 Poster: A snowHead
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@Gazzza, I used to swap winters out in April. And back on in Nov. However, now I have crossclimate on I have them all year round. As is said earlier. About 80% of winter grip compared to full winters. But I use them in the snow in Scotland without a problem.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I currently need 8 tyres as both my winters and summers are shot. Thinking though of just buying a set of Nokian Weatherproof SUVs for my Qashqai. They seem to come out as the best all seasons for snow, etc. Important for me as I spend the majority of my time in L2A, however as I'm there so much I often have the luxury of not having to move when conditions are at their worst. Any experiences or thoughts?
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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?
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@Claude B, can you make it through to November on what you have currently got? Do you do many miles?
If answers are yes and no then you could get by on the best of your current sets and then buy a new set of winters and leave them on all year. When they get below about 5 mm buy new winters for the other rims and use good winters in winter and second best set in summer. Only compromise there would be a bit of loss of summer performance. Based on a few years of running one car on two sets and swapping and the other (low mileage) car on winters all year round I reckon this would work well and be cost effective.
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@DJL, No they won't last that long. I'm running on the winters atm to finish them. I'll almost certainly just run with one set, changing and storing them is a pain. I dont do a huge amount of miles, mostly in France.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I did 2 years on a pair of winter tyres (summer and winter) on Italian roads, bit noisy and sluggish but good in the rain and no worries in the snow. My wife put 4 season tyres on and they seemed like a good balance of grip on dry/wet and comfort. Reasonable price for 16 inch wheels but for 18s virtually impossible to get a good deal. Some areas of Italy require you by law to have winter or 4s tyres on from Nov-Apr and you have to have the correct speed rated tyres on the can in summer (and one level lower in winter) Not that anyone ever checked them on mine 
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I get the impression that 'all season' types have improved immeasurably in the last few years. I've been running two sets summer/winter for the last few years, but I'm a bit fed up of that now.
Next time I need to change tyres I'll be swapping to the General Grabber AT3. If you need an off-road capable tyre and you want something winter capable, then this seems to be about the only choice.
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Like many I used to have two sets but have gone over to 4 season (Michelin Cross Climate) and am very happy with them. I think they have improved greatly.
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I've ordered the Nokian Weatherproofs from Tyreleader. They're currently in transit from Germany. £104 a corner for my Qashqai.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Good service from Tyreleader ordered Friday evening and arrived Tuesday morning. Not bad for free delivery from Germany. Mate who normally fits them for me for £30 was too busy but got a colleague to do the job for £40. Ready to drive back next week.
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@Claude B, have had Nokians on my car for over 7 years now, summer and winter.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Scarpa, 😁 They coped well with some dreadful storms and standing water near Reims this evening.
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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.
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I'm just about to get a new Skoda Kodiak and I'm thinking of fitting 4 season tyres. The tyres seem to be an un-common size and the only ones I can find are Vredestein Quatrac 5 235/50 R19 99V. Anyone got any experience/views on these Vredesteins?
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@Valkyrie, I've used Quatrac now for a couple of years, found them good in all conditions, but for snow use they need to be fairly new with good depth of tread, I do 18,000 miles a year on a set of fronts
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You know it makes sense.
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@Gazzza, 'All Season' tyres are really poor in snow and only marginally better than general use tyres . . . especially on polished hardpack or ice . . . been there, got the dents and the tow bill . . . pucka snow tyres are the business and independent reviews/tests have the Bridgestone Blizzaks at the top of the heap. I'm not spamming, I've just ordered 5 for this winter, they'll be studded before fitting as I'll be heading for Fernie in Feb 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Masque wrote: |
| @Gazzza, 'All Season' tyres are really poor in snow and only marginally better than general use tyres . . . especially on polished hardpack or ice . . . been there, got the dents and the tow bill . . . pucka snow tyres are the business and independent reviews/tests have the Bridgestone Blizzaks at the top of the heap. I'm not spamming, I've just ordered 5 for this winter, they'll be studded before fitting as I'll be heading for Fernie in Feb |
I think all season means something else in the US. My experience with Goodyear Vector all seasons is driving through snowy roads past floundering 4x4s in a 2wd mpv. All seasons aren't quite as good as pure winters but vastly superior to summer tyres in the snow & ice and last longer than winters.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Hi @Claude B & @Valkyrie
I've used a set of Nokias years ago .. but it was on a low performance Renault GTL, no problems with them thrashing down to Austria on the weekends. But it was back in 1993 .. I'm sure that the tyres are even better now and there is less ice about.
