Winter Tyres on C-HR

[DavidinDerbyshire]

Having just had a very negative experience of driving on fresh snow, slush and rutted snow in my C-HR I am looking for real life testimonies to winter tyres on this model.  I have rarely driven such a poor roadholding car in these conditions. I've a pretty good track record of winter driving in the police and in my working life as a journalist, on more than one occasion reporting live from am Astra radio car on stretches of road blocked by stranded lorries so I have never felt the need for winter tyres. But, hey, the C-HR was a nightmare!

Would winter rubber have made such a difference?  I have a reluctance not only over the cost but also the problem of storing the unused tyres since I have a car port but no garage.  

When we had a hybrid Yaris with the motors on front and rear it was never a problem. The Auris, our last car, was poor. But the C=HR is HoRrible !

[Roy124]

David, on your penultimate, you might be able to have your tyre supplier store them. 

[TonyHSD]

It’s never been down to the car but always down to the tyres on the car, even though all cars are different and there is always a slight difference in behaviour between the different cars in poor winter conditions what makes a huge difference between cars and handling number one factor are the tyres. Winter tyres will change your car to the point that you will be more confident driving this CHR than Range Rover with summer tyres👍 You may also look at all season tyres like Michelin cross climate 2 or Goodyear vector 4 season, these type of tyres are almost as good as proper winter tyres and best of all can be used all year round plus they are more comfortable and quieter than typical summer one on rough roads. 👍

[pennine_rex]

I don't have experience of the CHR, but I've used winter tyres for the last 10 years on various cars. The improvement in grip and confidence in driving in snowy conditions is huge. You never feel like the car will lose control completely like when using summer tyres on snow. I'd take winter tyres over 4 wheel drive any day. When I first started using winter tyres, all season tyres weren't as good as they are now. As Tony suggested, I would also consider all season tyres as they save the hassle and expense of either having two sets of wheels or changing the tyres over twice a year. In fact I've just fitted some Vredestein Quadrac tyres to our Yaris hybrid. I would have preferred Michelin cross climate 2's, but they were bafflingly expensive in the size I needed.

[forkingabout]

Michelin Cross Climate are my preferred tyres for all year round. 

Had them on my previous car & got them on my current car, there very good in the snow - the new Cross Climate 2 is meant to be even better ( 3rd generation of Cross Climate tyre ) 

If there good enough for fitment to various Police forces patrol vehicles then there good enough for me. 

[Stopeter44]

10 minutes ago, forkingabout said:

Had them on my previous car & got them on my current car, there very good in the snow - the new Cross Climate 2 is meant to be even better ( 3rd generation of Cross Climate tyre  

If there good enough for fitment to various Police forces patrol vehicles then there good enough for me. 

I have some Nokian, but checking with Nokian told me they wouldn't do in Summer, I looked at the idea of having a 2nd set of rims with the winter set, but I'm wondering I my best bet is Michelin Cross Climate 2. They would save me a lot of faff, and at the end of the day, or rather over time, some considerable money, because switching tyres on the same set of rims, unless my dealer will do it for free, which I think is unlikely, costs me about 120€ p.a.

[Cyker]

Winter tyres make a massive difference. At the end of the day the CH-R is just another SUV hausfrauenpanzer, not a proper off-roader, so it won't be any better than a normal car in inclement conditions, so just like a normal car it needs winter tyres on snow.

If you live north of Milton Keynes it's definitely worth considering having two sets of tyres - For whatever reason, modern summer tyres seem far far worse in snow and ice than they used to be 30+ years ago. I can get away without them down here as our roads are well gritted and it's rare to get more than a few days of snow a year, and even rarer for it to hang around for more than a few days (And when it does everything shuts down anyway!), but the further north you go the more essential they're becoming.

Most of the country can get away with all seasons, esp. things like the CrossClimates, but especially northern areas would really benefit from a proper winter tyre...

 

 

 

[TonyHSD]

4 minutes ago, Stopeter44 said:

I have some Nokian, but checking with Nokian told me they wouldn't do in Summer, I looked at the idea of having a 2nd set of rims with the winter set, but I'm wondering I my best bet is Michelin Cross Climate 2. They would save me a lot of faff, and at the end of the day, or rather over time, some considerable money, because switching tyres on the same set of rims, unless my dealer will do it for free, which I think is unlikely, costs me about 120€ p.a.

