Member Since: 23 Dec 2008
Location: Aberdeenshire
Posts: 366
Tyres for Winter - Suggestions
Thinking of replacing my tyres on my D4 (19") when I pick it up next week, mainly for winter (live in NE of Scotland and when the snow hits, it's usually heavy - plus we have lots of icy mornings, wet days, I'll be heading up to the hills to go skiing etc etc).
Can anyone recommend a good all round tyre for winter that won't wear down to quickly? I found the Wranglers on my D3 to be particularly useless on snow last season.
A good set of tyres that are suited for the right conditions, makes all the difference. I had an Audi A4 Avant Quattro once upon a time (nearly new) and when I took it out in the snow with the standard Continentals, it was like it was Bambi on ice!!! When I stuck on a set of Michelin Alpin's, it was like it was wearing a set of snow shoes - what a difference!!
So, anyone got any good, value for money suggestions?If in doot, flat oot!!
5th Sep 2009 9:02 am
Zermatt Vulgaris
Member Since: 12 Jan 2009
Location: aberdeenshire
Posts: 511
I''ve had vredstein winter tyres on previous cars up here and they have been excellent....thing i'll go for vredstein wintertrac for mine sometime..
having said that got over the lecht and through to cairngorm last year on pirelli scorpios so unless you are of to the alps you may not need to change..Visiting from rrsport.co.uk
2011MY Zermatt Silver Range Rover Sport HSE 3.0 TDV6
5th Sep 2009 9:10 am
Landylad
Member Since: 23 Dec 2008
Location: Aberdeenshire
Posts: 366
Think even brand new tyres are useless if they aint intended for the specific conditions. Take the Contintentals on my Audi for example - I thought, 4 wheel drive, should be a piece of cake. But they were utterly useless. The new tyres on the D4 (not sure what they are to be honest) don't look too different from the Wranglers on my D3. Yes, at a crawl or a very slow pace, they'll get you up and down most things, but I like the reassurance of being able to commit to a corner or break as late as I want, without the thing heading off in to a ditch or the ABS kicking in and not having any effect on the breaking power.
Guess what I'm saying is, I need a set of boots that will give me the confidence to drive in the way I want (ie, overtake most things that are slowing me up in snow and ice).
The main difference i felt with winter tyres on the Audi, was the shorter stopping distances.... and that's in a thing that's about 1/3rd lighter than a Disco!
Who do you normally use for buying up here Zermatt?If in doot, flat oot!!
The Vredestein Wintracs are excellent, and in most places are much less than the Pirelli ATRs. The Scorpions I had on before were hopeless in the snow - only the D3's excellent traction control got me out last year. The Wintracs seem to wear very slowly too, but also provide excellent grip.Previously:
2005 D3 2.7 TDV6 S
1984 90 2.25 Petrol CSW
1992 90 200TDi Hard Top
1995 Discovery ES 300TDi
2003 90 TD5 Truck Cab
5th Sep 2009 9:48 am
Landylad
Member Since: 23 Dec 2008
Location: Aberdeenshire
Posts: 366
Now would that be the Wintrac Extreme or the Wintrac 4 Extreme?If in doot, flat oot!!
5th Sep 2009 10:02 am
Rescue01
Member Since: 14 Jan 2008
Location: Aberdeen
Posts: 2519
Landylad wrote:
, but I like the reassurance of being able to commit to a corner or break as late as I want, without the thing heading off in to a ditch or the ABS kicking in and not having any effect on the breaking power.
Guess what I'm saying is, I need a set of boots that will give me the confidence to drive in the way I want (ie, overtake most things that are slowing me up in snow and ice).
Landylad,the D3/4 is a great thing on snow and ice if driven correctly if you want to overtake other moterists on snow and ice then get tyres with studs and some rally training
Remember that your car is 2.7 tons and if you brake hard "on snow or ice" even with an aggressive tread the laws of physics apply
i hope that when i am driving up the Lecht or Glenshee you are not the one who drives me off the road for the sake of five minutes
if you want a recommendation of a tyre then i would say go for AT2's as i have found them good for "up here"Its not the height of the fall but the sudden stop at the bottom that hurts!!
5th Sep 2009 10:58 pm
Landylad
Member Since: 23 Dec 2008
Location: Aberdeenshire
Posts: 366
Haha.. I knew someone would take that the wrong way. I'm not a psycho - honest. I had some skittery moments last winter in the D3 when it snowed heavy up here.... I put most of it down to the tyres to be honest. Granted, it's heavy, but it shouldn't be skipping all over the place and locking up so early for a 4x4 in the correct traction mode.
Like I said, I suspect a new set of boots would have corrected most, if not all of my problems....
I think both you and I know that you can get some rather painfully slow folk driving on the NE roads when a bit of the white stuff falls. I'm no Peter Solberg, but I do know how to drive in the snow and ice and would much rather be in front of someone than behind them in the event they decide to chuck it down the road. And anyway, I know what the queues for the ticket office are like at Glenshee.... every minute counts! If you think my interpretation of how I drive on snow is bad, then you should see me on it with a pair of skis on
A2's.... are they Coopers? Excuse my ignorance....If in doot, flat oot!!
