2010 Winter Tyres Buying Guide
As the temperature in the UK starts to drop discussion naturally turns to winter tyres. After last seasons extremely heavy snow fall, people now understand winter tyres exist, but aren't quite sure which type of tyre or what brand of winter tyres is best.
All Season, Winter or Snow Tyres?
The first step in selecting a tyre for the cold season is understanding what types of tyre are on the market, and what they're specifically used for.
The first option is all season tyres. All Season tyres are designed to work year round and as such, are compromised for both normal road driving and when it snows. While they would work in the UK, they're not very popular as the UK climate has fairly well defined warm and cold seasons, with extremes in temperature which would leave all season tyres as pointless as their summer tyres.
The next option is snow tyres. These are designed with one thing in mind - snow and ice and are largely used in countries with extremely heavy snowfall. Designed with metal studs embedded into the rubber, these tyres bite into ice and compacted snow giving excellent grip in extreme weather. Snow tyres are overkill for the UK, and you would quickly destroy a set of studded tyres if you used them on non-snow covered roads.
The final option is Winter tyres. Winter tyres are designed for climates that have prolonged periods of cold, and can work with a little, or a lot of snow fall. The key to winter tyres is they're designed to work in conditions where the average temperature is below 7c for long periods. While winter tyres aren't "snow optimised" like snow tyres, they are many many times better than summer tyres when the snow falls and offer improved grip in any temperature below 7c.
Which winter tyres for my car?
While the British magazines perform annual tyre tests for summer performance tyres, the German and northern European magazines also release annual winter tyre tests every year giving excellent buying advice. After aggregating the magazine tests and reviews on TyreReviews we recommend looking into the following tyres:
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Continental Winter contact TS830P The Continental Winter contact TS830P is the latest UHP winter tyre from Continental and placed 1st in the 2009 Sport Auto Winter Tyre Test. The tyre was prasied for excellent braking performance in snow, rain and the dry and having consistently high level of grip in the wet and snow. |
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Pirelli SottoZero Serie II The Pirelli SottoZero Serie II is another ultra high performance winter tyre. It has both excellent reviews on the site, and placed second in the 2009 Sport Auto Winter Tyre Test with the remarks "Very balanced and good grip levels. High traction and braking performance in snow and rain". |
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Nokian WRG2 The Nokian WRG2 is a TyreReviews favourite, with near universal praise. While classified as a winter tyre it has excellent dry weather properties making it particularly suited the UK's climate. |
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| High Performance / touring | |
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Dunlop Winter Sport 3D Placing 3rd in both the the 2009 Sport Auto and AMS winter tyre tests the Dunlop Winter Sport 3D is an excellent choice for the UK's roads. |
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Vredestein Snowtrac 3 The Vredestein Snowtrac 3 is an excellent tyre for small to medium sized cars and gets great reviews here at TyreReviews. |
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Bridgestone Blizzak LM30 The Bridgestone Blizzak LM30 was launched in 2009 and targeted towards compacts, mid-sized cars and family saloons up to T and H speed ratings. It promises to be one of the leading tyres in this years magazine tests so is certainly worth considering. |
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If anyone has any other suggestions please comment below or drop us an email.
Further Reading:
- 7 reasons to consider winter tyres- Guide to tyre seasons
I drive a BMW saloon 19989/99 520i se and cannot even get out of my road due to a slight incline when snow falls-it is also pretty useless when frost and ice are present.Has anyone got an economical tyre solution?
Alan M
I drive a 2007 Ford Mondeo estate, 2 litre
I drive a 2 litre diesel Ford Mndeo estate and I tow a caravan throughout the summer. I love the car and it is great for towing but it is horrible in the snow and ice, this is probably due to the 18” wheels. Can anyone advise me if winter tyres can be kept on the vehicle all year round and would they aid me when towing a caravan or are there any draw backs from using winter tyres all the time. Chris W
Hi Chris,
People do use winter tyres year round, and Continental even recommend if you can only use one set of tyres they should be winter.
