General doblo tyre sizes winter

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General doblo tyre sizes winter

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I'm going to be ordering a set of winter tyres to fit on the original steel wheels i have on my doblo, currently i have a set of alloys on it with summer tyres, i was going to stick with the correct size 185/65/15 and use some 95 load rated reinforced tyres but there does not seem to be much choice, i do not want to fit standard car tyres as the van carrys a lot of weight it must have reinforced.

whereas 195/65/15 there are lots more choice and the premium brands are also cheaper in this size, is there any issues with fitting 195 wide tyres instead of the 185's?

a pic of the old girl at work
 

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I see there's a thread in the LL where someone is banging on about how wonderful winter tyres are - I've been using the same pair of tyresocks for the past 4 years with no problems whatsoever- even managing to drive past a few range rovers and other 4x4s and I've had plenty of people commenting & asking what they are & where I got them - the last time was as I negotiated Tesco's steep & icy car park without any problem whatsoever.
Although my socks are still serviceable I've bought a pair of michelin easy grip - only because they look so much easier to put on because of the large mesh area.
 
Agree there are no winter tyres in the 185/65/15 cargo rating. There are a few manufacturers that make higher than the normal 88 load rating winter tyres and sell a 630kg per tyre 92 load rating instead for the 185/65/15 size though but they are not 'C' rated for cargo.

Michelin Alpin A3
Nokian WR D3
Hankook Winter Icept

There are others makers as well, but as you say most C rated tyres can handle 700-750kg per tyre, so even a 92 load rating may not be sufficient. It may be that your only sensible option is to go to 195 as you suggest. Do any of the other Doblos use 195/65/15 ? If so then Fiat were obviously happy with it.

Just ordered some winter tyres for my 2011 Doblo where there is loads of choice at 16 inch with a cargo rating.
 
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a pair of snowchains or socks maybe ok for some people for a trip down to the shops and back but i use my doblo everyday for work and i go out to various rural locations down country lanes etc, i rely on my van its my livelyhood and what "that'll do" for most motorists will not cut it with me, i dont take shortcuts just to save a couple of quid, the small expense which goes through my business anyway is nothing compared to loss of earnings through not going to work for a week or two.

a couple of years back before i knew about winter tyres i nearly crashed my van a few times got it stuck etc in the snow, driving in the snow and ice without winter tyres is dangerous and illegal in many other european countrys, my old van last year i had a set of falken HS-439's on it and the difference was shocking.

i dont want to start a debate on here about winter tyres i wanted to ask about the tyre size for a doblo,
 
I was just mentioning them.
I don't use mine for a trip to the shops either, I had them on for about a month last year (we had two spells of snow so they came off inbetween), quite a bit of that was on cleared roads but there was a lot on country roads, back roads & estates where nothing had been touched. I was part of a programme of volunteer drivers getting hot food & carers out to frail elderly.
I was ever so chuffed as well when I managed to get to a couple where a couple of forbys couldn't (although much of that was down to lack of skill - women buy these behemoths & never take them off the tarmac !)
 
I'm going to be ordering a set of winter tyres to fit on the original steel wheels i have on my doblo, currently i have a set of alloys on it with summer tyres, i was going to stick with the correct size 185/65/15 and use some 95 load rated reinforced tyres but there does not seem to be much choice, i do not want to fit standard car tyres as the van carrys a lot of weight it must have reinforced.

whereas 195/65/15 there are lots more choice and the premium brands are also cheaper in this size, is there any issues with fitting 195 wide tyres instead of the 185's?

We already know it’s unrealistic to dissociate tyre size from tyre role & that generally going wider doesn’t `cut-it’ with snow & ice. Then your width v. load requirements are contradictory elements. Do you stay at 185 at the expense of load – or goto 195 at the expense of winter performance?

185/65R15 XL92 would maybe be favourite - if you were not insistent on XL95. And going to 195/60R15 (within spec for your version?) also falls short for load.

Ordinarily I wouldn’t be fussed going to 195/65R15 (assuming 195/60R15 was listed as `within spec’). I’ve gone `outside spec’ before, but (at the time) it didn’t cross my mind to advise my InsCo. I can’t recall now whether this was with a Punto Mk1 or Mk2 – but both were written-off in accidents, & obviously assessor inspected … nothing negative was raised re `outside spec’ tyres. Although to qualify that – the Mk1 was run-over by a stampede of horses, & the Mk2 was run-over in a car-park by Impreza-man! But today, I wouldn’t go `outside spec’ without advising my InsCo.

Personally, for 195/65R15 XL95T - I’d probably be looking for Fulda Kristall Montero 3.

Let us know what you find available & price.

111116
 
Discovered later today that Scandinavia winter tyre supplier Bythjul Norden have started online trading in the UK with the website Goodgrip.co.uk

Hankook W442 iCept RS ... 195/65R15 XL95T £56
Nokian WR D3 ... ... ... ... 195/65R15 XL95H £82

How does that compare?

111116
 
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