Winter/All Season tyres

Calibos

I've a 2007 2.0TFSI Audi TT I've had from new with very low mileage. I still have the original Tyres on it but they are definitely now due to be replaced.

My original plan up to a few weeks ago was to buy a set of Winter Tyres for it and use them year round. The reason being that I'd be driving up the Wicklow mountains every week or so during the Winter for some Astronomy on some of the coldest iciest nights and sure Winter temps in Ireland can hover around they zone (7ºc) where Winters start being useful anyway regardless of trips up the mountains. Then the fact that I do low mileage and that up till now I am still on my original set of tyres would indicate that I wouldn't really have to concern myself about excessive tyre wear of Winters during the Summer months. I don't push the car on the road either so the different handling characteristics of a Winter over a Summer |Tyre in Summer didn't worry me too much either. Hence why I thought Winters year round as opposed to All Seasons could work for me.

However, I've just come across Micheline CrossClimates and Nokian Weatherproof which seem to be the best of all worlds. New compounds and Tread patterns that give 99% of Winter performance in the Winter and 99% of Summer performance in the Summer, all without excessive tyre wear, handling changes or excessive road noise. Almost sound too good to be true.

Gutted to find that neither manufacturer do my Tyre size. Mine is 245/40/R18. Does anyone know if either manufacturer plan any more tyre sizes for these tyres. Or does anyone know of any other comparable tyres?

Cheensbo

They do the cross climates in a 245 45 18, and a 235 45 18, both would be fine (I'd say), small change in diameter - the 235 45 would give you about 15 mm extra, so 7.5mm ish extra sidewall, I doubt this would cause a clearance issue with anything.considering some folk fit 20s on them.

Calibos

Are you sure. The only 18 I see is 225/40

livingthedream

One thing to note is that if you opt for a change in the aspect ratio of the tyre then it will also have an effect on your speedometer readings...

http://www.csgnetwork.com/speedocalibcalc.html

Also you don't want to do it if you happen to have a 4WD vehicle i.e. different aspect ratio between front and rear wheels = not a very happy 4WD

~LTD.

CJhaughey

I have had both, Weatherproof and Crossclimates.
Currently running Crossclimates on a Honda Accord and will be reverting back to Weatherproof as soon as this set are worn.
Crossclimate don't deal with standing water as effectively as the Weatherproof and are supposed to be quieter but my experience is that once they wear they are noisier.
I'd recommend going to a slightly higher sidewall 45 as opposed to 40 they will be more comfortable and the slight difference won't make a massive difference to speedo readings.

Cheensbo

livingthedream wrote: »

One thing to note is that if you opt for a change in the aspect ratio of the tyre then it will also have an effect on your speedometer readings...

http://www.csgnetwork.com/speedocalibcalc.html

Also you don't want to do it if you happen to have a 4WD vehicle i.e. different aspect ratio between front and rear wheels = not a very happy 4WD

~LTD.

Won't affect the 4wd if they're all the same.

Speedos by are pretty inaccurate anyway, when a tyre wears down you lose some diameter so your speedo won't be accurate, an increase of 1.5cm ain't gonna make a whole lot of difference in the scheme of things.


Op, check oponeo/camskill/tyreireland etc, I saw them in the 235 on one of those sites..

tossy

I've used winter tyres and found them excellent, one thing i found from research is that all seasons aren't worth it, the are a jack of all trades and a master of none. You are better off going with a dedicated winter tyre my first set were Vredestein winter extreme i found them excellent, the second set were Michelin Alpin 4's i found them very good especially in the non winter months.

I used my first set of winter tyres right up until July and temps of around 20 degrees and they were perfectly fine (as long as it was dry lol)

This thread of course will turn into the usual 'you don't need winter tyres' nonsense we see around here around this time every year - most of the people who will say this will of course have ZERO experience nor will they grasp the fact that it's not a waste of money as while you are using winter tyres you are NOT using summer tyres and vice versa...

Anyway ...

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

Calibos

Cheensbo wrote: »

Won't affect the 4wd if they're all the same.

Speedos by are pretty inaccurate anyway, when a tyre wears down you lose some diameter so your speedo won't be accurate, an increase of 1.5cm ain't gonna make a whole lot of difference in the scheme of things.


Op, check oponeo/camskill/tyreireland etc, I saw them in the 235 on one of those sites..

Cool! €198 a corner for 245/45 r18 on Openeo.

Strange that the actual Micheline Crossclimate page doesnt list them in that size.

Mines FWD. it was either that or poverty spec quattro.

The speedo change is tiny as you say going from that calc. Better comfort from 45 AR and shouldnt be an issue as others said what with some people fitting 20's to TT's.

Last question. Getting the car serviced soon so I can do a slightly early NCT and get my last 2 year nct disc. Should i get the tyres now and load them in the car and ask the service garage to fit them for me or would I be better off taking them to a tyre specialist....will those guys even fit tyres you havent bought from them?

E39MSport

Nokians are very soft and I am finding they are not very durable.

I ran Alpin and thought they were fantastic.

CiniO

Winter tyres in Irish climate, will greatly outperform summer tyres on snow / slush surface.
They will probably be bit better on ice and black ice, but it will be hardly noticable difference.

In any other conditions they will be worse the equivalent quality summer tyres, especially on wet surfact at summer temperatures....

Don't also believe at magical 7 degrees limit below which supposably winter tyres start to perform better even on dry or wet surface. This is purely marketing trick forcing millions of drivers in climates with little snow to buy winter tyres.

