Pretty much as the title.

November approaches, time to leave the summer tyres till next year.

What are you people using?

What fits under the arches?

I am considering going to a 14, to get something with a sidewall.

Cheers

PD

Never felt the need to use them in the UK... do you do this every year?

Don't get snow or ice often enough to make them worthwhile. Just take it easier if it does snow.

It doesn't snow enough in bournemouth for winter tyres! We'll 'maybe' get a light fluttering in late march/early april that lasts,oooo about 30 mins on the ground LOL.

Hellcat said:

Don't get snow or ice often enough to make them worthwhile. Just take it easier if it does snow.

Click to expand...

I wish I could say the same as I live in Finland... I went for Bridgestone Noranza 2 in 15" with five spoke alloys that can take the dirt and salt.

rallycinq said:

November approaches, time to leave the summer tyres till next year.
What are you people using?
What fits under the arches?
I am considering going to a 14, to get something with a sidewall.

Click to expand...

2 more weeks then I will change my 16” Continental PremiumContact 2 tyres to Continental WinterContact TS800 (http://www.conti-online.com/generat.../contiwintercontact_ts_800/cwc_ts_800_en.html) so I’m going to 14” for the winter season. I will leave my alloys in the garage also but the black steel wheels look ugly :yuck: on the 500! Fortunately I have already bought wheel trims for the 14s. The original Fiat trims are soooo expensive so I’ve bought these:
http://www.wheeltrims.eu/eng/dettaglio.aspx?ID=391
They look like the original ones!

i doesn't snow here anymore we only get ice 2 days a year climate change and all that so i dont bother either, finland in winter is mint though

None for me either!
My advice is watch the weather forecasts when the weather does turn colder ,if ice or snow is forecast then plan an extra 20mins each way to your journey ,reduce your speed be gentle on your brakes and concentrate and you will be fine for those 5 to 6 days we get bad weather now

Winter tyres aren't just for snow... They grip the road better in cooler and wetter conditions.

I have Continental WinterContacts for my Panda... I'll be changing over in another couple of weeks.

7 degrees I think it is where normal tyres begin to not grip as well as mud and snow tyres.

Spot on, 7 degrees and summer tyres begin to lose their grip on reality.

I have changed to winter tyres every year for a long time. This will be the first winter in many years where I've not had the option of a 4x4 for poor weather, so i am even more concerned than usual.

Cheers

PD

over here its law to put winters on as of Oct 1st...unfortunately my car isn't here yet so i can say what size my dealer is fitting,haggled with him for free ones....but yes even without snow winter wheels make a hell of a difference.

rallycinq said:

Spot on, 7 degrees and summer tyres begin to lose their grip on reality.

I have changed to winter tyres every year for a long time. This will be the first winter in many years where I've not had the option of a 4x4 for poor weather, so i am even more concerned than usual.

Cheers

PD

Click to expand...

do you live in northern scotland?

white 500 said:

do you live in northern scotland?

Click to expand...

Nope. Western Scotland. We are due snow tomorrow, and temps overnight of 4 degrees.

Cheers

PD

Interesting thread this, never ever considered winter tyres.

I remember having to take some wheels/studded tyres when I went to Switzerland back in 1978 in my Cooper 'S'.

For people that think that 500s don't have enough room you should have seen what went in the Mini. It had twin fuel tanks, (so that was most of the boot taken up), a carry cot with a 6 month child on the back seat and we still had to get in 4 x wheels/tyres (roofrack) pushchair, nappies, luggage + my tool kit and spares, ... Oh, and us. Glad that there was no eco stick provision as the drag factor alone would have caused me to have seriously poor ratings.

ps. Never had to put the other wheels on as the weather was fantastic.

I'll buy Michelin Alipin A3, 195/45 R16
These tyres are probably only (affordable) winter tyres with that dimesion.
Around 110-120€ per tyre.

[email protected] said:

Interesting thread this, never ever considered winter tyres.

Click to expand...

That is actually fairly common. Most people do not realise that the compounds used in summer tyres don't work at low temperature. The statistics for accidents in the winter against the summer are amazing, particularly when you consider that we now tend to have warm wet summers, so its not a water issue.

Winter tyres don't need to be chunky rally tyres, they just need to have a better compound, and slightly different tread patterns.

I find the best way to do it is to get another set of wheels and put the winter tyres on them. That means I can chose a wheel size to suit the cheaper tyres, and not have to pay to have them changed.

I can get two to three years out of a set of winters, and the summers last longer too as they are not on the car all year.

Cheers

PD

rallycinq said:

Nope. Western Scotland. We are due snow tomorrow, and temps overnight of 4 degrees.

Cheers

PD

Click to expand...

it was the "relying on a 4x4 over winter" that gave it away fair enough obv scotland is cold and wintery enough to justify winter tyres you do have ski resorts up there after all !! even here on the edge of the penines we don't get that much shame realy i like snow.

So, today was the day I was planning on changing my winter tyres on but it turns out that I can´t. My tyre salesman sold me a set of alloys that don´t fit my 500, because of the two "spikes" or "studs" coming out of the brake disc. I suppose they have something to do with holding the brake disc on, but they are also making it impossible to fit the alloy on!:bang:

Fiats own alloys have holes in them to let the "spikes" go in and at the same time steer the tyre to right position, but these other wheels don´t have them. I guess all I can do now is go back to the tyre shop on monday and have them change my wheels to another ones. Really nice, especially because weather forecasts are promising -4c for tonight and at the moment it´s damp outside and I have to go to work with my car...