Recommendations for tyres?

Mr_Forgetful

I need two new front tyres, am broke, and remember the fiasco my car was in the snow where it was close to useless. Does anyone know of any good budget tyres that would also make my c3 picasso a bit more use in winter weather or would I need specific winter tyres/chains/autosocks?

Many thanks.

marlot

The best option is to buy 'all season' tyres - they won't be quite as good as a summer tyre in the summer (but a c3 is hardly a sportscar anyway) but nearly as good as a winter tyre in the snow. I run my 4x4 on all season tyres all year round.

Try mytyres.co.uk The best are probably vredestain quatrac3 and goodyear vector 4 seasons.

Mr_Forgetful

Cheers for the advice and making me laugh too. It's definitely not a sports car.

rodenal

As above all season tyres sound like a good bet for you - With a front wheel drive car though you'll get by on new, decent summer tyres.

They arent a patch on proper winter tyres but you shouldn't get stuck if you drive to the conditions. I spent last winter (in Scotland where we actually get snow) driving an e36 328i with newish summer tyres and got on ok. We also had a megane coupe at the time with some cheaper tyres on that could go basically anywhere.....stopping is a bit different though!

Strider590

rodenal wrote: »

We also had a megane coupe at the time with some cheaper tyres on that could go basically anywhere.....stopping is a bit different though!

You need a 4x4!!!!!!!!! A proper one, like a BMW X6 or something!!!! not one of these other inferior 4x4's all the common people use!! :rotfl:

forgotmyname

BMW X6? Thinking of moving into the drugs market :A


Problem with tyres, Cheap ones will be useless i had some called Admiral last time and even a damp road left me sitting there with the wheels spinning never mind snow.

Got Khumo's this time around and they are so much better.

thescouselander

The missus has Uniroyal rainsport tyres on her car and it seemed to do well in the snow - might be worth considering.

k9387

All-season (m&s) tyres are not a patch on real winter tyres (snowflake symbol) so be careful not to make that mistake.

If you are on a budget then all-season tyres are a good comprimise between not wearing down too quickly in the summer (like winter tyres in summer would) and not sliding sideways (like summer tyres in winter would).

If you are considering winter tyres (not full wheels) and intend to change every year (which costs about £60-70 a time, so £120-140 a year) then I would think again because for 2/3 years it would actually be cheaper to buy the full wheels (£200-300 more) and change them yourself.

Stay away from used winter tyres on eBay (with 4/5mm tread), most are mainland Europes cast offs, as you need much more tread than a summer tyre (most start with 7/8mm and 4mm is really the minimum).

As for which tyre, have a look and see what is available in your size - there are quite a few cheap Asian manufacturers that are really quite good and very popular in Europe. But often the highly rated, well reviewed tyres are not much more.

flyingscotno1

k9387 wrote: »

All-season (m&s) tyres are not a patch on real winter tyres (snowflake symbol) so be careful not to make that mistake.

Many all season tyres will also carry the snow flake symbol.

k9387

flyingscotno1 wrote: »

Many all season tyres will also carry the snow flake symbol.

Or is it that snowflake tyres will also carry the m+s symbol? On virtue that the true winter tyre (snowflake) surpasses the standards for all season / mud and snow (m+s).

I belive that an m+s standard tyre needs the right sort of grip pattern where as the snowflake tyre needs the right sort of grip pattern AND a compound that is more effective under 7 degrees.

marlot

flyingscotno1 wrote: »

Many all season tyres will also carry the snow flake symbol.

I agree. Both the all season tyres I recommended at the top of the thread carry the snowflake symbol.

Either would be a good alternative to winter tyres in a moderate climate like the UK, whilst still being perfectly acceptable in the summer.

I practice what I recommend. I have all season tyres on my 4x4. And darned good they are too!