Winter tyre reviews- factual reviews only, please, not general discussion :)

[Max Headroom]

I have just done my first run from Glos to Salop on the 225/45/17 Dunlop Snow Sport 3D tyres I had fitted the other day. In comparison to the Continental Contisport 3s that were on the car, they seem quieter, and give something of a much softer (almost bouncy) ride which took a bit of getting used to at first.

Until the 'real' winter arrives I will not be able to add much to this review, so watch this space...

[mikeloadsasaabs]

I got some Continental WinterContact TS830 tyres (205/55 R16) and can't fault them on snow and ice. I managed to drive past quite a few other cars and 4x4s stuck on even quite gentle inclines last winter.    They are also very quiet on dry roads. Wet grip on cold roads is also very good.

I went for them following a test in the Swedish motoring organisation magazine Motor. They were way ahead of any of the other continental/European style winter tyres as used here in the UK or central Europe.

I had a pair fitted to the front of my Aero estate last winter, in the same size. Having bought them because of the excellent test results, I didn't think they were anything special in terms of performance. And the wear rate is ludicrous - over one winter they are down to 5mm, leaving me only 1mm leeway before I need to buy some more (4mm is the legal minimum here in Austria for winter tyres). The Michelin Alpin PA3s that I had before would have done 3 winters on the front.

[GeoffW]

Got new Nokian WRA3s (205/55 R16 94 V XL) fitted onto the 02 Aero on Friday. Initial impression is good as they are significantly quieter that the budget Sunny tyres (down to 4mm) that came off (these were newly fitted on the car just prior to my buying it). Grip, etc. seems good but real test will come when winter finally arrives. 18deg C at end of October is surreal!

More later...

Geoff

[sgould]

The January 2012 edition of Which? magazine arrived today with reviews of two sizes of winter tyres: 175/65 14T and 195/55 16H.

Continental and Michelin were in the top three of both sizes. 

One tyre not usually considered came out well - Maloya - which is, to my surprise, originally a Swiss brand, now part of Vredestein and made in The Netherlands.

The Falken 439 were criticised for wet handling and snow performance, as was the Firestone Winterhawk in the larger size.

The worst tyre tested was the Kenda Polar Trek.  OK in the dry and on snow, but very poor in the wet.

The review is available online, but you need to either be member of sign up to a free trial. http://www.which.co.uk

[phoenix]

I've had Kumho KW27 fitted for around 150 miles. 9-5 Aero, Eibach suspension, 225/45/17 V XL.

On my way home there's a junction where it's a sharp pull out on an incline, and on the first day (cold & damp road) I noticed there was a lot of TCS action without me particularly trying (after about 30 miles wear).

I thought it may be just the release agent, but as I drive more, I find that the TCS  light is merrily coming on not just when I floor it from low speeds, but also from around 50mph. It wasn't happening with the Toyo Proxes I took off, nor do I remember it happening with previous winter tyres (Vredestein Wintrac Extreme, still got a pair on the rear). I'll persevere and see how they do. Maybe it's a trade off for snow traction...

[Mark B]

I have used Michelin's PA2 on my 9000 for several years, and having recently acquired an additional car I went hunting for tyres.  I expected to get Michelin PA3 from Costco in their autumn sale, but a chum had just got some Continental TS830P (equal to the PA3 in recent tests) from Kwik Fit online at a very good price.  They turned out to be £120 cheaper than Costco for four tyres in my size.  Strangely enough they soon sold out.  The tyres were fitted in November and are pretty impressive.  My neighbours had the builders in on Monday, and strangely on Tuesday I had a screw in a tyre.  Thinking that it might not be repairable, I looked for another tyre.  None to be had in my size, even from German websites.  Fortunately it was repairable.

[Norfolk Jim]

Nice frosty start to the day -5 when I took my son to work this morning at 5.30.

Some of the back roads were white with frost but car didn't flinch on my new acquisitions - Avon Ice Touring ST 215/55 R16 H at 36 psi.

SO far so good and really pleased with their handling as well on soaked roads - bring on the snow to give them a real test.

[phoenix]

I've had Kumho KW27 fitted for around 150 miles. 9-5 Aero, Eibach suspension, 225/45/17 V XL.

On my way home there's a junction where it's a sharp pull out on an incline, and on the first day (cold & damp road) I noticed there was a lot of TCS action without me particularly trying (after about 30 miles wear).

I thought it may be just the release agent, but as I drive more, I find that the TCS  light is merrily coming on not just when I floor it from low speeds, but also from around 50mph. It wasn't happening with the Toyo Proxes I took off, nor do I remember it happening with previous winter tyres (Vredestein Wintrac Extreme, still got a pair on the rear). I'll persevere and see how they do. Maybe it's a trade off for snow traction...

