Winter Tyres or Snow Chains

[grober]

Further to the subject of winter or "allweather" tyres Nokian have recently released details of a new all weather design. the eNTYRE Its designed as an all year round cold climate tyre available up to V rating and appears to feature a less aggressive tread pattern than the WR or WRG series- For this reason it may not offer the same traction in snow but it may "tick the boxes" for some owners as a front tyre for example. Available from MYTYRES in the UK mytyres.co.uk - Details: Nokian eNTYRE 205/55 R16 91H BSW

 

[Bellow]

You can stop, what about the vehicle, often ridiculously close, behind you?

Back in a mo - got to go and cut all my brake pipes...

 

[Sp!ke]

I left the avon Ice touring winter tyres on my wife's Volvo for the last 2 years, summer and winter.

You wouldn't know they were winter tyres without looking, no excess noise, no abnormal read wear or poor grip through summer or anything bad to write home about.

The S60 is hardly a sports car I grant you but still for your average car I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the same.

 

[kit17]

Its winter tyres for me too! I brought a set of Nankang Snow SV2 winter tyres at a cost of £80 each - they are excellent. I ve got the 17 inch amg staggered set - up on mine but I put same size tyres on front and back. You wont believe how good they work!

 

[snoop51]

I've had a look at the mytyres site and they show steel wheel / winter tyre combinations for W211 16" wheels. My question is will these fit my W212 350CDI Sport?

 

[Cen]

Look at the weather forecast and leave the car at home if there is a chance of snow

 

[clk270]

A few thoughts..

1. can you actually fit snow chains to the 265mm wide rear tyres without fouling the bodywork or suspension strut ?
2. snow chains are great when its really bad, but you've got to fit them when the weather isn't exactly ideal to be crouched down by each wheel. Once back on tarmac you also then have to find somewhere safe to park up (probably a snow covered layby) to remove them. If the road is potentially still a bit slippy do you really want to be crouched alongside the car with other vehicles driving past ?
3. You then have to put filthy dirty snow chains in the boot, clean and dry them for next time.
4. Winter tyres give improved performance from end Oct to end April in the UK. There will be the odd dry day when the temperature is above 5'C where a summer tyre would be beneficial (2m better braking from 62mph), but weigh that against frosty mornings, potential for ice on untreated roads and snow performance. Mytyres quote a 16" wheel combo for the E320CDI sport packet model - maybe the brakes are bigger on the E350 now ?. Even if 16s are OK you'll be looking at £600 for set of wheels delivered with mid range tyres. It might not be much cheaper to buy just 18" winter tyres, and the repeated fitting/balancing cost probably makes them more expensive over a few years.

You should be able to get 20k miles or more from winter tyres, provide you don't hoon it.

Nokians seem very good for mileage - in the US they offer a 50k mile guarantee on WR and WR G2 models. There's aVolvo XC90 owner in Canada using WR G2s all year - he got 47k miles from the first set, he's got about 30k miles on the second so far.. The original conti tyres supplied on the car lasted 15k miles !


The UK delaerships are not clued up, and often accessories and options available in Europe are not avaialble here - i tried to order wheel storgae bags from VW, clearly shown in their winter programme brichure in Europe. Part number was recognised in the parts catalogue, but the ordering didn't want to know. I got a set from Aldi in theend - not as s****y as the VW badged ones, but do the same job (keep dirt, dust and UV radiation off the stored tyre set)

 

[Chris Murray]

Schneeketenmontage nicht zulaessig!
Snow chains not permitted
It's written on most of the AMG technical documents relating to permissible wheel/tyre combinbations.
Download the current documents from here: Mercedes-Benz Deutschland - Original-Zubehör - Reifen und Felgen

Studdable tyres are illegal in UK.
My personal opinion on snowchains is that you'd only really want to use them for a very short journey, eg to get up that short uphill section from your cabin to the ski resort at the Lecht.
Cold weather tyres (aka M+S and Winter tyres) are highly recommended. Mercedes UK have launched a big initiative after recent cold Winter months. Use when <7C, more silica in them etc etc.. The number of enquiries we have for Cold Weather tyres is huge, we will have separate sections for Summer and Winter tyres at the start of November.

If you can tolerate the aesthetics of a steel wheel and they fit your vehicle, they're extremely cheap. Combine that with the cost saving of your usual Summer tyre treadwear and it concludes the case for purchasing.

I'll return to this thread to answer any technical stuff that's within my area of expertise...

 

[Gridlock]

My winter tyres:

 

[Satch]

Studdable tyres are illegal in UK.

Afraid that is much quoted but wholly incorrect.

The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 only prohibit the use of tyres that causes either damage to the road, or to persons, or to any vehicle using the road

What it does potentially catch are damaged tyres/wheels but also oversized wheels/tyres which project outside of the the wheel arches and so the wheel itself rather than the vehicle could injure a pedestrian or damage a vehicle.

Studded tyres if not oversize and having no other objectionable features that are a danger to people or vehicles, are only prohibted if used in inappropriate conditions, i.e. where there is no ice or snow and they are capable of damaging the road surface, which is exactly the same technical position as for snow chains.

