Are winter tyres worth it?

MikeD22 · 15-03-2019 09:35AM #1

As above, are they worth having? I have two sets of wheels for my car, an avensis 03.

I'm thinking of either keeping the second set and putting winters on and having them for bad weather should it happen again or i can just sell them on and continue on summer tyres all year.

Thoughts?

Wibbs · 15-03-2019 09:42AM

I'd say they are alright. Having them in the last snow falls over the years meant I wasn't immobile. They're good in our generally cold and wet winters too.

grogi · 15-03-2019 09:46AM

MikeD22 wrote: »

As above, are they worth having? I have two sets of wheels for my car, an avensis 03.

I'm thinking of either keeping the second set and putting winters on and having them for bad weather should it happen again or i can just sell them on and continue on summer tyres all year.

Thoughts?

Not in Ireland. We don't get hot summers nor snowy winters.

Get a set of all-season tyres and forget about two sets. Bridgestone Weather Control A005 seems very well suited for our climate...

CJhaughey · 15-03-2019 10:44AM

grogi wrote: »

Not in Ireland. We don't get hot summers nor snowy winters.

Get a set of all-season tyres and forget about two sets. Bridgestone Weather Control A005 seems very well suited for our climate...

I have the A005 on my wifes Impreza, they are a very good tyre for Ireland.
They work well for almost all conditions you get here, way better than summer tyres in cold and frosty conditions and great in wet and cool conditions.
With winter and summer tyres you prolong the tyres lifespan a lot, generally all seasons and winters tend to wear a bit quicker in summer than summer tyres do but I guess it depends on where you live.
In remote rural areas that may see snow for a lot of the time in winter and where roads are not gritted or see much traffic it may be worth having a dedicated winter set, but in most areas a set of Good All seasons will be as effective and more versatile.

I have had many sets of winter and all season tyres Continental , Nokian and Michelin were all brands that I used when I was doing a lot more mileage than I am now but since I changed roles I don't need the all weather capabilities any longer and if the weather is really bad I can use the AWD with the A005's to go most anywhere.

uck51js9zml2yt · 15-03-2019 11:19AM

I use all weather mitchelin.

MikeD22 · 15-03-2019 11:49AM

CJhaughey wrote: »

I didn't think of all weather tyres. I do live on a hill which in very bad weather sees no grit or snow cleared. This is what got me thinking of having winter's as back up.

Main roads here see grit but nowhere else.

CJhaughey · 15-03-2019 11:57AM

OP it may be indeed worth getting a set of Winters in your case, especially hilly terrain you need a good winter tyre.
I'd recommend Continental TS 850/860 as a good winter tyre, if you can, run a narrower width then go for the narrowest tyre that will fit your rims.

I had the Michelin Cross climates when they first appeared, good tyres but not very good for standing water, my TC light used to flash a lot when I hit puddles with them.
I like the Nokian All Weather + as an all season tyre, very predictable and the Weatherproof was good as well.
The Michelin Cross climate is a Summer biased All season tyre, and the Nokian is a Winter biased all season if that makes sense.
The Bridgestone A005 is more summer biased than the Nokian and better in standing water then the Crossclimate in my experience.

uck51js9zml2yt · 15-03-2019 01:21PM

MikeD22 wrote: »

I didn't think of all weather tyres. I do live on a hill which in very bad weather sees no grit or snow cleared. This is what got me thinking of having winter's as back up.

Main roads here see grit but nowhere else.

I use Michelin cross climates.

15-03-2019 03:18PM

All Season tyres are most suited to Ireland. My local tyre centre don't stock winter/summer specific tyres because they're never asked for.

banana_bear · 15-03-2019 03:23PM

MikeD22 wrote: »

As above, are they worth having? I have two sets of wheels for my car, an avensis 03.

I'm thinking of either keeping the second set and putting winters on and having them for bad weather should it happen again or i can just sell them on and continue on summer tyres all year.

Thoughts?

Back in Switzerland half the population drives with a set of summer and a set of winter tyres, and the other half drives with all seasons all year around. I've done both for a couple years and both work. All seasons are a compromise obviously, but good ones are very close to specialised summer and winter tyres, without the risk of having the wrong set of socks on when the weather changes quicker than you can get them changed. Your winter tyres are worthless when they're lying in the garage because we get snow at the end of march after you've already switched to your summer tyres.

Here in Ireland where temperatures rarely move outside of the 0-20°C bracket winter tyres are a complete waste. All seasons are perfect for this climate. They work fine in these temperatures, and have no trouble with the few centimetres of snow we have here once every 3 years.

grogi · 15-03-2019 03:23PM

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

All Season tyres are most suited to Ireland. My local tyre centre don't stock winter/summer specific tyres because they're never asked for.

Your tyre centre stocks summer tyres, not all-season tyres.

15-03-2019 04:27PM

grogi wrote: »

Your tyre centre stocks summer tyres, not all-season tyres.

That's not what I was told but anyhoo...

grogi · 15-03-2019 04:40PM

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

That's not what I was told but anyhoo...

Check if any of those are in stock:

- Michelin Cross Climate+
- Goodyear Vector 4Season
- Bridgestone Weather Control A005
- Continental AllSeasonContact
- Vredestein quatrac 5
- Falken AS210 (new Gen) or AS200 (previous Generation)
- Hankook Kinergy 4S2 (new Gen) or 4S (previous Gen)
- Nexen N'Blue 4Season
- BFGoodrich g Grip All Season 2
- Kleber Quadraxer
- Debica Navigator 2
- Nokian WeatherProof
- Uniroyal AllSeason Expert (vs Rain Expert).
- Maxxis All Season AP2
- Firestone Multiseason

If the shop sells Uniroyal, they will have Rain Experts (summer tyre), not AllSeason Experts etc.

All seasons are typically a bit more expensive, so the ordinary conversation in tyre shop that goes "I have Uniroyal for €110 or Klebers for €90" would put them at a massive disadvantage.

15-03-2019 04:42PM

I'm not going to go to the trouble, I'll just accept what you're saying, agree to disagree and move on.

MikeD22 · 15-03-2019 08:43PM

Thanks for replies, might stick decent rubber on the wheels on the car and sell on the second set.

Might be right about the winters won't be much use on the shed floor which is where they will spend most of there time.

ednwireland · 15-03-2019 08:48PM

just got a new (to me) car first thing as some of the tyres were brands i never heard of was to put bridgestone weather contol on.
used to run winters but living in donegal wet weather performance is important !

great so far

used firestones multi season before definitely give you the confidence in snow but sketchy on ice compared to winters but think iverall the all seasons win out

Are winter tyres worth it?

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