Time has come to buy new rubber for the Viano. Current fitments are some Chinese ditchfinders by the name of Triangle, which were fine through the summer, but now the temp has dropped and the roads are wetter they have become a bit of an issue. The traction control is kicking in quite often - more so when its just one of us driving - no weight in the back and RWD.
Anyway, given the time of year I was thinking about winter tyres, but in all honesty I'm to lazy to change them over, so what's the impact / risk of leaving winters on all year?
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All weathers would perhaps be a better solution, assuming they are available in the size and rating required. Don't they need a special 'm' symbol on them for Mercedes use?
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Drove the FRV for nearly 2 years with Michelin Alpins until I had a shoulder puncture needing a major repair on a rear tyre.
Replaced all 4 with Michelin Energy Savers back in July or August but kept the Alpins and have just had the damaged tyre repaired.
Tread depth at 25k miles: 7mm on rears, 4mm on front.
Wear rate is comparable with summer rubber.
Grip is very slightly lower around fast dry roundabouts, and much the same in the wet.
I find any loss of grip more progressive with the winter tyres.
Fuel economy pretty much identical.
In snow (which we had very little of last year) the winters are a lot better (like comparing Triangles with RainExperts in the wet).
Only real downside is the quality winter tyres are usually around 20% more than their summer equivalent - real world driving you wouldn't notice a difference except in snow.
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I drive my 4x4 in winter rated (snowflake etc) all season tyres.
The performance drops off over about 20C, but they make a decent compromise, especially as I mostly drive my MX-5 in the summer instead.
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>> Anyway, given the time of year I was thinking about winter tyres, but in all
>> honesty I'm to lazy to change them over, so what's the impact / risk of
>> leaving winters on all year?
You have cheap nasty ditch finders on, surely your primary course of action now is getting decent branded tyres with known and tested characteristics, not beating yourself up about winter or summer.
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I drive my E Class with decent quality summer tyres on all year round. On the three or four days a year winter tyres would be genuinely and measurably useful, I take a bit more care.
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>> I drive my E Class with decent quality summer tyres on all year round. On
>> the three or four days a year winter tyres would be genuinely and measurably useful,
>> I take a bit more care.
>>
... and that's the way I do it. Newish Pirelli P7's all round.
If I lived in the Scottish Highlands, middle of the N.Yorks moors or up a Welsh mountain I might think differently, but as I don't... I don't.
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Our previous VW Transporter came from the factory with Goodyear Cargo Vector tyres which are M&S 'snowflake' tyres. I kt them in all year round. Very good in the snow, and like normal tyres at other times. These would be a good fit for your Viano, Mikeyb.
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On their UK website, Continental advise if one cannot run winter and summer tyres, then all year use of winter tyres would be the preferred option.
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Continental seem to have a problem in that they can't supply winter tyres in winter. I had a puncture a few weeks ago (a pothole, so beyond repair) and a replacement couldn't be found anywhere. Useless - and I will never buy another Continental tyre. One wonder what their agenda is - you would think it would be to make money.
I had to buy two new tyres - I went back to Kleber Quadraxer all-season tyres which I've found excellent in the past, and a lot cheaper than Continental. I'd recommend them to you for your Viano if they come in that size.
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Continental are just trying to sell tyres.. Thats boll icky advice.
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I realise you always know best, Zero, but in this case Continental failed. Winter should not come as a surprise to them, nor that people do get punctures.
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Winter Contis are about £30 per tyre more than summer variants - a good chunk of that differential will be extra profit per unit, though of course they sell far fewer winter than summer tyres - presumably R&D, marketing, and factory costs are rather substantial.
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Avant, I think Zero was commenting on Continental's website advice, not yours.
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>> Avant, I think Zero was commenting on Continental's website advice, not yours.
SEE? Mad Dave wont let me quote lines for the sake of clarity and overcome the boll icky way the web site works.
No wonder this is a hostile place - people get confused.
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>> No wonder this is a hostile place - people get confused.
>>
And some are hostile and confrontational.
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>>
>> >> No wonder this is a hostile place - people get confused.
>> >>
>>
>> And some are hostile and confrontational.
You could try anger management?
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Pot, Kettle, Black. Oops, is that going to start another racist argument ? :)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Mon 1 Dec 14 at 08:46
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>> SEE? Mad Dave wont let me quote lines for the sake of clarity
you know EXACTLY what I meant, and there is also a clear pop up message as well. So, no excuses.
Besides, since when have you done what you've been told?
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>> Besides, since when have you done what you've been told?
When it proves a point mostly.
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"No wonder this is a hostile place - people get confused."
Get confused?
Get?
