MK5 Golf GTI

All Things Mk5 => Mk5 General Area => Topic started by: berg on September 08, 2011, 08:37:55 pm

Title: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: berg on September 08, 2011, 08:37:55 pm
After reading the review of the Nankang Snow SV 2 I think I would like something which handles better when it is just raining/above freezing.

I dont however want to spend a fortune.

Vredestein £150.00 a corner from mytyres or Goodyear £153.00 from Camskill.

Does anyone have experience of the Goodyear winter tyres?

Thanks.
Title: Re: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: Beddie on September 08, 2011, 09:44:51 pm
I run Hankook Ice Bear W300, less aggressive tread pattern than a conventional 'snow' tyre and marketed as a 'performance' assymetrical winter tyre

Performed excellently throughout last winter even in pretty deep snow  :happy2:
Title: Re: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: heavyd on September 08, 2011, 09:59:08 pm
I ran the hankooks last year aswell, first time I have bought winter tyres and was impressed by them aswell :happy2:
Title: Re: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: Andy on September 08, 2011, 10:01:54 pm
i hope to sell loads this year :evilgrin:
Title: Re: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: PDT on September 08, 2011, 10:10:15 pm
Nokian wr are simply amazing. Was reccomended them by a friend from Northern Norway.
Title: Re: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: gizmo68 on September 08, 2011, 10:13:34 pm
Nokian wr are simply amazing. Was reccomended them by a friend from Northern Norway.

+1

I bought some Nokian WRG2's last year and they are excellent  :happy2:
Title: Re: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: berg on September 08, 2011, 11:00:22 pm
Hankook cheaper than both the Goodyear and the Vredestein. Nokian - will check them out - are they a budget tyre?

What about Kumho from Korear £116.00 a corner??
Title: Re: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: gizmo68 on September 08, 2011, 11:08:31 pm
No they are a Scandinavian manufacturer (where better to make winter tyres?) which is why many people have never heard of them, but they get very good reviews and I can see why I will certainly buy them again  :happy2:
Title: Re: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: Bernhard30 on September 08, 2011, 11:46:04 pm
May be possibly out of budget depending on size, but I used Conti WinterContact TS830P last year on her diesel Golf.
They were superb in the cold weather, not just when the snow fell.
Half way through winter I tried to get some for the Gti but couldn't get stock. So just floundered around as the Pilot Sport3 were very poor when compared to proper 'winter tyres'.
The Conti tyres were awesome in snow/ice, but also very good on cold wet tarmac too and hardly wore at all.

Her Golf has now morphed into a A4 Avant, so the 225/40/18's are going on mine and we ordered another set of TS830P last Friday for the Audi in the 245/40/18 flavour, 97V load/speed rating.
My tyre dealer tells me Continental are not putting these into production till 1st Oct, so guess that's when winter production starts for that company, as i'd asked for 2011 'stock'.

Never used Goodyear winters but would imagine they're equally as good as others mentioned.

Either way I'm converted and always plan to use them each year. I live in the North East of England.
As they say up here "it's a bit nippy like.."
Title: Re: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: danishmkvgti on September 09, 2011, 06:20:32 am
You have to consider what size rims you're using. First 2 years with the gti i used the 17" gti rims and Goodyear winter tyres, excellent when the snow fell, but i felt i lost some steering feel, so last year i bought some Vredesteins Wintrac 18" for the pescaras, much better steering feel but less grip in pure snow condition. Still only 2 tyres were available in 225/40-18" with xyz speedmarking and Michelin was almost twice as expensive  :signLOL:
Title: Re: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: LouCyffer on September 09, 2011, 07:15:51 am
Yup, Vred Wintrac Xtreme, on 18" Monza 2's and they were sublime. Bought them this time last year.
Title: Re: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: berg on September 09, 2011, 09:35:22 am
am running 18's with monza II, will check out the vreds stock but camskill still dont have any will check my tyres now.

best to get them in now i reckon before prices rise like last year...
Title: Re: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: LouCyffer on September 09, 2011, 11:01:01 am
You can try Tyremen in Hull, they are Vred distributors  :happy2: but I always get mine from Endyke Tyres, Hull, and they are always competitive :smiley:
Title: Re: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: david25 on September 09, 2011, 11:05:29 am
May be possibly out of budget depending on size, but I used Conti WinterContact TS830P last year on her diesel Golf.
They were superb in the cold weather, not just when the snow fell.
Half way through winter I tried to get some for the Gti but couldn't get stock. So just floundered around as the Pilot Sport3 were very poor when compared to proper 'winter tyres'.
The Conti tyres were awesome in snow/ice, but also very good on cold wet tarmac too and hardly wore at all.

