Could anybody clarify for me please (no arguments on whether I REALLY need them)?
I have a Mondeo that takes a 235/40 R18 tyre. Do I need the same size for winter tyres or do I need to swap rims as well to something narrower? There seems little choice for winter tyres at that size. I've seen some Kumho (sp?) at that size and just shy of 150 per corner fitted - are they any good?
Thanks
uk prices are a rip off!
you fit the same size. on the continent they have steel wheels for winter use, just to protect their alloys. some go skinnier, but that's up to you. they are not snow tyres, just more silicon and more aggressive tread pattern, so give better grip in temperatures below 7degrees.
150 per corner fitted
At £600, I'd be ballanceing out the "it could be childs face" Vs how much is your insurance excess Vs will they encourage you to drive in conditions where you really shouldn't thus injuring the childs face anyway? Bear in mind they don't work much better on snow or ice than normal tyres? They're just an improvement on normal tyres in colder weather, so while narrower tyres will help in snow, they're still not designed for it.
Bear in mind they don't work much better on snow or ice than normal tyres?
You have data to back that up obviously.
To the OP.
No, you don't need to have identical size tyres. As long as the overall rolling circumference is within a few percent. There are online calculators to make life easy for you.
i just bought a set of 4 steel wheels with avon winter tyres fitted... £488 delivered. They are en-route now, should arrive later this week.
Dave
You can either fit a slightly different size, or get new rims. Will affect your speedo though unless you have some means of calibrating it. Possibly insurance too I dunno.
Best tyres without doubt for us are Nokian WR G2, I got mine for £90/corner in 215/55/R16.
Are there many of us that actually need winter tyres in the UK? I cannot see the point.
(no arguments on whether I REALLY need them)?
Are there many of us that actually need winter tyres in the UK? I cannot see the point
To answer the OP's question, yes you can use a different size tyre, just so long as your rim is designed for the chosen size and your car has clearance for it when turning (you should be able to extract these pieces of info from the manual).
Cheers
A happy owner of Mondeo with spare set of rims with winter tyres. 
They'll be going on December-ish
No experience of the Kumho brand, however the Conti Winter contacts I bought last winter were great.
Not everyone "needs" a winter tyre, but for those that do or for piece of mind I think they are a price worth paying. Mind you, I only paid £320 fitted for 4x205/55 fitted.
You have data to back that up obviously
Pffft this is STW I dont need data to back up my baseless opinions!
Do you have any data to prove the oposite?
Snow/Ice tyres have a blocky tread and metal studs
M&S/winter tyres are designed to clear a bit more water/slush from the tread and work a little better at cooler temperatures.
I'm not saying dont use them, I'm saying there seems to be an impression that they'll give magical levels of grip when in reality the only stuff that'll grip on snow/ice are chains or studded tyres (which are ilegal on cleared roads). And you don't suddenly see cars in hedgerows everytime the temperature drops below +7degC. What you do see is cars in hedgerows when it snows and people are determined to get out regardless of the conditions.
I doubt that I *need* them for general winter weather, but half way through the snowy armageddon last year my dad had them fitted to his car.
On summer tyres, he could barely move along, and got stranded 1/4 mile from his house because there was a slight dip in the road.
On winter tyres, he was back to normal... still quite careful (obviously), but pulling away, steering and braking performance were excellent, and he could actually use his car, rather than it being a useless lump.
Dave
^^^^ this!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlYEMH10Z4s
Convinces me
Are there many of us that actually need winter tyres in the UK? I cannot see the point.
MF - grip better below 7 or 10C or so, which could save your life. Also better in heavy rain and mud. But the simplest one is that summer tyres wear much more quickly in the cold, faster than winter tyres, so if you run two sets of tyres you will get more than twice the lifetime out of them saving you money AND be safer AND be able to drive in the snow. Not only that, but they are way better on ice which that video shows - how many stories have you heard where people 'lost it on some black ice'? I've heard loads.
If you can afford the initial outlay it's a no brainer.
thisisnotaspoon - Member
You have data to back that up obviously
Pffft this is STW I dont need data to back up my baseless opinions!Do you have any data to prove the oposite?
Snow/Ice tyres have a blocky tread and metal studs
M&S/winter tyres are designed to clear a bit more water/slush from the tread and work a little better at cooler temperatures.
I'm not saying dont use them, I'm saying there seems to be an impression that they'll give magical levels of grip when in reality the only stuff that'll grip on snow/ice are chains or studded tyres (which are ilegal on cleared roads). And you don't suddenly see cars in hedgerows everytime the temperature drops below +7degC. What you do see is cars in hedgerows when it snows and people are determined to get out regardless of the conditions.
Winter tyres work WAY better on snow & ice.
Having driven cars in North Bavaria during winter when there was at least several inches of snowfall most nights, I can say that they definitely work.
You could almost drive 'normally' with them fitted. The area I lived in was pretty hilly, but we had no problems driving with winter tyres.
If I lived in that Scotland I'd get them but I'm inside the M25 and it's pointlessI'd rather work from home for a few days..
