Author Topic: Winter tyre reviews- factual reviews only, please, not general discussion :)  (Read 76478 times)

sgould

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I have the Nokian A3 on the back of my 9-5 and all-round on SWMBOs 9-3 Vector.

I bought them as they are sold as winter tyres by Nokian.  Nokian also do a similar tyre that they call "All Weather Plus".  However, when I was fitting the A3 winter tyres to my 9-5, I noticed that that these "Winter Tyres" were also labelled "All Weather Plus" in small writing on the sidewall, as reported for the G2 above. 

The other thing I picked up when browsing the web recently (and forgot to bookmark so I could find it again.....) is that one of the tyre companies stated that winter tyres only have a four year life.  After that the softeners that give the cold weather flexibility and grip will have evaporated and the tyres gone hard.  Perhaps another thing to add to the argument about running winter tyres all year if you do a low mileage.
« Last Edit: 20 February 2012, 12:52:53 PM by sgould »
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Audax

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The other thing I picked up when browsing the web recently (and forgot to bookmark so I could find it again.....) is that one of the tyre companies stated that winter tyres only have a four year life.  After that the softeners that give the cold weather flexibility and grip will have evaporated and the tyres gone hard.  Perhaps another thing to add to the argument about running winter tyres all year if you do a low mileage.

I've seen summer tyres that are 5 or 6 years old from the likes of Continental and Michelin (and other brands too, but those 2 surprised me as they are "premium") with cracks on the sidewalls and between the treads while there is plenty of tread left. Not sure if they were manufacturing defects but it seems many tyres don't last past 6 years.

So as you suggest for the likes of me doing low mileage if I had 2 sets of tyres at (for arguments sake) £100 for a summer and £120 for a winter and the winters needed replacing after 4 years and the summers at 6 years regardless of tread left then I'd be looking at a total spend of £180 a year so after 4 years £720  :o compared to just £480 if I only ran winter tyres for the 4 years. Even then part of the reason I didn't get a set of summer tyres was that I keep thinking about getting a V6 9-3 Aero and I don't think the 16" winter tyres I have would be suitable for it so didn't want to have spent £300 for a set of summer tyres to use for 1 summer over a low mileage.

Norfolk Jim

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So by that score then with me doing lowish miles - circa 6-7k it might be best to leave my Avon Ice Touring ST's on as they are now a year old with 7.5mm on them all but then I have my nice 17" with 2 pretty new Continental SC3's on and 2 good Michelin Primacy's. In other words both sets of tyres a year old or less with loads of tread. Perhaps I'll keep swapping over and see what the winters look like in couple of years?

Audax

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In your case you'd be better off swapping the wheels/tyres as you already have them. If the tyres end up bad after a few years you're no worse off so you might as well try and manage the wear evenly. In my case I only have 1 set of wheels although getting hold of a second set isn't a problem just finding the £300 for the summer tyres was a problem back in March/April as I'd just lost my job so I figured that I could just run them over the summer and not worry about it. Although you do have one other option and that would be to sell the part worn tyres on ebay but I have no idea how much you'd make back.

Norfolk Jim

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The winters are 215/55 16 and all have 7.5mm left on them. The summers are 225/45 17 and all have at least 7 on the Conti's and about 6.5 on the Michelin. Trouble is both sets of wheels are nice Saab alloys although I prefer the 17 aero alloys they have a few more scuffs on them than the 16's.

I recon I'll keep swapping until the winters get down to 4mm and sell them on - I'm amazed how many part worn are on eBay with 4mm saying they are good for winter but even in my Saab manual I'm sure it says they can't be classed as Winters with less than 4mm tread.

jmblack

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I think it also depends on the tyres. The nokians were great all year but the falkens I had scrabbled badly under acceleration in summer.

sgould

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Winter tyres have two sets of wear indicators.  1.6mm and 4mm.  Once they reach 4mm they would not be legal as winter tyres in Europe.  But if you want to, you can keep them on the car in spring as legal summer tyres until they wear to the 1.6mm.

Here's a picture of the 4mm indicator

« Last Edit: 20 February 2012, 07:45:42 PM by sgould »
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Norfolk Jim

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Some interesting reading in What Car

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/winter-tyres-tested/be-prepared/259257/

Surprising how well Nokian do  most of the time.

Sorry if posted elsewhere

Audax

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http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/winter-tyres-tested/be-prepared/259257/

Surprising how well Nokian do  most of the time.

You mean Nankang? ??? No Nokian in that link! and Which mis-spell Nankang as Nankan on the first page of the article  ::)

Norfolk Jim

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Ooops -

Norfolk Jim

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Anyone want a set of 16" winter wheels at more than a steal for alloys!!!

http://www.partsforsaabs.com/product_info.php?products_id=4365

These are the same as I already have and look really nice on 9-5 with 215/55 tyres on them

welshwizard

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Re: Winter tyre reviews
« Reply #41 on: 06 June 2012, 02:08:21 PM »
Tomorrow I have Kleber Quadraxer 225/45/17 fitted (reason for change? - size and insurance).

Positives on Michelin PA2 - as  I mentioned I've had them since 2004 - approx 40-45k miles with 9-3 and 9-5 Aeros.  Just hope the Klebers have the same life.

Klebers....noisy and somewhat compromised handling, car doesn't feel quite so confident.

Despite their 'All-Season' descriptor - they DO have the all-important snowflake and three-peaks symbol.

As of June 6th they are still on the car - not had a chance to refit my Conti Sport Contact 3s.....

The tyres settled in quite well, and after about 8000 miles wear is good.  travelled from N Wales to Surrey yesterday, the last hour was in torrential rain - down the M40, A404(M), M4, M25 and M3/A316 on wet surfaces at fairly high speed....boy these Quadraxers really cut through standing water, whereas before I'd be hesitant now I could just hack on, the grip was astonishing.  Maybe this winter I'll have a chance to see how well they cope with the snow.
« Last Edit: 08 June 2012, 10:59:39 AM by welshwizard »

Audax

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Re: Winter tyre reviews
« Reply #42 on: 06 June 2012, 08:23:32 PM »
As of June 6th they are still on the car - not had a chance to refit my Conti Sport Contact 3s.....

The tyres settled in quite well, and after about 8 miles wear is good.  travelled from N Wales to Surrey yesterday, the last hour was in torrential rain - down the M40, A404(M), M4, M25 and M3/A316 on wet surfaces at fairly high speed....boy these Quadraxers really cut through standing water, whereas before I'd be hesitant now I could just hack on, the grip was astonishing.  Maybe this winter I'll have a chance to see how well they cope with the snow.

I picked up a set of alloys cheaply for my car a month ago so I could save the winter tyres, bit of a mongrel mix of part worn tyres, 1 pirelli p-zero, 1 conti sport contact, 2 kumho k31 all are worn to about 3.5 mm. So, with the rain over the past few days all I can say is **** me! winter tyres are loads better in standing water. Also we went to an English Heritage event over the weekend, this meant some driving over muddy fields in rutted mud tracks, I managed to have another "oh ****!" moment as the tyres all let go when I wasn't going at what I'd call a great speed...  ::) I'm now convinced that winter tyres are utterly awesome for mud and rain and that I will need to find some money next spring for 4 new summer tyres  :-[

collywobble

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Right , have bitten the bullet and bought a set of 15" wheels (genuine Saab ALU31 at £34.26 each as advertised on latest Saab Service Club email) to fit winter tyres. I have gone for 15" as the rolling radius with 195/65/15 tyres is closer to the 215/55/16 I run at the moment rather than the winter 205/55/16 size recommended in the handbook. Thought I would go for Avon Ice Touring as per Norfolk Jim's recommendation but - none in the country and no delivery date!

So Toyo Snowprox S942 have good reviews on tyrereviews.co.uk and they are available in the size I want.  anybody have any experience of them?

Whats the betting we will now have a mild winter!

wrighar

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No idea, but I have a set of Toyo snowprox S952 in 225/45*17 sitting in the garage waiting to be fitted to rims..for the 93ss

Also have a set of 205/55*16 Nokian WR+ on ALU22's which we ran on the 93ss last year (good)
A set of 225/45*17 Nokian WRG2's on Vectore nail rims which we've run on the 95Aero for the last 2 years (very good)
« Last Edit: 30 July 2012, 09:27:55 PM by wrighar »