All Season Tyre advice please....

AdrianC

funguy wrote: »

Yes i thought about that and buying some 2nd hand alloys - im not sure what spec tyres in temrs of speed and load ratings i would need in 16" form to meet insurance criteria. My 17" ones are 95W and Ford are not able to advise what it would be for 16" tyres as there isnt a factory option for the Titanium X variant to be with 16" tyres. Any advice on this please?

The rim diameter doesn't affect the speed or load ratings. Titanium X is just a spec level, which happens to have standard 17" alloys, so look at the standard fitments for any lower-spec similar-age Focus with the same engine.

davemorton

Not sure if they do them in your size, but Vredestein Quatrac3 are excellent, and not sure if it is still true now, but when I last bought a set, were the only all season tyres I could find that came with the snowflake/mountain symbol which you need legally for winter driving in countries where winter tyres are mandatory.

Iceweasel

davemorton wrote: »

Not sure if they do them in your size, but Vredestein Quatrac3 are excellent, and not sure if it is still true now, but when I last bought a set, were the only all season tyres I could find that came with the snowflake/mountain symbol which you need legally for winter driving in countries where winter tyres are mandatory.

The Michelin CrossClimate does have the 'snowflake on the mountain' symbol.

But tyres with the M+S marking are acceptable too.

Austria and Croatia are two of the countries where you have to have Winter tyres from November to April regardless of whether there is actually snow on the ground.

Most countries with Winter tyre laws simply say that you must have Winter tyres in Winter conditions - i.e. snow, slush or ice - so drivers can simply stay at home or pause/delay their journeys if it looks like snow.

Austria also demands that the Winter tyres have at least 4mm of tread - which is why the UK is flooded with part-worn tyres from Austria (and Germany) with around 4 to 5 mm left on them

The Michelin CrossClimate only has 7.0mm from new as opposed to most brands which have 7.9mm

bigjl

After reading that article in AutoExpress I am seriously considering All Season tyres.

I don't think they will be as good as a normal tyres in the summer but let's be honest who really uses the maximum amount of their tyres performance?

Gloomendoom

davemorton wrote: »

Not sure if they do them in your size, but Vredestein Quatrac3 are excellent,

Superseded by the Quatrac 5.

Limited size range though.

bigjl

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Superseded by the Quatrac 5.

Limited size range though.

Had a look on Oponeo and they still list the Quatrac 3 but not the 5, at least in the sizes I was looking at.

AdrianC

Iceweasel wrote: »

But tyres with the M+S marking are acceptable too.

M+S markings just say that there are grooves clear across the tyre's tread, and that there's a certain ratio of groove to block. That's it. Proper winter and all-season tyres use different rubber compounds to summer tyres, which are increasingly specialist to reduce rolling resistance.

funguy

Thank you all for your advice. Ford were unable to advise me about switching from 17" to 16" tyres and said that was something they couldnt help with. I am seriously considering swapping down from 17" alloys to 16" alloys and picking up all season tyres in that size which appear to be a lot cheaper. Is there anything else legally/car wise i should consider before doing this?

Thanks again!

alderpoint

davemorton wrote:

Not sure if they do them in your size, but Vredestein Quatrac3 are excellent, and not sure if it is still true now, but when I last bought a set, were the only all season tyres I could find that came with the snowflake/mountain symbol

Iceweasel wrote: »

The Michelin CrossClimate does have the 'snowflake on the mountain' symbol.

Also the new Nokian Weatherproof are all-season with the snowflake symbol.

But tyres with the M+S marking are acceptable too.

I suggest you avoid testing that with the Austrian police.

alderpoint

funguy wrote: »

I am seriously considering swapping down from 17" alloys to 16" alloys and picking up all season tyres in that size which appear to be a lot cheaper. Is there anything else legally/car wise i should consider before doing this?

If you are going for all-season then don't bother going down a size as presumably you'd use them all year round so use your existing rims.

If you go for winter tyres on smaller rims, then check out the rims will physically fit over your brakes - not just diameter but depth too. Also be aware that if your car has tyre pressure monitoring you may need TPMS transmitters too - average about £30/corner but may be a lot more.

Best prices I've found for tyres is www.tyreleader.co.uk (based in Germany, but 2-day shipping to UK). [No connection except as a satisfied repeat customer.]