Best winter tyres?

Ant84

Ant84

Ant84

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20 Feb 2007
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So I'm looking to replace my mk3 Mondeo's tyres as they're starting to lose grip in the cold, wet conditions. I've never bought winter tyres before so I have pretty much no idea what I should be looking for in terms of make/model.

The car is a private hire vehicle and will be covering around 10,000 miles between now and February so I'll need something that's going to last until the spring. Last year I didn't bother with winter tyres and there were a few hairy moments in the ice that I'm not particularly keen on replicating.

Price is probably the biggest factor. They don't need to be the best winter tyre ever (probably should edit the thread title), just something sure footed in the wet as, unlike most cabbies, I don't drive around like a lunatic.

Any suggestions?
 
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What are your current tyres? They are probably beginning to lose grip in the cold, wet conditions because they are poor quality or worn, not simply because they aren't winter tyres. I'd look to simply replace them with a decent quality set of all season tyres.

Given that most UK winters are generally just wet and maybe icy, it seems a bit of a false economy to buy a specific set of winter tyres.
 
cokecan72 said:
Winter tyres will be great in normal wet and cold conditions too ya know? It doesn't have to be snowing for them to suddenly make sense :)
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But then they will probably be inferior to a decent all season/summer tyre when the weather warms up again. Unless the OP is planning to ditch the winter tyres come spring, or have another set of wheels - both of which seem likely considering the OPs biggest concern is cost.
 
I agree that a decent all-season set or similar might be better for the OP, but wouldn't winter tyres offer decent grip in wet conditions too seeing as the winter months/snow are generally quite wet or are they generally not as good as I'm thinking at temperatures above x degrees C? I.e they work better at lower temps?
 
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It's not just the snow issue. I work nights, usually from around 10pm until 5am and even now the temperature is dropping to around -2C during my shift. When December comes around I can expect that to be around -7C or even colder. Around this time of year in the north of England it's very wet and, coupled with the cold temps, it can make for tricky conditions at times.

The tyres currently on the car are of mismatched brands/tread depths as the usual punctures/replacements have occurred. I know that's far from ideal but last winter I was running Michelin Primacy tyres all round and even with those I still experienced a few hairy moments as mentioned in the first post.

From my limited reading, Nokian seem to be a decent budget(ish) option for the winter. Any experiences with those, or are they not worth it?
 
cokecan72 said:
I agree that a decent all-season set or similar might be better for the OP, but wouldn't winter tyres offer decent grip in wet conditions too seeing as the winter months/snow are generally quite wet?
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Not when the temperature goes much above freezing. I've had no real problems with Conti SportContact 3s throughout our miserable cold wet winters. If you live in the darkest depths of the Scottish highlands then perhaps, but for the majority of the UK, a decent quality set of tyres with good wet and dry weather performance, and a modification of driving style during adverse weather when necessary, are all that's needed.
 
Howard said:
Not when the temperature goes much above freezing. I've had no real problems with Conti SportContact 3s throughout our miserable cold wet winters. If you live in the darkest depths of the Scottish highlands then perhaps, but for the majority of the UK, a decent quality set of tyres with good wet and dry weather performance, and a modification of driving style during adverse weather when necessary, are all that's needed.
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See my edit :) just had that same realization that the temp will play a big part
 
Ant84 said:
It's not just the snow issue. I work nights, usually from around 10pm until 5am and even now the temperature is dropping to around -2C during my shift. When December comes around I can expect that to be around -7C or even colder. Around this time of year in the north of England it's very wet and, coupled with the cold temps, it can make for tricky conditions at times.

The tyres currently on the car are of mismatched brands/tread depths as the usual punctures/replacements have occurred. I know that's far from ideal but last winter I was running Michelin Primacy tyres all round and even with those I still experienced a few hairy moments as mentioned in the first post.

From my limited reading, Nokian seem to be a decent budget(ish) option for the winter. Any experiences with those, or are they not worth it?
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Pfft You are not in the north of England, presuming you still live in St Helens.

I've survived on non winter tyres through the 2 snow winters we experienced over the last few years. As long as they are decent tyres, with good tread pattern and depth, you'll be fine...
 
I'm sticking with my drag radials.

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Winter tyres, whilst they won't do any harm won't really save you on ice anyway - they're more designed for colder temperatures and for grip on snow which won't really be an issue here, if you hit a proper patch of ice then without studs tyres aren't going to be doing much for you regardless of what season they're intended for.

I'd pretty much agree with others that an all season tyre would seem a better compromise for you - these will perform reasonably well in warm, cold, wet and dry conditions.
 
The all season tyre might be something I'll look at then. I guess my logic was that the life of whichever tyres I get will only last for around four months anyway given my mileage. I doubt we'll get much warm weather from now until February or March, hence the thought that winter tyres might be a better bet.

Any recommendations for all season tyres?
 
Ant84 said:
The all season tyre might be something I'll look at then. I guess my logic was that the life of whichever tyres I get will only last for around four months anyway given my mileage. I doubt we'll get much warm weather from now until February or March, hence the thought that winter tyres might be a better bet.

Any recommendations for all season tyres?
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Had used Vredstein Quatrac with great success even on snow/ice/slopes. They aren't as good as a proper performance winter tire but they are much better than any summer tire in cold conditions.
 
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