with modern eco tires being speced on new cars more and more - winters make even more sense.
our bingo came stock with michelin primacy and they are a disaster in the wet and cool
I run winter tyres on steel wheels over winter. Given that they’re designed to work best at temperatures below 7˚C. I had a look at the monthly averages for this corner of the Peak District.
Based on those – the average high mark – November through to March, five months, theoretically suits Winters.
Whereas I believe that it's more crucial to look at cold weather performance than warm weather; is it better to have Winters in warm weather than Summers in cold? Having monitored my own commute to/from Inverness for a couple of years, there was not one month in which the temperature was not below 7C at some point.
Maybe the answer is to carry a full set of wheels and tyres all of the time and employ some Red Bull mechanics to quickly change them according to road conditions, weather and forecast.
Michelin’s Pilot Sports on my 320d were great for 2 years until about 30 minutes ago when - they were cold on a damp 4.5 degree surface - the car stepped out on me when pulling out of a t junction. Maybe winter wheels should be an investment for this car, especially as I’m about to own it for the foreseeable...
I'm suffering from the BMW odd tyres syndrome when it comes to looking at all seasons. Admittedly I've only looked at Blackcircles, but can someone recommend a place where I can choose 4 matching all seasons to buy?
@kryton57
Get on ebay for a spare set of alloys for the 3/4 series (maybe some 1ers will also fit), preferably 17" as the tyres will be cheaper and also get some non msport variants as they will most likely be a square setup (i.e. not wider rears).
I picked up some alloys last year for a little over £100 and got tyres fitted for about £390.
You may need to factor in TPMS sensors though but even so you should be able to get sorted for less than £700 and save the good wheels and tyres for warmer weather.
Spare wheels and tyres have the advantage of being used in the worst salty conditions so not damaging the standard wheels/tyres
Thanks - I can get some 16" steels shod with Conti TS860 at Mr Winter Wheels for £518 delivered.
https://www.admiral.com/magazine/guides/motor/winter-tyres-heres-what-you-need-to-know
"Will they affect my insurance?
Your insurance doesn’t change if you change to winter tyres. If you do decide to get your tyres changed, you don’t need to contact your insurance provider as long as it’s only the tyres that have been changed. If the entire wheel has been replaced, you will need to contact your insurance provider."
https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=102232
"Apparently they'll let me fit winters tyres to my existing alloys but changing the wheels counts as a modification and requires me to play them for the privilage."
I had 4 punctures m'lud.
Fitted the spares..... Incidentally I don't phone insurance when I get a flat neither.
Kryton - need to make sure the wheels will fit over callipers. If you have M-Sport braking system with the nice blue callipers think it 18” minimum and even then some non OEM 18” wheels foul.
We have staggered on the 3 series and black circles had nowt.. ended up ordering tyres from Camskill. Mind you a set of 19 inch staggered Pirelli Run flats with 255 section on the rear were eye wateringly expensive!
Non m sport callipers and 18” NRFLT. The pilot super sports have about 5mm left so I don’t want to bin them. I’ll check out Camskill though, thanks.
No doubt I could also go to my local tyre fitter and just ask them to order the right ones, shame they don’t do cross climates for the rear end.
Whereas I believe that it’s more crucial to look at cold weather performance than warm weather; is it better to have Winters in warm weather than Summers in cold? Having monitored my own commute to/from Inverness for a couple of years, there was not one month in which the temperature was not below 7C at some point.
All I'm saying is that if you have the option then you can use summer tyres in milder conditions and winter ones when it's cold. I'm not 'prioritising' either because I don't have to. If I were forced to drive with either winter or summer tyres all year, I'd go winter - or maybe All Season given that I'm not in the Scottish arctic.
This is all a bit like saying that I occasionally cross a war zone on my commute so I prioritise wearing a bullet-proof vest and feel it makes sense to wear it the rest of the time too, just in case someone shoots at me randomly 🙂 That makes sense if you can only ever wear one garment, but if you have the option of wearing a nice, flowery, cheesecloth shirt on loan from the 1970s when you're not in the line of fire, why wouldn't you?
Cue STWers who actually do wear bullet-proof vests / stab-proof underpants all year round because...
Kryters - when you're searching remember you don't always need to match the speed rating of the current tyres when fitting winter/all season. F1 Autocentres seemed to give a decent set of options when I was looking for MrsP's Audi recently.
