Winter Tyres Or All Weather Tyres That Is The Question

[catboy]

Hi to all,I would assume this subject has been raised before so I know someone has the answer.I have a Auris hybrid the tyre size is 225/45/17 and I would like to know which winter/all weather tyres are most suitable.I know it's important to get the right tyre to achieve the best milage so if someone could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.Are they as good in snow as the tyre company's say they are and are the worth the money,I have never used any before so your comments would be appreciated.

[FROSTYBALLS]

The latest Which? report (January 2014) for winter tyres in that size have the following two tyres as Best Buys (percentage scores in brackets):

Continental ContiWinterContact TS850 (70%)

Bridgestone Blizzak LM-32 S (68%)

Both had four stars out of five for wear.

Twelve models of tyre were tested in this size.

The Michelin Alpin A4 missed out on being a Best Buy, scored 67% but scored five stars for wear.

Scores based on handling on dry and wet roads, on snow and ice, noise, fuel economy and wear.

[CPN]

To answer the second part of catboy's question, the answer is yes. They are as good as they are made out to be. I have many years of experience with winter tyres over a range of cars and in all cases, I wouldn't have felt safe without them on snowy or icy roads. The grip levels (compared to standard tyres) can sometimes be astonishing on packed ice and fresh snow...

[MEP's Yaris GS]

As Colin has said, I'd never be without winter tyres again. Your original question though, winters or all season, it would have to be winters. All season tyres are jack of all trades and masters of none IMO.

Ideally you should have 2 sets of wheels, one with winters on and the other with summers, as most avid winter tyre users do, if however that's not possible it's more advisable to have winter tyres all year around rather than anything else from bother personal experience, and that of the professionals.

[CPN]

I would completely agree with Jonathan about all season tyres and also about having two full sets of wheels. You'd be surprised how cheaply you can get a brand new set ready to bolt on these days. Also, don't be tempted to just put a pair on the driving axle alone. BOTH ends of the car are important for control.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Extract from the Continental website:

"When should I fit winter tyres to my car?

It is recommended that you switch to winter tyres in the UK between October and April.

If you are reluctant to change tyres and have nowhere to store summer tyres when they are not in use, you are better off using winter tyres all year round.

Winter tyres are as quiet and comfortable as summer tyres and, thanks to sophisticated compound technology, do not wear any more quickly.

There is a slight trade off with stopping distances as a winter tyre does not stop as quickly in the dry as a summer tyre, however, on balance if it is not possible to switch tyres in the winter, experts say you are better off with winter tyres all year round. This is because the difference in stopping distances of summer tyres in winter is far greater than for winter tyres in the summer."

[Guest]

Interesting subject, so if only two tyres are needed and I wanted to change to winters, where would they be fitted until the other two needed replacing, if that is a feasible option?

[FROSTYBALLS]

See: http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/Video-Can-you-fit-just-2-winter-tyres.htm

[catboy]

thanks for your interest everyone,do you know if there is any preference in brand.I know there is mpg fall in the winter but is there winter tyre more suitable for hybrids.

[FROSTYBALLS]

The Auris Hybrid with this size tyre doesn't come with Eco tyres as OE - fitments being Continental SportContact 5 or Dunlop SP Sport Full Response.

Fuel economy ratings for winter tyres in this size tend to be around the E, F or G standard - probably reflecting the different compounds used and the additional grip in poor conditions - whereas about the best fuel economy rating for summer tyres in this size is C.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

thanks for your interest everyone,do you know if there is any preference in brand.I know there is mpg fall in the winter but is there winter tyre more suitable for hybrids.

I'm very much a if its not broke don't fix it person, so I've always used Vredestein SnowTrac3 tyres. Never noticed a negative impact over summer tyres re MPG personally.

[johalareewi]

There are Low Rolling Resistance winter tyres just like there are LRR summer tyres.

However, in the UK a lot of LRR winter tyre sizes are not available (but they are in Europe).

It can be worth checking German or Scandinavian (they have to have winter tyres in the winter) tyre websites to see what they have and if they are sourcable in the UK.

On my gen3 Prius (15" wheels) I have used Michelin Alpin A4 tyres (LRR) the past 3 winters and mpgs are as good as the LRR summer tyres.

[PeteB]

...Ideally you should have 2 sets of wheels, one with winters on and the other with summers...

why not just have the tyres taken off the same wheels and swapped twice a year?

[Heidfirst]

because that will cost you £80+ a year (apart from not being great for the tyres/wheels). After a couple of years the wheels will have paid for themselves.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

As Scott has said Pete, typical cost (especially around here) is £10 a wheel for fitting and balancing. So at £80 a year that soon mounts up. To date with pervious cars I've always been lucky and got a set of steel wheels for £50-£60. The Prius is proving troublesome though, so looking at getting new winter tyres and alloys from mytyres.co.uk for about £450 all in delivered.

Better than the laughable £500 all these eBay Prius breakers seem to want for OEM 15" Prius alloys.

[johalareewi]

because that will cost you £80+ a year (apart from not being great for the tyres/wheels). After a couple of years the wheels will have paid for themselves.

