Winter Tyre Help Please.....

Personally I always run top quality rubber

Ordinarily i'd totally agree with you there, until recently.
I'm not saying higher end brands are not brilliant, but my wife was complaining that her new Continentals were awful on her Mini in the greasy cold weather. She was spot on, they struggled to grip, and felt like you were on ice on bends, so I popped into my tyre shop with the intention of buying premium winters, but my guy talked me into a set of Minerva Frostrack winter tyres (formally owned by Continental) I stuck them on and it totally transformed the drive of her Mini, so much so, that i've just collected these for my 19s yesterday, and they being fitted tomorrow.
Less than £70 a tyre, load rated and in my exact size.
I will know how they feel pretty quickly, in comparison with my Eagle F1s, which are next to useless this time of year, and the Nexan SU1, which isn't much better.

20181125_182654.jpg 20181125_182709.jpg
 
It's only a t30,so 102 rated tyres will be satisfactory,and don't carry exceptional loads,just a few screwdrivers as I'm a sparky:).
The tyres I mentioned are both suitably rated,and looking at something like nexen winguards.
 
It's only a t30,so 102 rated tyres will be satisfactory,and don't carry exceptional loads,just a few screwdrivers as I'm a sparky:).
The tyres I mentioned are both suitably rated,and looking at something like nexen winguards.

You cannot get Winguards supplied in the UK, only imported.
 
I've got Devonports with delivery miles on and now fitted with brand new winter tyres for sale
 
i have exactly these on my caravelle right now as i had 2 sets the other is for sale in the for sale section

Set of 4 Genuine VW 17" alloys delivery miles only done 100 miles tops MINT
fitted and balanced with winter tyres (brand new) NO Miles
includes centre caps
Imperial Snowdragon 3 235-55-R17 103V XL
£695
 
I spoke to the Nexen Rep on Friday and he explained that Winguards are not for the UK market, and anyone selling them have imported them from Europe unofficially.
It was that exact winter tyre I wanted originally.

I'll make a phone call tomorrow and see what they say.
 
If you are getting a set of full winters I would definitely go for a make that specialises in winters like nokian. Would avoid wr c3 though. Have these on our van now and compared to others I have had road noise is very loud. If they do your size I would recommend wr d3.
 
I spoke to the Nexen Rep on Friday and he explained that Winguards are not for the UK market, and anyone selling them have imported them from Europe unofficially.
It was that exact winter tyre I wanted originally.

You are quite correct sir,rang a few local tyre companies today,and no joy.
I had a conversation with the one,who admitted none available in the uk,so ordered through oponeo.
 
Any one got a review on these ??
YOKOHAM 255/45R18 103V XL Winter V905

Thanks
John
 
Reference my post above with the picture of my winters:

I've had these on for a few days now, and cannot explain just how much better they have made my T6.
It's the first time I've gone full winter tyres, but the difference is outstanding. I was running Eagle F1, coming into the winter, and then a new set of Nexen SU1, which were no better than the F1's. Neither inspired any confidence in the latest run of cold mornings, very slippy roads and the odd frost. Both a fantastic summer tyre, but pretty much useless in comparison to the current Minerva Frostracks.

I assume a lot of the increased grip is down to the compound, as much as the grip pattern, but the same roads that saw my traction control light flashing, and junctions tough to pull out of hard if needed, are now like driving on summer dry tarmac.
No wheel spin, no sliding, even on the greasiest of roads. More comfortable, far quieter and generally a far better tyre than pretty much anything i've used to date.
I'm a fully winter tyre convert now, and won't run anything else from now on in the winter. I actually cannot wait for the really tough stuff to drop now, and test these tyres to the extreme.

As a general branded tyre fan, these things have made me wonder if i've wasted a lot of money over the years, because at less than £70 a corner, against some insane winter tyre prices, one wonders exactly why...
 
Last edited:
If you run your hand over the tread of a winter tyre and poke the tread a bit, you can feel how much softer they are compared to summer tyre. It would go so far as to say the softness is apparent with slightly improved ride quality.

Winters grip surprisingly well in wet, icy and snowy conditions. Last year I was thoroughly impressed with what my winter tyres achieved in the snow with the van. But they can be very abrupt in how they let go when they're taken to their limit. Discovered this driving BMWs and Volvos with premuim brand winter tyres, not cheapies. Think this is probably down to the added sipes and soft compound making the tread blocks less rigid and less stable in how they behave at their limits. As I said last year, maybe consider keeping the progressive driving notched back a peg of two, if you've changed from summer to winter tyres. Wouldn't want to see folk get caught out.
 
Reference my post above with the picture of my winters:

I've had these on for a few days now, and cannot explain just how much better they have made my T6.
It's the first time I've gone full winter tyres, but the difference is outstanding. I was running Eagle F1, coming into the winter, and then a new set of Nexen SU1, which were no better than the F1's. Neither inspired any confidence in the latest run of cold mornings, very slippy roads and the odd frost. Both a fantastic summer tyre, but pretty much useless in comparison to the current Minerva Frostracks.

I assume a lot of the increased grip is down to the compound, as much as the grip pattern, but the same roads that saw my traction control light flashing, and junctions tough to pull out of hard if needed, are now like driving on summer dry tarmac.
No wheel spin, no sliding, even on the greasiest of roads. More comfortable, far quieter and generally a far better tyre than pretty much anything i've used to date.
I'm a fully winter tyre convert now, and won't run anything else from now on in the winter. I actually cannot wait for the really tough stuff to drop now, and test these tyres to the extreme.

As a general branded tyre fan, these things have made me wonder if i've wasted a lot of money over the years, because at less than £70 a corner, against some insane winter tyre prices, one wonders exactly why...

Wait till proper winter. Winter tyres grip on surfaces I can't stand up on. Last year spent many days crawling down side of van and then on hands and knees down our ungritted 1 in 4 hill. Good choice getting full winters.
 
Back
Top