Winter Wheels dilemma

[Welly]

Having got the knock-back on those Volvo Alloys (the guy declined my offer of £400.00 ) I've started to consider buying a set of Black steelies with Winter Tyres.

Looking on ebay ( ) there seems to be some enterprising companies jumping on the 'bad winters' band wagon and offering up wheel/tyre packages to just bolt straight on. Previously it seemed difficult to firstly find the steelies which fit and then get some tyres fitted etc.

Seen a set for £460.00 but how much use would I really get? I'm thinking November through to March maybe?

Trouble is it still leaves me with a set of scabby Summer Alloys requiring at least 3 new tyres, probably 4 and a re-furb next spring

Ultimately I'll be looking at nearly £1K to take care of both sets which seems too much thinking about it.

Is there any harm leaving Winter Tyres on into March/April if I need too or would that be running "the wrong tyres" in Law?

[lozz]

Having got the knock-back on those Volvo Alloys (the guy declined my offer of £400.00 ) I've started to consider buying a set of Black steelies with Winter Tyres.

Dont know if these are any good but ithought id post the link just incase,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-VOLVO ... 27cbc79bc6

[steve_earwig]

Once again, how old are the tyres? Goran did show me how to work it out but I've forgotten

Is there any harm leaving Winter Tyres on into March/April if I need too or would that be running "the wrong tyres" in Law?

I've no idea where you stand legally but I don't actually think the UK even has a summer/winter tyre policy. As the weather warms up the performance of the tyre will tail off but... the UK right? You could probably leave them on all year

[DaiRees]

Hmmm, it's an interesting topic which I've been thinking about too. Opinions seem to be divided as to whether winter tyres are worth it. I've just been having a browse and a set of steelies with tyres for mine are going to be about £600, and of course, while performance is slightly better than your summer tyres in cold and wet conditions, you only really need them if it snows. Might consider a pair of those "snow socks" instead.

That said, the thought of sliding into a curb and damaging my alloys scares me silly! For £600 I could go out and buy a small 4X4, oh hang on, I've sold one of them...

I could always just use the wife's car if the white stuff falls

[steve_earwig]

I'm sure we did this before, winter tyres aren't just for getting out of snow drifts (you want snow tyres for that ). Below 7 degrees winter tyres remain flexible while summer tyres turn into blocks of wood.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=16544&p=162652&hili ... es#p162652
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/tyre-guide ... -test-2011

Snow socks are also great for driving in deep snow but they'll be shredded the moment you hit tarmac.

I thought the biggest problem with them in the UK was people ringing up their insurers to tell them they'd been clever and fitted their car with winter tyres and the greedy bastards immediately hitting them with a much higher premium for modifying their car

[Welly]

Tricky one really, especially if the insurers want some money (for something safer)

Socks or chains are only any good to get you to the main roads then you don't need them.

My Alloys are corroded through Winter usage so now need £200.00 spending on a re-coat, I think Winter Wheels may work out reasonable over, say, 3 years as you've got 8 tyres to play with and spread the wear around. I got kinda stuck last winter late one night and it was horrid took me 4 hours to do a 30 min journey. I guess we shouldn't go out in the Snow without the proper tools but sometimes you get stuck whilst you're out.

Like Dai say's you won't really care if you catch your steelies on a kerb

I guess a spare set of wheels is a complete luxury at the moment but I'm guessing a very useful one too.

[Welly]

BTW there's a date stamp on tyre walls like this: [25 09] indicating the week number and the year (25th week of 2009 here).
Noticed this myself again just last night whilst fitting the spare wheel to her-indoors car (tyre was dated 2003 ) but there's no cracks in the rubber, it still looks new, and she only potters about - hopefully

[Bailes1992]

The Volvos are awesome in the snow!
My old Mans T5 you could plant your foot to the floor with the ESP on and the car wouldnt accelerate past it's grip.

[Welly]

I must admit I made better progress than other cars on 'that night' last year - I kept it crawling along in 3rd at about 1200 rpm and it was ok. I didn't like the sound of the traction control working the brakes (that ABS clicky sound) so tried to avoid spinning the wheels completely. It doesn't help when you've got maximum torque at 1500 rpm and maybe 70? bhp at the same revs.

[jasper5]

Regarding the insurance situation with winter tyres you may want to have a read of this.....

http://www.abi.org.uk/Information/Consu ... tment.aspx

[Welly]

Thanks jasper, looks like it shouldn't be a problem then.

One thing occurs to me though - my tyres are 'W' rated and 'Extra Load' as it is capable of 150mph. Winter tyres are mostly 'H' rated to 130mph. I wonder if the insurers would make a fuss that the tyres are not to the 'manufacturers specification' even though you can't drive around at those speeds.

[Doggy]

my tyres are 'W' rated and 'Extra Load' as it is capable of 150mph.

Talk to the experts....

[steve_earwig]

'Extra Load'

For some reason I read that as "extra loud" and was wondering wtf that had to do with it

I wonder if the insurers would make a fuss that the tyres are not to the 'manufacturers specification'

One for your insurance co I guess.

I can't remember what the speed rating on Toyota's winters are, all I remember is they're the same expensive size, but the booklet thing (one of two that I still don't understand the reason for) for the D9 has the spec for both summer and winter, although it just says "additional tyres: 195/65R15 91T", no mention of any season. I guess it's yet another thing I'm just supposed to know

Anyway, I thought the load rating was just the load rating, not the load rating and a little bit more

[scotty73]

'Extra Load'

For some reason I read that as "extra loud"

Extra wide load is what i first read.

[Bailes1992]

My tyres are 235/45/R17 97W. with Extra Load plastered all over them.

I was looking at a 2011 MK4 Mondeo estate today which (standard wheels) had 215/45/17's with a 94 load rating.
Wish there was someone I could talk to about weather ot not I could use a cheaper tyre.