All season tyre availability

agrinnall

I'm considering all season tyres for my Fiesta in case we have a repeat of last winter's conditions. When I lived in Scotland I switched from summer to winter tyres, but in Birmingham it seems like overkill to go for two sets of tyres (and space is a bit more of an issue here).


The problem I'm having is finding suitable options in the standard size for my car, 195/50R16. Black Circles don't have any, while mytyres have four. Having looked at a test done by Autoexpress there's only one that they tested that is also available at mytyres, Falken Euro All Season, which came mid table in the test. It doesn't look like either of the top two from the test are produced in that size.



Does anyone have any other recommendation in that size, or any experience of the Falken tyre? According to the tyre label in the car 195/45R16 is also a standard fit, there are a few more options in that size from mytyres but still only the Falken that was in the test.


https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/92873/all-season-tyre-test-20172018-results-by-category

neilmcl

Are your sure they're the correct tyre for the car? Should/could they not take 195/55 16s, this will give you loads more choices if it was this size.

agrinnall

neilmcl wrote: »

Are your sure they're the correct tyre for the car? Should/could they not take 195/55 16s, this will give you loads more choices if it was this size.

Yes it is, those are the tyres that were on it when I bought it from new, the size is listed on the plate inside the car, and when I enter the registration number on a tyre finder that's the size that comes up (along with a size for 17" wheels).



I agree that if it was 55 then there would be a lot more options, so I suppose a supplementary question is whether it would be feasible to fit them even though they are not a standard size (which of course would also mean informing my insurer).

sevenhills

agrinnall wrote: »

Yes it is, those are the tyres that were on it when I bought it from new, the size is listed on the plate inside the car, and when I enter the registration number on a tyre finder that's the size that comes up (along with a size for 17" wheels).

I bought a Fiesta a few years ago and it had different sized tyres, on different wheels.
I am sure brand new tyres will work much better in snow than worn tyres, is that not enough?

Stratus

You could try some other online suppliers. https://www.tyres-guru.co.uk is part part of the same Delti.com group that MyTyres are (same UK head office in Oxfordshire). I've often found them a little cheaper by a pound or two. I also find https://www.camskill.co.uk worth a look sometimes.

If you want to investigate other tyres http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk is worth a look but tests probably don't include your size.

For what it's worth I put some Kleber Quadraxer 2s on our Yaris last year and they were excellent during the winter (replacing some Vredestein Quatrac 3s). I believe the BF Goodrich g-grip all season 2 is pretty much identical to the Kleber but a little bit cheaper (I stand to be corrected on that). Both companies are subsidiaries of Michelin.

System

agrinnall wrote: »

I agree that if it was 55 then there would be a lot more options, so I suppose a supplementary question is whether it would be feasible to fit them even though they are not a standard size (which of course would also mean informing my insurer).

You can put 55s on your car, you can also go up to 205 as well or down to as low as 175. The only thing that would change if you went to 55 high profile would be the speedo accuracy but given that most under-read by 10% it would just make it more accurate. You could check its accuracy using a free GPS app on your mobile phone and see what the actual speed is compared to the indicated one on the speedo.

Michelin Crossclimate+ seem to be the best ones to get.

System

sevenhills wrote: »

I bought a Fiesta a few years ago and it had different sized tyres, on different wheels.
I am sure brand new tyres will work much better in snow than worn tyres, is that not enough?

You should watch some videos, they're quite eye opening. And no, using new summer tyres isn't enough.

These demonstrate it nicely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elP_34ltdWI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cgtmmtsqFA

agrinnall

Tarambor wrote: »

You can put 55s on your car, you can also go up to 205 as well or down to as low as 175. The only thing that would change if you went to 55 high profile would be the speedo accuracy but given that most under-read by 10% it would just make it more accurate. You could check its accuracy using a free GPS app on your mobile phone and see what the actual speed is compared to the indicated one on the speedo.

Michelin Crossclimate+ seem to be the best ones to get.

Thanks for confirming that, yes, my speedo does read a little higher than the GPS speed (as you would expect), so as long as my insurer doesn't have an issue with 55 tyres that would give me more choice.



And yes, the Michelin's were top in the Autoexpress test for UK conditions - by which I guess they probably mean English conditions (and therefore fine for me now) rather than Highlands of Scotland conditions (where they probably would have struggled in one of the bad years).

AndyMc.....

Mine came with 195 45 R16s, switched and the insurance weren't bothered having moved to another standard size.

agrinnall

AndyMc..... wrote: »

Mine came with 195 45 R16s, switched and the insurance weren't bothered having moved to another standard size.

Yes, but I'd be moving to a non-standard size if I fit 195/55R16s.

AndyMc.....

agrinnall wrote: »

Yes, but I'd be moving to a non-standard size if I fit 195/55R16s.

What year is it because for my car 195 50 is a 15" rim!