Summer tyres for winter?

darkmatter101

The tyre anotother member posted about were the Kleber QUADRAXER. They are around £100/corner for the 18 inch size and around £70/corner for the 16 inch 205 size.

Just rang the scrappy and told me they had made a mistake with the pricing. The cost of the 4 16 inch OEM Audi alloys are actually £100.

So really no matter what route I take, it will cost the same overall.

I could just run my current sport summer tyres to the ground and replace with the Quadraxer. If I sell the 18 inch alloys with tyres I estimate I will get around £250-£300 for them. But will end up spending nearly £400 if I replace them with the 18 inch alloys with new Quadraxer 205 tyres....

Maybe just best to keep my existing 18 inchers?

BeenThroughItAll

darkmatter101 wrote: »

Well, if I look at it from a cost/benefit point of view, to see if its worth me investing in winter tyres, lets consider the following:

• I only do one return trip, around 80 miles away up north a week. So in total I’m doing around 160 miles/week which are mostly motorway/A roads. Rest of the time its just city driving, where I don’t think winter tyres are needed.
• Buying 225/40r/18 winter tyres are quite expensive. I have visited my local VAG scrappy and found a set of 4 16 inch OEM Audi alloys with all worn out tyres, size 205/55r/16 for only £50. I think the smaller tyres would provide better comfort and more traction in the snow? And purchasing 205 winter tyres would be cheaper. I remember someone on this forum suggesting an excellent winter tyre (may have been all season) it was quad something?
• Considering the above, and the fact that winter temperatures in UK would likely fall below 7 degrees Celsius around 30 days a year (?), would it really be worth me spending £50 for the smaller alloys plus another £200 or so on winter tyres? I may be better off just spending the money on all-season tyres that has good grip in winter for my existing 18 inch alloys.

You travel 'Up North' 80 miles from London? That's still very much the south, and 'that's not proper snow' country.


I would point out that UK average temperatures in 2013 were below 7 deg. C in January, February, March, November and December (3.9, 3.4, 3.0, 6.4, 6.4 deg respectively). Even taking into account regional variations, I'd suggest there's a good chance they're below 7 on more than 30 individual days a year.

OddballJamie

Don't sell the wheels that came with the car, it's an S-Line, they're part of the spec.

Just stick to the Yaris, they're great in the snow, or drive the M3 in reverse everywhere.

darkmatter101

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

You travel 'Up North' 80 miles from London? That's still very much the south, and 'that's not proper snow' country.


I would point out that UK average temperatures in 2013 were below 7 deg. C in January, February, March, November and December (3.9, 3.4, 3.0, 6.4, 6.4 deg respectively). Even taking into account regional variations, I'd suggest there's a good chance they're below 7 on more than 30 individual days a year.

Yes, I travel up to Cambridgeshire area. So it's definately not as snowy as it would be in the proper North of UK.

So do you suggest its not worth purchasing winter tyres? I think all season tyres maybe the better choice...

darkmatter101

OddballJamie wrote: »

Don't sell the wheels that came with the car, it's an S-Line, they're part of the spec.

Just stick to the Yaris, they're great in the snow, or drive the M3 in reverse everywhere.

I was thinking that the look of the car would be ruined with the smaller 16 inch alloys.

Yaris will be sold by the end of the year. M3 is useless in snow and can be scary in heavy rain when pushed even a little.

Gloomendoom

darkmatter101 wrote: »

Yes, I travel up to Cambridgeshire area. So it's definately not as snowy as it would be in the proper North of UK.

So do you suggest its not worth purchasing winter tyres? I think all season tyres maybe the better choice...

I think in your shoes, I'd run the summer tyres until they wear out and then replace with a decent set of all-season tyres. Check the reviews first though as some all-seasons are better than others.

BeenThroughItAll

darkmatter101 wrote: »

Yes, I travel up to Cambridgeshire area. So it's definately not as snowy as it would be in the proper North of UK.

So do you suggest its not worth purchasing winter tyres? I think all season tyres maybe the better choice...

Not a chance you need winters down there for that driving profile.


I never needed all weathers until I moved three hundred miles to northwards.


I wouldn't be without them now though, the grip levels are 75% as good as quality summer tyres in dry conditions, and 200% as good in wet, cold, icy, or snowy conditions.


99.9% of UK drivers would never need anything more than a half-decent set of all-weathers even if they like to drive in a reasonable spirited way. Unless you're on the limit in the dry, all-weathers will still normally exceed the driver's ability before they exceed their performance.

darkmatter101

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

Not a chance you need winters down there for that driving profile.


I never needed all weathers until I moved three hundred miles to northwards.


I wouldn't be without them now though, the grip levels are 75% as good as quality summer tyres in dry conditions, and 200% as good in wet, cold, icy, or snowy conditions.


99.9% of UK drivers would never need anything more than a half-decent set of all-weathers even if they like to drive in a reasonable spirited way. Unless you're on the limit in the dry, all-weathers will still normally exceed the driver's ability before they exceed their performance.

So by that logic, I think I'll stick with my exisiting summer tyres. Hopefully they shouldn't be that in winter conditions.

When it comes to replacing, the front tyres wear much quicker than the rears, its a front heavy diesel. Should I replace the front 2 tyres with the all weather tyres and leave the rear summer tyres on? The rears still have around 5-6mm and I guess they'll last for quite a while.

darkmatter101

Any suggestions for good all season tyres?

BeenThroughItAll

darkmatter101 wrote: »

So by that logic, I think I'll stick with my exisiting summer tyres. Hopefully they shouldn't be that in winter conditions.

When it comes to replacing, the front tyres wear much quicker than the rears, its a front heavy diesel. Should I replace the front 2 tyres with the all weather tyres and leave the rear summer tyres on? The rears still have around 5-6mm and I guess they'll last for quite a while.

No, rotate the tyres on the car so they wear evenly, then buy a full set of AWs at the same time. If you do put AWs on just a pair, the recommendation is to run them on the rear.