.Quote:
Originally Posted by D-Type
Studded tires are allowed from October 1st to April 15th. Exceptions if the weather/road conditions requires it.
However the city of Stockholm came up with the really bright idea to ban studded tires but only on one single street
in the entire city. The street is Hornsgatan at Södermalm.
Vinterdäck - Wikipedia
I am not sure if I will get winter tyres as it'd mean either going back to my 13" steel wheels, or buy another set of alloys.
Might put it off another year....
Well, today was the first -1C day in souther Finland, roads were dry in my commute, but we took a trip up to Tampere and it was quite slippery in some places. It's nice how some modern cars are so quiet, I could barely hear the studs scraping asfalt on my co-workers Audi. compared to my old civic there's probably 20 decibel difference at 120kph. :)
In Chicago today it's 23C. Insanity, I know. 1000 miles to the west and a little to the south it's -2 where my parents live. The temperature here will be dropping all afternoon to about 4 by midnight. I can't wait!
Cheaper to do it with your steelies jamie :) Plus winter is when you're more likely to hit kerbs and steel wheels are far better for that :)Quote:
Originally Posted by J4MIE
Do you still have a Subie in your family, Daniel? What type/brand of tires are you running now?Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel
We do yes. I keep on meaning to book it into the blasters to get the rust sorted out..... Currently it's got 2 Vredesetin Sportrac's up front, a Conti Premium Contact 2 and some Infinity thing on the back. Had 2 Conti's but Caroline picked up a puncture from an absolutely massive masonry bolt! :mark:Quote:
Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior
I had a set of Falkens (couldn't tell you the model number) on the rear of my old MR2 once went through them in about 7000 miles :eek: Needless to say the next time I had to get new tyres I went for cheapy Nankangs, lasted for ages and you just had to alter your driving style a bit (e.g gentle with the loud pedal in the wet or be ready for a bit of opposite lock). Besides being cheaper I actually enjoyed the Nankangs more, I knew they were a bit loose but could be smooth enough that it wasn't a problem. Might have been a bit different in the snow, but then a RWD car is always going to be lively in snow.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior
Mounted the winter rims on the swagger-wagon on Sunday, just in time for the 15cms that fell in the last couple of days :s
Good deal. Not to go off-topic, but I want another Subie so bad it's not funny. I didn't realize they stopped making the Baja when I was looking for a late model used Baja. I think 2006 was the last year. :( On something like a utilitarian, but fun, Baja, I think a decent touring or maybe even a mid-grade all-season would be just fine. On that, I would be looking for long tread life as opposed to all-out performance.Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel
As Mr. Jan mentioned above, Falken high performance tires tend not to last all that long compared to a harder tire - I assume he had all seasons, as Falken makes all variety of tires. But then again, no all season tire is going to last very long if you run it year round. A fellow I know who had an earlier model NSX went through a set of Pirelli V or Z rated summer tires in 5K miles!!! I think he had some sort of medical problem with his right foot that may have contributed to that though. ;) The Bridgestone RE92's that came on my car didn't last as long as the first set of Falkens, and they became worn enough to notice a difference within 14K miles. I can usually get about 20K from Falkens. I'm OK with that. The problem with the Bridgestones, in addition to not being all that grippy, was also the price. The Falkens are less than $90/tire. The price on the Bridgerocks was close to $280/tire even back in '06 or so! :eek:
Funny thing is that the Bridgestone Potenza's on my car have lasted really well. If not for the fact that the dealer messed up the tracking which meant the car murdered the fronts in 3k miles after having some warranty work done, I'd still have originals on the front and they'd have made it to 40k miles easy. I think tyres differ greatly between the US and the rest of the world.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior
Utilitarian cars are fun :) I bought this a bit over a month ago not sure if I want to keep it or sell it on for a profit in the winter if the weather hits. 4x4 Panda's go for silly money when the white stuff falls :) http://oi49.tinypic.com/2dhgoyr.jpgQuote:
Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior
Had to drive the car today as the guy who was supposed to pick me up had summer tyres on and couldn't get out of his neighborhood. Good thing he didn't, it was pretty slippery the whole day and it would be stupid to end up in a ditch as some of the care free spirits did today.
One of the garage's here had quite a few customers, four hour waiting in the peak time. :D
I changed my tyres in the nick of time couple of days ago. It was much nicer to leave work after nightshift when there was semiwinter in the morning. I have Nokia Hakkapeliitta 5 and I've been very happy with them.
To make a long story short… I’ve recently replaced my previous ~10 year old Hyundai POS with a new 2013 Hyundai ~POS for which I’m now in search of winter ti(y)res.
A local tire shop has recommended these, at a really good price:
CHAMPIRO ICEPRO - GT Radial Canada
I've never heard of this rubber brand before. Does anyone know anything about it? :s
Personally never heard of them but Champiro was way at the bottom of the ADAC test sheets and in the category "Billigreifen" (billig= cheap, not only in price as opposed for example to günstig= cheap as in value for money) ;)
ADAC Test 2011 Winterreifen 195/65 R15
The pattern may look like a winter tire but ff you want proper winter performance you should get one of the premium brands. :)
I'm fitting mine today btw, we have the first freeze forecast for the weekend. :bandit:
Thanks Donks. Yeah, I had my doubts about those Chumpiros.
