I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: Winter tyres
I have to drive my MX5 all year round but last year found it impossible to drive in all but the lightest snow. This year I’ve sorted a spare set of wheels and fitted them with Michelin CrossClimate tyres. I was unable to get 205/50 x 16 so had to get 205/55 instead - has anyone else used these tyres or this size? Any feedback on their effectiveness in snow/ice etc and is it worth putting something heavy in the boot to improve traction?
With the 205/55’s your speedo & odo will unread by 3.2%. Depending upon your insurer, if the tyre size is not an officially recognised size, they will see it as a modification too.
I have had my Nokian WR A3 205/55/16 winter tyres on for 3 winters in the, balmy
Lune Valley Lancaster, maybe not balmy, but winters here are generally less severe
than Batley/Ilkley Yorkshire. We have not had any snow so I cannot comment, some
ice, one needs studded tyres, or simply do not drive unless absolutely essential.
At present my Nokian’s are still on my 2014 2 litre Sport Tech Recaro as opposed to
my Kumho PS71 215/45/17 which I normally use April - October. This year Covid 19
intervened, mileage dropped significantly, so the Nokian’s will stay on the car until
April 2021.
With Nokian’s 205/55/16 Tom Tom says 28 mph, speedo reads 30 mph:
TT says 76 mph, speedo reads 80 mph
(private road of course).
Nokian’s 55 section absorb road imperfections better than Kumho’s 45 section but are
less stable when pushing on through a series of curves.
Both tyres perform well in the wet & neither are particularly noisy on motorways.
Thanks, Keith. Once again that’s really useful info, it was my gut feeling that the slightly taller wall would be a bit more forgiving so it’s good to have that confirmed. We only seem to have a really severe winter 1 year in 4 these days, so I’ve bought all-season rather than winter tyres per se. Hopefully I’ll have a bit more flexibility this year and if it’s really nasty I can WFH or use my wife’s Qashgai
We have friends with a farm in Switzerland.
We went to stay with them for a skiing trip one Winter and hired a car at the airport.
It was a Focus and had winter tyres fitted.
Their farm is at the top of a steep switchback and we went up it in the dark.
I was surprised at how slippery the snow felt with winter tyres until I realised in the morning that said snow was polished ice!
I think winter tyres are brilliant.
My other car, a 2004 Saab 93 Aero (heavily modified - about 330 bhp) has had Crossclimates fitted for years. While not a full winter tyre I had way more traction in snow than 4x4s on summer tyres one year in Derbyshire. I highly rate them
I saw a video a year or so ago showing a 4x4 with “normal” tyres vs a basic RWD vehicle on winter tyres. The 4x4 struggled to get a small way up the hill at one of the indoor UK skiing locations. The RWD car easily made it to the top!
I don’t have winter tyres (which are supposed to be good at 7 degrees C or less, regardless of snow) because my wife doesn’t want me keeping them at home and I am not keen on letting someone else look after them!
Yes, I eventually used Michelin Cross Climates rather than full winter tyres, they coped with the one bit of snow we’ve had really well. Even the slight slope of our estate usually defeats my summer tyres, but these just gripped and didn’t even light up the DSC indicator