That said, a winter tyre will never perform as well as a summer tyre in the high temperatures, and could wear out quickly, especially if towing. For these reasons we only ever recommend winter tyres for the winter, and summer tyres for the summer.
I have been using Hankook Optimo 4s (all season tyres) on a Ford Focus for 4 months now and they are very very close to the performance of my wife's car with winter tyres. Dry & wet performance also seems to be great. I would really consider these if you can.
P.S. my wifes car has had Nokian WR G2 tyres on all year round and they wear pretty well. They also give better fuel economy than summer tyres except when it gets above 20C.
I have just purchased a Mercedes B-Class with 215/40 ZR18 tyres, I'm told various stories that you can't get that size of winter tyre, the nearest I've found are 225 wide. Is this okay, as Mercedes are trying to sell me wheels and tyres, smaller diameter and width, saying the smaller width is better for winter tyres, is this correct?
The handbook usually specifies a winter wheel and tyre combination that is often smaller than the summers.
Yes it is true that thin tyres are better.
Lived in switzerland where winter tyres were compulsory for insurance.
Also removing the tyre from the wheel can only be done a few times - so if you have low mileage it might be a problem.
good luck
Thank you for the reply, very useful, hadn't considered the implications of regular changes as it's my wifes car and does low mileage.
Can i get winter tyres to fit my Jaguar XK and will they make a difference.....its a toboggan, cant get it out of the street! Any suggestions what is best?
Bought four Continental TS 800s for my car End of November and they are fantastic. I only drive a Citreon C1 (yes laugh now!!) and I live on the edge of Exmoor up some god awful hill. Even if town doesnt get hit by snow we generally do and it then stays for days just thawing and refreezing again. I have to say I have been really impressed. Am probably an overly cautious driver at the best of times, but it has stopped me sh***ing myself every time I have to take the car out. Got mine from mytyres.com and they were reasonably priced - paid £230 for four and £40 to get them fitted. Glad I bought them when I did as when I last checked they had sold out!!! Next year I think Ill put my order in about July just to make sure.
I purchased 2 Cooper Weather Master Snow tyres for my Golf. Living in Grampian they have proved their worth and coped with most of the winter so far. They have only struggled once, but then I will try and push their limits. They are also a UK brand. Only wish I had fitted them at the rear now as winter tyres have sold out everywhere.
food for thought indeed.Have rather dragged my feet after Januarys snows being unable to decide which winter tyre to choose.We have the basic Toyota Yaris and I am wondering which of the 6 tyres reviewed in Ultra High Performance and High Performace/Touring Categories to go for.Live in the south of the UK but at over 700ft up so both last January and now in December 2010 have had about 8inces of snow on wide/longish drive.WE do get snow ploughs down the lane but even so getting out of the drive and making way to the nearest major road pretty horrendous road conditions. Thanks for the survey, its already been a great help in shortlisting possibles.Ideas gratefully received.Regards, Frank.
i purchased & had fitted 4 Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 2 unstudded winter M&S Snow Flake on Mountain Symbol marked tyres from my local tyre distributor who brought them in from Germany, they are designed to operate in all winter driving conditions & in temperatures below +7 degrees celcius, i drive a VW Passat Estate, these tyres make an great difference to grip levels & adhesion to road surfaces in all winter conditions & in particular on snow & ice/black ice, they work extremely well with the vehicles Traction Control & Electronic Stability Programme systems with greater levels of adhesion & recoverable adhesion available at all 4 corners of the vehicle when cornering the vehicle, and the ABS system when braking & steering the vehicle in an emergency to avoid a collision,they are not a licence to drive without undue care & attention on the road but they are an added level of safety during the winter months during which time a high precentage of RTC's occur that result in serious injury or at worst fatalities... they have minor compromises but the advantages far out way any minor disadvantage, they are well worth the money as you can't put a price on potentially your life your families life or indeed someone else's life, people who claim they are a waste of money are both ignorant & stupid,
you wouldn't drive a car if it wasn't fitted with seat belts, or would even walk to the shops in a pair of flip flops in the winter weather so why should you drive your car in winter with summer tyres fitted??
i managed to get a set from kwik-fit today for my transit, conti vanco2 winter tyres, we have merc c-class 2yr old lovly in good weather ,but been in driveway 3weeks now. chas lanarkshire
who did you order them from?