There is no prohibition whatsoever against Studdable tyres and indeed many 4x4 tyres sold have stud provison although almost never used in this country except by hardcore off roaders in grim, icy conditions because they are such a PITA to insert and remove.

Spiked tyres are however considered a complete no no because of the danger to pedestrians

 

[clk270]

My winter tyres:

Not sure what rubber that has, but purely having 4 wheel drive does not necessarily make it any better. It probably helps a little, but its bloomin' useless if its not coupled to the correct yres - witness all the X3,X5 and RR Sport owners slithering around last winter

 

[Chris Murray]

I'll return to this thread to answer any technical stuff that's within my area of expertise...

which clearly isn't the legality of studdable tyres

 

[312 Sprinter]

Bear in mind that you cannot use studded tyres in Germany or Holland at all. The reality is that studded tyres damage tarmac and it is hardly practical in the UK to have a set of tyres you only use on snow covered roads.

 

[BENINLUX]

I live in Luxembourg, and my missus' Civic gets winter tyres every year. They're on some alloys that we got on promo from the dealership.

The Civic has taken us skiing a few times, and we don't bother waiting behind the snowploughs on the French autoroutes.

 

[babaroga]

Winter tyres!

I have a second set of wheels with winter tyres fitted. They go on in November and come off in March.

They are no noisier than summer tyres and are just as comfortable.

Once the temperature drops below 7C they are better than summer tyres.

In snow the difference is night and day.

They are easily available in a range of speed ratings and are made by most manufacturers. I have H rated winter tyres (130mph) but my size is available at V rating (149mph).

With chains I believe you are limited to 30mph, no use once you're on cleared roads.

I've heard that 'socks' are shredded pretty quickly when used on cleared roads.

Your car's handbook will have winter tyre sizes specified. They maybe slightly narrower than summer tyres even on the same rims. E.g. my summer tyres are 275 but the winter tyres are 265.

Just a quick question here. Which wheels have you got and which tyres. My choice is swinging towards Pirelli Ice&Snow 265/55r19....

I have also been thinking of putting 18" alloys instead current 19"s on GL 420.

regards
Darko

 

[Stratman]

I have used chains in the French Alps a couple of times on a FWD Mk2 Audi 80.

The main roads were clear, and climbing up the hairpins I reckoned to put on the chains when there was more snow than tarmac. It turned out to about right as many French registered cars were fitting them around the same spot.

It's definately worth having a practice fitting at home before you leave. And have a large plastic bag to put them in when you remove them. Mine came in a plastic storage case, but it's an excercise in advanced origami to get them back in. Not what you want at the roadside on an alpine hairpin road.

 

[raymont]

Just a quick question here. Which wheels have you got and which tyres. My choice is swinging towards Pirelli Ice&Snow 265/55r19....

I have also been thinking of putting 18" alloys instead current 19"s on GL 420.

regards
Darko

Summer tyres 275 55 19 are on 19" 7 spoke alloys.

Winter tyres are 265 55 19 Vredestein Wintrac 4 Xtrem on 19"5 spoke alloys.

Very happy with them, good ride, probably better than the summer tyres, and quiet.

Not sure about the 18" wheels. Thought about this myself but was looking at a set on German ebay where the description emphasized they would not fit the 420 / 500 version. Bigger brakes than the 320?

This might not be true, but it's worth checking before buying any.

 

[lancebond]

Save your money, buy a cheap land rover discovery, for over the winter for £500 sell it when the weather improves.

That's what I've been looking for!

 

[Apial]

Just a quick question here. Which wheels have you got and which tyres. My choice is swinging towards Pirelli Ice&Snow 265/55r19....

I have also been thinking of putting 18" alloys instead current 19"s on GL 420.

regards
Darko

The Ice and snow tyre is fantastic for this weather. They are much better than the Nokian WR G2+s that I also have. Traction is unbelievably good. For deep snow they must be one of the best tyres I have used in over 20 years.

Do fit them as a set of four though as they give weird handling effects when used with other M+S tyres.

 

[Happybuddie]

Snow chains vs winter tyres

I live in central Scotland, and the weather here over the last few days, and ensuing road conditions, explode the myth taht we don't need either of these in the civilised parts of the UK!!!. Last year we had similar conditions, to the extent that I was out on Xmas night shoving an old 180E uphill out of my street with 8 other guys, Jags & Beemers were trapped like dinosaurs in a tar pit. I bought a cheap pair of chains for £30 on e:bay, and they are great for the short drive, 3 miles, but I feel I could climb a mountain with them. We have hard-packed ice here at the mo, and it's like driving over potholes. I've decided to upgrade for next year, but as I'm buying something else in the spring, not sure which wheels I'm going to have, I'll make do with these until then. However, doing some research, mytyres.co.uk sell winter tyres on steel rims for around £150 per corner, and skidrive.co.uk do superb Thule CL-10 chains for c£120/pair. Belt n braces, but you'll never get stuck.