General Winter tyres on 14's

[Eklipze3k]

Just thinking ahead a little, and I couldn't find or even remember seeing a thread on this topic. When I get around to finishing my 14's (and fitting GT brakes) the paint finish (being rattle cans) won't be very durable, and I'm thinking road salt will be a killer. My plan is to get a separate set of 14's, probably steelies for a Punto or something to use in winter. However all the winter tyres I can find for the 14's have a much larger rolling radius than the 195/45's recommended for normal use. So my question is - what do those of you running 14's use, are your standard all-weather tyres alright for winter use? Or have you found some 195/45 (or equivalent) somewhere?

Cheers

 

[craigb244]

195 is the width of the tyre... ALL winter tyres are narrow (thats the main reason they work... increase the weight per inch of surface area) they will be taller and thinner but as they are thinner you should be ok.

just find the 14s with the shortest wall you can find. (remembering that the wall size number is not a measurement... its a ratio)

 

[Eklipze3k]

I've tried that but they still end up with a bigger rolling radius/diameter so I'm concerned there will be a lot of scrubbing... Camskill seems to have the widest selection but nothing with a small enough profile

 

[craigb244]

most the scrubbing seems to happen on the outer edges rather then inside the arches (ive found)

just find out how big the wheel will be with the tyre and measure it

 

[rallycinq]

165/60x14 or 155/65x14 will fit fine.

Cheers

D

 

[Eklipze3k]

I knew you'd be the one to know this stuff, David

 

[rallycinq]

They are both about 4% bigger than your 195/45 x 14s.

Cheers

D

 

[clock34]

i ran 175-50-14s all last year and only got stuck ONCE and that was in 12" deep snow.

new tyres will have good grooves and should be ok. weather on fiat scotlands perth meet was horrible and neo only ever was stuck in the carpark with everyone else, mainly due to the ride height

 

[rallycinq]

Its not just about getting stuck in snow.

Normal tyres give up at 6 degrees, winter tyres continue to grip (and specifically provide better braking) well into minus figures.

I have all season tyres for the 500. Last year I put them on during the last weekend in October. It was really cold and the car was moving about on the 3000 mile old Toyo Prxes on the way to work on the Saturday Morning.

On the equally cold Sunday morning the Quatracs were much much grippier.

Cheers

D

 

[clock34]

oh undeniable the rubber works in different ranges. although both usless on ice :-(

 

[rallycinq]

If you have ever used proper winter compound tyres you would be surprised how good they are on ice, again, particularly in terms of stopping and remaining in control.

I guess if you put them on back to front you could go like hell but never stop!!

Cheers

D

 

[clock34]

had snow tyres on a pajero but 3tonne might be pushing it

 

[smokychento]

snow chains are £30 a pair on ebay

 

[slugworth1987]

why dont you just clear coat the wheels and then add a few more layers of paint then more clear coat? will make the paint very hard!

 

[Eklipze3k]

I intend to clearcoat them, but I'd still like to have another set for winter anyway, simply for the extra grip in the cold as noted by rallycinq, and it'd be a lot easier to do this with a 2nd set of wheels than be mucking around swapping tyres around.

 

[slugworth1987]

fair cop lol just look for a cheap set of steelies then mate if you get them without rubber even better! lol

 

[Pep0]

Hi

David is right once again

In Sweden you get a ticket for the police ball if you have the wrong tyres on during their winter type period. Sweden is even colder than Scotland, in winter.

Noel

 

[smokychento]

he just wants to be like this guy!