[Donny_1962]

Have been converted to winters for a number of years, not just for snow/ice but the cold/wet mornings plus it gives a nice change of look for a few months.

On the benefits I caught this on my dash cam yesterday in the Peak District at Mam Tor. Not too much snow here just ice but the Audi driver was very lucky that there was a fence...its a long way down from there. Can see the tire marks where he could not control the car.

The other cars were not moving, up or down but no issues with my winters. Due to the very large drop i did not want to get into trying to pull others out as i have done in the past.

[VidalBuffoon]

Originally Posted by Armaan

It would be interesting to hear from someone who has run all season, summer and winter for comparison. Armaan

I've ran Vredestein Quatrac 5, Goodyear Vector 4 G2, Bridgestone A005 in all seasons. In Winter Tyres - Hankook Icept, Nokian WR4A, Dunlop Winter Sports 3D, 4D and Michelin Winters.

I live in County Durham at 250m we often get 1ft to 2ft of lying snow which constantly drifts across the roads even after being ploughed.

I wouldn't dream of driving on summers on snow having tried wintery options. Out of choice I'd pick a really good winter focused 'all season' tyre in winter and switch to a normal summer tyre in late spring.

Most top class winter focused all seasons will comfortably outperform a budget winter. Plus, you'll still have decent driving characteristics on a warm spring day with non of the squishiness you get with winters when they warm up.

A typical snowfall on my old MINI JCW

[Ennoch]

Originally Posted by Kermit

Lots of people have all avoided accidents by not feeling it necessary to go out in the snow/ice when they don't need to in the first place, just leaving those that feel like they need to justify to themselves why they bought winter tyres in the first place on the roads instead!

Not all of us feel scared of winter and indeed actively find ways to enjoy it, so prepare ourselves appropriately Winter and wild weather is not the bogeyman under the bed ready to attack you as some people seem to find, it's just something else you can prepare for and enjoy!

Originally Posted by BBri89

I have avoided several accidents by having winter tyres fitted, including being able to drive clear of a car sliding sideways down a hill towards me.
...
Many of the ones who say they aren't necessary are the ones that can manage to get going, either through careful throttle or the advantage of AWD.
But neither careful throttle nor AWD will help you slow down. Only winter tyres will help that.

Indeed, it's not my driving that I'm as concerned about as I always have the option to turn around, or slow down etc, but instead it's avoiding other people doing stupid things and having their own accidents! Years ago on a a road I know well I overtook someone on a near 2km straight who was going at maybe 20mph. I went past and settled at about 50mph with the winters on (it was hard packed snow, so grippy) and by the end of the straight this guy had caught me up and was sitting way too close to me. I lifted, turned into the (visible) corner at the end of the straight and then a few seconds he disappeared straight through the snow bank having not managed to change trajectory even slightly. Hilariously he was furious at me for leading him into the corner too fast. Unfortunately a lot of people seem unable to change their approach to the conditions, and so are a very real risk. Having more control in reserve to help avoid these situations is a very good thing IMO!

Originally Posted by VidalBuffoon

Bealach Na Ba (pass of the cattle)? I've seen a video of a snowplough getting stuck on that road. It's a scary road even in summer

That's the one. It used to be a lot more fun before the NC500 became a thing (my dad's family is from this way). Managed to burn the original WRX brakes out on the way up years ago when we were late for last orders at the Walled Garden. It was good fun yesterday, we didn't see anyone from Shieldaig down and then back!

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

I know a few up here who run the Michelin Cross Climate, with success. Being used on less powerful vehicles and FWD.

I'm open minded on the latest offerings, like the Cross Climate. Tempted to look at them more seriously, before replacing any tyres.

I think if I was running an xDrive vehicle, I'd definitely be looking at the latest high performance All Season tyres. Could be a good compromise with the right choice.

Now I know the average climber is generally not interested in cars or driving quickly (one of the few exceptions was the late Andy Nisbet who died on Ben Hope last year) but I know a number of guides who use Cross Climates all year round in the Cairngorms and over on the West Coast and they love them. Whether they would take faster driving all year round or not I don't know but I've not heard a single bad word said about them from those who've got them. For me I think I'd stick with two sets, primarily so you can have fresher, deeper rubber in the winter, but then again in a car that's as big and floaty as a 3 series touring you're hardly thrashing it so maybe UHP summers are a total waste and all seasons would indeed be better?

I ended up with some nearly new Sottozero 3 RFT's for my winter wheels on the 335xD but had I been buying new the new GY Ultragrip Performance+ and the Conti TS860 both seem to be nearly as good as all seasons in the summer while offering better winter performance.

