New Winter Tyres Fitted

[Guest]

After some deliberation and raiding of piggy bank, we bought 4 tyres from Oponeo. At a cost of £160 and free delivery, I could not say no. Took the car to Mr. T in Shrewsbury (Greenhous) very early this morning and had them fitted (summer tyres removed) for £24. The difference in them is quite apparent, when driving over the crappy roads to our house. A lot less jolting and banging from the suspension as the new tread soaks up the -lesser- bumps. Delivery of the tyres was spot on... good delivery time, and very pleased with Oponeo. Would recommend them to anyone wanting decent tyres at a decent price.

Our tyres -for the 1.0 manual iQ- are 165-75-R15's.

[Cyker]

What ones did you get?

[Guest]

What ones did you get?

DOH! I thought I had put the description down...

They are W-Drive (Winter) Yokohama 165-75-R15's. Having used them a few times I do feel I can say that the bumps we feel are lessened somewhat by that winter tread. I don't know if it's my imagination or not, but when I inspected the tread pattern I was very impressed with the depth of it. Also, the sound off road tyres make on tarmac -as in Land Rover- reminds me of the sound from these new tyres. The grip certainly feels more secure, on bends particularly -not that I go racing around corners.

Weirdly too, the fuel economy has been creeping back up, which seems odd as I would have thought the summer tyre tread would be more economical, less rolling resistance. But then, that is likely down to the temperature changes we keep having.

[Cyker]

Nice :)

I think winter tyres have a deeper tread, and they're normally a bit softer so that might account for the nicer ride. Summer tyres, esp. LRR's and XL's, tend to run noticeably harder!

The fuel economy thing is kinda weird - You're not the only person to have found this as a few others have also said their mpg has gone up on winter tyres. The rubber is both softer and more flexible so you'd expect more drag and rolling resistance!

The only thing I can think of is the tyre pressures may have gone down in the old tyres due to the cold, but are put back up to spec in the newly fitted winter tyres, but this is pure speculation

[redmini963]

With the weather so mild at the moment I'm holding on a little longer to put mine on.

[Cyker]

TBH it depends on where you live; If you live north of brummyland then it's worth putting them on as you're more likely to get a sudden snow flurry.

Down here where I am it's not even worth getting winter tyres as it never gets cold enough! And if there was a freak snow flurry the whole city stops working anyway

On a slight tangent, I'm still running my 'summer tyre' Dunlop StreetResponse 2's and I think they are even better than the old Continentals I used to have; Certainly an order of magnitude better than the crappy Cooper CS2's I had on before! The grip and confidence in wet and dry is amazing even at this time of year. :D

It was absolutely ****** down yesterday on the way home and everyone was going quite slow, and when we hit a 2-lane gently curved on-ramp everyone dropped to 40mph, but I stayed at 60mph because I could feel the car wasn't even slipping a little (Which it would have on the crappy CS2's. Amazing how much difference tyres make!), overtook 6 cars and got into a wide open empty bit of the M25!

(It's always nice when you find yourself in a clear gap between blocks of traffic on the motorway; Could see a big block of tail lights ahead of me and a mass of head lights behind me but managed to stay in my little bubble of calm (Aside from a few blatantly speed-limit breaking BMWs/Audis) for the rest of the way home by staying at ~60mph :D)

[Wiz201]

Mine are always put on from November with these sudden climate changes from one month to the next. They can cope with the odd mild spell and they do improve the ride in my Aygo too. Have had two sets over 5 years and won't go without them now. Only had to buy the second set due to a change of car and wheel size.

[Guest]

Nice :)

I think winter tyres have a deeper tread, and they're normally a bit softer so that might account for the nicer ride. Summer tyres, esp. LRR's and XL's, tend to run noticeably harder!

The fuel economy thing is kinda weird - You're not the only person to have found this as a few others have also said their mpg has gone up on winter tyres. The rubber is both softer and more flexible so you'd expect more drag and rolling resistance!

The only thing I can think of is the tyre pressures may have gone down in the old tyres due to the cold, but are put back up to spec in the newly fitted winter tyres, but this is pure speculation

The fuel economy is all over the place at the moment. We got close to 60mpg last weekend, now it's back down to around the 57 mark. To be expected I guess with the weather also all over the place. Gave the car a much needed clean on Friday, maybe that will help reduce the drag... Having to travel a good few miles on country roads, covered in crap from tractors and careless drivers hitting the grass verges and dragging lumps of soil onto the roads, it felt like it was hardly worth cleaning it. The wheels are getting much worse too, whilst cleaning, a large piece of the coating on one of the wheels came off near the wheel nuts. Jobs I want to get done on the car are beginning to pile up, all requiring cash. My wife has already called it a money pit, but she was joking. It has the potential to be if I am let loose on spending, which I won't be of course, shame.

[Soeley]

Bob, can I confirm you paid £160 for 4 tyres. I have just looked at Black-circles and for my 175/60/16 size they are coming at £84 each

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Soeley said:

Bob, can I confirm you paid £160 for 4 tyres. I have just looked at Black-circles and for my 175/60/16 size they are coming at £84 each

Yes Mark, that's correct. Oponeo At the moment they are being sold at £41 each, includes free delivery. I think -but can't be sure- that mine came from Germany. Hope you find the link works.

[Soeley]

Thanks Bob, the price difference must be just down to size difference. Oponeo aren't listing any for 175/60/16, but out of curiosity 205/45/17 (my summer wheel size) are £91 each. Anyway I have just ordered two from my local tyre place, same price as BlackCircles, they will be in on Monday.

The current Falkens I have on the front at the moment feel terrible this year, I can't seem to pull out of a junction without wheel spinning on a wet road and on some bends I am feeling the steering go light. So going of your recommendation and being how impressed with the Yokohama BluEarth I have on my 17" wheels I took the plunge. Incidentally the summer tyres didn't spin on wet roads, perhaps I should have just left them on :o