Her Golf has now morphed into a A4 Avant, so the 225/40/18's are going on mine and we ordered another set of TS830P last Friday for the Audi in the 245/40/18 flavour, 97V load/speed rating.
My tyre dealer tells me Continental are not putting these into production till 1st Oct, so guess that's when winter production starts for that company, as i'd asked for 2011 'stock'.

Never used Goodyear winters but would imagine they're equally as good as others mentioned.

Either way I'm converted and always plan to use them each year. I live in the North East of England.
As they say up here "it's a bit nippy like.."



Bernhard, could you post some further info about the 830P?

1. Did steering "feel" change, did you lose any positive feel, especially in corners?
2. Any change in MPG

For everyone else here is the link, the 830P has a tread pattern similar to a summer tyre, compared to the more traditional V shaped one found on winters.

http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/de/en/continental/automobile/themes/car-tires/winter-tires/contiwintercontact-ts-830-p/contiwintercontact-ts-830-p.html

Title: Re: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: skard on September 09, 2011, 11:29:22 am
Last year I bought some Conti TS770 and Dunlop Sport SP 3D. They got me everywhere I had to go. The only time I struggled was when I didn't have enough clearance and the bumper got stuck! These are probably older designs now.

Had them on for four months and the tread hardly receded.

As Bernhard mentioned, us in NE England get a fair chunk of bad weather (where I live is 1000ft above sea level too) so being able to stop/control the car as well as possible is the aim!

Also bought some for the wife's car from http://www.clickontyres.com
Title: Re: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: Eccie on September 09, 2011, 04:49:42 pm
Nokian wr are simply amazing. Was reccomended them by a friend from Northern Norway.

Absolutely agree. I ran Nokian WR G2 on the golf last winter and they were faultless.

So impressed was I, that I have today collected another set of 4 to put on the Audi this winter, I'm 40+ and have driven more miles than i care to remember (mostly company cars) but having tried winter tyres over in Austria 4 years ago, and running them on my own car last winter, I'm a total convert, If you live in the north (anywhere above Watford) then I think your fully justified in running winter rubber
Title: Re: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: Bernhard30 on September 09, 2011, 10:26:43 pm
@ David25, Re: Conti TS830P,

1. Did steering "feel" change, did you lose any positive feel, especially in corners?

No loss of feel I'd say, the car felt really good in terms of how it steered.
That said it was on a Mk5 Gt 170 Diesel so yet to try them on the Ed30.
All I can say is that the car just gripped in all conditions and felt better on cold surfaces, not just snow/ice.

2. Any change in MPG?

As said it was on a diesel, but subjectively I didn't think it used any more fuel during the winter tyre running.

I read a lot of winter reviews on: tyrereviews.co.uk and ended up at the Conti 830P, the P is a different to the 830 if I remember correctly. As said earlier another set of these have been ordered for the A4.

Just for extra info: I asked my tyre dealer about how to store them through the summer, he asked Vredestein and was told that after a thorough clean the tyres still on my spare 18" wheels should be stored with one bar of pressure and not in direct sunlight, so the pile of wheels is covered in the garage waiting for the cold weather.
Title: Re: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: gizmo68 on September 09, 2011, 10:31:30 pm
2. Any change in MPG

I fitted my 205/55/16 Nokian WR G2's to the car when it had just 500 miles on the clock, when it was time to put the OE 225/40/18 Continentals back on the MPG actually decreased by about 3MPG - not quite what I was expecting!!
Title: Re: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: berg on September 10, 2011, 01:59:21 pm
have gone for the vreds as bit cheaper than Goodyear and Nokian £150.70 a corner from mytyres
Title: Re: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: Bernhard30 on September 10, 2011, 05:34:15 pm
Vred's are a good tyre. Not a bad price either.

As a comparison the Conti's TS830P in 225/40/18 size I bought were £170 each fitted last Oct.

The 245/40/18 size are a bit more per corner this season. Either way winters are well worth the money in my book.
Title: Re: Which Winter Tyre?
Post by: leetdi22 on September 11, 2011, 06:30:40 pm
http://www.michelin.co.uk/tyres/michelin-alpin-a4

found them very good in last years sonw  :happy2: