[Ross_T_Boss]

I had cheap winter tyres on my RS2 that became lethal above 10C. At 15C you may as well have been driving on marbles. They transformed below 5C with significant advantages on ice/sleet/snow and I had the luxury of using an RS6 on summers when on warmer days so I had it covered

However. Even just one day in with my winters I can tell you that a proper branded winter tyre is fine - I covered some miles at 11C yesterday. The car was a little squirmy with slightly less traction but certainly safe - just treat it like a well-worn summer tyre in the dry - and it'll only get better when it's scrubbed in.

In the evening it was 9C and wet; as far as I'm concerned they may as well have been summers, they were great. With 5C and a damp start at 6am this morning, they felt excellent.

[teaston]

Good point that the tires need to be scrubbed then that's good enough reason for me to put them on this weekend!

[sweels]

Originally Posted by piono

don't be paranoid about temperature. I drove my car in the winter (March) in Germany on winter tyres and it was 25C. and nothing happened. If you want to go on track day and play with your tyres changing them over back and forth every time the temp drops down below 7 and when it is over 10 it is up to you. The fact is the calendar winter is coming and I have changed them and the next 5 months I'm going to drive on winter tyres.

Could always buy a winter CAR (with winter tyres!) and just use that on the cold weather days... (can SORN it for the 7 months of warmer weather so you only pay double tax for 5 months a year! Problem solved. (Keeps the miles off the other one for anyone over their pcp limit...)

[gatsojon]

Originally Posted by Ross_T_Boss

I had cheap winter tyres on my RS2 that became lethal above 10C. At 15C you may as well have been driving on marbles. They transformed below 5C with significant advantages on ice/sleet/snow and I had the luxury of using an RS6 on summers when on warmer days so I had it covered

However. Even just one day in with my winters I can tell you that a proper branded winter tyre is fine - I covered some miles at 11C yesterday. The car was a little squirmy with slightly less traction but certainly safe - just treat it like a well-worn summer tyre in the dry - and it'll only get better when it's scrubbed in.

In the evening it was 9C and wet; as far as I'm concerned they may as well have been summers, they were great. With 5C and a damp start at 6am this morning, they felt excellent.

This was my experience too last year. Decent Winters give a broad cross-over which is just as well in this country. Swapping mine this weekend I think.

[Pablo68]

Originally Posted by sweels

Could always buy a winter CAR (with winter tyres!) and just use that on the cold weather days... (can SORN it for the 7 months of warmer weather so you only pay double tax for 5 months a year! Problem solved. (Keeps the miles off the other one for anyone over their pcp limit...)

Funnily enough my winter "wheels" turned up today attached to this... General Grabber AT's are in the post for them (it)

[JD6]

Originally Posted by Pablo68

Funnily enough my winter "wheels" turned up today attached to this... General Grabber AT's are in the post for them (it)

Good choice. One of the few (perhaps only) small 4x4s to have a diff lock and a low ratio box. Probably handle some slippery conditions that would trouble a Disco thanks to weighing half as much.

[Pablo68]

Originally Posted by JD6

Good choice. One of the few (perhaps only) small 4x4s to have a diff lock and a low ratio box. Probably handle some slippery conditions that would trouble a Disco thanks to weighing half as much.

Indeed. I have a defender too but that has some fairly specific duties to attend to , whereas the shogun is for winter road use ..it has somewhat more comfort than the defender as well as being more than capable of snow/mud and general off road fun with decent rubber on it, a central locking diff, proper low drive box and ok ground clearance.....all for not much more than a good set of winter wheels and tyres in the Beemer.

[moonshine]

Tyre temp before I started this morning with 4c air temp

[moonshine]

After 10 min on the motorway at 50 and some town driving (with winter tyres on)

[....,,,,..,,..]

Originally Posted by moonshine

After 10 min on the motorway at 50 and some town driving (with winter tyres on)

I assume the temp display for the tyres is codeable?

Having the pressures display is very handy, I guess temps would be useful over the colder months.

[moonshine]

Originally Posted by Brigand

I assume the temp display for the tyres is codeable?

Having the pressures display is very handy, I guess temps would be useful over the colder months.

Yip... Codable if you have TPMS

[teaston]

I want TPMS

[SkyJawa]

I want it coded!

[Ross_T_Boss]

Originally Posted by SkyJawa

I want it coded!

Same here! Tyre temps would be awesome, might start weaving around in SPECs zones to keep them 'in the zone'

[magic77]

hmm tyre temps time to add another line to coding

[robwils]

Originally Posted by Ross_T_Boss

I had cheap winter tyres on my RS2 that became lethal above 10C. At 15C you may as well have been driving on marbles. They transformed below 5C with significant advantages on ice/sleet/snow and I had the luxury of using an RS6 on summers when on warmer days so I had it covered

However. Even just one day in with my winters I can tell you that a proper branded winter tyre is fine - I covered some miles at 11C yesterday. The car was a little squirmy with slightly less traction but certainly safe - just treat it like a well-worn summer tyre in the dry - and it'll only get better when it's scrubbed in.

In the evening it was 9C and wet; as far as I'm concerned they may as well have been summers, they were great. With 5C and a damp start at 6am this morning, they felt excellent.

I've left my winters on all year through the summer , never really noticed too much difference. The odd flash of the traction light if booting it.
Wear wasn't too bad either.

[teaston]

Today it has been between 8-9 degrees and I've noticed a substantial reduction in rear end grip on my summers!

[evan15281]

Just to feed back on an earlier post where I said the ride was rubbish after changing to smaller winter's.

After a motorway run, it became clear wheels needed rebalanced so they were done and this has made a significant improvement.

Sticking with pressures at 2.8 front, 2.6 rear.

Was 5 degrees this morning and evening during my wet commutes so think I timed it just right

[73henny]

Originally Posted by moonshine

Yip... Codable if you have TPMS

Why does it need coded? Is it an option, as I can't see why they wouldn't include it as standard if the car already has TPMS?

[teaston]

Originally Posted by 73henny

Why does it need coded? Is it an option, as I can't see why they wouldn't include it as standard if the car already has TPMS?

Maybe they had worries about the reliability of the temp sensors, which could have meant warranty work that they'd have to pay for. Maybe they just thought we didn't need to know the temps. Maybe they're holding it back as a new feature for the LCI.

[evan15281]

Originally Posted by moonshine

After 10 min on the motorway at 50 and some town driving (with winter tyres on)

is that your long term average mpg? Guess you do a lot of town driving?

I'm averaging 45.3mpg over 10,000 miles!

[mgarvey]

My winters are being fitted on Monday. Bought them last year - steelies so they look sh$te but I can pretty much ignore potholes and don't have to worry about sliding into kerbs etc.

I am starting to notice my summers are getting skittish now when its cold and wet. The wife was grumbling the other day when she drove my car that it was squirming all over the place. Yep, RWD on summer tyres in cold and wet conditions.