I bought a pair of used winter M + S tyres from a firm in Skegness that imports them from Germany and had them fitted to a pair of spare wheels. In parts of Germany drivers are required to have winter snow tyres with at least 4mm of tread, so there is a chance for us poor Bits to buy winter tyres at a discount. And yes, I know the risks of buying used tyres, but everyone who buys a used car buys 5 used tyres! Mine are Semperit Speed-Grip, with 5mm of tread, and excellent in adverse conditions.
Hi Simon where in Skegness did you get your winter tyres please Thanks Izzy
Hello Isobel. Here is their web site. If you go there they will fit them for free, but there is a £5-00 for disposing of any old tyres you have replaced. I know it isn't ideal, but I have fitted just a pair on the front of my front-wheel drive car. Really you should fit a set of four.
www.germantyrewarehouse.co.uk/
There is also another outfit in Salford offering similar tyres on eBay.
Hope this helps. Kind regards. Simon
have just ordered winter tyres as the poster below suggested at www.i-reifen.de. and i would just like to add they were EXTREMELY helpful and friendly. am now just waiting for them to deliver! THANK YOU Simon Thompson :)
With recent weather and shortage of winter tyres from all big outlets I ended up tracking down ovation W582s at a dealer in Aberdeen. Fantastic performance in snow - go anywhere but at a cost - fuel consumption has increased 10-15% on my VW passatt diesel from 50mpg down to 42/43mpg. Has anyone else had similar experience of these tyres. Many thanks Jim A, Midmar Aberdeenshire
Hi Ovations are at the low end of winter tyres. I moved to winter tyres about three years ago and actually found that my wife's car had improved fuel economy by 10-15%. That was with Nokian WRG2's. Nobody believed me at the time but the latests test do show that many winter tyres have a lower rolling resistance. It is worth checking the reviews before you need the next batch.
just fitted the winter contact conti`s to my wifes 320 BMW , transformed the car , have not been stuck on the ice or snow since , excellent, we should make it law as in all other northern european countries to fit winter tyres
I live in North Yorkshire and have a BMW525d with Firestone Firehawk 225 55R 16 95W that are poor in the snow and ice. Last winter the BMW stood idle on the drive for weeks and it looks like this winter will be the same. I'm thinking of changing the BMW, another BMW will be useless as recent BMWs have run flat tyres that are even worse than my current tyres. If I fit winter tyres to a new BMW, can I use them all year round and how will the handling/ride/noise be affected?
Hi Peter,
We've no direct experience with BMW's or running winter tyres year round but these are the most common changes reported switching from run flats to non-run flat winters:
- vastly improved ride comfort
- much quieter
- reduced tram lining
- improved grip in all conditions
Of the people we've spoken to who run winter tyres year round, no one has had any reason problems with either the Nokian WRG2 or the Conti TS830P. It's not something we'd recommend as having 2 sets of tyres is optimum, but it can be done.
Perhaps a bit late in the day as the weather seems to be better now, but perhaps some ideas for planning for next year. And as winter tyre prices go through the roof as soon as it snows I strongly recommend anyone considering buying winter tyres to do it by about September.
I have an E46 330d SE, and after 2 years of struggling whenever it snowed, this year decided to go the whole hog and get a set of winter tyres on separate rims. Bought the wheels second hand off ebay - not fantastic nick but genuine BMW and at a reasonable price.