I've been confused after my 90th birthday and for the following decade .
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Back to the original question, I ran winter tyres all year round on the BMW 520d touring. Frankly you would not notice much difference in the summer to whether you were using summer tyres.
Not sure of their might be an insurance implication though.
If this was commonly done across Europe though then people would not have both sets and change them each year I guess.
Now I am back to a FWD car it will be interesting to see if this winter me leaving the summer ones on prompts me to want to change next year.
Interestingly the wear rate in the summer that I expected to increase on the winter tyres was actually pretty unchanged, but the BMW was very light on it's tyres and you could get a very high mileage seemingly with any rubber.
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>> If this was commonly done across Europe though then people would not have both sets and
>> change them each year I guess.
I'd hazard a guess they change them back because wear rate is higher. So the winter tyres will last them longer.
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Thanks for clarifying Mark, and sorry, Zero.
SFD - I think this depends on what sort of tyres, and perhaps dimensions, you have on your car. I've had FWD cars for 40 years, and they have all been fine in snow and ice until I had the Octavias with ULP (unnecessarily low profile) tyres, 225/40/18. Winter, or all-season, tyres now a necessity.
If you have reasonably normal tyres supplied with your car you should be OK.
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>> If this was commonly done across Europe though then people would not have both sets
>> and change them each year I guess.
>>
Using winter tyres in the summer is common enough here in Austria. Winter tyres, used during the winter (1st Nov-April 15th), must have 4mm tread. Outside this period, tyres only need 2mm, so rather than bin winter tyres with 4mm, many people run them during the summer until they reach 2mm. There is apparently no restriction on tyre type during the summer, other than that the size and speed rating must conform to manufacturer specifications.
Last edited by: Mike H on Mon 1 Dec 14 at 22:11
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I'm going to Scotland in the Merc later this week. It's going to snow in Scotland later this week.
I feel like Titus Oates.
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>> I'm going to Scotland in the Merc later this week. It's going to snow in
>> Scotland later this week.
The Gales high tides and rain comes first, You'd best load up that roof box with tyres.
>> I feel like Titus Oates.
What you fancy a spot of Perjury and B Uggery?
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Didn't end well for poor old Titus you know.
"Imprisoned for life, and to be "whipped through the streets of London five days a year for the remainder of his life.
He was put into the pillory at the gate of Westminster Hall (now New Palace Yard) where passers-by pelted him with eggs. The next day he was pilloried in London and the third day was stripped, tied to a cart, and whipped from Aldgate to Newgate.
The next day, the whipping resumed. The presiding judge was Judge Jeffreys who stated that Oates was a "shame to mankind". So severe were the penalties that it has been suggested that the aim was to kill Oates by ill-treatment, as Jeffreys and his colleagues openly regretted that they could not impose the death penalty."
Captain Lawrence Oates on the other had was a thoroughly good egg.
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Didn't end well for either of them then really.
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>> Captain Lawrence Oates on the other had was a thoroughly good egg.
Who, but for the long time elapsed, might have been of interest to Operation Yewtree!
www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/oct/14/books.artsandhumanities
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Capt Oates final words....''' I knew we should have bought a bl***y orange tent''
Apologies for the old joke
The Michelin Alpins I leave on my 330 all year round are wearing exceptionally well. Apparently the dry weather performance is not up to that of 'normal' quality branded tyres, but should I ever get within 80% of the cars limits I am driving well beyond my capabilities .
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Someone somewhere mentioned the abrasive effect of tubeless tyres on a tube, when inserted.
I once bought some cheapo, knobbly looking steel-braced radials and put them on the back wheels of my VW 411 Variant.
Although elderly and rattly, the Variant still did, more or less, its alleged cruising and maximum speed of 96mph, and I drove it like that whenever I could.
One night on the A29 or A24, I forget which, a vibration suddenly started and quickly got worse. I tried to ignore it and kept my foot buried, doubtless for good reasons. Suddenly with a tremendous bang one of the crap rear tyres blew out. Something - a ball of rubber or whatever - had forced its way out of the centre of the tread under centrifugal force. The fine wire mesh of the steel belt was extruded through the hole.
Just as well it was a back tyre, I thought as I changed the wheel for a dodgy old Michelin X in the rain on the grass verge in the dark.
Another near one. Cars have always treated me well so far. They seem to understand that I like them.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Sat 3 Jan 15 at 20:01
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I fitted Bridgestone A001 (all season tyre) 35k miles ago and still 4/5 mm tread left.
So I am likely to buy same again.
Last edited by: movilogo on Mon 5 Jan 15 at 09:12
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Winter tyres all year? - Alastairw