E39MSport

CiniO wrote: »

Winter tyres in Irish climate, will greatly outperform summer tyres on snow / slush surface.
They will probably be bit better on ice and black ice, but it will be hardly noticable difference.

In any other conditions they will be worse the equivalent quality summer tyres, especially on wet surfact at summer temperatures....

Don't also believe at magical 7 degrees limit below which supposably winter tyres start to perform better even on dry or wet surface. This is purely marketing trick forcing millions of drivers in climates with little snow to buy winter tyres.

Not true.

Night and day for the Alpin's in my experience. I was massively surprised at the stopping ability on ice.

sunnysoutheast

Calibos wrote: »

I've a 2007 2.0TFSI Audi TT I've had from new with very low mileage. I still have the original Tyres on it but they are definitely now due to be replaced.

My original plan up to a few weeks ago was to buy a set of Winter Tyres for it and use them year round. The reason being that I'd be driving up the Wicklow mountains every week or so during the Winter for some Astronomy on some of the coldest iciest nights and sure Winter temps in Ireland can hover around they zone (7ºc) where Winters start being useful anyway regardless of trips up the mountains. Then the fact that I do low mileage and that up till now I am still on my original set of tyres would indicate that I wouldn't really have to concern myself about excessive tyre wear of Winters during the Summer months. I don't push the car on the road either so the different handling characteristics of a Winter over a Summer |Tyre in Summer didn't worry me too much either. Hence why I thought Winters year round as opposed to All Seasons could work for me.

However, I've just come across Micheline CrossClimates and Nokian Weatherproof which seem to be the best of all worlds. New compounds and Tread patterns that give 99% of Winter performance in the Winter and 99% of Summer performance in the Summer, all without excessive tyre wear, handling changes or excessive road noise. Almost sound too good to be true.

Gutted to find that neither manufacturer do my Tyre size. Mine is 245/40/R18. Does anyone know if either manufacturer plan any more tyre sizes for these tyres. Or does anyone know of any other comparable tyres?

You can get Vredestein Quatrac 5 in that size.

bazz26

OP, a few options for you online if you prefer to stick with the OEM size:

Vredestein Quatrac 5:
https://www.tyreleader.ie/car-tyres/vredestein/quatrac-5/245-40-r18-97y-353230

Goodyear Eagles LS2:
https://www.tyreleader.ie/car-tyres/goodyear/eagle-ls2/245-40-r18-93h-430546

Pirelli Cinturate P7:
https://www.tyreleader.ie/car-tyres/pirelli/cinturato-p7-all-season/245-40-r18-93h-530542

sunnysoutheast

bazz26 wrote: »

OP, a few options for you online if you prefer to stick with the OEM size:

Vredestein Quatrac 5:
https://www.tyreleader.ie/car-tyres/vredestein/quatrac-5/245-40-r18-97y-353230

Goodyear Eagles LS2:
https://www.tyreleader.ie/car-tyres/goodyear/eagle-ls2/245-40-r18-93h-430546

Pirelli Cinturate P7:
https://www.tyreleader.ie/car-tyres/pirelli/cinturato-p7-all-season/245-40-r18-93h-530542

Might just need to check the load and speed ratings of the latter two. Unlikely to be an issue with a 2wd tt but you never know how pernickity the insurance company will be, despite the massive safety improvement with fitting all season tyres for the winter months. I'll probably put the vredsteins on mine next time i'm putting a full replacement set on if cross climates are still not available. I never buy Pirellis after having a set that lasted about the same time as f1 supersofts!

Mycroft H

For what it's worth, I've Hankook Optimo 4S. Decent all season tyre when it got icy during the winter. Really confident in the wet cold weather which is really why I bought them.

http://www.hankooktire.com/uk/passenger-cars/hankook-optimo-4s-h730.html

*Kol*

Given that the OP has got 9 years out of the first set of tyres, he would be safe enough with anything. A decent set of tyres could outlive the car at that kind of mileage.

Edit. I am surprised the NCt hasn't noticed that. They did with my mother. ( sorry OP for putting you in the same bracket as my mother!!!). She changed her car rather than get a new set of tyres after 8 years!!

CiniO

*Kol* wrote: »

Given that the OP has got 9 years out of the first set of tyres, he would be safe enough with anything. A decent set of tyres could outlive the car at that kind of mileage.

Edit. I am surprised the NCt hasn't noticed that. They did with my mother. ( sorry OP for putting you in the same bracket as my mother!!!). She changed her car rather than get a new set of tyres after 8 years!!

They (NCT) could have noticed that, but they can't fail a car purely on fact that tyres are old.
They might be 20 years old and still pass if they are not cracked, bulged or bald.

Calibos

At my last NCT I was told they were still fine but that Id need to think about changing them soon. The still havent reached the thread markers but the side walls are starting to show signs of deterioration.

Got a letter from the NCT the other day advising me to do the NCT early before the end of the year before the car hits 10 years old in order to get one last two year disc.

Drumroll.........the car has 11,500 miles on the clock! No one would believe it though without hooking up a diagnostic machine as the LCD display for the speedo is failing and corrupted.

The mileage was always going to be on the low side given I lived on the other side of the same town to work. However, one year after buying the car I moved not literally next door to my place of work but actually next door to my place of work. Then several issues including health related meant that for the next few years there wasnt even any leisure or hobby related excursions in the car. Just a shopping trip to Tesco once a week.

Why didnt I sell the car? Because it was my dream to own one and I never thought the issues that prevented me driving it much would last so many years.