General Which winter tyres are people going for

[Super Uwe]

took the winters off this morning and really impressed by how little they have worn, still 7mm across all 4 in 4 months and 8,000 miles so snowtracs have served me well and been faultless (apart from when you feel the sidewalls flex under cornering)

glad to get the 16s back on as the multispokes really set the car off, car is a bit sharper on turn in and grip, however, you forget the impact they have on ride quality

i won't be troubling red bull in the time taken to swap four wheel and it will now snow

Took ours to get swapped over at the local tyre fitters (I gave them a tenner although they were just going to do it for free) and it's exactly the same with ours - hardly any wear at all on the Snowtracs and we've done around 7,000 miles as well.

Now before this riveting thread gets put to bed for another 6 months, I received my latest copy of the V-Power magazine in the post this week. Had a feature on winter tyres by Kim Adams of Auto Express, the last paragraph of which went as follows:

"...The safety argument is compelling, but if your budget cannot stretch to two sets of rubber, consider fitting winter tyres and running them all year round. There is a wet and dry performance trade-off in warmer temperatures, yet it's tiny compared to the advantages during cold weather."

Interesting...

 

[muffin8118]

Now that winter is over, I have just swapped my winter tyres for the all weather ones!

 

[Hellcat]

My summer wheels need some attention.

Guess I will just have to drive at 9/10s on the winter rubber until I decide what to do about the summer wheels.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Now that winter is over, I have just swapped my winter tyres for the all weather ones!

All weather

 

[frupi]

All weather

That will undoubtedly mean 'all season' tyres.

 

[muffin8118]

OOPS! I meant summer tyres! I noticed that there is more road noise with the 15 inch alloy wheels and Bridgestone Turanza tyres.

 

[frupi]

OOPS! I meant summer tyres! I noticed that there is more road noise with the 15 inch alloy wheels and Bridgestone Turanza tyres.

We had Bridgestone Turanza tyres supplied on our MX5 when we bought that new. I personally couldn't stand them. The car imo just didn't seem sure-footed with them on. Once they'd run their legal course, I replaced them with Toyo Proxes and they were imo, brilliant.

 

[306maxi]

OOPS! I meant summer tyres! I noticed that there is more road noise with the 15 inch alloy wheels and Bridgestone Turanza tyres.

I find that it depends what road surface I'm on as to whether the summer tyres are noisier than the winters. I find on rough surfaces and whilst cornering the winters are noisier and on smoother surfaces the summers are noisier.

 

[306maxi]

We had Bridgestone Turanza tyres supplied on our MX5 when we bought that new. I personally couldn't stand them. The car imo just didn't seem sure-footed with them on. Once they'd run their legal course, I replaced them with Toyo Proxes and they were imo, brilliant.

I always find it a bit strange when a sporty car like an MX5 is supplied with touring tyres and an econobox like my 500 was supplied with Bridgestone Potenza's.

 

[grimwau]

I always find it a bit strange when a sporty car like an MX5 is supplied with touring tyres and an econobox like my 500 was supplied with Bridgestone Potenza's.

I imagine that they put the better spec tyres on the 16" upgrade wheels, irrespective of the model they will be fitted to. I had the same Potenzas on both my previous cars, 1.3MJT and TA Sport with the 16" wheel options.

 

[306maxi]

I imagine that they put the better spec tyres on the 16" upgrade wheels, irrespective of the model they will be fitted to. I had the same Potenzas on both my previous cars, 1.3MJT and TA Sport with the 16" wheel options.

Most people seem to get Continental Premium Contact's on 16" wheels. What confuses me is that all of the Abarth 16" wheels for sale on eBay due to Esseesse upgrades seem to have Conti's on which are of course more of a touring tyre. Confusing to say the least.There doesn't seem to be any firm link between wheel type or spec to say who gets Conti's and who gets Bridgestones. Potenza's are fantastic in the dry and in the summer, but once it starts getting wintry I just found them a bit rubbish.

Must say the wheel upgrade was one of the best purchases with the car. £160 for nice looking wheels and some proper performance tyres is an absolute bargain!

There's a new tyre in the 500's 16" spec being released later this year, when I need new tyres I think I'm going to go for a set of them or some Michelin Pilot Sport 3's if Costco has an offer on at the time

 

[loveshandbags]

OOPS! I meant summer tyres! I noticed that there is more road noise with the 15 inch alloy wheels and Bridgestone Turanza tyres.

We had Bridgestone Turanza tyres supplied on our MX5 when we bought that new. I personally couldn't stand them. The car imo just didn't seem sure-footed with them on. Once they'd run their legal course, I replaced them with Toyo Proxes and they were imo, brilliant.

I always find it a bit strange when a sporty car like an MX5 is supplied with touring tyres and an econobox like my 500 was supplied with Bridgestone Potenza's.

I imagine that they put the better spec tyres on the 16" upgrade wheels, irrespective of the model they will be fitted to. I had the same Potenzas on both my previous cars, 1.3MJT and TA Sport with the 16" wheel options.

This is probably slightly borderline and I apologise in advance if anyone is offended by it but I was a little surprised at what they were advertising. A different spin on PJs angle about what advertisers will resort to.
At least with a decent set of summers on in the dry on a warm day you have excellent...

