Too soon for winter tyres...?

mikey72

butterfly72 wrote: »

New shape corsa. Tyres are 195 55 r16

Thanks.

They're a bit pricey, but seem to be ok for a winter tyre in this size.
I bought mine from mytyres, but they have increased in price recently. Camskills get good reports as well. It cost me £10 a wheel to get them fitted locally.
So factor in that now, and another £10 a wheel in March to swop them back, and keep the summer tyres in the garage over winter.

mikey72

k9387 wrote: »

Yeah, had that, people suggest copper grease but I don't think it is a good idea (moving the force hold the wheel one from the hub to wheel interface to a shear force on the bolts). Of course some manufacturers may suggest it. It is often bad with alloys due to the different metal types.

One way that was suggested to me and work well was to ever so slightly loosen the bolts then move the car a little very slowly.

I tried that. Well loosened quite a bit, three point turns, islands, and emergency stops. And then a big hammer again. And a lot of kicking.

k9387

butterfly72 wrote: »

New shape corsa. Tyres are 195 55 r16

Thanks.

What exact model? And are existing ones 4 or 5 stud? You might be able to go down to R15 if you decide complete wheels are more cost effective.

For r16 tyres, be no more than 80 each for a cheaper make and 110 for a bigger name (at the moment) - plus the £40-60 fitting and balancing twice a year.

k9387

mikey72 wrote: »

I tried that. Well loosened quite a bit, three point turns, islands, and emergency stops. And then a big hammer again. And a lot of kicking.

Ha, a big hammer solves many problems...

cyclonebri1

mikey72 wrote: »

I drive a fwd, never get stuck, don't find myself losing control, and don't need to take conditions into account as much, and don't need to suddenly alter my driving style.
First rule of any course.
Use the right equipment.

That's what you call putting your foot in your gob, ie, never say never

cyclonebri1

k9387 wrote: »

As long as the narrowness is still within manufacturers spec for your particular vehicle, I assume you would be ok. You can mix winter and summer tyres (although this is really not a good idea). I think the law, along with the in-spec bit, is that the construction type (radial and cross ply, although cross ply is really out of date now) is not different on each axle.

Assumptions aren't what I asked for.

It's just not as simple as that, many winter spec tyres due to the reduced width needed to perform also fall below the diameter speced by the manf.

Loved the earlier crossply/radial ref, dind't think there wher many folks that remembered that old bit of legislation.

PM me for an old joke on that topic that can't be published here

marlot

butterfly72 wrote: »

New shape corsa. Tyres are 195 55 r16
Thanks.

Mytyres seems to suggest that 14, 15 and 16 inch wheels are an option (look under opel rather than vauxhall). I assumed it was a CORSA-D 1.2 CDTI ECOTEC (plenty of other Corsa models on there if this isn't right)

Complete wheel and tyre combinations from mytyres are coming out at:
£110 each in 15" (185/65 R15)
Very slightly cheaper in 14"
£147 each in 16"
(all prices based on Goodyear Ultragrip 8 - a premium tyre getting great reviews).

My wife's car normally has 15" wheels, but the 14" steel wheels/tyres that mytyres supplied fit straight on, and were much cheaper than buying 15" tyres.

If I put the model in as CORSA-D 1.6 TWINPORT ECOTEC it only offers me 16" wheels - presumably the 14" and 15" ones don't fit over the brake calipers. So its important that you check for yourself!

scargutt

My understanding was that early November was the time to fit them - just because it's warm today, it might be very cold at the weekend and with the short days, you might not find time to change wheels over, or might not be able to get them booked in to wherever you're having them done if it goes cold suddenly.

Personally, as I drive a company car and purchasing an additional set of wheels would probably not suit my company, I opted for a pair of Autosocks last year. They're not as good as 4 winter tyres, but they'll get you out of a situation. They just slip over the front 2 tyres (assuming front wheel drive), cost £50 and can easily be kept in the boot until needed. Fitting them I found easy at times and a real pain at other times, but was still better than getting stuck. The main problem is they'll only last 30 miles on tarmac so as soon as you're out of snow, they have to come off and by that time they're filthy.

cyclonebri1

mikey72 wrote: »

My car uses the same size winter as summer tyres on steel wheels, so I just put two on the front. As to changing the size, I couldn't answer that. Alloys on my car as an option are wider, but the book recommends the smaller steels, but doesn't state you have to change all four.
I remember the first car I took over the cat and fiddle, many years ago, I used to put Avon town and countries on at the back only, and went wider than the standard fronts.
I really haven't noticed width making any difference.
Once you roll a ton of car over loose snow, it's compacted ice anyway, I doubt a tyre a few mm narrower will cut through to the ice below, it'll just compact the snow down as well.

Point of fact, nothing roadwise "cuts through ice", agreed??

But again, we are'nt talking a few mms, we are talking a couple of inches re 225 versus 175 yeah? and on snow not ice

Wide tyres glide, narrow tyres cut, ok dividing line somewhere but heh,

Trebor16

k9387 wrote: »

Yeah, had that, people suggest copper grease but I don't think it is a good idea (moving the force hold the wheel one from the hub to wheel interface to a shear force on the bolts). Of course some manufacturers may suggest it. It is often bad with alloys due to the different metal types.

One way that was suggested to me and work well was to ever so slightly loosen the bolts then move the car a little very slowly.

Would a jointing compound such as Duralac applied in small quantities on the hub be potentially dangerous? It would prevent the galvanic corrosion that occurs when two different metals are joined together.