M&S rated tyres come in studded and non-studded varieties. Studs are better on ice of course but not necessarily on snow. In Finland they mostly use studs but not everyone does, and the studded tyres have the same kind of tread as the non studded ones. Watch the video to show how well NON studded winter tyres work on ice.
And they DO give pretty much magical levels of grip, compared to summer tyres.
and it's pointless
You been reading this thread? People are queueing up to tell you why it's not pointless.
I'd be looking at getting a set of steelies as alfabus has done.
Pointless in the context that I drove without any issues in last years snow as down here it just wasn't that bad. It lasted a week and was only really bad on two days.
I got some new Michelin Alpin winter tyres free on a set of alloys I bought in the summer of 2009. I sceptical of the benefits of winter tyres but over the last 2 bad winters I never got stuck once in the snow. I found them a lot better than the Michelin PS3's and Vreds Ultrac Sessanta in the cold and wet of winter when it wasn't snowing providing both better handling and shorter braking distances.
I think I will have another 3 winters out of them and will continue to use winter tyres.
If you are going to go for it, do it quickly. Winter tyres are only manufactured in the summer, by now they are starting to sell out, as there aren't many folk in the UK who use - them so stocks are low from the outset.
I live in Switzerland where winter tyres are higly recommended (basically if you crash because you don't have them your insurance is invalid).
I had the same problem as the OP and bought some 17" alloys and winter tyres for my Golf. It worked out cheaper than buying 18" winter tyres in my case (and would have been much cheaper if I'd bought steel wheels).
The only problem I had was as the Golf was an R32 I had to be very careful that the smaller alloys didn't foul the brake calipers. Unless the Mondeo is an ST24 that shouldn't be a problem?
I never really drove the car on snow on summer tyres for a comparison but I never had a problem with the car in some pretty poor conditions. They DO work on ice BTW (up to a point) as there are lots of little sipes on the blocks that get compressed as the tyre rolls and they act like lots of little suckers...
I'm saying there seems to be an impression that they'll give magical levels of grip when in reality the only stuff that'll grip on snow/ice are chains or studded tyres
I'd totally disgaree with this based on an experience I had last year. Two Golfs one my mates, one mine; about six inches of snow on the road up to my parents house (a mile or so, very steep in places). He had winter (winter, not snow) tyres I didn't; he could hill start, brake, drive virtually as if the snow wasn't there. I couldn't and had to abandon.
Mine had wider profile to start with which I kow wouldn't have helped, but the difference was astounding.
Two Golfs, one stuck, one not!
Hmm, now what...
This vid pretty much sums it up (skip to 1:20 ish)
He had winter (winter, not snow)
Winter tyres ARE snow tyres.
Winter tyres ARE snow tyres
I meant in contrast to the metal-studded tyres described.
Further to my post above,
+1 what Brycey said....
This has got me thinking. My fronts are getting quite low and will need replacing soon anyway. Might just get front & rear winter tyres, then get new fronts come spring next yr.
MyTyres currently have Kumho winter tyres for my car - £75/corner.
I put snow tyres on the driving wheels of the Yaris last winter and was mightily impressed.
I'll be sorting out all four corners this year.
I picked up Lassa Snoways (excellent cheesey name ) for about £60 ea and they were great. I left them on all summer as I do quite alot of fire roads and muddy roads , they drive well on the tar generally and I haven't seen huge wear but this summer was pretty cool up here.
Vredestein Wintrac 4 Xtreme have a terrible name but are genuinely astounding. Highly recommended.
nickf - that brand would cost me a grand for 4 tyres - no rims, just the rubber! Maybe I'll just get winter tyres for the other half's car!
alfabus - what size wheels were they from mytyres?
205/55/16 - so 16" rims (audi A4).
stumpy01 - MemberMyTyres currently have Kumho winter tyres for my car - £75/corner.
If they're for Kumho I`ZEN KW23, then take a look here: http://www.oponeo.co.uk
Admittedly not fitted (£10 a wheel by a local fitter?) but a lot cheaper than I could find on blackcircle or mytires
Though opinion on the Kumho's (£60 per wheel for me) is seemingly very very split, but compared to the price of the Nokian WR G2 (£80 per wheel), I dunno what to do... espcially though my car hand book doesn't specify any particular size, it does specifiy I need 4 winter tyres if I run any at all.
I know a lot of ppl recommend getting steel rims, but it seems to me if your 'just' getting similar sized steel rims (not going down a size 18 to 17 as above) there very little price difference...
I have the Nokians - the tyres were absolutely superb. They are quiet and I gained 2-3mpg over the summer tyres they replaced. They are also silica compound so should last ages and ages - 40-50k miles from my other silica tyres easily. They do very well in tests, and are optimised for mud and slush whilst still being only slightly less good in pure snow than the very best. Which is really perfect for the UK.
Watch out for buying online without a fitter. Almost all of our local garages, bar one dodgy back alley garage I found, refused point blank to fit tyres bought elsewhere, those who agreed to fit wanted £25 per tyre. "You didn't buy through us, we won't fit it".
Coffeeking, considering the amount of fitters about, I'm sure you can dig around and find one who's more reasonable about it. Or at least use the supplied price as a bargaining tool.. but it's a fair warning.
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