Trip report: Nokian WR-G2 205/55/16 vs Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 225/50/16

lordrobs · 17 Dec 2010 at 18:51

[TW]Fox;18023866 said:
To be honest if you are going to spend half the year on hideous wheels is there any point bothering to have a nice looking car at all? Save a load of money and buy something competent yet ugly if you are prepared to not care how it looks for that much of the time you drive it

Yeah I wouldn't want rubbish looking wheels. There aren't many steels in 16" with the correct PDC anyway. IIRC Only one model of Renault actually had them and they are quite hard to get hold of even from a scrap yard as most people opted for alloys on the higher spec models (the ones that had 16" wheels).

I was looking at vRS alloys off an estate though which are 16" rather than 17's. I can't even get winter tyres in my OEM size

If I was considering this three years ago maybe I'd have gone for it. As it stands this motor will be gone in 18 months or less.

I think a smarter move would be a more winter friendly regular tyre.

Lum · 17 Dec 2010 at 18:53

What PCD do you need?

lordrobs · 17 Dec 2010 at 18:57

Lum said:
What PCD do you need?

5x100 ET38

mjt · 17 Dec 2010 at 19:10

lordrobs said:
I was looking at vRS alloys off an estate though which are 16" rather than 17's. I can't even get winter tyres in my OEM size

.....

I think a smarter move would be a more winter friendly regular tyre.

There's no such thing, just do it properly

What's your OEM tyre size?

[TW]Fox · 17 Dec 2010 at 19:26

mjt said:
There's no such thing, just do it properly

Or accept you live in Norwich where snow is so rare it dominates the news every time it falls, and get on with your life as best you can.

lordrobs · 17 Dec 2010 at 20:07

[TW]Fox;18024799 said:
Or accept you live in Norwich where snow is so rare it dominates the news every time it falls, and get on with your life as best you can.

Exactly! TBH I drive our Punto with no issue, the courtesy Passat I had during the last snow gave me no problems (on bridgestone and budget regular tyres repectively) which means that either it is the car I'm having trouble with or the Falkens... and I doubt it is the car!

[TW]Fox · 17 Dec 2010 at 20:22

To be honest although we've not had much snow here we have had enough to cover the ground and I've had not a single issue and have been easily able to reverse off my drive, drive a mile to the treated roads, etc.

Last year we had the same amount of snow and my car went NOWHERE with the Eagle F1 Assymetric on - I simply couldnt get it off the drive and had to use the bus.

Housey · 17 Dec 2010 at 20:27

Putting 4 PZero's onto my RS4 in the morning, it will be interesting to see how they compare out of the box, I won't go Goodyear Asym on the RS4 again, don't suit the car and having driven a mates the other week on PZero's all of my initial doubts about the Goodyears came flooding back.

godinman · 17 Dec 2010 at 22:53

I'm on some Kuhmo's and I can't go on any road with even the lightest snow, luckily I have access to a couple of vans which are surprisingly capable in the snow.

hurfdurf · 18 Dec 2010 at 03:08

Can I ask why GSD3's are bad in snow? I have them on my MX5 and haven't ever needed to go out in it when it was really bad last year, but for me they are easily my favourite tyre for Wet/Dry conditions all year round. It's surprising to hear they are bad at something!

Lum · 18 Dec 2010 at 04:31

Got a couple of pictures, just to give an idea of the snow the WR-G2s had to deal with

In the second one, I'm on my way back, having already ploughed and flattened the centre of the road on my way out.

WJA96 · 18 Dec 2010 at 08:15

That's pretty snowy!

Here in sunny Germany winter tyres are a legal requirement and I really can't get over how chunky the Nokians are. I'm running 245/40/18 on the TT as I need a minimum of 18" to clear the big brakes.

And just in case you're thinking "that doesn't look THAT snowy in the hotel car park".

Last night - main road. The sharp cut is where the snow-plough has made clean edge on the snow banks. Thed snow is about 1m deep either side of the road. They don't grit the roads - only the Autobahns and without winter tyres you'd be dead in minutes.

And the ******* wheel-arches keep filling upo with snow and ice. No fun clearing that daily!

mjt · 18 Dec 2010 at 16:05

[TW]Fox;18024799 said:
Or accept you live in Norwich where snow is so rare it dominates the news every time it falls, and get on with your life as best you can.