[VidalBuffoon]

Originally Posted by Ennoch

I ended up with some nearly new Sottozero 3 RFT's for my winter wheels on the 335xD but had I been buying new the new GY Ultragrip Performance+ and the Conti TS860 both seem to be nearly as good as all seasons in the summer while offering better winter performance.

Been mulling over what to buy for my forthcoming 335D. I Have three options: -

1. No winters - just sit it out and use the wife's MINI
2. Go for a full square setup - proper winters and swap them
3. Go for a full square setup - all seasons but run all year round

The car is coming with runflats of which I'm not a fan, but they do seem to have improved lately. Really concerned about the need for * approved if going for staggered, hence switching to square setup. Dropping to 18s in order to get more choice. The GY and Contis being favoured options for full winters.

[Ennoch]

Originally Posted by VidalBuffoon

Been mulling over what to buy for my forthcoming 335D. I Have three options: -

1. No winters - just sit it out and use the wife's MINI
2. Go for a full square setup - proper winters and swap them
3. Go for a full square setup - all seasons but run all year round

The car is coming with runflats of which I'm not a fan, but they do seem to have improved lately. Really concerned about the need for * approved if going for staggered, hence switching to square setup. Dropping to 18s in order to get more choice. The GY and Contis being favoured options for full winters.

I was a tart and went staggered 403M on mine. I may yet drop down to 18" in the future but it'll still need to be RFT as I can't be without a spare and the risk of gacking a tyre on a pot hole up here in the sticks. The ride between the Bridgestone S001 and the Sottozero is night and day, as is noise. I very much doubt the Bridgestones will be making their way back onto the car when winter's over! My Sottozeros aren't * marked but I did measure before fitting and they were within 0.5% when I stuck the tape measure around them which was good enough for me.

[VidalBuffoon]

Originally Posted by Ennoch

I was a tart and went staggered 403M on mine. I may yet drop down to 18" in the future but it'll still need to be RFT as I can't be without a spare and the risk of gacking a tyre on a pot hole up here in the sticks. The ride between the Bridgestone S001 and the Sottozero is night and day, as is noise. I very much doubt the Bridgestones will be making their way back onto the car when winter's over! My Sottozeros aren't * marked but I did measure before fitting and they were within 0.5% when I stuck the tape measure around them which was good enough for me.

Understand the RFT choice given your location. I'd prefer to stick with 19s but there's not a lot of choice in the larger size. Another reason for going all season is the fact that all seasons are usually much, much quieter.

Vector4 G2 are the quietest tyres I've owned, would gladly sacrifice the summer grip just for the silence.

[winther1]

I'm more worried about salt on the roads.

[Donny_1962]

When i had my 335D i had 19" OEM staggered 403M with Michelin Alpin's, never any issues even in deep snow.

As an example below, when i pulled a "Land Rover" out of a snowy ditch with my 335D with winters on on an icy road in the Peak District, a great combination.

[MattRST]

Video says it all really , great job fella!

[Rathian]

Originally Posted by Armaan

It would be interesting to hear from someone who has run all season, summer and winter for comparison.

Only reason would be the change over and storage for some people, whereas all season might not give the optimal performance in summer or winter, just generally a good all rounder.

Armaan

I run Goodyear Vector Gen2 all season tyres. They have now had a fun in summer high 20's dry, summer wet weather, winter cold, dry and wet and now yesterday in the snow and probably today as it's just started snowing again.

Having fun summer and winter tyres also on this car I can say I've been impressed with my first set of all seasons.

The limit is lower if you want pure performance in the dry,but when the weather turns wet in the summer they have much more assurance than the winter tyres and driven in the dry, at what I would consider "normal driving" (driving to and exceeding some limits, while maintaining flow of traffic) they performed very well and never left me with the feeling of losing the car.

I live in Staffordshire so don't get huge amounts of snow and when we do, it tends to not hang around for long before slush is left behind. Driving in a mix of 1 inch snow and slush was uneventful. No traction control, no sliding, no breaking dramas.

For where I live I would definitely go the all season route again when a change of tyres is required.

My fuel from using a winter to a all season has increased by a couple of mpg, but it's lower by 5-6 mpg over the summer tyres. A trade off I'm happy with.

[330Stevie]

Originally Posted by Donny_1962

When i had my 335D i had 19" OEM staggered 403M with Michelin Alpin's, never any issues even in deep snow.

Love it!!

[Rbrown]

Originally Posted by Rathian

I run Goodyear Vector Gen2 all season tyres. They have now had a fun in summer high 20's dry, summer wet weather, winter cold, dry and wet and now yesterday in the snow and probably today as it's just started snowing again.

Having fun summer and winter tyres also on this car I can say I've been impressed with my first set of all seasons.

The limit is lower if you want pure performance in the dry,but when the weather turns wet in the summer they have much more assurance than the winter tyres and driven in the dry, at what I would consider "normal driving" (driving to and exceeding some limits, while maintaining flow of traffic) they performed very well and never left me with the feeling of losing the car.

I live in Staffordshire so don't get huge amounts of snow and when we do, it tends to not hang around for long before slush is left behind. Driving in a mix of 1 inch snow and slush was uneventful. No traction control, no sliding, no breaking dramas.

For where I live I would definitely go the all season route again when a change of tyres is required.

My fuel from using a winter to a all season has increased by a couple of mpg, but it's lower by 5-6 mpg over the summer tyres. A trade off I'm happy with.

Thanks for the post. Really useful.

I'm a fan of winter tyres. I've been bad this year and left them on both cars through Scottish summers as we haven't really gone anywhere!

We had a small bit of snow this morning. Would probably be ok on summers, but winters give me that extra bit of confidence.

Of good all seasons are ever available in my sizes, I will give them a shot. Could do with the space 8 wheels are taking up in the garage / Covid gym!!!

[Armaan]

Originally Posted by Rathian

I run Goodyear Vector Gen2 all season tyres. They have now had a fun in summer high 20's dry, summer wet weather, winter cold, dry and wet and now yesterday in the snow and probably today as it's just started snowing again.

Having fun summer and winter tyres also on this car I can say I've been impressed with my first set of all seasons.

The limit is lower if you want pure performance in the dry,but when the weather turns wet in the summer they have much more assurance than the winter tyres and driven in the dry, at what I would consider "normal driving" (driving to and exceeding some limits, while maintaining flow of traffic) they performed very well and never left me with the feeling of losing the car.

I live in Staffordshire so don't get huge amounts of snow and when we do, it tends to not hang around for long before slush is left behind. Driving in a mix of 1 inch snow and slush was uneventful. No traction control, no sliding, no breaking dramas.

For where I live I would definitely go the all season route again when a change of tyres is required.

My fuel from using a winter to a all season has increased by a couple of mpg, but it's lower by 5-6 mpg over the summer tyres. A trade off I'm happy with.

Very good write up and much appreciated. Certainly something I'd now go for. I'm in the Midlands and in a similar situation whereby it doesn't snow much, but I'd say 90% of the time it's damp or wet during the year.

Think I'll be switching to all-seasons when it comes to changing.

Armaan

[VidalBuffoon]

Originally Posted by Armaan

Very good write up and much appreciated. Certainly something I'd now go for. I'm in the Midlands and in a similar situation whereby it doesn't snow much, but I'd say 90% of the time it's damp or wet during the year.

Think I'll be switching to all-seasons when it comes to changing.

Armaan

The tyrereviews.co.uk site is very good for reviews and price comparisons but also check out camskill and blackcircles as sometimes they're even better priced.

[sensible]

Originally Posted by Donny_1962

When i had my 335D i had 19" OEM staggered 403M with Michelin Alpin's, never any issues even in deep snow.

As an example below, when i pulled a "Land Rover" out of a snowy ditch with my 335D with winters on on an icy road in the Peak District, a great combination.

Yes, can't argue with that. Brilliant!

[Mr Burt]

Hopefully swap to my winter wheel/tyres combo tomorrow. Heart attack recovery has put me behind.
I go from a staggered 19” 442 set up with MPS4s to square 18” BMW turbine wheel with Michelin Alpin.
I started swapping to winters 6 years ago when I was on call for search & rescue matters which always goes wrong when the weather is bad. I cannot rate them highly enough, moving off, stop and steer as normal as long as your drive sensibly. On my summer set up I could not see me making any progress in a rear drive 300 + BHP in snow or ice, I live rural and it’s 2 miles to any treated roads.
I now mainly do it to protect my 442’s from all the winter crap and the extra profile gives a slightly better ride and protection from pot holes. Driving in cold, wet, ice and snow is an added bonus.

[Ennoch]

I managed to get out for a run in my own car today rather than my dads as I was out in the other day. It was the first time I'd actually had the chance to drive it in the snow as there was a decent dump overnight and into the morning which left most of the roads about 200m rather deep with the white stuff. With the Sottozeros on it was actually surprisingly good, despite not having nearly such a tuned TC and AWD system as the Evoque, or the LSD setup of my Impreza. It was actually quite comforting to realise it's pretty decent on the white stuff despite my trying quite hard where the road was covered in deep slush and snow. Hopefully we'll get a lot more of this yet this winter, and actually be allowed some more freedom to play in it.