I've also had my Golf GTI kitted out with the dutch tyres Vrederstiens, these were also plenty good enough .. I carried on using them in the summer despite the noise. (it wasnt too bad)
On my current car its fitted with all season Michelin's. I cant imagine driving it to the Alps [but I'd love to](although I did last weekend) but I'd feel confident enough to use them despite only having "peaks" rather than "snowflake" on them. I'll carry chains of course if I did.
Its not often that temperatures in the alps get down to the sort of extremes that @Masque and the ice road truckers has to drive on all day every day.
I think he has to deal with -30'C on a daily basis while he is skating down the passes such as "Field" with inexperienced "Turbinaters" causing mayhem.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I just use winter tyres all year as I have to run up forestry & farm tracks & the like regularly & they seem to offer more grip for a 2-wheel drive. Did a near 1000 mile trip at the weekend mainly on motorways (Edinburgh-London-Bath-Edinburgh) which cost less than £75 in diesel which didn't seem too heavy for a 2 litre engine. The tyres are great on sitting water too.
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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?
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@DrLawn, the Winter Tyre symbol is the 3 Peaks with the Snowflake in the middle. @McKenzie, I'm thinking that for a fair chunk of the year in Scotland temperatures (at least for morning commutes) are low enough that Winter tyres will be on a par or better than Summers. So All Season tyres seem to make more sense to me than the summer tyres that all new cars seem to come with, even though I'm not expecting that many snowy days.
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@Valkyrie it was too dark out there to see the tyre info and the "three peaks".
I just know that they are not "full fat" winter tyres with the SnowFlake symbol.
It was a "no cost" option on this car when I spec'd it so I went for it.
I must admit that I didnt know at the time that they would not be allowed as winter tyres in the places where they check that sort of thing.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@Masque, my experience of Blizzaks is terrible...
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| under a new name wrote: |
| @Masque, my experience of Blizzaks is terrible... |
Booger! . . too late fer me, they're already waiting in the shop. Most of the rteviews over here have them at the top of the list so I guess I'll find out . . . . but they HAVE to be better than tthe Goodyear mud and snow I have now.
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I think there're different levels of need, when it comes to all seasons vs winters.
All seasons might be fine on a light car in light snow and slush on the flat. That all changes when the roads are steep and bendy, the car is a heavy 4x4 with a high centre of gravity and the roads are frozen for months, making them sheet ice under the snow.
I recently drove a friend's Kia somethingorother 4x4 in light snow and slush on a flat, unfrozen road (Lausanne to Aigle) and I was shocked by the lack of stopping power. There's no way I would have taken it near a hill. An A70 with all seasons on icy roads in the Alps would fill me with dread. Maybe that's why I see so many of them (and also X5s) in ditches, usually on Belgian or NL plates. It's not the going up that's a problem, it's the downhill, when a 4x4 has no traction advantage and it's all about weight and inertia. A Volvo A70 weighs over 2.5 tonnes.
These are expensive vehicles, expensive holidays and ending up in a ditch is embarrassing when the Swiss beep their horns in appreciation as they drive past. I can be as tight as a gnat's, but it seems daft to me to economise the last 1-2k for a change set of rims and tyres if you're going to be driving a heavy, luxury 4x4 on frozen windey roads in the Alps.
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@snoozeboy, Right - think about safty first - one ekstra set of tyres with rims does not tip over the economi - and no problem changing them yourself - takes may be ½ hour.
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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.
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| McKenzie wrote: |
| Did a near 1000 mile trip at the weekend mainly on motorways (Edinburgh-London-Bath-Edinburgh) which cost less than £75 in diesel which didn't seem too heavy for a 2 litre engine. The tyres are great on sitting water too. |
That's over 70mpg. What's the car and I guess you're not too heavy with the right foot?
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10 year old Citreon Picasso diesel. The back seats just pop out & I can use it like a van, which I was doing as I was moving lighting gear. 70 or just over all the way.
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