5th Sep 2009 11:18 pm
Rescue01
Member Since: 14 Jan 2008
Location: Aberdeen
Posts: 2519
The AT2s are General Grabbers which i think are ideal for a all round tyre for "our invoirement".Not saying your a nutter and i know what you mean regarding other folks driving but it doesnt matter what you have other than rubber tracks if you don't drive to the conditions then the tyres dont matter. Folks may be painfully slow,god i know, but overtaking and then hammering on the anchors in any tyre in snow/ice aint good
I have driven from Aberdeen to Braemar loads of times in bad weather and the difference between the legal limit and your percieved limit probably will be a few minutes trust me this is with Blue lights as well.
purely on a tyre thing the AT2s are a good tyre for up here.Enjoy the skiing and i will let my BASP mate know your coming Its not the height of the fall but the sudden stop at the bottom that hurts!!
5th Sep 2009 11:33 pm
ad15
Member Since: 14 Dec 2008
Location: up that tree
Posts: 4866
can yo unot request a winter tyre to be fitted when buying? I know you can on the continent..one wife.......livid
5th Sep 2009 11:45 pm
Landylad
Member Since: 23 Dec 2008
Location: Aberdeenshire
Posts: 366
BASP???? British Assoc of Ski Partollers??? If so, they're never out of the cafe those guys
If I had a quid for every time I've driven up and down from Braemar/Glenshee, then I'd have gone for the HSE and not the GS No one is untouchable and I appreciate and I've seen many a joker in a car before, more so in this area of the UK. But I'm a pretty accomplished driver in the snow - I have had to be as I worked up in the hills during winter for a living once upon a time.
I agree about the limitations, but would have to say that the correct rubber on your wheels is almost akin to running with a limiter on your engine and not having one. It's literally night and day. Of course, the vehicles will all do a reasonable good job on hard packed stuff, with the correct amount of throttle applied.
As I said earlier on, it's not so much about getting that extra 10th of a second out of the thing... just enhancing the safety aspects of driving with a damned fine set of tyres on. You never know when Bambi is gonna jump out in front of you do you (and joking aside, this has happened to me once before near Alford)If in doot, flat oot!!
Last edited by Landylad on 6th Sep 2009 12:03 am. Edited 1 time in total
5th Sep 2009 11:51 pm
Landylad
Member Since: 23 Dec 2008
Location: Aberdeenshire
Posts: 366
ad15 wrote:
can yo unot request a winter tyre to be fitted when buying? I know you can on the continent..
It would make good sense. It's not Finland up here in Aberdeen - and I dare say the far north gets more harsh conditions than us. But if it's a decent winter (from a skiers perspective), then the chances are we'll see snow for a few weeks of the year at very least. I'd keep the standard tyres for March/April through to Nov.
Any idea how much a set of AT2's would likely set me back? EDIT: I see they don't do them in 19"... is this the case?
I see some place on the web (Camskill) are doing Wintrac Xtreme's for a decent enough price:
Can this be beat by our in house tyre sponsor? If in doot, flat oot!!
5th Sep 2009 11:57 pm
Zermatt Vulgaris
Member Since: 12 Jan 2009
Location: aberdeenshire
Posts: 511
Not sure what to do after a recent buying spree i have 4 FFRR rims with new 19" Pirelli Zeros on them and one black HSE wheel with a Brand new wintrac extrem on them ( thankyou Misters Ally Leslie and BGP )
what i think i want is 4 FFRR Wintrac Extrems and one black HSE wheel with either a wintrac or zero on it.. kind of fallen in love with the wintrac that is residing in my boot.
if i took the Pirelli zeros off is there a market for them that my part finance my swap ? would it be best to let them go as a four or keep one back to go on the spare ? - anyone intererested can PM me.
alternate is run the pirelli zeros this winter and swap next ? anyone been to the alps with the zeros how were they ?Visiting from rrsport.co.uk
2011MY Zermatt Silver Range Rover Sport HSE 3.0 TDV6
6th Sep 2009 7:43 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73100
Will be fitting my MTRs on after getting back from Tunisia in Oct, used them most of last winter and they were excellent in the snow, slush and frozen slush on the roads around Grantown. Driving on compacted or fresh snow was no problems.
6th Sep 2009 7:52 pm
dick dastardly
Member Since: 29 May 2007
Location: wiggleigh bottom
Posts: 1112
its been implied already, but just to make clear, a 4x4 will get you going quicker on ice & snow but no 4x4 system is going to make it any easier to stop or corner. DSC and ABS will help but 2 wheel drive cars have that too.
3 tonnes (loaded) is still 3 tonnes that needs stopping. You'll need good specialised winter tyres to do that. ATs will not be as good (as many tests show). I used Pirelli scorpion Ice&Snow last season and was impressed.There's one wheel on my wagon, but i'm still rollin' along, it's the cherokee, they're after me, but I'm singing a happy song
6th Sep 2009 7:52 pm
NJF
Member Since: 05 Oct 2007
Location: Gone
Posts: 2466
I also run the Ice&Snow tyre through the winter, and find it very good, especially when the temperature drops well below zero.
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if you want to overtake other moterists on snow and ice then get tyres with studs and some rally training 
