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Why change to winter tyres in winter? Why not make it easy and use winter tyres all the year round? Alternatively why not fit an all-season tyre such as Goodyear Eagle Vector EV-2?
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I would have gone all season though probably with Vredesteins, recent additions to the scene and in very short supply especially in the more unusual sizes and higher speed ratings, already gone the winter route before my size was released, and it's difficult enough to find quality winter's in this country let alone all season's...of which there are very few worth buying.
Good quality winters are more expensive than their summer equivalents and for obvious reasons you want a decent tread on them, coupled with the soft compound being likely to wear very quickly in the summer.
If you know anyone with winter tyres, feel the pliability of the tread in this weather and compare with summer spec.
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>> Why change to winter tyres in winter?
It's not really worth it for the amount of snow we get in central Birmingham. Even then the council does quite a good job in keeping the roads clear.
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Missed the edit.
My daughter's 106 has been on Vred Quatrac2 all season tyres for the last 2+ years, now on the second set.
Good in all weathers but especially competent in wet and far better than summer's in the ice and snow, she got roughly 45k well thrashed miles out the rotated first set.
L'es is quite right, go quality all season IF you can find them.
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Previous Panda 4x4 running on all season tyres wore all four (rotated) in 24,000 miles.
Present Panda on winter tyres from new and used all year round, the tyres need replacing now after 16,000 miles.
That is why not to use winters all year round.
However, coupled with the 4x4, the tyres give incredible grip in this weather. Cornering and braking feel very secure and I just love zooming past the BMWs and Mercs who are all driving at 20-30 mph.
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Winter tyres have worse braking performance on dry roads than summer tyres. This, together with the higher wear rate and additional road noise, is why I switch back to summer tyres in April. My old Merc especially is far nicer to drive on the Pirelli summer tyres than the Pirelli winter tyres.
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This appears to be a good website for comparing tyres. www.viking.co.uk/tyre.asp
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>> Winter tyres have worse braking performance on dry roads than summer tyres. This, together with
>> the higher wear rate and additional road noise, is why I switch back to summer
>> tyres in April.
Not always true. The Michelin Alpin PA3 winter tyres I used had a longer life and were quieter than any of the summer ones I have used. They were however a different size - 205/55x16s in a 94H rating for the winter, as opposed to 225/45x17s in a 94Y rating for the summer.
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We use winter tyres all year round on our VW Transporter - it came from the factory with them fitted as standard - Goodyear Vectors
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For those struggling to find winter tyres, Rochford tyres seem to have Hankook Icebear 300's in stock (don't know what else) and some reasonably cheap alloy wheels to go with them as made up packages...might be worth a look.
www.alloywheels.com/
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I wonder how strong they are. Some of the "spokes" look pretty spindly.
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. Some of the "spokes" look pretty spindly.
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I haven't seen any of the ones on offer so can't comment.
I have these as my summer set on the MB, not everyone's cup of tea they are of excellent quality and the spokes are more substantial than they look, had them about 6 years although never seen salt they are as new, apart from She Who Musts kerbings which fortunately haven't corroded as the discs are stainless steel, sometimes pictures don't do the item justice.
www.auto-option.fr/php/template.php?page=./topmenu/wheels/wheel.php&art=617&lang=1
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Winter tyres - -
