Winter tyres

andicole0

andicole0

andicole0

Soldato
Joined
12 Sep 2005
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6,490
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Grundisburgh
Might be early but I'm looking for winter tyres for the A3. Currently shod with 225/40/R16 V but I have some 16" wheels for the winter tyres, so 205/55/R16.

I was looking at Dunlop being the quietest listed but can only find H speed rated in that size. Surely I can't put H rated tyres on a car capable of 144mph?

Andi.
 
Most winter tyres are a lower speed rating than the non-winter equivalent. I hired a 320d in Germany earlier this year with a sticker in the window warning me of the lower speed rating of the fitted winter tyres.
 
The H rating is good for 130 mph though. If you find yourself exceeding that speed, you probably don't need to be on winter tyres, and will likely find yourself on a track / autobahn / in jail.
 
H-rated tyres are good enough unless you plan on blasting down the autobahn at Vmax
They're also considerably cheaper than than V-rated 17s or 18s.
(€80 v €130+)

H is probably the highest speed rating you're going to get on 16" winter tyres.

I highly recommend the ContiWinterContact 850 or 830Ps.

Consider buying from Koenig Felgen as the euro is weak at the moment, giving you potential savings.
http://www.koenig-felgen.de/Winterreifen-Continental__205__55__R16

Continental WinterContact TS 830 P AO - 205/55 R16 91H
 
My main concern is Mr Plod and Mrs Insurance in the event of an 'investigation'. Yes I won't be going 144 in cold conditions but the car will be going to Germany in November where it will have to have Winter marked tyres.
 
andicole0 said:
My main concern is Mr Plod and Mrs Insurance in the event of an 'investigation'. Yes I won't be going 144 in cold conditions but the car will be going to Germany in November where it will have to have Winter marked tyres.
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It only needs winter marked tyres in 'wintry conditions' - I legally drove to Germany in December without them.

But not having ones that match the top speed of your car is not a problem. As I said, I rented a brand new 3 Series with the correct fitment winter tyres and it had H rated tyres complete with warning sticker telling me of that.

If you look inside the door of your car at your tyre pressure table it probably lists the speed rating for winter tyres anyway and I bet they are not Y rated.
 
You will not have a problem with speed ratings.
As long as you have winter tyres, you're fine re insurance and Polizei.

Just stick below 210km/h and you're golden.
Almost all cars in Germany have lower speed ratings on their winter tyres because you can only get Y on 17" and above.

My S3 had Y rates tyres so I could 'only' drive at 240 even though summers were rated to 280.

Even my dad's GT which was previously owned by BMW HQ in Munich had a 240km/h sticker in the top corner if the windscreen.
 
Words finally from insurance company - all good.

We have referred to our underwriting team and they have confirmed that we will cover the change in tyre
even though it is going to be changed from Y rated to H rated. This wont be classed illegal.

Andi.
 
I don't think I'll ever understand why people ask for advice on here if they don't actually want it. You were always going to ring the insurer and check so why ask us in the first place, you didn't trust the advice on it's own enough :p
 
[TW]Fox;28484097 said:
I don't think I'll ever understand why people ask for advice on here if they don't actually want it. You were always going to ring the insurer and check so why ask us in the first place, you didn't trust the advice on it's own enough :p
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I didn't get what I wanted here, all I got was what people had done and got away with, no one had experience of being stopped with under rated tyres.

The car will be used by my son and daughter in law so I wanted a real life experience of potential problems not someone saying I did that and got away with it.

Andi.
 
andicole0 said:
I didn't get what I wanted here, all I got was what people had done and got away with, no one had experience of being stopped with under rated tyres.

The car will be used by my son and daughter in law so I wanted a real life experience of potential problems not someone saying I did that and got away with it.

Andi.
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Nobody 'got away with it' and nobody 'got stopped for it' precisely because it's permissible and legal!

I am surprised your car handbook doesn't say - the BMW one does. Did you look inside the door at the tyre pressure table as suggested? It almost certainly tells you the manufacturer stipulated speed rating for winter tyres.
 
andicole0 said:
I didn't get what I wanted here, all I got was what people had done and got away with, no one had experience of being stopped with under rated tyres.

The car will be used by my son and daughter in law so I wanted a real life experience of potential problems not someone saying I did that and got away with it.

Andi.
Click to expand...
"get away with"? :confused:

Dude, V and W-rated winter tyres just don't exist in certain sizes! Good luck finding Y-rated ones.

Take the ContiWinterContact TS830P, Continental's UHP winter tyre, for example.

The highest speed rating available on 18" wheels is V. That's 240km/h or 149MPH.
You need to invest in 19" wheels and tyres, which are hideously expensive and not even standard-fit on a lot of cars capable of 250km/h or 155MPH, in order to get W rated tyres (270km/h or 168MPH)

And that's as fast as they go. Continental doesn't even make Y-rated winter tyres.

http://www.continental-tires.com/car/tires/car/winter-plt/contiwintercontact-ts-830-p
 
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