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General New Boots for Winter!

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General New Boots for Winter!

Panda 4x4 TA Antarctica

Panda 4x4 TA Antarctica

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Just had a new set of Continental CrossContact M+S tyres fitted all round, ready for the winter!
Considered other options, including ‘All Season’ alternatives, but the original fit Continentals have done really well (30k) perform superbly in cold and slippery conditions and are fine over summer, so stuck with what I knew!
Availability was limited a while back, but they’re available through BlackCircles for £66/ea fitted and balanced. Think I can stomach £264 every 30k Miles....! We pay that for a pair of tyres on our other car and they last half as long! ?
 
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Seems fair price; just had a pair on front for £133 fitted balanced etc. by F1. A little frustrated as they were "unavailable" 6 weeks ago when I needed a pair on the rear following a puncture incident so had to settle for regular Conti. Would be pleased to get 30k miles out of either axle!
 
They do seem to be a good tyre, I had almost 40,000 miles out of the set on my 4x4, and had I rotated the tyres I may have got more! Not sure how much the high mileage is the tyre of the panda, but I've never had anything like that mileage from any other car/tyre. It is a pity that they are not very easily available I had to go with a different "all weather" tyre when I replaced them.

Rather pleased to see that they came as standard on my new 4x4 cross.

Out of interest what tyre pressure do you use? My Cross came with a supliment saying that the standard pressure was 2.4/2.2 but that you can go up to 3.0/2.8 to improve fuel efficiency. I wonder if the higher pressure makes much difference to fuel usage or comfort?
 
So, I’ve always used the ‘correct’ pressure for the load, according to the little pamphlet - I’ve found you can tell if they’re a touch firm quite easily with a slightly ‘skippy’ ride quality. I would suggest that over-inflation, whilst maybe improving mpg, would trade off tyre wear - wearing the centre portion of the tread too quickly and negating your fuel saving cost with shorter tyre life? Not to mention the reduced grip and thumpier ride. But, just my view.
I can well believe with rotation front-back, you could extend the lifespan up to that figure - my rears weren’t quite as worn as the fronts, but they were close enough to think ‘sod it, give the cat a goldfish’ and stick fresh rubber on all corners - our little beastie should be unstoppable now, come muddy tracks or snow, this winter! ??
Bl**dy love our frugal little Panda - How many 4x4s only cost £8.80 per thousand miles in tyres......?!!!
 
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I had considered Continental WinterContacts as I had previously used them on my Panda but I ended up just getting Michelin Alpin 6 for my Mito. I just found that on my Panda, the Michelins lasted longer. They're quiet in running too.
 
Panda 4x4 TA Antarctica said:
So, I’ve always used the ‘correct’ pressure for the load, according to the little pamphlet - I’ve found you can tell if they’re a touch firm quite easily with a slightly ‘skippy’ ride quality. I would suggest that over-inflation, whilst maybe improving mpg, would trade off tyre wear - wearing the centre portion of the tread too quickly and negating your fuel saving cost with shorter tyre life? Not to mention the reduced grip and thumpier ride. But, just my view.
I can well believe with rotation front-back, you could extend the lifespan up to that figure - my rears weren’t quite as worn as the fronts, but they were close enough to think ‘sod it, give the cat a goldfish’ and stick fresh rubber on all corners - our little beastie should be unstoppable now, come muddy tracks or snow, this winter! ??
Bl**dy love our frugal little Panda - How many 4x4s only cost £8.80 per thousand miles in tyres......?!!!
Click to expand...
I have found my 4x4 TA SLIGHTLY vague steering on recommended tyre pressures, but something I can live with for good tyre life
 
G'Day Shipmates. Bought a 07 1.2 4x4 Panda 2 years ago and love it (my first Fiat at a retired age!) It is now being passed on in the family as I have updated it with a diesel Antarctica (love quirky, my other cars are L&K Yeti and Morris 1000 convertible!) First impressions are excellent the only thing I noted whilst following it home was the 15in wheels and 175 tyres seem pretty inboard compared to the stance of the 185/14s on the mk2. Taking into account insurance and handling etc has anyone fitted wider wheels or spacers etc or should I just get used to how it looks as it is? Regards to you all.
 
Dickieboko said:
Taking into account insurance and handling etc has anyone fitted wider wheels or spacers etc or should I just get used to how it looks as it is? Regards to you all.
Click to expand...

Might not help but on our non-4x4 Panda we use 20 year old 6x15 Punto wheels with 195/50-15 tyres. No rubbing issues with those.

I've just finished an expensive refurb* on the wheels, which I think you'll agree make the car look baadaaasss.




*£10
 

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Dickieboko said:
G'Day Shipmates. Bought a 07 1.2 4x4 Panda 2 years ago and love it (my first Fiat at a retired age!) It is now being passed on in the family as I have updated it with a diesel Antarctica (love quirky, my other cars are L&K Yeti and Morris 1000 convertible!) First impressions are excellent the only thing I noted whilst following it home was the 15in wheels and 175 tyres seem pretty inboard compared to the stance of the 185/14s on the mk2. Taking into account insurance and handling etc has anyone fitted wider wheels or spacers etc or should I just get used to how it looks as it is? Regards to you all.
Click to expand...

If your concern is cosmetic, I THINK that the Cross variant uses 185 section tyres (am sure an owner on here can confirm). As far as performance goes, you’d likely gain a little dry weather grip and maybe sacrifice a little wet/snow grip by going up a section, but I would think any difference would be minimal.
 
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