[jonnydrama]

The snow's been dinging down here in Aberdeen and I'm rapidly realising fitting F1 assymetricals last week was a bad idea. No biggy though it's just money.

Going to order new winter tyres from mytyres now, can't decide between Nokian WR G2's, Toyo Snowprox or at a higher premium Pirelli Sottozero.......

Any advice on this?! I thought the Nokians were well recommended but now I'm reading online that they are an all season tyre?

I have Wintrac's on the wifes mini which I like so far but can't get them to fit the front at the moment.

[no_ball]

cross checking reviews both in UK & USA, the vredestein's wintrac extremes came out as being more than capable. Check them out

[jonnydrama]

Originally Posted by no_ball

cross checking reviews both in UK & USA, the vredestein's wintrac extremes came out as being more than capable. Check them out

Can't get hold of them so they are out of the picture mate

[chesney72]

Got Nokian WR G2 on mine last week. Spent a lot of time on opposite lock til the mould grease scrubbed off and they are now really good. Last 2 days have been the reason I bought them, loads of snow and ice. I'd say in snow they are very good but in ice there's not much that's going to help other than studded tyres.

Was easily following 4wd and FWD cars and found I was getting up inclines without spinning where some FWD cars were zig zagging and struggling.

In the wet they grip very well, much better than the bridgestones I had on it.

I did look at good year ultra grips but had me heart set on trying the Nokians and quite glad I went for them

[jonnydrama]

Where about in Aberdeenshire are you mate? I travel into town from near Newmachar, not even attempting it in the bmw. Been taking the wifes mini on the wintrac's, it's awesome.

Btw, have you noticed no improvement on ice/hard packed snow? Her car doesn't even give a whiff of the abs cutting in, I took out my 335i with the snow socks and it wasn't braking great at all and turn in was non existant. Think I'll turn the JB3 off for the whole winter aswell haha.

[lesfinnie]

I fitted Avon Icetour to my 335d and can't believe the difference

[scottishpete]

I nver did get tyres and mine is in my garage lol

[chris330D]

Got Pirelli Sottozeros fitted to mine and didn't have the grip issues some have had with the first few miles. Not used other winter tyres so hard to compare but the grip has been good this morning better than the PS2s would have been!

[M3-FAST]

What sizes do you need?

I have just fitted Wintrac Extremes and just dropped down a size to get them to fit - my tyres should be 246/265 35 19 - Could not get them in those sizes so dropped to 235/255 35 19.

I shopped arounf the tyre sites and many have no or little stock but in the end got them from a tyre supplier on ebay! Ordered at 3pm, delivered 9am the following day! Fitted by a local fitter and been on a week now and JUST starting to feel scrubbed in.

Might be worth compromising on size to get more choice?

[swanseahammer]

Michelin Pilot Alpin 2s on mine - they were perfect in last winters snow :-)

[jonnydrama]

Meant to be 225/40/18 & 255/35/18, want to keep the front size but could go to 245/40/18 on the rear

Originally Posted by M3-FAST

What sizes do you need?

I have just fitted Wintrac Extremes and just dropped down a size to get them to fit - my tyres should be 246/265 35 19 - Could not get them in those sizes so dropped to 235/255 35 19.

I shopped arounf the tyre sites and many have no or little stock but in the end got them from a tyre supplier on ebay! Ordered at 3pm, delivered 9am the following day! Fitted by a local fitter and been on a week now and JUST starting to feel scrubbed in.

Might be worth compromising on size to get more choice?

[rsmallwo]

get some 17's on ebay, 225/45/R17 are so much cheaper. I got a set of 4 nankang sv-2's for £260 delivered from mytyres.co.uk

true they are budget tyres but in this wwather they will be much better than my summer vreds on 19's!!

[jonnydrama]

Nankangs aren't my bag mate, don't have time to bid on wheels either. Plan is to get winter tyres to fit my 18's and in summer get a set of scabby MV3's from ebay and put the winters on those.

[chesney72]

Originally Posted by jonnydrama

Where about in Aberdeenshire are you mate? I travel into town from near Newmachar, not even attempting it in the bmw. Been taking the wifes mini on the wintrac's, it's awesome.

Btw, have you noticed no improvement on ice/hard packed snow? Her car doesn't even give a whiff of the abs cutting in, I took out my 335i with the snow socks and it wasn't braking great at all and turn in was non existant. Think I'll turn the JB3 off for the whole winter aswell haha.

LOL Newmacher is the town to me. I'm out near Aboyne. 10" of snow outside Got out of Dyce easily last night on the wet snow but as soon as we left the dualler at Kintore it was sheet ice and very very sketchy all the way to Banchory then it was wet snow again and the 335i sat at 60mph no problem even round the bends.

I reckon the grip on ice is still lethal. Snow or hard packed snow and it does grip a lot better. Earlier in the week it was just wet and the grip was amazing. Almost too grippy cos I had a WOT pull out a junction and I was expecting (hoping for) a little drift but it just slightly spun then hooked up and launched!

[elucid]

Availabilty is proving to be the biggest hurdle with being able to select a brand. For my 18" mv3 was trying to get a set of Continental WinterContact. I can only find 810s for the rear and 830s for the front.

Anyone know if mixing winter treads is going to be a bad idea?

[jonnydrama]

Went for a set of snowprox in the end.... Will let you know what they are like once they arrive.

[p1tse]

can someone explain winter tyres to me please?

[briers]

Originally Posted by p1tse

can someone explain winter tyres to me please?

Softer rubber compound
Tread works better at < 7degree's C
Tread optimized for traction on snow (which on rwd front engined cars significantly helps to get the car moving up snow covered hills, and of course increased grip on turn in)

With rock hard, wide summer run flat tyres the car can behave almost like a hockey puck, sitting on top of the snow. Very easy to spin the rear wheels and uphill there is virtually no grip on snow/ice, unless you put a lot of weight in the boot to give yourself a fighting chance to digg through to make contact with the tarmac.


Essentially why we fit them is to keep us moving and to reduce the likely hood of stacking the car into the nearest curb. Rwd drive and a bit of power with crap summer run flat tyres is a bad combination on snow or ice.

[penport]

Originally Posted by elucid

Availabilty is proving to be the biggest hurdle with being able to select a brand. For my 18" mv3 was trying to get a set of Continental WinterContact. I can only find 810s for the rear and 830s for the front.

Anyone know if mixing winter treads is going to be a bad idea?

I've put some Conti 830s on (17's) and must say that they're brilliant - but they are in short supply - bought mine a couple of months ago.

I'm very impressed by the difference they make - just fighting the feeling of invincibility

[no_ball]

so glad I got the vreds a couple of weeks ago...brilliant in the snow and ice this morning...