What I meant was either do it properly or not at all. It's stupid sacrificing summer grip for a weeks of snow.

WJA96 said:
And the ******* wheel-arches keep filling upo with snow and ice. No fun clearing that daily!

I used an old ski pole last year, although a broom handle works just as well

If you don't really care about the bumpers, just give them a good kick

I cleared the snow every time I stopped, you can usually kick it out without to many problems.
The only problem is having to roll over the solid lump in the morning

lordrobs · 18 Dec 2010 at 19:04

mjt said:
What I meant was either do it properly or not at all. It's stupid sacrificing summer grip for a weeks of snow.

To be fair I'm only using Falken's which fall into the "good for the money" category. They will need changing in a bit anyway so I might as well consider winter driving as they don't seem very good as soon as the temperature drops let alone in the snow.

Lum · 18 Dec 2010 at 19:07

WJA96 said:
That's pretty snowy!

Here in sunny Germany winter tyres are a legal requirement and I really can't get over how chunky the Nokians are. I'm running 245/40/18 on the TT as I need a minimum of 18" to clear the big brakes.

How is the TT in the snow? I suspect that, with the right rubber, it may well surprise people since IIRC the 4WD on those is FWD but bringing in the rear when it starts to slip, which short of full time 4WD is probably the best option in this weather.

Since you're in Germany where they actually take snow seriously you probably aren't going to get the surprised SUV drivers and annoyed drivers of normal cars, will you get a chance to drive it in the snow in England at all.

WJA96 · 18 Dec 2010 at 20:51

Lum said:
How is the TT in the snow? I suspect that, with the right rubber, it may well surprise people since IIRC the 4WD on those is FWD but bringing in the rear when it starts to slip, which short of full time 4WD is probably the best option in this weather.

The Haldex Gen IV system on my car is permanent 4WD, minimum 15% rear, but it is constantly varying the power between all 4 wheels all the time.

Lum said:
Since you're in Germany where they actually take snow seriously you probably aren't going to get the surprised SUV drivers and annoyed drivers of normal cars, will you get a chance to drive it in the snow in England at all.

You'd be surprised just how fast people in 'ordinary' cars like Opels and VWs drive. Even BMWs seem to be driven by superhumans who can do 60mph on sheet ice. I'll be back for Christmas, so maybe I will get a chance in the snow. The winter tyres are staying on until Feb/Mar though.

Lum · 18 Dec 2010 at 20:56

Front biassed then?

Mine's 100% rear by default with up to 50% front. Not quite as good as yours in this weather, but in reality it means I get a very brief spin from the back until the 4WD sorts itself out, then off I go.

And yes I suspect the ordinary cars, on their winter tyres, do just fine over there as the German drivers are likely driving to a higher standard than British ones. That's why you lot are allowed to do 155 and we arent.

[TW]Fox · 18 Dec 2010 at 21:00

During my time spent mucking around in the snow today I came to the conclusion that a lot of the problems are just people not knowing how to drive in snow - presumably as they've never had practice. I spent time driving around with DSC on and DSC off and also pulling away in different gears. As everyone here will know, if you pull off in first you spin the wheels, if you pull off in second, it's fine - I suspect most of the people you see on news clips spinning wheels like crazy are just trying to drive normally, thinking 'omg snow', and going nowhere.

Lum · 18 Dec 2010 at 21:04

I understand that the snow isn't nearly as bad in Plymouth as it is up here, but yes you are right incompetent driving causes most of the problems. I managed last years drive up to the Brecons in the snow just fine on Eagle F1s, but a lot of the downhills were basically a controlled slide and if I were to meet someone coming the other way we'd likely be looking at a crash.

In this sort of whether I'd suggest that you always give way to the guy who is coming downhill!

That said I'd still recommend the Nokians. The difference truly is amazing, being able to do a 3 point turn in a snow filled layby vs having to get out and push the front end about makes the trip so much nicer.

Berger · 18 Dec 2010 at 21:04

Just don't use the pedal on the right in the snow and its fine!

The amount of cars I saw wheelspinning, fishtailing around and/or thrashing around on the steering side to side amazed me.

Its not too difficult to deduce that spinning the wheels doesn't help you to move....