Somewhere behind the car, in the murk of another snow flurry, is Quinaig. No photos of the snow up high, funnily enough I was focusing on driving rather than picture taking!:

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[VidalBuffoon]

Originally Posted by Ennoch

Somewhere behind the car, in the murk of another snow flurry, is Quinaig. No photos of the snow up high, funnily enough I was focusing on driving rather than picture taking!:

I'm guessing that was from here?

https://goo.gl/maps/X975DewWqo3Liv5Q8

I know that road so well, best driving road in the UK. We used to regroup a bit further on.

[Rhino at Work]

Lots of mentions for the major players but don't discount your local independent.

This autumn I bought a new set of Conti TS860s to go on my 18" 400M wheels. I took in a printout of the Blackcircles web pages (really for the detail of the 2 sizes rather than the price) and basically said see what you can do expecting them to be a bit more expensive. They were able to match it. Result.

By the way over the last few days of snow, slush and ice I have found the Contis to be excellent.

[Kermit]

Originally Posted by Ennoch

I managed to get out for a run in my own car today rather than my dads as I was out in the other day. It was the first time I'd actually had the chance to drive it in the snow as there was a decent dump overnight and into the morning which left most of the roads about 200m rather deep with the white stuff. With the Sottozeros on it was actually surprisingly good, despite not having nearly such a tuned TC and AWD system as the Evoque, or the LSD setup of my Impreza. It was actually quite comforting to realise it's pretty decent on the white stuff despite my trying quite hard where the road was covered in deep slush and snow. Hopefully we'll get a lot more of this yet this winter, and actually be allowed some more freedom to play in it.


Somewhere behind the car, in the murk of another snow flurry, is Quinaig. No photos of the snow up high, funnily enough I was focusing on driving rather than picture taking!:

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Fantastic pictures

[Ennoch]

Originally Posted by VidalBuffoon

I'm guessing that was from here?

https://goo.gl/maps/X975DewWqo3Liv5Q8

I know that road so well, best driving road in the UK. We used to regroup a bit further on.

Yeah, that's spot on. This is where my dad's side of the family is from so it very much feels like home up here, and I've spent a lot of time up here in the hills over the years so I used to have a great time on the roads as well. There are some photos of my dads Fiat Uno on the old Kylesku ferry that used to cross that channel, before it was replaced by the bridge. It's just a shame that it's being somewhat spoiled by the sheer number of tourists now visiting the place and treating it with such disregard to the locals and the environment (I know not everyone is causing this, but a good number are).

Still, people are very much not a problem up here just now, thankfully there's nobody about! Not that you could drive very fast, I reckon there must have been over a thousand deer visible at the side of the road between Dundonnel and Quinaig which is just insane. And a lot of drivers simply don't reduce their speed accordingly. I was sat at about 40mph which given how many were about was a reasonable speed, and had lifted off to take account for the half dozen stood in the middle of the road just up ahead. This was the point where the guy who had been tailgating me decided to overtake, accelerate and aim at the half dozen stags (mature, big antlers, hard to miss) in the middle of the road, only seeing them at the very last minute. I'm sure he just thought I was being annoying but how can you not see something like that?

While most people probably don't see the negative effects (the positives are you're more likely to get a selfie with a deer at a carpark for your instagram feed), the hills simply can't cope with the number of deer up here but unfortunately Scottish Natural Heritage, or NatureScot now, simply won't allow for the effective control of the population. As a result its utterly destroying the landscape because they simply eat everything in their path. Another reason for having winters on when one (or several) jumps out in front of you!

Sorry, that turned into a bit of a moan...

[VidalBuffoon]

Originally Posted by Ennoch

Sorry, that turned into a bit of a moan...

Hadn't realised it had got so bad up there, it's 10 years since we last visited in the MINIs. The roads were empty apart from a few motorhomes and Spanish lorries on their way to Kinlochbervie. That was part of the appeal, quiet roads. Sounds like it's gone the way of the Lake District.

My last trip up there was 2013 but that was in a motorhome. We had real problems with the midgies and have pretty much avoided the NW Highlands ever since. Sounds like it's overrun with tourists, at least the midgies will be well fed.

I've had a couple of close shaves with deer, last time I said I'd fit one of those whistle things but haven't been back to bother.