That’s right, I used to fit summer and winter tyres on the same wheels but had a friend of mine mechanic who had taken care of at the fraction of the price, since he left the business I had no choice but to buy another set of wheels and do change myself, two sets now on season 3 with the winter and next spring will be 3th season on my summer tyres. However thinking after both sets are worn to switch to all season with the new wheels a I have. Weather recently been unpredictable and changes so often that all season all weather tyres should be chosen by default even from the manufacturer, these summer tyres most popular in uk and Europe not suitable at all , they are only ok at temperatures over 10C°. 👍

[Stopeter44]

17 minutes ago, Cyker said:

If you live north of Milton Keynes it's definitely worth considering having two sets of tyres - For whatever reason, modern summer tyres seem far far worse in snow and ice than they used to be 30+ years ago. I can get away without them down here as our roads are well gritted and it's rare to get more than a few days of snow a year, and even rarer for it to hang around for more than a few days (And when it does everything shuts down anyway!), but the further north you go the more essential they're becoming.

Most of the country can get away with all seasons, esp. things like the CrossClimates, but especially northern areas would really benefit from a proper winter tyre...

I always thought Watford Gap was where the North started, but my wife tells me it's Aix en Provence where the true north truly starts! In the Rhone valley, you can get wicked snow storms at relatively low altitudes, and as you and Tony say summer tyres are not really going to cut it all year round. When I lived in Paris, I never felt the need for Winter tyres in about 10 years of driving.

I'm going to go through this winter with the Nokian WR D4, which were brilliant when I was at 1800 metres on packed snow and/or melting snow, but I don't go that high that often. 

We had snow this morning, I didn't take the car out today, there was no need, and in any case the only snow that settled was on the garage roof, for all of 30 minutes!

[Auris James]

I have winter tyres on my 1996 Volvo 940 RWDrive automatic for the last 5 years.

First winter on Summer tyres it was spinning the rear tyres on the slightest incline and getting a bit tail happy, even in slow 10mph speeds.

I bought a set of used Volvo alloys and bought 4x new Goodyear Ultra Grip 9's.  A pure Winter tyre.

What a revelation! I looked for the steepest hills and lanes in the Beast From the East and it transformed the car into a 4WD. Could stop on a steep hill, a lit bit of rear wheel slip, then feel the tyres bite into the snow and pull away easily! The best thing is you could steer and stop too! I have them on still, as didn't get a chance to remove them for my Summer set.

I have a 2015 Auris Hybrid TS and decided to just have summer tyres on and use the Volvo if roads are bad.

James.👍

[DavidinDerbyshire]

Thank you all contributors for this extremely useful discussion. I will probably go for the 4 season option since my present tyres are on decent alloy wheels and I don't want to add the cost of 4 wheels to the bill. So off I go to see who can supply and fit in Chesterfield area etc and I'll let you all know what happens. As I write the snow is coming down heavily  and settling so it's a good time to be thinking and acting. 🤞

[TonyHSD]

1 hour ago, DavidinDerbyshire said:

Thank you all contributors for this extremely useful discussion. I will probably go for the 4 season option since my present tyres are on decent alloy wheels and I don't want to add the cost of 4 wheels to the bill. So off I go to see who can supply and fit in Chesterfield area etc and I'll let you all know what happens. As I write the snow is coming down heavily  and settling so it's a good time to be thinking and acting. 🤞

It is a good time to buy new tyres, I believe there are still offers on online tyre sites like https://www.blackcircles.com, https://www.costco.co.uk/tiresearch, https://www.mytyres.co.uk, eBay with discount codes and local fitting in the garage of your choice, or perhaps when you have an offer you can call your local Toyota dealer and they have usually a price promise to match or beat that price. 👍✅

Good luck 

[preperationlaunch]

1 hour ago, DavidinDerbyshire said:

Thank you all contributors for this extremely useful discussion. I will probably go for the 4 season option since my present tyres are on decent alloy wheels and I don't want to add the cost of 4 wheels to the bill. So off I go to see who can supply and fit in Chesterfield area etc and I'll let you all know what happens. As I write the snow is coming down heavily  and settling so it's a good time to be thinking and acting. 🤞

For what it's worth, the CrossClimates are rated as good enough to be used where law requires winter tyres in much of Europe. They have the 3 peaks and snowflake marking.