The tyres I purchased were 'Star Performer' (no, I hadn't heard of them either) from mytyres.co.uk, and at about £70 each plus fitting were quite affordable. These were sold as all year round tyres, but I only plan to use them in winter, and most importantly despite being an unknown and budget option they absolutely transformed the way the car performs in the snow. Just keep in mind that all you'll get from winter tyres is better grip in snow - you still have to drive sensibly, but you'll certainly get to places that you wouldn't have dreamed of using summer tyres, and they generally give you much more 'grip security', including in wet conditions. Even now the weather's warmer fuel consumption is unchanged. They're perhaps slightly noisier than some summer tyres, and I've no idea how they'll wear as I only plan to use them from November to the end of February, but I don't regret a single penny of the money spent.
I also heard a rumour that insurance companies were arguing claims when cars using winter tyres were involved in accidents, presumably on the basis that the tyres were not standard equipment. This may be urban myth, but if you do fit winter tyres it might just be worthwhile advising your insurer, as believe me, you'll be able to stop a damn sight quicker than any car on standard (i.e. summer) tyres that might be behind you.
@ Sniets it would be a good move winter tyres would transform the handling i know what your going through having always had BMW's which are rear wheel drive and unbelieveably dangerous at the first sign of ice or snow but the winter tyres have transforned it and i would highly recommend them to anyone with a RWD car, on a FWD car you should not only put 2 on as the back will step out but on a RWD car it can de done just realise car must still be taken but it would be much better than what you have at the moment
Mercedes SLK, so rear wheel drive. Great in the summer but a slight smattering of snow and her back end is behaving in a most unladylike manner. Considering winter tyres for just the back end due to cash flow as front tyres replaced quite recently with normal type. Will this improve her manners or is it likely to be more dangerous than current situation?
The issue with just changing the rear tyres on a RWD car is you will have loads of traction in the snow to pick up speed, but no braking or steering capabilities at the front!
In short, don't do it.
If you need Winter Tyres and cannot find them in the UK then try www.i-reifen.de.
The site is in german but if you have the Google toolbar installed in your web browser it will auto translate the text.
The site helps you identify the correct tyre or wheel/tyre combination. The site owners are in Switzerland and they speak English. They charged me an extra €10 per wheel to ship to the UK and they were still a good deal on what sourcing them here would be.
I bought 4 wheels/tyres for my Audi A8. They came with the certificate which says they are valid for the car for insurance purposes if you tell them.
My personal recommendation for winter tyres are Pirelli. Over 10 years experience shows them as having great grip, wear and performance. I have had them on Jag XK8, Merc SL and Merc S Class.
The UK is now out of winter tyres :-( Don't believe me, try ordering some, dealers are running very short of stock. However ATS have a delivery of Apollo tyres coming in next week in standard sizes.
FWD car do you need to fit win ter tyres to all 4 wheels or just the front 2?
It's is best practice to always fit 4 matching winter tyres.
A winter tyre can offer over 3 times the grip / traction over a summer tyre on ice and snow, so in the event of a vehicle with only winter tyres at the front having to make an emergency stop or manoeuvre the vehicle would be extremely unstable and likely spin out.
After struggling to get any traction up a short not very steep slope last night in my Honda Accord 2.2iCDTi, I am about to invest in a good winter tyre, possibly the Dunlops, the Michelin Energy's that are currently on are useless.
I've just fitted my AUDI A3 2.0 TDI 170HP with 4 CONTINENTAL WINTER CONTACT TS830P. What a difference! With the big snow and ice wave here in Scotland I thought it was time I swapped to winter tyres. It's as if the dry weather is back! The actual Bridgestone Potenza are USLESS on snow and even a danger on ice. Mind you, they are great summer performance tyres but not on snow/ice. I drove about 30 miles today on snow/ice/sludge and the grip is impressive so it is the braking. Car is like glued. I've noticed tho the tyres naturally "brake" the car on dry and even aceleration is affected and I'm wondering the impact of these tyres on the overall car economy. Slightly more noise audible. Tyre size is 225/40/r18 :)