Update: The poorer than summer tyre traction characteristics on cold/damp roads have persisted, much to my disappointment. However, with the overnight deposit of snow (~3-4 inches here) I ventured out this morning to see how they coped.

They are perhaps a little more vague on steering than the Vredesteins, but straight line traction is very good, and the transition from slight slip* to full grip (and vice versa) is very smooth. So, I'm happy with them in snow. Pity about the rest of the time.

*maximum friction with snow tyres (and indeed many others) is achieved when there is some slip

[sgould]

Up here in Stratford upon Avon, I went out from the hotel with no problem.  Straight over the 12 inch snowbank in front of the car and then through the car park and up the packed main route to the hotel door.  Had a bit of a drive round the empty coach park which was fun

Then onto the main road which was twin tracks of tarmac.  Then I turned up a lane and went down and up a fairly steep hill, turned round and came back.  The electronic stability light was on most of the time in the lane.  It was beginning to thaw a bit and the packed snow was was very icy, but we had no dramas.

Then back at the hotel I tried a handbrake turn in the coach park and ploughed up a big bank that was a bit too high to drive over....    I was stuck for about 10 seconds.

Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme at the front, one nearly worn to the indicators and the other with a bit more meat.  Nokian A3 at the rear - new.

[Kev_Mc]

My Nokians (Nokian WR G2 215/55 R16 97H XL M+S) were very good last winter, getting up snowy hills which I know I could not have got up without them. They're now down to 4-5mm on the front, but still performing well. Got me up a steep icy hill in Sheffield yesterday with no hints of losing traction. Hoping the fronts will last this winter - I'll get a new pair to replace them for next winter.

[Norfolk Jim]

Well I can now confirm my Avon Ice Touring ST are superb. We had around 4 - 5" Sat night late and took my son to work for an early shift yesterday morning (6.00 am start). Nothing on roads except a shed load of snow. If I had been blindfolded I would not have known I was driving on snow (Geoff will pop up in minute with a pun).

On the way back I decided to have a try up some country roads (stupid on my own in case I got stuck at that time) and was great fun. I passed soooo many cars going nowhere it was un believable. I know we haven't had many days of it but it just shows how good these type of tyres are and why we should use them. Ambulances constantly went past my house all day with accidents galore.

Am I pleased - you guess 

[sgould]

We were pottering around the Cotswolds on Saturday. A few snow flurries while we were up at Broadway Tower.  We had a look at some shops in the town, but it was really too cold to linger. Minus 3 on the car dash, but much colder with the wind-chill.   By Saturday evening there was about 4 inches in Stratford, so we just had a short play around the lanes on Sunday morning and then went back to watch the rugby.

[sgould]

I'll put this in here as it's about the same thing - traction in snow.

The February edition of Which? magazine has a report on snow socks.

Autosocks performed best, closely followed by ISSE, Silknet and Weissenfels.  The last of these losing out on ease of fitting and removing.

Way last was the Tex-Chain.  this looks like the one with the bright greeny yellow stripe on it that they sell in supermarkets.  Poor grip and stability and not really reusable.

But the typical stopping distances quoted on snow during the test were

Winter Tyres - 9 metres
Snow socks - 12 metres
Summer Tyres - 21metres.

I parked at the top of the carpark at the gym this morning   When I came out there was a VW Golf on Conti Winter Contact next to me.   There were a few others but from the tracks they left showed that they had trouble manoeuvring cleanly.

[Audax]

Update on my Nokian WR G2 215/55/ R16 with a load index of 97, fitted at 128k (ish, not sure of exact mileage, might have been closer to 129k) car has just clocked over to 136k today (well, will tomorrow on the way to work!). I didn't check the tyres with a depth gauge but the built in indicators are now all showing at 6mm, not sure what tread depth they came with were when the tyres were new but I /think/ they were 8.5mm.

I did swap the fronts to the rear over the summer to even up the wear a bit. Anyhow, 2.5mm of wear in 7k to 8k seems very good given that I have run these since October 2010 and didn't change back to summer tyres. In fact, the wear is so good I'm not sure If I'll bother with summer tyres at all even if I do start covering a greater mileage each year (which is likely this year) as I figure that even if I use the front tyres up by next winter I can just buy 2 then and put the rears back on the front. Of course if they start wearing significantly more quickly as they age then this may be a false economy!

[jmblack]

I ran these tyres all year on my old vert. I agree that unless you're trying to get every tenth round a racetrack they are great year rounders. Indeed on sidewalk they say "all-weather plus" and are marketed in us as all year tyres. Best tyre I've ever had I'd say.