I don't see the Michelin X-Ice Xi3 on that list. Another tire, albeit much more expensive, recommended to me.
The Contientals are availalbe at Tirerack.com for what appears to be a reasonable price.
I'm going to put mine on after work today. Since the summer wheels are covered in brake dust I figured I'd change them the next time I wash the car but I haven't done that for months so I need to just clean the wheels and change over before it's too late. Plus I need to take a look at the underside of the car before I start my long distance trips. For mid-December I've scheduled a week off (had to use it or lose it since I can only transfer two weeks over the new year) and am driving to Montreal and Quebec City. Between that and visiting family in Colorado there are at least four thousand miles to be added next month.
The tread looks very similar to some cheap Pirellies I had a few years ago, which themselves looked suspiciously like the Hakkapeliitta 3 or 4. They were great in deep snow, not so good or downright terrible everywhere else.Quote:
Originally Posted by schmenke
I tried to buy the Continentals from Tire Rack last year but they were sold out in my size so I ended up with Dunlops.
Champiro is a product line of GT Radial. GT Radial's were popular in Australia as a lower mid range tyre. Personally wouldn't be my choice.Quote:
Originally Posted by schmenke
you donkey ! :arrows: :p :andrea:Quote:
Originally Posted by Gregor-y
The X-Ice is what we call a nordic tyre - the equivalent Conti would be the ContiVikingContact 5 :andrea:Quote:
Originally Posted by schmenke
It seems to be OK, albeit slightly worse than the Conti :andrea: :p
I just checked and they're still sold out. I guess sixteen inch wheels are losing popularity as new ones are freaking immense to save the proportions caused by tiny greenhouses.Quote:
Originally Posted by donKey jote
"Finnish car magazine tested winter tyres (in Finnish winter) and here are the results:Quote:
Originally Posted by donKey jote
Tyre size: 205/55 R 16
First the average score and then the mark. They tested all tyres with same "scale", and there was 16 different tests. Tests were done on ice, on snow, on wet asphalt and on dry asphalt.
Studded winter tyres:
8,5 Nokian Hakkapeliitta 7
8,5 Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice Arctic
8,5 Continental ContiIceContact
8,2 Michelin X-Ice North XIN2
8,2 Dunlop Ice Touch
8,1 Bridgestone Noranza 2 Evo
8,0 Pirelli Winter Carving Edge
7,8 Gislaved Nord Frost 5
7,7 Vredestein Arctrac
7,7 Sava Eskimo Stud
7,0 Agi Sarek 2
6,9 Nankang NK Snow SW-7
Winter tyres, no studs
7,5 Nokian Hakkapeliitta R
7,4 Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice
7,4 Dunlop SP Ice Sport
7,4 Continental ContiVikingContact 5
7,3 Vredestein Nordtrac 2
7,3 Michelin X-Ice XI3
7,1 Pirelli Icecontrol Winter
6,9 Bridgestone Blizzak WS70
6,4 Cordiant Winter Drive..."
:dozey:
Quote:
Originally Posted by schmenke
I've seen pretty much the same results in Swedish tests.
As Tekniikan Maailma(the magazine in question) often suggests, you shouldn't just look at the bottom line result. They do 16 different test, judge them on a scale from 0-10 and show the weight of each result in the bottom line result number. They also have short description and good/bad summary of each tyre.Quote:
Originally Posted by schmenke
For example
Nokian Hakkapeliitta R,
Good: grip and driveability in winter conditions
bad: breaking grip on wet tarmac
Continental WC5
good: driveability on snow and ice, grip on snow
bad: grip on wet tarmac
Basically, you should be fine if you don't buy Pingopango SuperIce 5's from you local Chinese dealer. ;)
Thanks for the info everyone.
I just put in an order for a set of:
Continental*ExtremeWinterContact
Plus a set of attractive black steel wheels :mark: .
Wheels make all the difference. It's so much easier to swap when the seasons change and over a few years it's less than repeated mounting and balancing costs.
Yep. In fact if we are experiencing a mild winter, with no snow in the forecast and dry roads, I'll swap back to summer tires. Once snow is in the forecast I'll swap back to winters. Drives the wife mad though...
I'm off to Quebec in a week and a half so I hope it stays that way a little longer. Then again I've been trapped in worse places when highways close.
Well tbh, summer tires does not work that well when its colder then +6-7 degrees Celsius.Quote:
Originally Posted by schmenke
So unless its gets warmer then that, you should keep the winter tires on.
me donkey ! :arrows: :p :andrea:Quote:
Originally Posted by schmenke
(I didn't know the ContiVikingContact5 is called ExtremeWinterContact on your side of the puddle... the tings one learns on t'internet! :laugh: )
True, but both our family vehicles are equipped with all-season tires, not summers (sorry, I should have clarified), and I'd rather swap to those for cold dry pavement rather than winters. Or am I just being a donkey? :mark:Quote:
Originally Posted by BleAivano
Yeah, and a donkey is called an a__ :p : :laugh:Quote:
Originally Posted by donKey jote
Ordered a set of winter Pirellis, should get them in the next few days. As I have discovered, my street doesn't get gritted and as it has been icy for the past ten days it has been well and truly polished.
As an aside my insurance company want me to pay an extra £250 (nearly double) due to my change of address to a 'high risk area' :bigcry: