UKH

I popped into a local tyre shop to get wheels balanced and asked for a winter tyre quote for my new style citroen dispatch.

£62 plus VAT each fitted seemed a good price.

not many left with distributor apparently. price unlikely to last longer
is it a good deal?

In reply to alasdair19:

Would you need four or just the front two? Just bought a Berlingo and live on a hill so was considering this myself

In reply to alasdair19:

Not sure if it's a good price as it'll depend on tyre size, and different brands can vary a great deal in price.
I've bought my last two sets second hand. One set on eBay and another set on Sheffieldforum. I've never paid more than £100 for 4,
Then my local tyre fitter will fit them for £30.
I only buy top brands, and tbh I wouldn't be able to afford them new. Last year my tyres would have been £60 each for budgets and about double that for a top brand.
If you can afford it I'd definitely recommend getting some steel wheels. It'll save the cost of swapping tyres and you won't scratch your alloys.

In reply to alasdair19:

Seems good to me, will they put them on for you in that price?

My local is happy to swap them around for free. I've generally only had 2 on the front. There is a noticeable improvement in the cold and especially in snow,even compacted snow. One year I had to change all 4 at once anyway and put winter tyres all round. There was a marginal gain, particularly on sharp cornering. I did leave the back ones on through the summer and next winter with little effect on wear, noise, fuel consumption, etc.

2.0L tdi, 140psi, 20K a year, driven reasonably carefully for comparison.

In reply to Mark Morris:

thanks for all the feedback guys.

I'll be driving round the alps all winter so will probably get a full set. the views van isn't flash enough to have alloys!

In reply to alasdair19:

If you drive round the alps, it's a law in many countries to have four winter tyres anyways

In reply to alasdair19: What brand are they - some are better than others.

Winter tyres are a good thing - I've used front only as a temp measure, but all 4 is better i,m,o,

In reply to alasdair19:

Compared to what I typically pay that is a good price, won't touch second hand tyre's myself. You don't know the history.
I have used 2 on the front in the past but after having the back kick out a few times its 4 every time now.

In reply to wbo:



hahaha

make sure you tell the fire service where you plan on going if running two winter tyres

In reply to alasdair19:


Depends on size and quality of tyre, but sounds good from prices I've heard friends have said.

In reply to alasdair19:

If you only put two winter tyres on be aware you will have no insurance, in the event of an accident they will laugh at you and refuse to pay.

You should notify them even if you put all 4 on, mine always ask me to tell them but it never costs any extra.

In reply to deacondeacon:






All of this. Apart from the Sheffield forums bit.
Just got two more of eBay for the van . £50 for the pair delivered . Good brand 6mm of tread. Got a set for the wife's golf for £100 last summer , look like new tyres) There are a couple of big sellers on eBay who in my experience will accept an offer below the advertised price. I've got four to sell from our Peugeot 106 with steel rims and will stick an ad up later (for anyone interested /bothered ) £99 so not a premier post)

In reply to alasdair19:

Get yourself on ebay buy some really cheap. And pick them up on on a view to going climbing nearby to save on fuel and time. And get your local garage to fit them. Oh I've two sets on ebay now and live 5 min from some great crags

In reply to alasdair19:

I got cooper weather masters last year for about the same price, used ultra grip before that which I foolishly bought from my local garage at about £95 a corner fitted. Drove about 12k on the coopers last year, they were 8mm when I put them on and measured with a tyre guage at 8mm when I took them off. Brilliant tyres. I can't really comment on their effectiveness as it's a different car but their handling of standing water is very noticable compared to the all seasons I have on just now and they're seem pretty capable in snow.

As another poster has said, two is a little daft. If somone wants two winter tyres then put them on the back and buy some snow chains for getting yourself unstuck or up a snowy hill.

In reply to alasdair19:

Ridiculous advice. Have you ever actually tried fitting chains in the dark by the side of the road? Spend the money on a full set of winter tyres and keep up the momentum.

In reply to alasdair19:

Ignore the advice about only running two tyres, and ignore the advice about snow chains.
Get four winter tyres and if you can't afford them, get second hand ones.

In reply to alasdair19: To be clear, get 4. I used 2 to go to the shops as it unexpectedly snowed. I don't know why you'd put them on the rear only - even with RWD that would be exciting.
This is a review from last year of norwegian vinterdekk - https://www.naf.no/forbrukertester/dekktester/vinterdekktest-2014/ - I have the Conti contacts and am pretty pleased with them. A tip is to alternate running front and back as the fronts will wear, especially if you run them into the spring

In reply to wbo:



I would always use 4 but if your going to just use two then:-

The same reason you put new tyres on the rear. Its the rear that gives you directional stability.

Power is nothing without control.

In reply to deacondeacon:


Snow chains can be great, I run 4 snow tyre's and carry chains too. It's not often I need them but they are invaluable when you do.

In reply to Dax H:


I've lived in the alps (at 1200m) for 4 years and run 4x winter tyres on both cars from October to around April. I can probably count on one hand the amount of times I've put snow chains (or socks on my Volvo as can't get chains to fit) on* - and most of that was just to reverse out of a parked incline after it had snowed a lot and iced up under the wheels.

You see tourists putting them on at first sign of a bit of slush on the road (I guess they've maybe still got summer tyres on but even so) - winter tyres aren't magic but with some practice, experience and a bit of common sense you can get through most stuff without resorting to chains.

For the record, I run Nokian tyres (not sure which ones) as they're recommended by my local mechanic and I can't fault them. I just get him to switch them every time (I don't bother with steels) as the price is negligible. They're not that cheap (but not outrageous either) but then they're a bit pimpy (wide and thin). My other car is a Passat with bog standard wheels and still has some that I got from Kwik Fit in December 2011. I think they cost less than £300 for the 4.

*that said, when I've needed chains, I've really needed them and would've been buggered without them.

In reply to yorkshireman:

I do most of my work in the dale's accessing sewage work's, they are pretty much all down tiny unadopted lanes or Farm tracks in the middle of nowhere. Like you I maybe only use them once a year or so but they do get you out.
For the cost I don't think it's worth not having a set in the boot. Especially when in my case some of the sites only get visited by operations once a week and it can take 15 mins to drive to an area with a mobile signal but of course you can't drive so you have to walk.

In reply to alasdair19:

Definitely 4 tyres!±±!±!

Me being tight fisted I only bought a pair the first time. Brilliant performance in snow, easy driving. Kept them on all year.

Next year confidence in snow outdid the handling of 2 tyres only. Driving fairly confidently into some six inches of snow the back end started to go from side to side. Oh, dear!!!! Luckily I stayed in the road but from then on I've had 4 tyres. And no similiar problems.

In reply to alasdair19:
Repeating what many have said: buy 4 and if money is tight buy 4 used rather than 2 new. I got a set of 4 BMW alloys with Michelin Alpins (6mm tread, tyres only 3 years old) a couple of years ago for a couple of hundred quid. There are always lots of tyres, sometimes on wheels, on ebay.

A pair of snow socks are worth having in the car as a get out jail card if conditions are worse than winter tyres can cope with, but I haven't come across that yet.

In reply to Dax H:

Yep you're right of course, if it's really, really bad then they're the best at the job but if it's a choice between chains and tyres then it's tyres every time.

In reply to yorkshireman:

Never needed chains in years of winter driving, almost got stuck trying drive out of steep car park once, on polish snow/ice, just as it thawed, even with studded winter tyres it was tough tread filling with slush etc , problem solved by reversing to get the weight back over the drive wheels. Much quicker than chains. If our winter tyres start to get low on tread than we run them into spring and buy new the following winter.

In reply to alasdair19:

I drive a Transporter T5

I run summer tyres on alloys from Mid April to mid Oct. I then swap to winter tyres on steel from mid Oct to Mid April.

It is well worth doing as although I live in the South West, I head up to Scotland over the winter and I have never needed snow chains etc. Good Winter tyres are well worth it.

In reply to alasdair19:

Was amazed at just how much difference winter tyres make, not only when driving but also I am 100% certain that I would have squashed a pedestrian (walking in centre of road, on a blind downhill bend), or spun and hit the roadside fence if I hadn't had the benefits of winter tyres and ABS.

We looked into getting just two and the wisdom is that whilst it may drive OK it's actually dangerous as it gives you a false sense of confidence in the handing of your vehicle. Remember they aren't just for snow and also improve handing on wet cold roads (ie typical British winters).

Rather than fitting tyres (and paying twice a year for a garage to swap the tyres over) look at the cost of a cheap set of steel wheels so you can simply jack the car up and swap the wheels over yourself.

In reply to alasdair19:

As an aside, for anyone considering the benefit of winter tyres, watch this.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/66692/winter-tyres-4x4-grip-test-vide...

In reply to alasdair19:

Don't think they're specifically winter tyres, but I run General Grabber AT2s on my Disco all year round, and haven't ever had any problem with snow and ice, or mud or rock.