[DavidinDerbyshire]

On 11/27/2021 at 6:05 PM, Cyker said:

CH-R is just another SUV hausfrauenpanzer

I just love that housewifetank appellation. Honest, when the C-HR came out both my wife and I dismissed it as a hairdressers' car which is what I suppose your description adds up to. But driving it now after 5000 miles I think it's not necessarily a wolf in sheep's clothing but maybe a very robust dog fox. I don't throw cars around the road like I used to but I still like to do A to B in a short, efficient trip and my Excel model certainly does that.  Parked between two 4x4 pickups in a hospital car park this afternoon it felt very diminutive and not at all a tank.  At least I could still open a door!  Why do folk drive those damn great gas guzzlers? They always remind me of the joke about the man who always opened both garage doors to get his bike out. (The rest of that story's not for telling on this Forum). This was the biggest "car" I drove and I still claim to be the only driver to have done a three point turn in Downing St with a double decker! And round the Arc de Triomphe !

[DavidinDerbyshire]

Had to settle for Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons Gen 2 and I've warned my 15 kids there won't be any Christmas this year. LoL.

Serious hassle getting to find a dealer who could fit them this week. National Tyres wouldn't answer the phone, nor did Asda Tyres, Micheldever Tyres got their knickers in a twist and recommended a summer tyre, all the others needed a week's notice or were quoting well over £200 a tyre. Purely because the car's needed on the road this week I accepted a quote £20 a tyre more than a local fitter said I could get from Asda (if they'd answered the phone) who would still need a week's notice. So thanks Wingerworth Tyres..at £747 for four. I've kept the summer tyres which still have at least one season in them in spite of two punctures the fitter discovered, a nail and a screw which sooner or later would have caused me grief! He will charge £30 for changing them to get some more life out of them next May. The difference was immediate with a quieter, smoother ride. I almost hope it snows again !  Thanks again to all concerned!

[yossarian247]

On 11/30/2021 at 1:33 PM, DavidinDerbyshire said:

Had to settle for Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons Gen 2 and I've warned my 15 kids there won't be any Christmas this year. LoL.

Serious hassle getting to find a dealer who could fit them this week. National Tyres wouldn't answer the phone, nor did Asda Tyres, Micheldever Tyres got their knickers in a twist and recommended a summer tyre, all the others needed a week's notice or were quoting well over £200 a tyre. Purely because the car's needed on the road this week I accepted a quote £20 a tyre more than a local fitter said I could get from Asda (if they'd answered the phone) who would still need a week's notice. So thanks Wingerworth Tyres..at £747 for four. I've kept the summer tyres which still have at least one season in them in spite of two punctures the fitter discovered, a nail and a screw which sooner or later would have caused me grief! He will charge £30 for changing them to get some more life out of them next May. The difference was immediate with a quieter, smoother ride. I almost hope it snows again !  Thanks again to all concerned!

I've used Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons and Michelin Crosslimates on various cars over the past decade or so and I would say the Vector 4 Seasons have the edge over the CrossClimates on snow, whereas the CrossClimates are slightly better in the wet. Both are very good tyres though, and I tend to fit whichever of the two I can find the cheapest.

The first time I used Vector 4 Seasons was during winter 2010-11 on a front wheel drive Skoda Octavia I owned at the time. The car would just cut through any snow it was faced with on those tyres, the only limitation was ground clearance. Conversely my neighbours had a LR Freelander with summer tyres on and I remember them backing out onto the road and sitting there stationary with all 4 wheels spinning! In the end they had to get the whole family out to push it back onto their drive. In the fwd Octavia I could just calmly back out and set off up the road through the snow drifts 🙂

[Phil T]

I put Hankook Kinergy 4s on my Prius last year. In German mag tests they came out best overall. They replaced and are much much quieter than the Goodyear Vector 4, and the Goodyear tyres started delaminating with 4 mm of tread. Overall I would not touch Goodyears again. The Hankook were much better handling tyre too. Shame that CHR tyres are twice the price of the Prius 😖 

[forkingabout]

There's an all new Continental All Season Contact tyre due to be released later in 2023 - I might consider it for my C-HR that was factory fitted with Continental Premium Contact 6 tyres.

Other then that Michelin Cross Climate 2.

[TonyHSD]

No tyre can survive more than 3 years on uk roads if the car been used regularly during winters. The unnecessary amount of salt and grit thrown on daily basis simply eats the roads, the cars and the tyres and helps nothing with safety. Any tyre from any brand won’t last long and it will develop a cracks on the inner side wall and along the treads.