 

[ahmett]

Most people seem to get Continental Premium Contact's on 16" wheels. What confuses me is that all of the Abarth 16" wheels for sale on eBay due to Esseesse upgrades seem to have Conti's on which are of course more of a touring tyre. Confusing to say the least.There doesn't seem to be any firm link between wheel type or spec to say who gets Conti's and who gets Bridgestones. Potenza's are fantastic in the dry and in the summer, but once it starts getting wintry I just found them a bit rubbish.

Must say the wheel upgrade was one of the best purchases with the car. £160 for nice looking wheels and some proper performance tyres is an absolute bargain!

There's a new tyre in the 500's 16" spec being released later this year, when I need new tyres I think I'm going to go for a set of them or some Michelin Pilot Sport 3's if Costco has an offer on at the time

Are the Potenzas much better than the Contis? i was wondering about that because i havent driven both so i cant compare. i think the conti's perforamnce is pretty decent.
what we have discussed before maxi and you michael is the fact that 16 inch offers more options with regards to performance tires.
my tires 15 inch are still doing fine after 42,000 km i dont feel like i am about to crash when driving in rainy and slippery conditions. i went to the tire shop at 40,000 km and they said tires look fine i think around 4-5 mm thread left he said and he said come back at 50,000 km. none of the tires are losing psi particularly quickly (you know the hallmarks of old tires or ones with slow punctures), so i will stay put for now. I have heard that some people in greece with 15's (including a friend of mine) put 195/50 tires instead of 185/55's, but i will stick with the 185s as i find they give good enough grip for a car of this size/power.
the next tires i will 90% go for are Nokian H. They look nice, they got good reviews, are (in greece at least) 80 euros cheaper for a set of 4 than the contis and they have a thread wear indicator meaning you dont need to measure them you just look at the number on the tire that goes from 9-1 depending on how worn your tires are!

i didnt check the options for 16, whats it looking like?
i heard mitch tires are ridiculously expensive compared to its rivals and i mean for a car so slow as the fiat, are they necessary?

Edit:

i had a look at perforamcne options for the 15 tire and they look pretty good.

Good Year Eagle F1 (i found them very grippy)
Mitch Pilot Exalto PE 2
Yokohame Advan Neova
Bridgestone Potenza RE 040 (these must be yours maxi)

 

[loveshandbags]

...i didnt check the options for 16, whats it looking like?
i heard mitch tires are ridiculously expensive compared to its rivals and i mean for a car so slow as the fiat, are they necessary?

If I was buying another set of tyres in 16s I would opt for Contis (they can be got quite resonably but they are not suitable for a track being a bit soft walled) and if it was 17s I would go for the new Michelins.

 

[306maxi]

Are the Potenzas much better than the Contis? i was wondering about that because i havent driven both so i cant compare. i think the conti's perforamnce is pretty decent.
what we have discussed before maxi and you michael is the fact that 16 inch offers more options with regards to performance tires.
my tires 15 inch are still doing fine after 42,000 km i dont feel like i am about to crash when driving in rainy and slippery conditions. i went to the tire shop at 40,000 km and they said tires look fine i think around 4-5 mm thread left he said and he said come back at 50,000 km. none of the tires are losing psi particularly quickly (you know the hallmarks of old tires or ones with slow punctures), so i will stay put for now. I have heard that some people in greece with 15's (including a friend of mine) put 195/50 tires instead of 185/55's, but i will stick with the 185s as i find they give good enough grip for a car of this size/power.
the next tires i will 90% go for are Nokian H. They look nice, they got good reviews, are (in greece at least) 80 euros cheaper for a set of 4 than the contis and they have a thread wear indicator meaning you dont need to measure them you just look at the number on the tire that goes from 9-1 depending on how worn your tires are!

i didnt check the options for 16, whats it looking like?
i heard mitch tires are ridiculously expensive compared to its rivals and i mean for a car so slow as the fiat, are they necessary?

Edit:

i had a look at perforamcne options for the 15 tire and they look pretty good.

Good Year Eagle F1 (i found them very grippy)
Mitch Pilot Exalto PE 2
Yokohame Advan Neova
Bridgestone Potenza RE 040 (these must be yours maxi)

No, mine are Potenza RE050A's

Conti premium Contact 2's aren't bad tyres. But like I said, they're Continental's touring option. I've had a pair on both our Subaru and my 406 and found they give decent grip and they gave fantastic steering feel.

Potenza RE050A's are just bloody grippy!

 

[ahmett]

No, mine are Potenza RE050A's

Conti premium Contact 2's aren't bad tyres. But like I said, they're Continental's touring option. I've had a pair on both our Subaru and my 406 and found they give decent grip and they gave fantastic steering feel.

Potenza RE050A's are just bloody grippy!

Curious to knoe the difference between potenza re050 and re040! maybe just the speed rating!! anyway let us know what you deicde to get when you decide to change.

 

[306maxi]

Curious to knoe the difference between potenza re050 and re040! maybe just the speed rating!! anyway let us know what you deicde to get when you decide to change.

They're a completely different tyre.

 

[Melanabb]

Sorry to bump this thread (and in the wrong time of the year) but sort of on topic: which tyres can you recommend for my GPA? I do around 7K miles a year, mostly town driving, and I want a good all round tyre that will last... I have Pirellis Zero Nero at the moment but they will need replacing soon. Ta very much!

 

[306maxi]

what size?

 

[Melanabb]

215/45/R17 91Y (well that's the ones I have on now). Cheers!