While having the tyres swapped every 6 months costs a bit vs. a second set of wheels I can swap myself, my wheels do get balanced and the tracking checked every 6 months. And because I am a regular at my local tyre place, I get a discount ;) So for me, it's not as bad as £80+

[Grumpy Cabbie]

So can one buy a set of wheels for the Prius from Toyota? I think they're missing a beat here. Why not do a reasonably priced 'winter tyre kit' for £499 and sell a set of 4 wheels and winter tyres. Many people would be happy to trust the Toyota choice and Toyota could negotiate a good discount to make profit.

I'd look to get a set of wheels and tyres that I can keep in my garage ready. I don't like the massive number of wheels available as you can never be sure they'll fit or be any good. And like others have said, the second hand price on eBay is laughable.

[PeteB]

... looking at getting new winter tyres and alloys from mytyres.co.uk for about £450 all in delivered...

Thanks Jon - do they only do 16" steels?

Do you know about TopCashBack? If you go to Mytyres site via them, you'd get about £13 cashback on £450 after a few weeks just for clicking via TopCashBack.

Many hotels firms are in it too. I get well over £100 a year back just for clicking through them whenever I buy via the net.

If you decide to join, using this link will get me a small fee for the introduction: :D

http://www.topcashback.co.uk/ref/PeteMB

[MEP's Yaris GS]

So can one buy a set of wheels for the Prius from Toyota? I think they're missing a beat here. Why not do a reasonably priced 'winter tyre kit' for £499 and sell a set of 4 wheels and winter tyres. Many people would be happy to trust the Toyota choice and Toyota could negotiate a good discount to make profit.

I'd look to get a set of wheels and tyres that I can keep in my garage ready. I don't like the massive number of wheels available as you can never be sure they'll fit or be any good. And like others have said, the second hand price on ebay is laughable.

For my PiP I've been told there are only the alloys available (15") at £1050ish supplied and fitted (although not sure what tyres they'll be fitted with). So I've decided against this route.

... looking at getting new winter tyres and alloys from mytyres.co.uk for about £450 all in delivered...

Thanks Jon - do they only do 16" steels?

Do you know about TopCashBack? If you go to Mytyres site via them, you'd get about £13 cashback on £450 after a few weeks just for clicking via TopCashBack.

Many hotels firms are in it too. I get well over £100 a year back just for clicking through them whenever I buy via the net.

If you decide to join, using this link will get me a small fee for the introduction: :D

http://www.topcashback.co.uk/ref/PeteMB

I'm already on Topcash back Pete, and use a work based affiliate cash back site which still works with eBay purchases also :)

The wheels I've been looking at on mytyres are 15" alloys, they seem to only do the steels in 16" which I don't really want as it starts to get messy regarding insurance etc. At least I can confirm they're they same spec, even if not OEM, if sizes etc don't change

[PeteB]

I see MyTyres come out at £506 all in for 4 15" Enzo W alloys fitted with 4 Continental WinterContact-TS-850 195/65 R15 91 H which seem to come at the top (or 2nd) in several recent tests (vying for 1st place with Nokian WR D3).

But I'm waiting to see what my dealer will do for the Contis swapping onto my existing wheels and either storing the summer tyres or supplying bags for them.

Due to back and lower leg problems (bending down is a problem) I don't really want to get involved with swapping them myself.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

Yes, it is a bit physically involved changing the wheels over, I've been know to break out a sweat even in sub 10C temps in doing it, and having 2 cars to do it on does become a bit of a chore, but still very much worth it imo.

[RunningInPleasePass]

Ask your local dealer about winter tyres.

With the last Auris I owned, I bought an additional set of winter tyres from them, Dunlop as I remember, they swapped them and stored the summer ones for me free of charge.

As an aside, I preferred the ride on the winter tyres, they gave just as good MPG and were quieter!

[delbois]

I got my 2013 Auris Excel hybrid in March this year and kept an eye on eBay for a second-hand set of identical Toyota alloys. I eventually got a near pristine set for just over £300 and recently fitted a set of Michelin Alpin 5's for about £120 each. I will change the wheels myself twice a year. I intend to keep the car long term so I reckon it's worth it for improved safety and peace of mind.

Ideally I would have gone for a set of Icon 15" steel wheels but I understand Toyota won't 'approve' them for the Excel and this can give rise to insurance issues. I also recall reading that some wheels may not fit because of the size of hybrid's brake calipers.

A word of caution - with winter tyres in snowy conditions you have to be particularly aware of tailgaters as your stopping distance is likely to be far less than theirs!

[PeteB]

Hmmm - I've been rear-ended twice in snow when I've been on SUMMER tyres!

[MEP's Yaris GS]

TBH thats mainly their problem though, not going to be going as your fault if they've rear ended you. Luckily never been rear ended in the snow myself, although have been during the summer on 3 different occasions.

Best experience for other driver misjudgement I had with winters though was going along a dual carriageway, inside lane clean but wet (no different to driving in rain) and they're all doing 20mph, swing out into the outside lane, fully of slush, get up to a safe 35-40, overtake 9 cars, and in the middle is mr boy racer in his clio cup sports thing with alloys and low profile summer tyres. Obviously thinks to himself if he can do that then I can also, pulls out behind to follow, fish tails everywhere nearly loosing it and very sheepishly pulls back into line with the other traffic. Never laughed so hard! I get in front of them all, where there is no other traffic, back into the inside lane and back up to 60mph on the wet. That was progress.

The only annoyance with winter rubber is those without it slowing your progress down.