Winter tyres/wheels package

agrinnall

After the traumas of last winter I'm thinking about getting winter tyres on steel rims that I can fit in place of my alloys and normal tyres once it gets cold (should be any time now here in Scotland ). The prices on mytyres.co.uk look pretty good but I have a problem that I hope some of you may be able to help with.

My car is a 2008 Fiat Panda 1.2 Eleganza with 5J x 14 H2 alloys (so the manual says anyway) fitted with 165/65 R 14 79T tyres. The list of cars on mytyres includes Fiat Panda 1.2 but that only has 5.00 x 13 wheels. According to my owners manual other Panda models in the range do indeed use that size wheel, and my spare is a 4.50 x 13.

Questions :

1) Can I use 13" steel wheels to replace my 14" alloys? Presumably I would have to replace all 4, which is what I intend to do anyway.

2) Is there another Fiat model that has the same size wheels as my Panda with the same stud holes that I could pick instead to get 14" wheels?

Hammyman

1) Yes. Having thinner tyres is actually an advantage in snowy conditions. Your speedo will overread so when it says you're doing 60, you'll probably be going a fair bit slower but without knowing the outside diameter of each size tyre, its hard to say by how much.

2) Anything from any manufacturer with the same stud pattern will do. I used VW alloys on my old MK1 Astra once.

JQ.

i can't answer your question, but I think what you're doing is a very good idea and something I may investigate myself.

tomstickland

Same stud pattern and offset ideally.

Hintza

Use a tyre size calculator to calculate your rolling radius. Then your speedo will still be pretty accuarte

For example

http://www.kouki.co.uk/utilities/visual-tyre-size-calculator

(or google others)

Rolandtheroadie

Would it not be better just to get a 4 by 4?

gilbert_and_sullivan

Have you considered getting proper all season tyres instead as normal replacements for your current tyres.

Vredestein make good tyres in Holland and the offer Quatrac 2 and 3, both are snowflake marked and are able to be used all year round, not quite as good as specific winter tyres but jolly good all the same with phenominal cold and wet grip.

People say all seasons don't last well, a set of Quatrac 2's fitted to my daughters 106 have just been renewed after 40 odd thousand very hard well thrashed miles with 3+mm of tread still remaining.

If interested Camskills is the place to look for them.

Markyt

I fitted quatrac 2's to my Panda last winter. Standard 2wd diesel and pulled through a foot of snow outside the house, only got stopped when the snow was deeper than the underneath of the car. they are still on it, they haven;t lasted as well as the standard tyres but then again i get where I'm going and they feel much better in the wet.

molerat

The Pirelli website lists 155/80/13 for the winter tyres to replace the 165/65/14. The wheels will need to come off of a Fiat / Alfa as they use a unique 98mm pcd. Most Fiat 14" wheels will fit but a Punto is probably the best availability.

Strider590

scotsman4th wrote: »

Would it not be better just to get a 4 by 4?

No

A 4x4 on all weather tyre's won't stop and won't grip in corners ANYTHING like a normal car on winter tyre's.
Modern 4x4's tend to be fitted with wide sporty tread patterns too.... Great for sitting on top of the snow, instead of tearing through it!

4x4 is only good for one thing, traction under acceleration. They still only get 4 wheels to brake with, just like the rest of us.

Please don't buy into the myth that 4x4 is simply automatically better. The manufacturers will be pushing 4x4 sales this year based purely on urban myths.

sassy_one

OP, you make like to give your local National Autocentre a ring or pop in, as they have some good offers on at present!