Winter tyres, yes or no ?

[Scottymon]

I did about 10k on them tbf, and I drive like Cole Trickle.

[Mikeygtir]

I didnt put WT on the winter there, but the Mk4 GT TDi i had before the GTi i had them fitted and i can say hand on heart one of the best purchases i have ever made..

I put them on all 4 corners after having a pretty bad near miss at 70mph the winter before going up to aberdeen..

The car was unstoppable with them on!! I'll def be looking at fitting some (and possibly some winter wheels) this year as the BMW is complete and utter wank in the white stuff!

[simonp]

I put my Nankangs on mid November 12' and took them off last week of March.

I could barely see any wear to the naked eye apart from the original 'brand new' pattern having worn off of course. For £198 for two tyres I thought that was awesome value, personally. There must be at least another two winters in them, possibly more.

I did the same and they were totally bald when I took them off! Crap tyres. I'm splashing out and trying Continental TS830P's this year...

edit: after looking at some pics, mine were SV1's. Still crap, though!

[rich83]

No..... ill be putting on my 18s with GY F1v2s on for winter.

[john87]

Yes, I had Kuhno KW27's on last year and the year before... much better in slippy/snowy conditions than 'summer' tyres, and I made my mate a bit annoyed who drove a quattro A3 which I was assured was  brilliant in the snow. Not compared to my FWD with winters 

[Eccie]

Yes - they have really saved my bacon over the last couple of winters, got them on both cars, well worth the money if you can afford them and live north of Birmingham I'd say.

[Bernhard30]

In 2010 bought a second set of wheels (Pescaras) and 4x Conti TS830P winter boots.
They've been on for three winters now and are well wortb the outlay and the farting about getting them swapped.
Last Feb in heavy snow was travelling down the A1 from Newcastle and not wanting to follow the line of slow traffic in the left lane pulled out into the right lane which was full of virgin snow. So there I am going past at about 65mph a line of cars playing 'follow my tracks' and I realise at the front of the convoy is a snowplough..
Must have looked great a white Ed30 ploughing the outside lane going past.

BTW That's not a story about my Petter Solberg like driving skill..far from it. Just how good Conti winters are.

[Frodo-anni]

Yes, had them on my last two cars and make such a difference. in my mk4 anni i had the ability to drive past discoverys/defenders that were stuck going up hills.

This year i have sourced a set of 18" monza's to fit the tyres to, so that i am not having to change them over. Also the monza's will be far easier to keep clean.

I now just have to decide what colour to refurb them 

[DRM92]

They are brilliant in the snow - however if we only have around a week of snow in a year, is it really worth all that money?

[rdfcpete]

I put my Nankangs on mid November 12' and took them off last week of March.

I could barely see any wear to the naked eye apart from the original 'brand new' pattern having worn off of course. For £198 for two tyres I thought that was awesome value, personally. There must be at least another two winters in them, possibly more.

I did the same and they were totally bald when I took them off! Crap tyres. I'm splashing out and trying Continental TS830P's this year...

edit: after looking at some pics, mine were SV1's. Still crap, though!

How many miles is that Si?
Bizarre, really. Mine were barely caressed by the road and I'd have done around 5,000 miles in that time, maybe a little under. There's between 6.5-7mm of tread left on both I'd say, comfortably.

The SV1 & SV2's can't differ that much so it must be our driving styles that differ 

[Frodo-anni]

They are brilliant in the snow - however if we only have around a week of snow in a year, is it really worth all that money?

Not just about snow on the ground its about freezing temps, below 7c when they work wonders. 

[stealthwolf]

+1 for low temps. I run Wintrac Xtremes and the difference is like night and day. As above, it's allowed me to drive where other cars struggle. The downside of the GTI is that in some areas, it was low slung enough that I was effectively grounded.

[simonp]

How many miles is that Si?
Bizarre, really. Mine were barely caressed by the road and I'd have done around 5,000 miles in that time, maybe a little under. There's between 6.5-7mm of tread left on both I'd say, comfortably.

The SV1 & SV2's can't differ that much so it must be our driving styles that differ  

Bout 6-7000 miles I'd guess. Only had them on the back and Hankook Ice Bears on the front. They were pretty bad, too, but didn't wear out like the Ningnongs. I was understeering like a good un and sliding everywhere. Aquaplaning was a huge problem, too. Only time they were any good was when there was actual snow...

[MikeA]

Best thing I ever did bought a second hand set off Gumtree (Old guy had them on his VRS) and they transformed the cold weather handling/grip of the car.

Have Vredestein WINTRAC XTREME and this will be the third winter the tyres have been used,  they are sitting about 5-6mm.

[cuprajake]

Last year I fitted remold winter tyre for 50 a corner and they were ace really. Best investment made
Don't forget to inform ypur ins as most winter tyres are lower speed rating